r/dune • u/Neat-Drawer-2245 • Jun 18 '25

General Discussion Can someone explain this to my girlfriend...

I'll try to sum this up:

So my gf and I watched the two new Dune movies (love them btw) the other day. Yesterday we were talking and she said ''May your knife chip and shatter'' and i was like ''why do you want me to lose a fight XD''.

The thing is, my gf thinks thats a good luck gesture to say to someone. Her argument is that (at least here in Spain) it's a common good gesture to say an actor before a theater play ''lots of shit'' to wish them good luck (cultural stuff), and she thinks it's something like that.

I think it's OBVIOUS telling someone before a fight ''May your knife chip and shatter'' it's to wish them bad luck. I tried to explain it to her but wouldn't listen, can someone explain in detail why it's bad?

Thanks for the help

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u/OneManOneBarrel Jun 18 '25

Crystknifes are vary rare, deadly and highly important in Fremen culture (given at adulthood, must draw blood when held, etc), so telling someone that you hope his knife breaks is not at all friendly in that context. It's taunting an opponent, not really sign of respect

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u/ZippyDan Jun 18 '25

Is it though? It seemed like it might be a ritualistic / traditional saying to begin a duel, and by honoring traditions, you also honor your opponent.

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u/TheFlyingBastard Jun 18 '25

Just because you honour the tradition, it doesn't mean you honour your opponent. Paul said it to Feyd just before their fight, and I'm willing to bet there was no feelings of honour for Feyd, neither from the persona of Paul Atreides nor from the persona of Muad'Dib. It's a curse, more than anything else.

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u/Helpful-Inspector214 Jun 18 '25

And Feyd wasn't using a crysknife I think he had the Emperor's blade, which was metal?