Dune: Prophecy [ep.4] - what was that thing?

It was a Face Dancer. One that seems to confuse the Bene Tleilax for the Bene Gesserit.

I’m still intrigued about where the writers are trying to take this story, what exactly Desmond Hart is and does, and how it all might connect to Paul Muad’Dib and the events of his time.

Having said that, episode 4 did nothing to explain away or improve upon the things that I brought up in the last two weeks: there are still supernatural shenanigans (from shared visions to microwaved people), and there are still fan service type shout-outs that just break the immersion and world-building of the existing books.

So let’s focus on the real head-turner of this episode and discuss what exactly a Face Dancer is and why this one feels out of place based on what we know from the books.

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——— SPOILERS AHEAD for both books and series ———

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What is a Face Dancer?

In short, a shape shifter created by the Bene Tleilax - a distinct human society within the Dune universe, known for their mastery of cloning and biological engineering.

The first Face Dancer we ever meet in core canon is Scytale, one of the co-conspirators trying to overthrow Muad’Dib’s rule in Dune: Messiah.

He alone in this group could manipulate fleshly appearance across a wide spectrum of bodily shapes and features. He was the human chameleon […] The Reverend Mother drew back, and Scytale saw her reassessing him. They were all products of profound prana-bindu training, capable of muscle and nerve control that few humans ever achieved. But Scytale, a Face Dancer, had muscles and nerve linkages the others didn't even possess plus a special quality of sympatico, a mimic's insight with which he could put on the psyche of another as well as the other's appearance.

You might notice that while Herbert uses gendered pronouns, I’ll instinctively switch to “it” and “they” because although they can turn into both male and female form, the default settings of a Face Dancer is the human equivalent of a blank slate. From Heretics of Dune:

Almost chinless round faces, pug noses, tiny mouths, black button eyes, and short-cropped white hair that stood up from their heads like the bristles on a brush.

They’re sterile, created in the axlotl tanks of the Bene Tleilax, and then raised and molded into whatever function they’ll be serving - whether it’s entertainment, spycraft or assassination.

Later models even had the ability to take a copy of a (dead) person’s memory, enabling the Face Dancers to create almost perfect copies of people.

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Why this one feels out of place

My three reasons are: timing, self-awareness and a questionable ambition.

Let me explain.