“Dune Messiah” concludes Paul Atreides‘s story. In the novel, Frank Herbert craftily twisted his character from a hero who ended the tyranny of the Padishah Empire to a messiah figure championing a jihad that causes the death of billions of people.
“Dune Messiah” begins after the death of Baron Harkonnen and the defeat of the Sardaukar troops. Paul Atreides, heir of House Atreides, assumes the throne as the Emperor of the known universe. With the Fremen using his name as a messianic figure, a brutal jihad gets unleashed on humanity, killing about 61 billion people.
Religious indoctrination is a path if left unchecked, can lead to the worst atrocities committed. Frank Herbert extensively portrays this ideology with Paul. After “Dune,” he noticed people loved the hero and sang his praises; this led him to show the aftermath of Paul’s success. Herbert demonstrated that the famed hero became a tool the Fremen used to justify a jihad that resulted in the death of over 61 billion people. That is a humongous number to kill.
Princess Irulan becomes Queen consort, and Paul’s Fremen lover, Chani, becomes his concubine. Twelve years later, Paul gains total control over Melange’s supply; this gives him immense power over the entire universe. Unable to stop the jihad started in his name, Paul uses his prescience powers to see a doomed fate for humanity. Trying to avert the future he saw, he begins a plan to set humanity on a golden path.
The rising action begins with the Bene Gesserit, Spacing Guild, and Tleilax, who cannot stand the Emperor’s immense control over Melange. They start plotting against him, and Edric, the guild navigator, uses his prescience to prevent Paul from discovering their plans.
It seems weird that the Bene Gesserit, Spacing Guild, and the Tleilaxu were interested in killing Paul because of his control over Melange. I thought they would, at least, feel for the destruction and death caused by the Fremen. Though I am unsure if Frank Herbert meant to show this, the plotters’ conspiracy portrays hypercapitalism, which values commodities and profits over people. The Reverend Mother, Spacing Guild, Irulan, and Tleilaxu never cared about the jihad. All they wanted was to regain control over Melange so they could be on top.
The conflict begins with Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam recruiting Princess Irulan, to work with her. With Princess Irulan on their side, the group consisting of Scytale, the face dancer from the Tleilaxu, Reverend Mother Mohiam from the Bene Gesserit, and Edric from the Spacing Guild formulate a conspiracy to kill Paul Atreides.
Scytale offers an irresistible gift to Paul, Hayt, Duncan Idaho’s ghola, his childhood friend and teacher. When he accepts Hayt, his support among the Fremen wanes as the Fremen believe gholas to be unclean. With the conspirators’ plan in motion, Princess Irulan starts adding contraceptives to Chani’s food, making her unable to conceive a child for Paul.
Though Paul knows of Irulan’s deeds, he does nothing to stop her, as he had seen Chani’s death after she gave birth to his heir. Meanwhile, Chani begins a Fremen fertility diet and soon becomes pregnant with his children. She notices her unborn children’s abnormal development rate; this strains her body.
With Paul’s enemies plotting against him, Otheym, one of his former Fedaykin death commandos, reveals proof of a Fremen conspiracy. Paul sends his soldiers to attack the Fremen conspirators.
“Dune Messiah” contains so many questions about Paul’s actions. People may wonder, if he could see the future, why did he not stop the Stone Burner from blinding him? Why did he not ensure Chani never died? The answer is complex. You see, Paul had clairvoyance across space and time; this meant he could see multiple futures. His visions governed his actions. He did not stop Irulan from putting contraceptives in Chani’s food because he loved her dearly and knew she would die while giving birth to his children. He also knew if Chani lived, those plotting against him would likely kidnap and torture her to get their requests met.
The climax occurs when an atomic weapon known as a Stone Burner detonates while Paul leaves Otheym’s house, blinding him in the process.
Paul remains Emperor and continues using his prescient powers against the Fremen tradition of the blind walking into the desert to determine everything occurring around him. Bijaz implants a command into Hayt to make him kill Paul, and when Chani dies during childbirth, Hayt is triggered but reacts against his programming and recovers Duncan Idaho’s memories.
The Golden Path was never mentioned in “Dune Messiah,” but Paul Atreides knew humanity had a bleak future. Even though he was a superhuman, he still realized the dangers and bloodshed he brought to the world with the Fremen. Frank showed that though Paul was great and mighty, he still hated the darkness his religion brought so much that he chose to become blind and walk into the desert rather than live or die a martyr.
The falling action begins with Paul’s twin children being born with Kwisatz Haderach-like powers, giving them prescience. Scytale meets him with a proposal to make Chani a ghola, but when he refuses, he threatens to kill his children. The turning point occurs when Paul sees through his son’s eyes and uses his vision to kill Scytale.
The resolution occurs after Paul walks into the desert as with the Fremen tradition, after losing his prescient powers, leaving behind his children in the care of his sister, Alia, who is romantically involved with Idaho. Alia orders the execution of all the conspirators but spares Princess Irulan.
The more I think about the events of “Dune Messiah,” the more I realize that maybe Paul was not the villain. The true villains that pop up from my thoughts are the Bene Gesserit. They tinkered with forces far greater than they could imagine, and they capitalized on the best mind-control tool, indoctrination. From inventing prophecies for the Fremen to altering bloodlines, they were waiting for the perfect storm to become the ultimate power. But, was it worth it? Was the power they craved for that relevant? The “Dune” series excels at portraying the pointlessness of absolute power struggle. In the end, no one wins except death and destruction.