From several ships landing on Arrakis to the end of
the novel
Summary
Several ships land behind Arrakis’s rocky shield wall.
The emperor has come to Arrakis, along with Baron Harkonnen and
five legions of Sardaukar. Stilgar and Paul’s plan is to wait until
a great sandstorm strikes, and then break the shield wall with atomic
weapons. Next, the Fremen will blast the noses off the spaceships
so that the vehicles cannot take off. Then the Fremen will rush
the Sardaukar, while the people of Arrakis rise up against the emperor
and his forces.
When the sandstorm hits, Halleck blows up the shield wall.
As Paul and his soldiers prepare for battle with the Sardaukar,
they receive a message from Sietch Tabr: it has been raided, and
many of its inhabitants have been killed, including Paul’s son,
Leto. Alia has been captured. Chani and Jessica were hiding out
closer to the city, so they were not at Sietch Tabr during the raid.
Meanwhile, inside the emperor’s ship, just before the
shield is attacked, the baron and the emperor discuss their plans.
Feyd-Rautha and Rabban are also members of the party, though they
are outside the ship, scouting the perimeter. The emperor presents
Alia, whom his men have captured, to the group. The emperor is enraged since
only a handful of his Sardaukar got away from old men, women, and
children, as the Fremen are such excellent fighters.
The emperor’s truthsayer, or one who detects sincerity,
is the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam. Mohiam calls Alia an abomination—Alia
has the consciousness of all reverend mothers of the past; therefore,
she knows all of Mohiam’s memories and is inside her mind. Just
as the emperor is threatening Paul, the Fremen strike, destroying
the shield wall. Alia kills the baron—who is her grandfather—with
her gom jabbar and escapes. The emperor hears reports that the Fremen
have breached the shields of his ships and have broken the ships’
noses so they cannot lift off. Shocked, the emperor and his troops
see the Fremen riding toward them on dozens of giant sandworms.
The Fremen soon defeat the Sardaukar, and Paul resumes his place
on the throne at the Arrakeen governor’s mansion. Paul sends a Sardaukar
captive as a messenger to the emperor to discuss the terms of the
emperor’s surrender. Paul, however, is worried: he still sees the
jihad ahead of him. He now accepts the fact that he is the Kwisatz
Haderach.
Chani and Jessica arrive, and then the emperor and his
entourage appear. Paul asks Thufir Hawat to come forward. The baron secretly
administered poisons to Hawat, and Hawat is near death. The emperor
has given Hawat a poisonous needle to use to kill Paul, but Hawat
refuses and dies in Paul’s arms.
The emperor threatens to command the House of Landsraad ships
to attack the Fremen, but Paul orders the representatives of the Spacing
Guild to force the House of Landsraad ships to leave. Paul threatens
that if they do not leave, Paul will destroy all the spice on Arrakis,
robbing the Guildsmen of their supply. The Guildsmen obey Paul’s
orders, angering the emperor, who is powerless without the support
of the Guild. Paul then turns his attention to the Reverend Mother
Mohiam, telling her that he refuses to do the bidding of the Bene
Gesserit or to be the cause of the jihad, which even the Bene Gesserit
do not realize is their ultimate goal.
