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Chapter 12
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Dune Messiah, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power
Religion
Guilt and Longing
Fate and Choice
Summary
Analysis
Scytale assures Edric that he came in disguise. Edric thinks it is reckless that Scytale believes his chameleon powers hide him from everything. Scytale tells Edric to push Hayt to act faster; Paul already made a bargain with the Bene Gesserit, and Scytale fears he is trying to split up the conspiracy. Edric says that the Tleilaxu made the ghola, so Scytale should know not to push him; Scytale once said to only “aim and release” the ghola. Scytale says that Hayt will act faster if he is asked about his original being. Edric worries that Hayt or Alia will suspect the Guild if he does this. Scytale reminds Edric of his supposed ability to conceal them, but Edric says he is worried about “real spies,” not oracles.
This conversation reveals that the success of the Guild’s mission is contingent on the development of the ghola’s nature. Hayt’s identity is not static; rather, he teeters between two identities, and it is unclear which is more integral to him, or which he will ultimately become. While Edric feels that Hayt’s destiny is out of his hands, Scytale feels that Hayt can be manipulated like a weapon. These contrary views—that Hayt is an organic being or an applicable formula—contribute to the duality of Hayt’s nature.
Themes
Edric recoils in agitation. Scytale is filled with revulsion for him and reflects on the incompatibility of the members of the conspiracy. Edric wonders how Scytale plans to save himself if everything goes wrong. Scytale says that people say Alia is powerful because she is beauty and pleasure united. Edric says this only enslaves people and causes revolts. Scytale reminds Edric that Alia could marry and bear a child; Edric is not “a creator” and cannot invent the future. Enigmatically, Scytale says that Dune, with its “sand blowing in the night,” is a creator.
This conversation suggests that confusing the power of prescience with the power to create is a common misconception. Scytale claims that, even if a person can see the future, this does not give them any power; the future still contains the unforeseen because new things can always be created. While this devalues the power of prescience, it also offers some hope to Paul and the Guild.
Themes
Edric feels confined and anxious. Scytale says that the Jihad lays a track in the sand, but every morning, the sand is fresh and ready for new tracks. Edric asserts that the Jihad is finite. Scytale counters that the Jihad used the Muad’Dib: it spread like a contagion of chaos and the Muad’Dib has no antidote. Fearful, Edric asks if Scytale is infected. Scytale says they all are, but then stops himself, realizing that Edric is not smart enough to understand his point.
Scytale’s image of desert sand illustrates how history and time function. Even though the Jihad seemed to take over the entire universe, in the grand scheme of things, it made no lasting impression. Like a track in the sand, the Jihad has no existence: it is simply something which occurred—and which other things will follow. Scytale suggests that each new day (the future) is always a blank slate.
Themes
Edric kicks his webbed feet. Scytale says that the Jihad will explode and scatter bits into the universe. He asserts that the Jihad is not just a religion; there are men at its center who know how to hold personal power. Edric thinks that the Atreides are not unique, and that the Guild can destroy the Jihad’s powerful men, but Scytale disagrees. He says that this body has two heads and reminds Edric that Alia will marry. He calls Edric a “toddler” and that to threaten a kwisatz haderach is to enclose oneself in the same threat; they must make the ghola act faster.
Edric believes that the Imperium is based on religion; he suggests that, as soon as the proponents of the religion are destroyed, the Guild will triumph. Scytale, on the other hand, believes the Imperium is based on a bloodline, and he foresees that Alia’s marriage is the Guild’s biggest concern. With this view in mind, Scytale wants the Guild to spur Hayt to act faster, suggesting that Hayt’s function has something to do with disrupting the Atreides’ lineage.
Themes
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