ough die use of a selective Holtzman Effect field) from black to red As she completes her final turn, the face she presents to the audience is not that of Aha but that of Vladimir from Act I Here is the answer It is fatuous to assume mat such a person ality as Vladimir Harkoanen would attempt an enterprise without first determining the precise leverages over those he needed to use Vladimir existing within Aha knew something about her Indeed, he knew more than enough about her to serve himself up in the handsome, charming guise of his youth when he thought it would do the most good- say, when political frustration reinforced her feelings of inadequacy, or when the power game led to sexual desires of questionable heal thi ness Probably Vladimir often presented himself ta his prime masculine forceful with a rich baritone voice exquisitely coaxing soothing persuading by nuance intonation inflection As both young lover and autocrat ic grandfather he insinuated his presence and possessed Alia for this must have been the precise combination required One cannot imagine the vividness with which he was gradually able to manifest himself to Alia unless one wants to expert ence possession firsthand But the impact was obviously powerful justifying the Bene Gessent fears of Abomination Vladimir was an anomaly a figure whose career lasted longer than his life his ghost realized his great desire to put a Harkonnen under his influence-Aha-on the Imperial throne But in death as m life the Atreides continued to foil him One last observation concerns the form in which the Baron was manifested before Aha threw herself out a window to her death the form was the obese Baron s the futile shouts his basso voice Did this guise aid in propelling Aha to her end1* If so then Alia s fall was also the fall of the House of Harkonnen S T NOTE 'From The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea My Years with Moose Harkonnen by Re/hinaud Sagi tr Leewi Stun (Giedi Pnme Trammel) Farther references HARKONNEN GUNSENG RABBAN GLOSSU ATREIDES ALIA NERUS TAN1D A SI RfiBVC Pemn Notes of a WII o the Wisp tr T H Erussos (Fides Manx) R M Dec us Nancy Croesia Memoirs tr Ewan Gwaladar B G Foundation Studies 3 (Diana Tevis) HarqalHarba Water for the Dead m Complete Works ed Blaigvor Ewanz (Grumman Tern) Harq al Ada The Dune Catastrophe tr M igal Reed (Mukan Lothar) HAWAT THOFIR {10075 10196) Thufir Hawat who many believe was the greatest Mental of the Impenum was born the first of nine children to Golani and Alwidi Hawat on Logi third planet of Alpha Centaun B Hawat s mother Golani herself briefly trained as a potential mental recognized the capability in her infant son and took the proper steps to begin his training Golani scoured the Impenum for experts m muscle and mind control and m sharpening the sensitivities and the awareness and for teach ers of languages and Ihe physical and biologi cal sciences She sought to have her son well grounded not only n the fundamentals cus tomanly given a potential mentat but also m economics communications and military strategy When informed of his potential and given his options Thufir chose to continue his training and was sent lo an emmenl school for Mentals on Ix There Thufir soon made two significant attachments The first was lo Kolmar whose wit and charm immediately attracted Thufir the Iwo young men quickly 300 became inseparable friends The second was to toe young woman Anyya with whom Thufir fell, for the first and last time m his life, in love The daughter of a Bene Gesserit and an official of the Imperial court, the highly intelligent Anyya rivaled Thufir m scholastic accomplishments and returned his affection By all accounts they shared for years a happy and fulfilling relationship The reports are notably sketchy, however, on the end of their affair We do know that Anyya left Ix suddenly with Kolinar and is never referred to again in any of the Hawat papers Rouse, the Mental for House Dioscuri and Thufir's lifelong fnend, reports (m his book, The Education of a Mental) Thufir's moroseness following Anyya's departure, his adamant refusal to speak of her, and a cryptic remark Thufir made about this time, "The female of the species is without doubt incapable of fidelity" Seemingly, it was Camelot come again, but with a difference rather than nsmg above has affliction to an Arthurian strength that could infuse his soul with iron, Thufir allowed his pain to debase his love for Anyya into a corrosive hate and to generate a deep, and lifelong, mistrust of all women, especially those connected with the Bene Gessent This anathema undoubted ly accounts for the fact that Thufir never again became seriously involved with a woman.