MovieChat Forums > Children of Dune (2003) Discussion > Duncan Idaho in the book

Duncan Idaho in the book

posted 14 years ago by jfitzpatrick3
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I find the Duncan Idaho/Hyat in Children of Dune to be the mist complicated charachter in the book. Do any of you who have read the book have feedback on the follwing points.

Duncan's 'prescient' vision of the lasa tigers? How was that possible?

Gurney being able to best Duncan six times out of ten, so Gurney was the better sword master?

His cutting of his wrist with shigwire? What exactly motivated his suicide attempt?

Why did he withdraw from Atriedes service? To try to create a false rift between him and the lady jessica in front of Farad'n? Jessica doesn't recognize this, but she seems to figure it out later, right?

How come he follows the preacher's bidding without any reservations, despite his lack of knowledge tbhat he is Paul.

Thanks for any input

Joe

"At the end of life, we will be judged by love" ST John of the Cross

[–] Craytonus_AP 14 years ago

My memory may be a little fuzzy, but I believe that Duncan/Hayt isn't prescient in the supernatural sense of the word. His "prescience" is a side-effect of his mentat training and his Zensunni training. Basically, he monitors the variables and his mind gives him answers to questions his conscious mind hasn't asked yet.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Craytonus_AP 14 years ago

True.

And as far as Gurney being the better swordsman, it's possible, but I don't think it's that simple. Gurney might be able to best Duncan, but that just means he might be better against Duncan in particular, and not most other opponents. Think of it like rock paper scissors. Paper covers rock, but cannot best scissors. I think Gurney had a sort of wisdom that comes from being an old warrior that gave him a slight edge on Duncan, even though Duncan was probably the overall "better" swordsman.

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[–] 14 years ago

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