WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for the Dune: Prophecy season 1 finale.

Desmond Hart has a shocking twist in the origins of the powerful shadow sisterhood known as the Bene Gesserit and how they manipulated the fate of humankind.

abandoned half-Atreides child, Desmond Hart.

HBO/MAX has confirmed that Dune: Prophecy season 2 is already in development.

What Happened To Desmond Hart & Who Put A Thinking Machine Inside Him?

Valya envisions a shadowy figure overseeing Thinking Machine surgeons

After the truth about Desmond Hart's biological parents was revealed in Dune: Prophecy episode 5, the origins of his power to burn people alive are explored in the final moments of the season 1 finale. Desmond, who is the son of Tula Harkonnen and Orry Atreides, has been genetically manipulated by someone who uses the illicit power of Thinking Machine technologies. Just before Keiran Atredies and Princess Ynez Corrino escape Salusa Secundus and escape to Arrakis, Valya has a strange and shocking vision that shows Thinking machines tampering with Desmond's right eye.

During the Dune: Prophecy season 1 finale. Valya faces off against Desmond Hart, telling him to show her the end that he claims to foresee. Desmond releases the full might of his powers onto Valya, which triggers a vision that leads her to uncover the source of Desmond's magic. In her vision, a shadowy cloaked figure – who appears to be a member of the Sisterhood – oversees Thinking Machine robots surgically remove Desmond's right eye and put some type of electronic implants into it. Valya claims that she can't make out who the shadowy figure is but based on the person's silhouette, it appears to be a member of the Sisterhood.

What Does Desmond Hart's Eye Being The Virus Mean?

He was programmed to rise to power by the Thinking Machines

Tula has learned that Desmond's magical power to burn people alive is actually the result of an airborne virus that is spread through fear. Although Valya tries to fight the fear-based virus, Tula tells her that it's not human but a machine, meaning that no one is able to defeat it through force. Once Valya begins to calm down and center herself, the powerful burning might of the virus eventually es through her and leaves her unscathed. The virus inspired Valya's deepest fears and used them against her, which is why she envisions her brother Griffin and him blaming her for his death, which she blames on Vorian Atreides.

Because the Thinking Machines implanted a fear-based virus into Desmond Hart's eye, this makes him a sort of false idol with a very deadly power. As seen throughout Dune: Prophecy season 1, Desmond appears to be in full control of the virus and who it affects. He initially kills Pruwett Richese and Sister Kasha simultaneously using the virus, triggering the reaction by pressing against his right temple. It's unclear whether Desmond is doing this of his own volition or if the Thinking Machines programmed him to become the face of The Reckoning, essentially staging a doomsday scenario for a potential underlying gain.

How Dune: Prophecy Set Up Its Desmond Hart/Thinking Machine Twist

Desmond's extraordinary power was the main mystery throughout season 1

One of the biggest mysteries throughout Dune: Prophecy season 1 was how Desmond Hart was able to gain such a magnificent power that made him immune to the Bene Gesserit power of Voice. If there can be some kind of point within Desmond's power, it's that he cannot be controlled and manipulated by the Sisterhood, which is likely a power that the Thinking Machines wish to spread to others. The fact that Desmond was given this power suggests that he may not be the only one who has it. Whoever used the Thinking Machine to turn Desmond into a weapon of biological warfare will likely do the same to someone else – or already has.

The hot desert sun shining in the background suggests that Desmond Hart was biologically altered by some Thinking Machines on Arrakis, where he lived before arriving at Salusa Secundus. Desmond's motivations beyond gaining revenge against the Sisterhood remain unclear at the end of Dune: Prophecy season 1. The biggest unanswered question at this point is who instructed the Thinking Machines to implant the fear-based mechanical virus to be implanted into Desmond's eye. It's also likely that whoever implanted this virus also programmed Desmond to believe he was swallowed by Shai-Hulud and miraculously came back to life.

What The Desmond Hart Twist Means For Dune: Prophecy's Future

Desmond is not only a Harkonnen-Atreides hybrid but also a sort of inhuman cyborg

What was initially implied to be the inner spirit of Shai-Hulud – two blue glowing eyes surrounded by darkness – are revealed to be a part of the Thinking Machines who installed Desmond Hart's superhuman virus. Valya apparently sees a memory of Hart waking up on an operating table and witnessing the Thinking Machines removing his right eye out of his socket and inserting blue mechanical implants. They also alter the color of his cornea before reinserting his eye and revealing the shadowy overseeing figure with what appears to be a bright sun shining into the operating room.

Valya wants to remove Desmond's eye but Tula won't let her because he's her son, using the Voice on her to stop her. Because of this newfound emotional element, Dune: Prophecy season 2 could see Tula and Desmond forming a relationship and working together to fight against whoever implanted the virus within him in the first place. In this case, Desmond would likely have to learn to control the power of his eye and resist the other "hidden hand" who programmed him in the first place. One of the biggest unsolved mysteries in Dune: Prophecy is what happened to Lila's mother, Dorotea's daughter. She could be the mysterious shadowy figure who appears in Valya's vision on Arrakis in season 2.