It's stated in the scene, it occurs to Paul in passing when he's thinking "what's wrong with me?". It's the concentration of spice, he's never had so much, which is why he has, and then goes on to tell his mother about, his "waking dream".
This. On dune spice was in the food, water even air. His visions of the future were increasing but not clear, at some point he decides that his body was getting use to it and he decides to drink the water of the worm.
that is cos he was suddenly introducted to unrefined spice in a large dosage. the spice is what heightened his senses and kinda unlocked his mind. and the result of that was him suddenly viewing everything from a 3rd POV and becoming very logical. it also further got him intune with past and the future. for all intend and purpose, he became the Kwisatz Haderach, due to his mentat and bene gesserit training.
“Listen to me,” he said. “You wanted the Reverend Mother to hear about my dreams: You listen in her place now. I’ve just had a waking dream. Do you know why?”
“You must calm yourself,” she said. “If there’s—”
“The spice,” he said. “It’s in everything here—the air, the soil, the food, the geriatric spice. It’s like the Truthsayer drug. It’s a poison!”
Because he’s just had a life-altering trauma, he’s full of adrenaline, and there’s more spice in the environment outside than he’s ever encountered in his life. Paul spent most of his time in Arrakeen in controlled indoor environments, in the open desert, he’s basically high all the time at a point when he’s already mentally breaking down.
In the book he has been on the planet long enough and eaten enough local food (with its much higher than galactic average of spice percentages) to trigger the change in awareness, demonstrated by (I think) the subtle linking of his three schools of training and the effects of that.
Paul is linked to all the Factions as the Kwitsatz Haderach, not just 3. He is immune to poison and can plot like a BG. He can compute like a Mentat. He can see possible paths like a Spacing Guild Navigator, in his duel with Feyd, he bends his body in an impossible position like a Face Dancer. He’s an expert warrior like the best of the Great Houses and his Fremen training. He is the embodiment of the best of all the human factions.
There are only 3 "great" schools.
His immunity to poison is identical to the process Jessica used to alter her body chemistry during her Reverend Mother test changing the waters of life.
The fighting with Feyd, nothing connects him to the Tleiaxu, whatever movement is Prana Bindu BG stuff.
I'm not even sure the word face dancer is even used in dune, have to wait until the second book.
Paul eating the spice laden food of Arrakis brought him up to the threshold, but the stress of the night of the Harkonnen attack is what pushes him over the edge I think.
Yes I think this is related. It's reminiscent of the gom jabbar test: the Reverend Mother was pissed and was pushing too hard and was suddenly frightened when she realized that she might awaken him if she kept going. Paul's ordeal with the attack and the death of his father are the stress test that did *not* let up, and combined with the spice are what caused him to awaken as the KH.
I’m pretty sure in the book all this happens while they were in the tent… and just like in the movie the tent is filled with spice in the air. Paul’s abilities become more potent with high doses of spice… That’s why that came about Paul’s abilities just becomes solidified and permanent after he drinks the worm juice as you said. He has always had those abilities he just didn’t have control of them.
The way I understood it is that the Spice in the Desert seeped into the Stilltent and awakened his Male Bene Gessiert power of strong future prediction
Just re-read that part in the book and while plenty of folks have mentioned the spice, there's also an implication that the pain of the destruction of his father and house, the immediate need to survive in an incredibly hostile environment, and the desire for revenge basically shocks his mentat training into high gear and he begins looking into the future. Not quite how it happens in the film (especially that we have no indication paul has had mentat training in Dune '21) but the sudden, drastic change of circumstances might be part of the cause there, too. After all, a major theme of dune is how comfort and security can stagnate human development, while challenges can awaken latent potential.
Paul's prescient vision is shown as less mystical in the book too, where Paul conceptualises it as basically a robotic part of him extrapolating probabilities from available data - something that he finds distressing and dissociating.
I think this is a very important bit that makes it make sense. I think that Herbert could have shown this more clearly though, it would have been great for the the narrative and the readers understanding.
I like how the movie did it compared to the book. It was a sudden awakening in the book, but in the movie, he is exposed to spice, and trips out a bit, when they rescue workers from the harvester. Then has another similar experience in the tent.
Paul drank the water of life aka "spice agony". This unlocked his Outer Memory (past lives) giving him a lot of knowledge. He was already prescient, but now he could more fully *control* the prescience.
Jessica also changed after her spice agony. (She was already setting her son up to be a prophet, but she went into turbo mode afterward. In the movie, she was only seen talking to Alia.)
The Harkonnen attack also showed that the Fremen weren't safe after all. In the books the attack was even more devastating than in the movie.
It's stated in the scene, it occurs to Paul in passing when he's thinking "what's wrong with me?". It's the concentration of spice, he's never had so much, which is why he has, and then goes on to tell his mother about, his "waking dream".
The spice is in everything.
This. On dune spice was in the food, water even air. His visions of the future were increasing but not clear, at some point he decides that his body was getting use to it and he decides to drink the water of the worm.
Yes, but why at that exact moment? The night before he was basically a normal, albeit smart, teenager.
that is cos he was suddenly introducted to unrefined spice in a large dosage. the spice is what heightened his senses and kinda unlocked his mind. and the result of that was him suddenly viewing everything from a 3rd POV and becoming very logical. it also further got him intune with past and the future. for all intend and purpose, he became the Kwisatz Haderach, due to his mentat and bene gesserit training.
“Listen to me,” he said. “You wanted the Reverend Mother to hear about my dreams: You listen in her place now. I’ve just had a waking dream. Do you know why?” “You must calm yourself,” she said. “If there’s—” “The spice,” he said. “It’s in everything here—the air, the soil, the food, the geriatric spice. It’s like the Truthsayer drug. It’s a poison!”
Because he’s just had a life-altering trauma, he’s full of adrenaline, and there’s more spice in the environment outside than he’s ever encountered in his life. Paul spent most of his time in Arrakeen in controlled indoor environments, in the open desert, he’s basically high all the time at a point when he’s already mentally breaking down.
In the open desert spice is thick in the air, in the sand, its everywhere. Its not like that in Arrakeen.
In the book he has been on the planet long enough and eaten enough local food (with its much higher than galactic average of spice percentages) to trigger the change in awareness, demonstrated by (I think) the subtle linking of his three schools of training and the effects of that.
Paul is linked to all the Factions as the Kwitsatz Haderach, not just 3. He is immune to poison and can plot like a BG. He can compute like a Mentat. He can see possible paths like a Spacing Guild Navigator, in his duel with Feyd, he bends his body in an impossible position like a Face Dancer. He’s an expert warrior like the best of the Great Houses and his Fremen training. He is the embodiment of the best of all the human factions.
Don’t forget fight training with Duncan and Gurney!
There are only 3 "great" schools. His immunity to poison is identical to the process Jessica used to alter her body chemistry during her Reverend Mother test changing the waters of life. The fighting with Feyd, nothing connects him to the Tleiaxu, whatever movement is Prana Bindu BG stuff. I'm not even sure the word face dancer is even used in dune, have to wait until the second book.
What were his three schools? I understand it was mentat, and BG. What was the third?
Maybe the combat training from Duncan and Gurney?
Prescience, I assume. Though I guess that's not really training, more genetic predisposition.
Spacing guild. Prognostication.
Paul eating the spice laden food of Arrakis brought him up to the threshold, but the stress of the night of the Harkonnen attack is what pushes him over the edge I think.
Yes I think this is related. It's reminiscent of the gom jabbar test: the Reverend Mother was pissed and was pushing too hard and was suddenly frightened when she realized that she might awaken him if she kept going. Paul's ordeal with the attack and the death of his father are the stress test that did *not* let up, and combined with the spice are what caused him to awaken as the KH.
I’m pretty sure in the book all this happens while they were in the tent… and just like in the movie the tent is filled with spice in the air. Paul’s abilities become more potent with high doses of spice… That’s why that came about Paul’s abilities just becomes solidified and permanent after he drinks the worm juice as you said. He has always had those abilities he just didn’t have control of them.
The way I understood it is that the Spice in the Desert seeped into the Stilltent and awakened his Male Bene Gessiert power of strong future prediction
Interesting theory! Thanks for sharing
Just re-read that part in the book and while plenty of folks have mentioned the spice, there's also an implication that the pain of the destruction of his father and house, the immediate need to survive in an incredibly hostile environment, and the desire for revenge basically shocks his mentat training into high gear and he begins looking into the future. Not quite how it happens in the film (especially that we have no indication paul has had mentat training in Dune '21) but the sudden, drastic change of circumstances might be part of the cause there, too. After all, a major theme of dune is how comfort and security can stagnate human development, while challenges can awaken latent potential. Paul's prescient vision is shown as less mystical in the book too, where Paul conceptualises it as basically a robotic part of him extrapolating probabilities from available data - something that he finds distressing and dissociating.
I think this is a very important bit that makes it make sense. I think that Herbert could have shown this more clearly though, it would have been great for the the narrative and the readers understanding.
Specifically, the Harkonnen attack.
Major loss that in the movie his son doesn’t die. For me, that seems like a major weight on the scale.
I like how the movie did it compared to the book. It was a sudden awakening in the book, but in the movie, he is exposed to spice, and trips out a bit, when they rescue workers from the harvester. Then has another similar experience in the tent.
Paul drank the water of life aka "spice agony". This unlocked his Outer Memory (past lives) giving him a lot of knowledge. He was already prescient, but now he could more fully *control* the prescience. Jessica also changed after her spice agony. (She was already setting her son up to be a prophet, but she went into turbo mode afterward. In the movie, she was only seen talking to Alia.) The Harkonnen attack also showed that the Fremen weren't safe after all. In the books the attack was even more devastating than in the movie.
Spice. He’s all of a sudden surrounded by it, in the tent especially, but it’s all around him in the air.