Originally serialized in Galaxy magazine, Dune Messiah (1969) is the sequel to Frank Herbert’s epic science fiction novel Dune (1965) and the second novel in Herbert’s six-book Dune Chronicles series. Taking place in the distant future, the novel continues the saga of Paul Atreides, a powerful messianic figure who overcame a plot against his family to become Emperor of the Known Universe. As Paul endeavors to ensure the survival of humanity across the galaxy, the novel explores the nature of time and fate, the intersection of religion and government, and the social and philosophical dangers of hero worship. In 2003, Dune Messiah was adapted into a Sci-Fi Channel miniseries along with the third book in the Dune Chronicles, Children of Dune (1976). Today, the American author Herbert (1920-1986) is considered one of the most influential writers in the science fiction genre, and he received many prestigious awards over the course of his career. This guide references the 2020 mass market paperback edition of the novel published by ACE, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Plot Summary

In the year 10,208, Paul “Maud’Dib” Atreides rules as Emperor of the Known Universe. For 12 years, his Fremen warriors have waged Jihad across the galaxy, subjugating worlds and spreading the indigenous religion of their desert planet Arrakis, aka “Dune,” where Paul is worshiped as a messiah. Paul is also the kwisatz haderach, the result of a centuries-long selective breeding program by the Bene Gesserit, an exclusive sisterhood, to produce a powerful, prescient male.

As Emperor, Paul controls production of spice, a psychoactive substance created by the sandworms on Arrakis. Also called melange, spice is highly addictive, lucrative, and essential to interstellar travel. Paul feels trapped by fate; the Jihad carried out in his name has killed billions, yet he knows from his visions that alternate futures threaten the destruction of all humanity.

Paul’s unchecked power threatens the goals of the Bene Gesserit, an esoteric-political sisterhood seeking human perfection; the Spacing Guild, which has a monopoly on interstellar travel; and the Bene Tleilax, a secretive order that trades in genetic manipulation. The Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam conspires against Paul with Edric, a Guild navigator, and Scytale, a Tleilaxu Face Dancer able to change his appearance at will. Edric’s spice-induced prescience shields them from Paul’s own oracular powers. The conspirators convince Paul’s consort, the Princess Irulan, to join them. Irulan is the daughter of the deposed Emperor and a Bene Gesserit sister: Her marriage to Paul is purely political, meant to secure his claim to the throne. Irulan longs to establish her place in the new dynasty by bearing Paul’s heir, which will also preserve Paul’s genes for the Bene Gesserit’s goals. Paul is solely devoted to his Fremen lover, Chani, whom Irulan secretly feeds contraceptives. Paul knows this but does not interfere as he has had visions of Chani’s death in childbirth.

Serving as Guild ambassador to the Emperor, Edric presents Paul with a Tleilaxu ghola, or replicated human, made from the corpse of Paul’s childhood mentor Duncan Idaho, who died saving Paul’s life. Supposedly unable to access their past lives, gholas nonetheless retain some aspects of the personalities of their source. Unable to resist, Paul accepts the ghola, now called Hayt, who reveals that his purpose is to bring about Paul’s destruction by exacerbating Paul’s moral and philosophical dilemmas and inhibiting his ability to rule. Paul’s 16-year-old sister, Alia—who is also prescient and worshipped as a goddess—senses her brother’s growing distress and struggles with her transition to womanhood and attraction to Hayt. Like Paul, she chafes at her deification and longs for normalcy.

Meanwhile, Paul’s terraforming of Arrakis and flouting of Fremen tradition inspires Fremen traitors to join the plot against him. He learns from Irulan that the conspirators plan to steal a sandworm and attempt spice production offworld. Chani begins a traditional Fremen fertility diet and soon becomes pregnant, although the effects of Irulan’s poisoning necessitate that she eats large quantities of spice, which accelerates the pregnancy and causes life-threatening complications.

Scytale murders a young Fremen woman, Lichna, and impersonates her to infiltrate Paul’s palace. Paul is not fooled but agrees to visit Lichna’s father and his old friend, Otheym, as Scytale suggests. Paul knows the visit is a trap, but he has foreseen that he must walk into the trap to manifest the best future for humanity. At Otheym’s house, Otheym gives Paul a dwarf, Bijax—also a Tleilaxu creation—who contains all the names and plots of the Fremen traitors. Bijax never appeared in Paul’s visions, so Paul correctly suspects that Bijax is part of the conspiracy and shielded by another oracle. As Paul and Bijax depart, the house is destroyed in an atomic explosion and Paul is blinded by the radiation. According to Fremen custom, the blinded Paul should be exiled to the desert, but Paul is able to use his prescience to sense the world around him in perfect detail. Paul remains Emperor, further frightening and alienating his Fremen supporters.

Using specialized vocal intonations, Bijax implants a “compulsion” in the ghola Hayt. When Paul speaks a specific phrase, Hayt will attempt to kill him. After exposing the Fremen traitors, Paul and Chani travel to the Fremen stronghold of Sietch Tabr deep in the desert for Chani to give birth. They are accompanied by Alia, Hayt, Bijax, and Scytale, still disguised as Lichna. After Chani dies in childbirth, Paul speaks the compulsion command. Hayt’s innate loyalty is incompatible with attacking Paul, empowering Hayt to overcome the compulsion and resume his original identity as Duncan Idaho—the first ghola ever to do so. Paul goes to the birthing room to mourn Chani and is shocked to discover that Chani gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl.

Scytale reveals himself and threatens the newborns with a knife; he demands that Paul denounce his religious and political roles and transfer his wealth to the Bene Tleilax. In exchange, Scytale offers asylum and a ghola of Chani, pointing out that Duncan Idaho proves the possibility of full resurrection. Paul is tempted but knows that Duncan’s reclamation of identity was only possible through traumatic action antithetical to his true nature and does not wish this for Chani. Fully committed to the future he has manifested, Paul kills Scytale. Duncan kills Bijax.

Paul’s oracular vision vanishes, leaving him truly blind. Paul exiles himself into the desert according to Fremen tradition and is presumed dead. Paul leaves Alia as regent, and she executes the remaining conspirators. Alia begins a relationship with Duncan, who notes that Paul’s self-imposed exile ensures Fremen loyalty to his son.