Chapter 21:
More from the children's book, on how a meteor passed over the Caladan palace when Leto died. More from Muad'Dib himself, please; at least those quotes have more of a connection coming from Paul himself.
Harkonnen watches as the battle peters out, when Piter arrives and he considers how his plan next involves letting Piter become a hated figure to the locals, so Feyd Rautha can kill him and become a hero to them. Yep, definitely Magnificent Bastard now. Yueh is brought in, and Harkonnen obeys the letter of his agreement: Wanna is long dead, so he's Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves and Piter stabs Yueh in the back to join her. But Yueh has time for a Dying Moment of Awesome, referring to his plan very vaguely so Harkonnen is left off-kilter with no idea what to watch out for.
Leto is brought in, still a bit drugged which is described very evocatively. Harkonnen keeps being Magnificent by refusing to accept that No One Could Survive That! when informed of a sandworm probably getting Paul and Jessica. Plus, either Hawat, Halleck, or Idaho escaped in an ornithopter. My money's on Halleck, as the one with the most fleshed-out backstory.
Leto starts to recover and Harkonnen asks him where Paul and Jessica are, having already deduced that they'd recruited help from the Fremen and that's the most likely place. A bit more High Octane Nightmare Fuel as Harkonnen and Piter discuss burning him with tallow, the effectiveness coming from not knowing where the next burn will be, while Harkonnen justifies it to himself by seeing himself as a carnivore whose duty is to rule over the helpless rabbits by any means necessary. Huh, sounds kind of like the Bene Gesserit humans and animals idea, doesn't it? Screw You, Elves!.
Leto bites on the poison tooth, and Piter is affected first, haivng been right next to him. Except Harkonnen has had one of those personal shields on, and Piter's reaction is enough to get him to run out of the room and seal the door. And now Yueh is completely The Woobie: he betrays everything for a woman who was already dead, his ingenius plan for revenge completely fails by pure chance, and he gets to be remembered as a despicable villain even in children's songs. Well, at least he screwed over Harkonnen's plans for his nephew.
A Sardaukar colonel arrives, and Harkonnen considers how they're the big potential Spanner in the Works, as he has no real hold over them and they could easily defeat his personal guards if they ever wanted to. He insists on verifying that Leto is dead before they've gotten a chance to fix the room up, meaning it will get out how narrow Harkonnen's escape was. And while considering how screwed he is, Harkonnen also lets us know that at least those attacks on their secret spice stores Leto talked about were successful. He heads into Xanatos Speed Chess, considering who else he can use to make Feyd Rautha a hero, but first he asks for a drugged male sex slave who looks like Paul. And there it is. Thank you, 1960s values.
edited 12th Sep '10 1:06:50 PM by Eegah
The Ant King
Twisted Mentats probably aren't that easy to come by, so Yueh did do good with that.
Kill all math nerds
Chapter 22:
The package contained stillsuits and a new gizmo called a stilltent, which Paul and Jessica are now using as they hole up with Idaho. So apparently he was the one that got away, though I do hope the other two are still alive somehow. Idaho had been flying the ornithopter in that cliffhanger, a nice resolution that doesn’t feel like a cheat at all. Plus, it’s more development for Paul, as his Sherlock Scan skills have surpassed even Jessica as he was able to tell the whole time Idaho was flying it.
Yueh’s letter tells them that Leto is dead by now, and Paul is disturbed to find himself The Stoic, wondering why he isn’t having an emotional reaction to it. It seems this is part of being the Kwisatz Haderach. He’s also taken charge and planned to hide out in the desert rather than try to find other survivors. They have a radio, and hear that the Sardaukar have attacked the Spacing Guild bank in Atreides uniforms, leaving the Guild against them so they’re stuck on the planet. Plus, the Fremen have been paying off the Guild not to spy on them, which is why they couldn’t get that satellite.
And then the Wham Line: also in the package was a manual on the Fremen, and Jessica finds a constellation that’s the equivalent of the Big Dipper they call The Mouse…or in their language, Muad’Dib. Paul tells her about Leto’s trust for her in quite a Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming and Tearjerker: “He wanted you to know he always trusted you completely, always loved you and cherished you. He said he would sooner have mistrusted himself and he had but one regret-that he never made you his Duchess.”
All of a sudden, Paul finds himself tapped into the Kwisatz Haderach awareness, able to not only see the future, but all possible paths the future can take based on his actions. It’ll be interesting to see how the story handles this, as it would seem to destroy any possibility of suspense. Then it’s back to facing his new lack of emotions…which he gets angry about. Um, okay. He accuses his mother of not caring about him as a person, just as a possible prophecy fulfillment, along with another Hilarious in Hindsight: “It’s here. In me. It goes on and on and on and on.” This is also where he talks about the sleeper awakening, though not with the Memetic Mutation phrase I titled this thread with. Maybe that’s only in the movie.
Paul has also realized that after spending so much time inhaling the natural spice in the air, their bodies are now entirely dependent on it, and they’re stuck on Arrakis even if the Guild would help them. And given the whole future seeing thing, he knows she’s pregnant, and also where they can find a band of Fremen the Bene Gesserit have prepared for their arrival. But it also goes into the past, so he’s seen that Jessica is Harkonnen’s daughter, her mother being another Bene Gesserit who seduced him. And seeing as this was decades before anyone knew the line Luke, I Am Your Father, I’m sure it was even more shocking at the time. Apparently their plan to marry her daughter to a Harkonnen wasn’t above a little Brother–Sister Incest. But instead she had a son, and now Paul himself is a new Spanner in the Works: something even beyond the Kwisatz Haderach, born before his predicted time. And he doesn’t want any of the Bene Gesserit to know it until it’s too late to stop him doing whatever his purpose is. That should be one hell of a Screw You, Elves!, and I can’t wait. And with this epiphany, he also gets access to his emotions again and properly mourns his father.
So that’s book one, and one hell of an ending chapter. Hard to believe it’s only a third of the way through the book with all that’s happened, but hopefully that means things get even better from now on.
edited 12th Sep '10 5:26:54 PM by Eegah
Who Am I?
What, no shout out to Leto for his final Crowning Momentof Awesome?
The Baron is depicted perfectly. Not over the top evil, but almost a Tony Soprano figure long before there was a Tony Soprano. Like he wants to be a cartoon villain, but little things keep going wrong, keeping him from enjoying his moment.
Chapter 22 is very key. It's the functional equivalent of when Frodo sat on the throne, and saw the Eye of Sauron. A secondary character has become the primary one (this is a coming of age story after all) while all the characters he previously depended on have fallen away. He knows he has to make a huge sacrifice, and once he accepts this, everything becomes clear, and the plot takes a new form. Like Herbert was reading Joseph Campbell. I wonder if there was any direct influence?
Note that Paul was angry about not feeling any grief over his father's death, not an inability to feel anything (he cant mourn until he accepts his destiny). Note also an interesting theory that Herbert is suggesting here: war is a human evolutionary adaptation at the species level which ensures periodic mixing of the gene pool. This impulse makes itself felt through a kind of psychic racial unconsciousness, and Paul can now access this consciously (what he calls his "sense of terrible purpose"). Herbert is proposing that everything we do is driven by our role in a larger ecosystem that we are never fully aware of. Go back over some of the more pithy one liners and see if this helps them make more sense.
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."
It turns out the Lynch film is available to watch instantly on Netflix, so I just watched the part covering book one. Which takes up more than half of the total runtime so I imagine the rest of the book is compressed as hell, and the part I saw already wasn't exactly friendly to people who hadn't read it.
Most notable is that about half the pronounciations I've been assuming are wrong (at least I imagine the film uses the correct pronounciations, since Herbert was still alive to advise on them). Among these: both Arrakis and Harkonnen having the stress on the first syllable rather than the second, Mapes as "Mah-pays," Kynes as "Key-nays," and Bene Gesserit with a hard "G." Though the one that I'll defend is Yueh as "Yoo-ay" rather than the supposedly correct "Yoo-ee." Just look at the word and tell me which one looks more appropriate!
Most actors were adequate, none I'd call good, but Dean Stockwell and Brad Dourif were both huge disappointments. Constant Dull Surprise throughout their entire roles, despite both having material you'd think they could really sink their teeth into. And the portrayal of Harkonnen was just horrible; even with all the descriptions of how fat he is, I don't recall once reading about how his face is covered in huge boils, much less their being lanced by a guy who finds the work erotic. Along with removing all the stuff about his excellent Xanatos Gambits, it just leaves him as a thoroughly repulsive and unsubtle villain on par with Quaritch from Avatar.
Book 2: Muad'Dib
Chater 23:
Irulan brings up another personal story, about how the Emperor had a Villainous Breakdown at the news of how Leto died, given its implications that even royalty can be easily wiped out. She's also a Bene Gesserit herself, which I'm sure is important somehow.
There was a sandstorm during the night, so now Paul and Jessica are buried in their tent. Boy, when things go wrong. But Paul's easily able to dig them out with one of the tools Yueh left them, and also surrenders to drinking his own water much more easily than Jessica. And the tent collapses small enough that he can pull it out and take it along. The "pillars of fire" are elaborated as a trick of the sunrise in this area, so that note was telling Leto where they would go. So presumably it was still in his pocket, and Harkonnen could find it. And hey, here come the ornithopters. Nice Job Breaking It, Hero, if Yueh can be called that.
Chapter 24:
This time it's a quote from Leto through Muad'Dib, about truth being the basis for all morality. Paul and Jessica are going to be trying to get the truth out now, after all.
Yes, Hawat is alive! He was in a border town when the attack came and escaped into the desert with some of his men, and still thinks Jessica was the traitor. Okay, seriously, there is no point to the guessing games anymore! Now he's met a Fremen, who tells him Halleck also survived and is with a group of smugglers, on his way off the planet. Hello, Chekhov's Gunman. The Fremen gives him directions, including a Last-Second Word Swap with "worm." No idea what that's about.
The discussion turns to Hawat's wounded men, as they don't have stillsuits and there isn't enough water for everyone. Hawat hems and haws for a good while, trying to make an alliance for a future attack, but the Fremen keeps insisting this needs to be dealt with first. He knows that Leto is dead, but nothing else, so Hawat still wants to get back at Jessica. And the plot cul-de-sac goes on.
Suddenly, things get awesome again as the Fremen off-handedly reveals that his tribe killed a hundred Sardaukar while losing only two of their own, to get their hands on one of the cannons used in the attack. And three other Sardaukar were captured alive, all causing Hawat to lament not hooking up with these guys sooner. Finally, Hawat hits upon saying he's devoted to the water of Paul, which instantly gets the Fremen on his side.
But one of Hawat's men chooses that precise moment to die, so four other Fremen drop from the Ceiling Cling they've been in this whole time and take the body away to drain it. The Values Dissonance almost wrecks the alliance right there, but Hawat manages to get his men to see they'll all live this way, and get the chance for revenge.
A Harkonnen patrol arrives, so the Fremen sends out a messenger bat and tells everyone to just wait. Soon a few Fremen across the valley act as decoys, so a bunch more can jump out and curb stomp the Sardaukar without damaging the ornithopter. I'm seeing these guys as pretty much a Planet of Hats for Crowning Moment Of Awesome, so I'll only pass those out for something really big. And what do you know, here's one right now, as more Sardaukar arrive and those same Fremen make a kamikaze attack with the ornithopter they just stole. But apparently things had just been getting too upbeat, as a ton more Sardaukar still come down and the Fremen Hawat's been talking to is killed, and Hawat himself is shot with what I can only hope is a stunning blast. Though by all rules of storytelling, he and Jessica do have to meet one more time to make amends with each other in what could be a very moving scene, so I'm not too worried.
edited 13th Sep '10 11:29:06 AM by Eegah
Err, actually Hawat's mistrust of Jessica despite everyone else knowing who the traitor was is a rather important plot point, so the musing about it isn't quite as pointless as it may seem.
Chapter 25:
Irulan nicely tells us the limitations of Paul's powers, as even with all his future-seeing there's still always the possibility of some little thing happening to change it, plus he's determined never to take the easiest course and let his mission stagnate.
Once again, the cliffhanger of an ornithopter heading for Paul and Jessica is resolved by it being Idaho. That's a little annoying, though at least Kynes is also there so it's not a complete repeat. There's still Sardaukar chasing them, but Idaho gets his own Crowning Moment Of Awesome as he's left a shield on behind them, causing a subatomic fusion explosion when they shoot, with the bonus that this will make other patrols more hesitant to use their guns. Those have really been racking up lately.
They head into a Fremen cave, where Kynes is impressed enough by Paul to make a full Heel–Face Turn. Inside is one of the ecological testing centers that Leto had ordered, and Paul swears to use it to improve the planet. Though the radar scrambling equipment isn't working, so we can expect more Sardaukar before too long.
They go into an office with an escape route in the back, and Paul starts arguing and freaking Jessica out at alienating an ally like this. But he gains Kynes' respect by it, and comes up with a plan to let the Emperor put a Harkonnen back in power on Arrakis before blackmailing him with the evidence of the plot, forcing him to make Paul his heir rather than send the whole of humanity into war. Kynes has his own plan, but Paul wins him over by apologizing for accidentally insulting his honor...which may have been the whole point; the kid's well on his way to becoming a Guile Hero now.
The Sardaukar attack, and Idaho is killed to buy time for the others. They head down the secret passage, where somehow the lights that lead the way out are put out by people passing them. Kynes stays behind to buy more time, though hoping to claim that he was a prisoner rather than fighting. Odds aren't too good of that working out with the Anyone Can Die turn things have taken.
Paul and Jessica reach an ornithopter and plan to lose the patrol in a nearby storm, though first Paul has to get over having no vision of the immediate future, having quickly come to rely on his prescience too much for his own good. The process of taking off is described in more detail than is probably appropriate, given that it's mostly tech gibberish and we just want to get to the chase scene. Luckily, that part is pretty good, with Paul struggling to stay high enough in the storm that the sand won't slice them to pieces. And once they're in, they have no choice but to stay until the storm dissipates, both using the earlier "Fear is the mind-killer" speech as a Survival Mantra. And despite that enticing cliffhanger, I really hope we catch back up with Kynes next. This time I really am concerned that he might not survive his little subterfuge.
edited 13th Sep '10 7:49:38 PM by Eegah
X_X
@Your response to the movie: Yep. That's what lulz are for, and the Lynch movie supplies some great lulz. In my opinion, the best performance in that entire film was delivered by the cat. You could just see his inner monologue: "WTF box and food tied to my back. Kitty bored and want food."
Also relevant: Both films were hilariously bad at portraying Idaho's death. If you thought him pulling a Leeroy Jenkins into a pack of Sardaukar (read: human cheese grater) was cringe-worthy, in the 2000 version, he is killed when a patrol ornithopter shoots a missile at the sietch he is standing right in front of, and he decides to engage it in a staring contest instead of running like hell.
The character was my first target of PSL ever, and I had an avatar of him for quite a while. Having him be brought back to life and cloned 4857289725674643 times is the PSL equivalent of winning the lottery.
edited 13th Sep '10 11:21:07 PM by harmattane
Ce ne pas un post.
Chapter 26:
Unfortunately, the server ate the post I made while reading the chapter. Suffice to say, it's plenty more of Harkonnen being a Magnificent Bastard, planning to lure the captured Hawat into a Heel–Face Turn with a fail-safe of a poison that only needs to be given once so he'll have to keep getting the antidote from them, plus setting up his Dumb Muscle other nephew Rabban in Piter's place in his plan for Feyd-Rautha. The latter even includes orders to take hostages from all the minor nobles on the planet to keep their official story the only one anyone knows, and building a private collection of spice to replace the destroyed stores on Giedi Prime, which both helps Harkonnen and will make Rabban more hated among the locals, all the better for when Feyd-Rautha dethrones him. Unfortunately, there's also more Depraved Homosexual at the end with Harkonnen even lusting after his own nephew; thankfully David Lynch at least had the good sense to take that out, at least in the part of the film I've seen.
Though there's also two notable chinks in his armor: things are going so well that he lets himself believe No One Could Survive That! and Paul and Jessica were killed by the storm (as he wouldn't believe in his last appearance and even in the beginning of this chapter) and still considers the Fremen Beneath Notice even when Rabban tells him all the badassery they've gotten up to lately. There's some Didn't See That Coming for you.
edited 14th Sep '10 5:13:27 PM by Eegah
Chapter 27:
“At the age of fifteen, he had already learned silence.” Not sure what I’m supposed to learn from that one.
Paul uses his new senses to steer into an updraft in the storm, and they’re shot out the top of it. Jessica’s reaction lets us know this was after four hours of struggling to keep the ornithopter steady, so I’d say that earns another Crowning Moment Of Awesome. I’m really trying not to hand those out easily; it’s just that there’s so much awesome stuff in book two so far. But it’s still heavily damaged, so Paul has to land it and conveniently let a passing sandworm take care of the evidence.
It’s a bad landing thanks to one of the wings breaking off, so they have to get out very quickly and head to a rock tower where the sandworms won’t get them. And hey, there’s what’s very likely the inspiration for Tremors! After seeing just how big they can be up close, Paul looks out to the desert and recognizes it from his vision, though we’re reminded that Idaho was there too. So his dream visions also aren’t completely reliable, handy for keeping us involved in the story.
After a long description of them traveling through the night, they stop to eat some energy capsules and Paul reminds Jessica to drink all the water her stillsuit puts out, as it will retain more energy inside her body. For someone more interested in people than technology, Herbert sure did put a lot of thought into how these suits work, and it all makes perfect sense. They’ve now got four kilometers of open desert to cross, so Paul brings out another tool from the kit, a “thumper” that makes loud noises against the sand to distract any worms. I wish we’d heard about this earlier; it comes off as a bit Deus ex Machina.
As they make preparations, Jessica wishes they had suspensors to carry their weight, but then figures they probably attract the sandworms like shields. That’s some likely Foreshadowing, with how Harkonnen always wears one. Paul slides down the rock, accidentally causing an avalanche that buries Jessica, and we get an odd sort of Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming where despite all he’s just learned about controlling his emotions, he’s initially completely freaked out and has to consciously calm himself back down to dig her out. Jessica survives through another meditation trick, but they’ve lost most of the stuff Yueh left them. Goodbye Bag of Holding, just when it was starting to wear out its welcome.
Or not, as Paul MacGyvers up a chemical reaction in his paracompass that sends a shaft of foam down to where the pack is. At least it’s a long, complicated progress that even involves burying Jessica again to get equal pressure they can pull the pack through. After a bit more Scenery Porn, Jessica says she needs to teach him control over his muscles,presumably the same technique she used to get past that palm scanner, so this kind of thing won’t happen again. And so he’ll end up even more badass for the final battle, of course.
edited 15th Sep '10 7:08:18 AM by Eegah
The Ant King
It was also the inspiration for the song Weapon of Choice.
Kill all math nerds
Who Am I?
This is where the book finally begins earning it's status as a Sci-Fi classic. Up until now someone could have made a good argument that the story so far is simply Machiavelli fictionalized and set in a science fictiony setting. But now the setting begins actually driving the plot, with the planet becoming a type of character in it's own right. The symbolism of their passage through the desert storm is too obvious to analyze, their ability to manage the sandworm foreshadows the relationship they eventually develop with the Fremen, and the relationship between mother and son highlights the changes that Paul is experiencing.
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."
Chapter 28:
Muad'Dib bemoans how living on Caladan made his family soft and unprepared for the Xanatos Speed Chess they've been facing. Can't really argue.
Time to catch up with Halleck, who discovers the smuggler he escaped with is actually Staben Tuek, the son of the man who appeared at the dinner party and was killed a chapter later. Good to see there was a point to him after all. He invites Halleck and his men to stay with them, but forbids any immediate action against the Harkonnens thanks to their contract with the Spacing Guild. Halleck isn't too happy, particularly when he hears Rabban's taking over; it was Rabban who killed Halleck's family.
Halleck releases his men to do whatever they want while he stays to deal with Rabban, despite Tuek continuing to convince him to take the Best Served Cold route. He eventually agrees, but keeps pressing for details about the Fremen. But Tuek talks him out of it and Halleck decides to stay with him, hoping his men will follow him though he still doesn't want to order them. And naturally delaying his inevitable reunion with Paul, though that'll just make it all the more emotional.
As Halleck leaves, we see that they're in a huge cave system artificially carved out of the rock, complete with natural air circulation, and fully stocked with weapons. Now that's something I'd like to see onscreen. One of his men is doomed, so Halleck plays a song about a soldier's wife waiting for his return. Though I'm really not too moved by this one; we're on enough plot threads now that such a minor part of one as this doesn't quite register.
edited 15th Sep '10 2:05:30 PM by Eegah
I just checked out part one of the miniseries. Much more accessible to the average viewer, but some horrible casting wrecks most of it. Especially Paul; why didn't they just hire Hayden Christensen himself and have done with it? Plus, I was really annoyed at how three of Leto's great actions to establish him as a worthy ruler were taken away: Jessica orders that the demeaning towel wringing ritual is stopped, Paul comes up with the plan to legally put the screws to the locals who were getting kickbacks from the Harkonnens, and the offer for the factory workers to spread the spice bonus he earned among themselves is deleted entirely.
edited 15th Sep '10 4:46:23 PM by Eegah
Chapter 29:
Irulan tells us some more about herself and her Big, Screwed-Up Family: the whole royal family soon learned to avoid any potential assassination attempts, of which she suspects some were by her father, who also brought numerous concubines who Irulan was ordered to spy on by her mother. That's one hell of a bigger picture, and probably needed with the Emperor being offpage the whole book so far.
Paul and Jessica have reached an area with grass and cacti, giving them some hope that Fremen will be nearby. After two pages of largely more Scenery Porn, Paul sets another thumper and we get details on the next step: they need to walk with an arhythmic structure to simulate natural sand movements, making the thumper's steady beat the only thing the sandworms will be interested in. So there's a quite lengthy sequence detailing how hard this is on the muscles, and having strained a calf muscle just yesterday it's pretty darn hard to read.
They reach the next rocks and head into a narrow crack, from which a sandworm tries to get at them for a bit. But the important thing is that it reeks of cinnamon, causing Paul to remember Kynes covering up some connection between the worms and spice. Some nearby Fremen set their own thumper, which Paul interprets not as saving them but calling the worm for their own purposes, something to do with one of their tools called a maker hook though he can't come up with more than that. There was another vague reference to this before; it better be leading to something good.
The Fremen have also left poles in the area showing the best way up the rocks, so they head right up after only a moment's rest. Quite a feat after all that discussion of the beating their legs just took. At the top there's a vague metaphorical scene of a hawk catching a mouse, when they're surrounded by Fremen prepared to kill them for their water. Though one of them is called "Stil," so I'm guessing it'll turn out to be Stilgar and they'll be okay.
edited 15th Sep '10 9:08:25 PM by Eegah
Those were 
Who Am I?
Frank is demonstrating how the environment is forcing Paul and his mother to adapt to it. This will be the basis of some character development later on.
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."
Plus, Feyd-Rautha has some white cardboard triangle just kind of floating behind his head. Whoever designed the costumes for this thing, I hope they've never found work again.
edited 16th Sep '10 7:05:19 AM by Eegah
Chapter 30:
A bunch of stuff on Fremen religion, including a hymn about an old man who wanders through the desert until he's killed by birds. I believe it.
Kynes has been abandoned in the desert, and hallucinates his dead father lecturing him about ecology. Oh boy, that is not how I want to go. The talk includes their plans to terraform Arrakis, which leads Kynes to realizes there's a pocket of water in the ground he's on but no way to get to it, and he also has no way to somehow use the sandworm that will be drawn to it. His father turns to the mystery of the planet's Earth-like atmosphere even in areas with no plants, and more of the Green Aesop, though it's tempered with some disturbing stuff about making law and religion the same thing for the locals. And Kynes does some Calling the Old Man Out, repeatedly telling him to shut up, and also considering the messages he sent to the Fremen to protect Paul. But then he's killed by a carbon dioxide explosion from the ground water, presumably part of what causes that atmosphere. And with one more plot thread closed off, we'll have more time to answer it eventually.
edited 16th Sep '10 9:12:57 AM by Eegah
Who Am I?
This is the scene where Arrakis rejects it's former master, because now Paul is going to fill that role.
edited 16th Sep '10 9:18:44 AM by DeMarquis
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."
Chapter 31:
Irulan questions how powerful Muad'Dib's abilities are, since his own actions in making his visions come true were so significant. Always nice to see this kind of thought put in.
Jessica hears the Fremen discussing how she and Paul might be the ones they were told to find, and then the leader questions Paul a bit, on how they might welcome fugitives from the Harkonnens. I Knew It!, it's Stilgar, and he confirms it was Paul and Jessica that Kynes told them to save. And another of the Fremen, who doesn't trust them, is the Jamis we heard about in one of the quotes a while back.
And Stilgar refuses to take Jessica, seeing nothing she could add to the sietch, which is when she Curb Stomps him. Paul disarms another Fremen in the distraction and runs into the upper areas of the cave, and Stilgar acknowledges that Jessica has shown her worth. But a bunch of his men still aren't too happy with her, so she keeps him hostage. Stilgar calls the technique she used the weirding way that was alluded to during Paul's tour of the house, and offers to let her stay in secret if she teaches the rest of them. So there's the usual working out how they can trust each other, and they finally agree.
Which is fortunate for Paul, as he was about to get caught by a Fremen right above him. That's a nice way to leave their badassery intact. It also involves Jessica revealing she's a Bene Gesserit, which of course is part of the Mahdi prophecy. Oh good, I was missing that. Plus a nice bit of Jessica freaking Stilgar out with a bit of information she'd gleaned from Kynes earlier; apparently the Bene Gesserit do a bit of headology as well. She advises them to see to the man Paul disarmed, who is actually Jamis. So, was that the duel the quote talked about? Kind of a letdown, but we have plenty of plot already.
Paul comes down at Jessica's command only, and meets the one who was about to get him: Kynes' daughter Chani, who's also the girl from his dreams way back at the beginning. Quite the Wham Episode we've got going here. Everyone has their final reconcilliation, and Paul and Jessica get the sietch's kerchiefs, though no weapons yet. Well, they did just demonstrate they can get by pretty well on their own. Jessica makes sure they know about Paul's job gabbar test to get him the proper respect, but it's quickly passed over as everyone gets their jobs for the trip back. Jessica narrates the full meaning of the word sietch; it's not just a tribe but a meeting place in dangerous times. But she still admires everyone on the march and Lampshades how this is the first chapter in book 2 that's ended on something of an upbeat note.
X_X
Plus, Feyd-Rautha has some white cardboard triangle just kind of floating behind his head.and hallucinates his dead father lecturing him about ecology. Oh boy, that is not how I want to go.However, I have never thought what is in the quoted text. I laughed out loud reading.
edited 16th Sep '10 9:58:36 PM by harmattane
Ce ne pas un post.
Chapter 20:
Muad'Dib says on Arrakis you need to do the best you can with what you have, or something. It's a really tortured metaphor compared to the earlier sayings.
We get a bit of Anachronic Order as we're now back to right as the attack starts. A Sardaukar finds Yueh and Leto, and takes charge of things. Yueh heads outside where he slips the ring into the package he'd prepared earlier, which also has a note explaining the whole thing. And that's it; the chapter's just three pages and is mostly internal monologue, all of which we could have easily surmised happened from the couple chapters before. It's nicely written and adds to Yueh's woobieness, but I'm really far more interested in Paul and Jessica right now.