The Reverend Mother is a Bene Gesserit superior who believes in the predetermined future—for example, she knows that nothing can be done to save Duke Leto from being killed upon his move to Caladan. However, her hints to Paul about what he must achieve to become Kwisatz Haderach—even though she doubts he is that figure—sets up a tension between the concepts of fate and free will. This scene is also the first of many in which Paul feels afflicted by an unknown “terrible purpose” of his fate.