Furthermore, Paul's acceptance of the gift weakens his support among the Fremen, who see the Tleilaxu and their tools as unclean. The conspirators hope the presence of Hayt will undermine Paul's ability to rule by forcing Paul to question himself and the empire he has created. The Tleilaxu Face Dancer Scytale gives Paul a gift he cannot resist: a Tleilaxu-grown ghola of the deceased Duncan Idaho, Paul's childhood teacher and friend, now called "Hayt". Paul is aware of this fact, but has foreseen that the birth of his heir will bring Chani's death, and does not want to lose her.
Desperate both to secure her place in the Atreides dynasty and to preserve the Atreides bloodline for the Bene Gesserit breeding program, Irulan has secretly been giving contraceptives to Chani. Paul has refused to father a child with Irulan (or even touch her), but he and his Fremen concubine Chani have also failed to produce an heir, causing tension within his monarchy. The Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Mohiam has enlisted Paul's own consort Princess Irulan, daughter of the deposed Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV. The Bene Gesserit, Spacing Guild, and Tleilaxu conspire to dethrone Paul, and the Guild Navigator Edric is able to use his own prescience to shield the plot from Paul's prescient visions. Motivated by this knowledge, Paul hopes to set humanity on a course that will not inevitably lead to stagnation and destruction, while at the same time acting as ruler of the empire and focal point of the Fremen religion. Although 61 billion people have perished, Paul's prescient visions indicate that this is far from the worst possible outcome for humanity. Paul is the most powerful emperor ever known, but is powerless to stop the lethal excesses of the religious juggernaut he has created. By accepting the role of messiah to the Fremen, Paul had unleashed a jihad which conquered most of the known universe. Twelve years after the events described in Dune (1965), Paul "Muad'Dib" Atreides rules as Emperor.
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