Dune/Headscratchers: Difference between revisions

** Considering that Mentats are supposed to be [[The Chessmaster|the Chessmasters]] due to their highly advanced ability to compute outcomes of events based on variables and facts available, pretty much proves that he's either holding the [[Idiot Ball]] on this particular issue, or that he's just a failure as a Mentat. (Because the ''spice smuggler'' Tuek figures things out based on ''much less'' knowledge, and Hawit is [[Too Dumb to Live|stupid enough to be openly manipulated by the Harkonnens.]] I have no idea why this guy is so prized for his Mentat abilities when he's a ''FUCKING IDIOT!'' The only possible reason why he's so stupid about this is that he's so prejudiced against the Bene Gesserit that he can't see how supremely stupid he is actually being, and if he's that easily affected by prejudice then he's a waste as a Mentat anyway. And exposure to the spice is supposed to ''improve'' mental capacity, not hinder it. Hence, the most probable reason for Hawat siding with the Harkonnens? He's a prejudiced idiot who can't see two moves in front of his face (I'm still fuming over the fact that he dismissed Yeuh out of hand as the traitor... yes, because obviously the Imperial Conditioning can't be broken by a conflict of morals (because training to apply complete moral values based on ''saving people's lives'' ISN'T what the entire thing is based on, obviously). Hawit didn't even do a background check to find out ''his wife was a fucking bene gesserit held prisoner by the Harkonnens'' (he is completely stunned by this fact when JESSICA tells him). Furthermore he acts so goddamn surprised that Leto has been betrayed and killed when ''everyone and THEIR MOTHER knew Arrakis was a trap in the first place'' and he didn't have safeguards in place to deal with that (Yeuh just walked into the fucking shield room and deactivated it that easily...)). [[Berserk Button|Thufir Hawat, YOU FAIL!]]

*** Mentats aren't quite super-duper geniuses; they're intelligent humans with a very tightly defined set of mental skills useful to the Imperium. Hawat gets sidelined because the Harkonnens make a dedicated effort to play to his weaknesses. And he isn't the only one not to suspect Yueh on account of his conditioning; it's implied that the Emperor will destroy the Harkonnens out of hand if he finds out they've suborned the only trusted medical school in the universe.

** You're forgetting the Feyd vs Vladimir subplot. Hawat clearly despised the Harkonnens, and there is mention that he was still being secreted messages by Gurney (about the Fremen tactics). He played Feyd against the Baron, and visa-versa, turning them against each other, trying to bring the House down. See: Slave Boy assassination attempt.

*** Exactly. I asked the question about Thufirs angle in the first place, the reason I'm wondering is: after he proposes to the Baron to make Arrakis a Prison Planet just like Salusa Secundus, Thufir asks himself if his victory over the Harkonnen will be as complete as the victory over the Atreides had been. So how did he want to do it? I now suspect that he wanted to raise the Emperors anger against the Harkonnen, just as the Emperor did not want to let the Atreides Army get as good as his own Sardaukar.