Dune

When Leto and Paul discuss the assassination attempt, Paul defends Thufir Hawat. Leto refuses Hawat’s resignation. At a staff meeting, Leto reflects on another pressing matter: The Harkonnens have sabotaged the spice mining equipment, leaving House Atreides in a difficult position. Despite the immense value of spice, House Atreides may need to spend a fortune and wait years before they turn a profit. Given their lack of support, the Duke plans to recruit the Fremen to bolster his forces. He refers to their potential help as “desert power” (124). The meeting is interrupted by the arrival of Duncan Idaho, one of Leto’s most trusted officers. Having liaised with the Fremen, Idaho introduces a Fremen leader named Stilgar. After a stiff introduction, Leto offers his respect to the Fremen traditions. He orders Idaho to stay with Stilgar, serving as an ambassador to the Fremen. At the end of the meeting, Leto orders his men to search for the abandoned botanical stations that are scattered across the planet’s surface. Leto will ask for more information from Dr. Kynes, the planet’s ecologist and the Judge of Change appointed by the Emperor to oversee the transition from Harkonnen to Atreides rule. Paul notices that his father is beginning to behave like a “caged animal” (134).

Leto meets with Hawat to discuss the possibility that there is a traitor in House Atreides. Hawat has evidence that suggests that Lady Jessica may be the traitor but worries that this may be an elaborate Harkonnen plot. Leto agrees, but they decide to feign suspicion of Jessica in hope that the real traitor will reveal themselves. Hawat also mentions the Fremen’s increasing belief that Paul fits their prophecy of a chosen one as he adheres to the “familiar messiah pattern” (139). When Hawat departs, Leto thinks about the terrible and beautiful planet he now calls home.

Leto tells Paul about his plan to feign suspicion of Jessica. He does so just in case Paul ever needs to tell his mother the truth about Leto’s recent treatment of her. Paul recognizes Leto’s exhaustion and sympathizes with his father’s explanation of why he never married Jessica. Leto believes that the time House Atreides spends on Arrakis will refine the family’s morals and ethics but cost them their self-respect.

Paul and Leto meet Dr. Kynes. As a person with Fremen ancestry, Kynes notices how “precisely” (146) Paul fits the Fremen’s prophecy about a messiah, especially when Paul seems naturally adept at fitting his own stillsuit. Leto, Paul, Kynes, and Gurney use a flying machine called an ornithopter to visit a spice mining rig. During the flight, they discuss the ecology of Arrakis, the maliciousness of the Harkonnens, and the sandworms that are large enough to destroy a spice mining rig. They arrive at a rig just in time to see it try to avoid a sandworm attack. However, the machines break, leaving the rig vulnerable to the sandworm. Leto insists that they rescue the men on the rig rather than allow the sandworm to kill them. He lands the ornithopter, rescues the men, and escapes just in time. Paul sees two Fremen fleeing the scene. Privately, Kynes decides that Leto is worthy of his respect.

As Leto prepares for a banquet thrown by Lady Jessica, he thinks about a cruel Harkonnen tradition that involves selling wastewater to the people of Arrakis. He issues an order that, during the banquet, water will be given to anyone who needs it. At the dinner, he observes Paul’s diplomatic manner and believes that his son is destined to be a good Duke. He also watches a man named Esmar Tuek, a spice smuggler. Thanks to her Bene Gesserit abilities, Jessica knows that Tuek can be bribed into helping them escape from Arrakis if needed. She also recognizes that a banker at the dinner is a Harkonnen agent. The banker’s references to the Duke’s emergency escapades earlier in the day agitate an already angry Leto. When the banker begins talking about the cannibalistic birds of Arrakis, Paul gently mocks the banker and asks whether he would ever eat his own kind. The banker replies by mocking the Fremen custom of preserving the water from a dead body. Jessica notices that the banker is “terrified of Kynes” (189), while the smuggler appears to be Kynes’ ally.

As the conversation turns to the question of whether Arrakis can ever be more habitable, the Duke is called away on urgent business, and Paul takes over hosting duties. Paul, also aware of the banker’s loyalty to the Harkonnens, tells stories about traitors in a thinly veiled joke. The other guests steer the conversation away from causing any offense. As Jessica discusses the rumor of a huge spice reserve in a dangerous area, Leto sends a message: He assures his guests that all is well, and a spice mining rig has been found. He blames a Harkonnen spy for hijacking the machine. Paul compliments his father’s ability to deal with any issue, but Jessica worries about her son’s boasts.

That night, Jessica is woken by the sound of Duncan Idaho drinking heavily. She cannot calm him down, not even with the help of Dr. Yueh. Idaho drunkenly accuses Jessica of being a Harkonnen spy. After sending Idaho to his room, Jessica confronts Thufir Hawat. She chooses not to reveal her “trump” (208): that she is pregnant with Duke Leto’s daughter and therefore could not possibly be a traitor. Instead, they consider the other suspects. They rule out Idaho, Gurney, and Yueh. Jessica discusses her Bene Gesserit powers and Hawat’s Mentat abilities. Although Hawat never entirely rejects the idea that Jessica is a spy, he cannot help but admire her.

After receiving a cryptic message, Leto decides to tell Jessica why he has treated her coldly in recent days. On his way to find her, he discovers the dead body of Esmar Tuek. Nearby, the Shadout Mapes mumbles a few words then dies of a stab wound. Leto is hit in the neck by a poisoned dart. He collapses but does not lose consciousness. Yueh reveals himself as the traitor while Leto is paralyzed. As well as poisoning the Duke, Yueh has lowered the shields in preparation for the Harkonnen attack. However, he has a plan to assassinate the Baron. Yueh explains that he will replace one of the Duke’s teeth with a fake tooth containing a poison capsule. When the Baron is near the Duke, the Duke must bite down hard and release the poison directly into the Baron’s face. Leto will die, but he will take the Baron with him. In return, Yueh promises to save Paul and Jessica by sending them to live with the Fremen. Leto loses consciousness.

Jessica wakes up in the dark. Realizing she is tied up, she pretends to be asleep. Baron Harkonnen enters, carried by the “portable suspensors” (224) that lift his massive weight. He knows that she is awake. Jessica realizes that Yueh is the traitor. Piter De Vries enters; the Baron promised Jessica to him as a prize, but now the Baron offers Piter control of Arrakis instead. Piter accepts the offer, leading Jessica to realize that the Baron has considered every possibility. Jessica and Paul are placed in an ornithopter by two Harkonnen henchmen named Kinet and Czigo. As the ornithopter flies over the desert, Paul tries to use the Voice on the men. He succeeds in making one remove Jessica’s gag. This allows Jessica, who is far more adept at using the Voice, to overpower the henchmen and escape with Paul. They collect the stillsuits left for them by Yueh and escape into the desert as another ornithopter chases after them.

Earlier, Yueh is discovered with the unconscious Duke Leto by one of the Emperor’s Sardaukar guards. The Sardaukar wants the Duke’s signet ring, but Yueh insists that he does not have it. When the guard refers to Yueh as a traitor, Yueh realizes that he will have this reputation forever. He hides the stillsuits and the Duke’s ring on the ornithopter and thinks privately about how much his plan relies on Duncan Idaho. Then, he waits for the Baron’s arrival.

Baron Harkonnen arrives on Arrakis. Given his enormous size, he glides through the palace using a floating device. His soldiers fight and overpower the surprised Atreides men. Brought before the Baron, Yueh demands that the Baron complete their deal and tell him whether his wife is still alive. The Baron agrees that Yueh can join his wife, and Piter kills Yueh.

Leto, heavily drugged, is dragged before the Baron, who asks about Paul and Jessica. Piter admits that they have lost contact with Kinet and Czigo. He suspects an accident has occurred. An ornithopter is also missing. Furious, the Baron tells Piter to resolve the situation. His shouting penetrates Leto’s daze. Leto is relieved that Paul and Jessica escaped. When the Baron draws close to Leto to question him and to brag about his victory, Leto remembers the tooth. He thinks about his life and his family then bites down on the fake tooth, releasing the poison gas. The gas kills Leto, Piter, and everyone else in the room except for the Baron, who survives thanks to his shield and floating device.

After the room is vented, a Sardaukar guard demands to see Leto’s body. The Baron is angry that the Emperor will see the poison attack as a sign of weakness. Now that Piter is dead, the Baron will be forced to put his cruel and stupid nephew Glossu Rabban in charge of Arrakis. As he leaves the room, he demands food. He also orders his servants to bring him a sex slave who resembles Paul.

Paul and Jessica hide in a stilltent under the sand in the desert, told to wait there by Duncan Idaho while Idaho searches for Kynes. Jessica discusses Yueh’s betrayal. As Paul thinks about Yueh’s actions, he realizes that he is numb to his father’s death. Rather than mourn, he is meticulously plotting.

As Paul and Jessica listen to a radio, they overhear that the Sardaukar are disguising themselves as Atreides troops to attack other parts of Arrakis. Paul knows that escape from Arrakis will be impossible, so he makes a list of all the items needed to survive in the desert. Like his father, he believes that the Fremen have enormous potential as an ally. While Paul plots, Jessica reads a manual about survival on Arrakis. She believes that the Fremen’s religion suggests that they have been influenced by the Bene Gesserit. Paul tells Jessica the truth about the way Leto treated her in recent days. Jessica cries, knowing that Leto loved her. She then realizes that crying is a waste of moisture on Arrakis.

While Jessica mourns, Paul has a prophetic vision about the Fremen and the future, thanks to a combination of his years of psychic training and his proximity to the spice. He knows that his mother is pregnant with a girl, and he tells Jessica about his plan to live with the Fremen. Paul also reveals that both he and his mother are descended from Harkonnens: Jessica is the Baron’s daughter as part of the Bene Gesserit breeding program. He believes that he is something “unexpected” (272), rather than the Kwisatz Haderach. Paul lapses into another prophetic dream in which he sees an aggressive religion spreading across the universe in the name of House Atreides. He does not want to choose this future. When Jessica asks about the Fremen, Paul reveals that he will call himself the Muad’Dib, which translates to “The One Who Points The Way” (274). After, Paul finally has a moment to mourn the death of his father.