Best written character in Hunters/Sandworms of Dune?

[Dunenewt]

I think the best written character was the ghola Yueh.  I thought it was well written, how they spoke about him knowing what he was in his previous life, and not wanting to become it, especially in contrast with the other characters who had much grander futures.

[Emperor Harkonnen]

I agree with you, they did a great job on Yueh. The way he didn't want to become himself, was interesting, but it imagine the feelings he must have had when he found himself killing the Duke once again. It would seem like he was destined to be a traitor.

[Dunenewt]

But he redeemed himself in the end :)  Did it tell you what happens to him after, I can't remember?  It talks about Jessica, Liet, etc, but does it say about Yueh, I don't remember now.

[SandChigger]

I prefer to imagine him nursing the comatose Paolo, changing the latter's everfull nappies (Ultraspice really WORKS on the ole constitution, it turns out, and since he's not capable of taking in solid food...well, you get the picture) until he can't stand it any longer and offs the obnoxious little superfluity when no one else is looking.

But that's just me. :D

Seriously, I've read a lot of people saying they think the Yueh character was well done. I didn't see it, myself. It seemed too obvious they were going for pathos...but ended up with the version starting with a 'b'. "But I don't want to be who I was!" Give me a break. ::)

But at least the scene where Sheeana reprises her memorable role as Molester of Boys in awakening Yueh's memories proved pretty hilarious in one of our podcast readings. (Actually, Sheeana is a never-ending source of delight in Sandworms. The "SheeJonah in da Belly o' da Worm" chapter was a hoot!)

I fear that Yueh seems better because the rest are so abysmal. But I never really got the reason for bringing him back. In fact, with most of the ghola babbies it all seemed just too Hillary-and-Everest for me. "We used the cells from the null-entropy tube because...THEY WERE THERE!" Harrumph! I mean, he was a Suk doctor and all, but he's got a few back issues of the Imperial Journal of Medicine to catch up on, no? About 5,000 years worth? (People have evolved somewhat in that period, thanks in no small part to the God Emperor. Remember how Moneo easily overpowered the Duncan ghola in GEoD? The gholas are OLD MODELS. How they're supposed to help is beyond me. And why traditionalist Bene Gesserit would risk bringing back not just two Kwisatz Haderachs but a known Abomination?!? Desperate times call for desperate measures, but when characters begin to act too out of character...the ole disbelief comes crashing down.)

Anyway, the characterization in the last two books fell flat for me. So it goes.

[Dunenewt]

To be honest, I agree with you about Sheanna being inside the worms, I didn't like that part.

[MrFlibble]

And why traditionalist Bene Gesserit would risk bringing back not just two Kwisatz Haderachs but a known Abomination?!? Desperate times call for desperate measures, but when characters begin to act too out of character...the ole disbelief comes crashing down.)

True. Isn't it mentioned somewhere in Heretics that the BGs had sworn to "never again create another Kwisatz Haderach or Tyrant"?

Never Again! That was the operational motto. Never another Kwisatz Haderach or another Tyrant.

Have they hoped Paul and Leto II would somehow change for the better, or what?

[SandChigger]

Yeah, and remember how anxious Duncan was about the BG even suspecting that he had any unexpected abilities? Bellonda wanted to kill him for a long time, no? (And how many Duncan gholas did they go through before the one that finally took...ten or eleven or so?)

The last thing any true BG would want is another KH.

And the crappola at the begining of Sand&SeaWorms about Sheeana injecting Alia's tank with melange to TRY TO RECREATE THE ABOMINATION?! WHAT IS THAT ABOUT?!

It's like two pimply early-teens watched the movie and mini-series, read the Wikipedia synopses of the books, and decided to write some fanfic....

"Hey, Bri, remember that freaky possessed sister of Muad'Dib's? Dude, how about we have Scytale bring her back and give her spice to make her an Abdomination again?!"

"Oh, Kev, MAN! That's so rad and kewl!"

Grrrrrrr. >:(

[MrFlibble]

And the crappola at the begining of Sand&SeaWorms about Sheeana injecting Alia's tank with melange to TRY TO RECREATE THE ABOMINATION?! WHAT IS THAT ABOUT?!

It is with reason and terrible experience that we call the pre-born Abomination. For who knows what lost and damned persona out of our evil past may take over the living flesh?

Perhaps the BGs hoped to get somebody really nasty to help out against the machines. Or maybe it's just that the authors decided, wouldn't it be so freaking COOL to get back all the characters just for the sake of them being back? Hence all the melange=in-the-tank stuff.

Honestly, I don't see any point in bringing back Alia even without her being an Abomination :P BTW, this was not explained in the original books AFAIK: did the processes like Spice Agony alter the Reverend Mothers' bodies on the cellular level? If yes, then a ghola Reverend Mother would have access to Other Memories even before her original persona was restored, or what?

[SandChigger]

That's one of those freaky/fun questions, What would the ghola of a(n) RM be like? :)

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any passages that state or imply that the Agony changed them on a cellular level. (Although it's evident from their ability to combat disease and control their own metabolisms and things like aging, that they acquire the ability to make such changes.)

My interpretation is that the Agony changes something in the brain. (I also think that's where Shared Memory ends up, not in the RM's own personal genetic memory. Implying that Shared Memory not consciously accessed by the RM would not be passed on in her body memory/germline cells.) The changed brain can then access the body's memories.

So, in my humble opinion, a ghola RM would be in the same boat as any other: her memories of her past life would have to be awakened first.

I also differ with K&B on what that would mean: a restored RM ghola would still have to go through the Agony again to gain full access to Other Memory, although she would remember accessing it and any information gleaned during the previous life.

(At least, that's where I am on the issue today! :D )

[MrFlibble]

My interpretation is that the Agony changes something in the brain.

Maybe you're right. I haven't thought of that.