Children of Dune

At Red Chasm Sietch under the protection of the Fedaykin, Jessica sends a message to Stilgar in Sietch Tabr that Alia is possessed and must undergo the trial of possession. The Fedaykin report that the twins are missing and bring in Duncan Idaho, whom Stilgar sent as a messenger. Jessica recalls her meeting with Leto and believes her grandchildren have escaped into the desert. She also remembers Leto’s instruction to allow herself to be abducted. She agrees to go with Duncan and reassures the Fedaykin that although Duncan is Alia’s husband, he is faithful to the Atreideses, while Alia is no longer an Atreides. Duncan informs her that, under The Preacher’s orders, he is taking her to Salusa Secundis, where she will instruct Farad’n in the ways of the Bene Gesserit.

Wensicia tells Farad’n to prepare for his rise to the throne. Farad’n disapproves of the tactics used to condition the Laza tigers and resents his mother’s assumptions that he will obey her wishes and become Emperor. Farad’n feels he has lost his freedom, as his political responsibilities will forestall his intellectual interests in history and science. However, he relents to his mother’s pressures and begrudgingly commits himself to their schemes.

Ghanima and Leto race to the cleft to escape the Laza tigers’ reach. Ghanima’s robe snags on a ledge, and the tigers maul her leg before she frees herself and falls into the cavern. Leto stabs his knife through the opening and kills one of the tigers. Ghanima kills the second tiger with her knife and incurs another injury along her arm. Leto binds her wounds, taking care to make it look as if Ghanima had done the job herself. Everything has gone according to the twins’ plan. Ghanima and Leto agree to separate and painfully break the bond they have shared all their lives. Leto rides a worm and heads toward Jacarutu while Ghanima conditions her mind to believe that Leto has died, thereby allowing her to pass the interrogations of the Truthsayers. She heads toward Tabr to report her brother’s death.

Farad’n holds counsel with Tyekanik and his mother to decide on whether they will accept Duncan Idaho’s request to harbor Lady Jessica in their palace. Farad’n believes that Jessica is a dangerous but valuable object of exchange. They also believe the rumors that Duncan is no longer beholden to Alia. Farad’n comments that the stillsuits, once the vital garb for Fremen survival, no longer hold importance, and that the Atreideses have made life on Arrakis “soft and easy” (290). He believes this information is a key to their defeat.

Ghanima makes her way back to Tabr and spies a couple near the sietch entrance. The man, a Fremen named Palimbasha, holds a device in his hands that reveal him to be the traitor who unleashed and controlled the Laza tigers. Ghanima, with the full conviction that her brother died during the tigers’ attack, kills Palimbasha with a poisoned dart. She sneaks up on the woman, Muriz, and holds her at knifepoint, determined to find out how deep the conspiracy goes.

On Salusa Secundis, Farad’n questions Jessica and Duncan as they are bound to chairs with a shigawire that will cut them against the slightest pressure. Farad’n informs them of Leto’s death, yet Jessica senses that there may be more to the story. Rumors suggest that Ghanima was a hostage and taken under Alia’s custody in exchange for Sietch Tabr to be declared a neutral zone. Fighting erupts between the desert Fremen and the Imperial Military Fremen in a burgeoning civil war.

The Bene Gesserit formally accuse House Corrino of the assassination of Leto II, and Farad’n declares he took no part in the stunt and disapproves of his mother’s ploys. Jessica informs him that both she and Duncan have severed their loyalties to Alia and can be trusted. Duncan computes that the Bene Gesserit expect House Corrino to execute Duncan and Jessica, and that the sisterhood have all along vied for control over Ghanima and Farad’n, as both are products of their millennia-long breeding program. Jessica admits that she was unaware of the Bene Gesserit’s trick to remove her. Farad’n mentions a plan to have Alia be his bride in exchange for Duncan’s and Jessica’s deaths. Duncan twitches, causing the shigawire to cut at his wrist. When Farad’n offers to keep Jessica but return Duncan back to Alia, Duncan intentionally flexes and severs an artery which Farad’n’s medics quickly dress. Jessica deems Duncan’s behavior foolish, and he responds that she has no idea how tired he is.

Jessica and Farad’n strategize how they can best deal with the political upheaval and come to a compromise. Jessica promises to publicly declare that House Corrino did not abduct her, and that she lives in their palace of her own free will. Farad’n agrees to denounce and banish his mother for the assassination in exchange for Jessica’s instruction in the Bene Gesserit arts. Farad’n has long studied and copied the ways of the Atreides family. Having a Bene Gesserit of his own, such as Paul had, delights him.

Leto rides a giant sandworm in the Fremen style by climbing upon the creature and attaching his Maker hooks into its folds to steer its movements. He recalls the self-hypnosis that Ghanima performed to convince herself of his death and reminds himself that the only words to break her spell are “Secher Nbiw,” the ancient words for “Golden Path” (315). Leto thinks about Stilgar and thanks the Fremen for instructing him on how to ride the worms and telling him the old legends of Jacarutu. Leto has not told Ghanima the entirety of his vision of the Golden Path but believes it is the only way to break the cycle of violence that accompanies the worship of his father. Leto prays and thanks the planet Arrakis for its strength and beauty. He makes a reference to “a terrible glove” (319) that will restore the balance of Fremen traditions to the ways of life before the Imperium’s invasion.

Farad’n spies on Duncan and Jessica from the same surveillance room that Tyekanik used to oversee the Laza tigers’ training. Farad’n repeatedly puzzles over Duncan’s attempt to take his life and wonders if there were motives other than his failed marriage to Alia. He calculates that his Sardaukur forces—elite warriors trained on Salusa Secundis—will need more time before they can match the skill and might of the Fremen, though the civil war has helped his cause. Farad’n has also been closely monitoring the changes on Arrakis and studying the Atreides manner of rule. He remarks that the traditional sietch ways followed by the older Fremen no longer seem important to the younger generation. Farad’n wishes that Leto were still alive to answer his questions about the Fremen, and he wonders if Ghanima will explain her past to him.

The day of the Kwisatz Haderach is a holiday in celebration of Paul Atreides as a god. This year, it is also the 28th day of official mourning for the death of Leto Atreides II. The Preacher enters the plaza and proclaims that institutionalized religion has made the people into cowards and frauds. He declares that the absolute certainty of prescience is akin to death. Alia, disguised as a villager, joins the crowd. She is entranced by The Preacher’s words and wonders if he is truly Paul. The Preacher stares directly at Alia with his empty eye sockets and grabs her by the arm. He calls her “sister” under his breath and departs, leaving Alia shocked and devastated with the reality that she is utterly alone.

Duncan meets with Jessica in her room. They are aware that Farad’n’s spies are likely eavesdropping, and Jessica cannot ascertain whether Duncan is speaking sincerely or for Farad’n’s ears. Duncan renounces his loyalty to the Atreideses and recites a Fremen curse against the family. He proclaims himself a rebel member of Zarr Sadus, a group opposed to the religion of Muad’Dib that The Preacher introduced him to. Jessica contemplates killing Duncan if he gets in the way of her plans, but she leaves him unharmed and accepts his formal request to withdraw from service to the Atreides family. Duncan leaves the room satisfied with how Farad’n’s spies may have interpreted the encounter.

Leto spies a long stretch of rock deep in the desert that he believes may be the entrance to Sietch Jacarutu. The surrounding area is devoid of signs of life or water. Leto is alarmed that not even scavenger birds can be found and waits until evening to continue his investigation. At nightfall, he sees bats and a fire on a cliff and climbs the rock’s base. He is caught in a trapvine, and a mysterious Fremen announces that they have been expecting him. Leto, surprised that anyone other than Ghanima would know his plans to find Jacarutu, wonders if his grandmother is behind the encounter. The Fremen tells Leto that despite his multitude of ancestral knowledge, he still needs to be educated and this place is his school. The man also tells him his ancestors only seek death and will not instruct him on how to be a good ruler. Leto is taken below and sees the green banner of the Atreides flag.

Alia chastises her soldiers for disobeying her orders and pursuing The Preacher in public. However, she insinuates that she privately approves of them killing The Preacher but makes it known that her official public statement will be one of disapproval. The Baron supports this. Alia wishes to shut out his voice, but she has nowhere to hide.

Leto meets Namri, the father of Javid, who introduces himself as one of his schoolmasters. Namri asks a series of ancient riddles to test Leto’s knowledge of Fremen history and values. A wrong answer will result in Leto’s death. Leto answers each riddle correctly and confirms his belief that Muad’Dib’s religion has become corrupt. Namri criticizes that his answers are rote and not truly heartfelt, but allows him to live and meet the leader of their mission. Leto feels that Jessica and the Bene Gesserit are somehow responsible for this meeting.