The remaining pages are filled with drama, suspense, and closure. Closure over the many, many years that this story encompasses. A satisfying yet too "neat" piece of closure is the killing of the Baron ghola by the Dr. Yueh ghola. Of course it is rewarding that Yueh can do "right" by his Atreides friends but just a little too predictable.
But an ear-to-ear smile came to my face at the following passage. Here's the scene: Paul, having his original life's memories pour back to him by the near-death experience, mended what had appeared to be a fatal wound given to him by Paolo with the ancient knife that had been in his possession before and had been used in an attempt to murder him before. As Paul lay weakened on the floor, Duncan, who had struck out in battle against the machines came running in.
In spite of his miraculous survival and rebirth, he still was not the perfect Kwisatz Haderach, and clearly Paolo was not, either. As Paul's vision cleared, he focused on a realization that none of them had seen -- not Omnius, Erasmus, Sheeana, nor any of the gholas.When the Oracle of Time arrives on the scene with a thousand Guild Heighliners piloted by Guild Navigators and explains that she was once Norma Cenva, she too confirms this conclusion about Duncan.
"Duncan, " he said in a hoarse voice. "Duncan, it's you!"
After hesitating a moment, his old friend came closer, this loyal Atreides fighter who had been through the ghola process more times than any other individual in history.
"You're the one they've been looking for. Duncan. It's you."
(Sandworms of Dune, p. 454)
"Duncan Idaho, you have finally come to your realization. Kwisatz Haderach, I tried to protect you. Before you, Paul Muad'Dib and his son Leto the God Emperor were imperfect prophets. Even they realized their flaws. Now through a confluence of the cosmos, the nexus of all nexuses, you have become the singularity in a bold new universe, the vital point from which everything flows outward for the rest of eternity. The hopes of humankind -- and much more -- are distilled in you."
(Sandworms of Dune, p. 458)
Duncan had lived his life repeatedly for thousands of years. Not only had the Tleilaxu tinkered with his genetics to give him abilities to fight the Honored Matres, they had combined his cells so that he retained all of his previous lives, every one of them. With all those memories, he possessed a breadth of experience and wisdom that no one could match. This Duncan Idaho had more knowledge than the most advanced Mentat or the evermind Omnius, and more understanding of human nature than even the great Tyrant Leto II.I just can't resist including all of this passage here. The story is climaxing and I want to record this so I can easily look back on it later.
(Sandworms of Dune, p. 460)
Duncan's Mentat mind burned through the data, confirming his conclusion, knowing that the Oracle of Time must be correct. "Truly, I am the Kwisatz Haderach!" He wished Miles Teg could have been there with him. "And what of the Great War -- Kralizec?"
"We are in the midst of it now. Kralizec is not merely a war, but a point of change." Her image flickered. "And you are the culmination of it."
"But what about the rest of humanity?" Murbella. "They need to know. How will they understand what has happened?"
"My Navigators will inform them, perhaps even bring their leaders here. First, however, I need to eliminate a threat that should have been gone millennia ago. An enemy I fought ten thousand years before you were first born."
The Oracle slid through the air toward the indignant-looking old man, Omnius. Facing him, she made her voice boom more loudly than the evermind's speakers ever had. "I must ensure that the thinking machines can no longer harm anyone. That was my mission ages ago, when I was merely a woman, when I invented the concept of foldspace engine, when I discovered the mind-expanding powers of melange. I shall remove you, Omnius."
(Sandworms of Dune, p. 460-461)
