The Story of Paul Muad'dib of DUNE
Told by Princess Irulan

Welcome all to Arrakis. I am the Princess Irulan. It has been my life's work to chronicle the story of the leader known as Muad'dib - who began life with the name Paul Atreides. This is the tale we share tonight.

Paul's story begins on the planet Caladan. When Paul was 15 years old his father, Duke Leto, was given by the Emperor command of the planet Arrakis, commonly known as DUNE.

Maintaining control of Arrakis would not be easy. Beneath the sandy surface of this desert world are veins of 'Melange', commonly known as 'the Spice'. This precious substance grants long life and visionary insight to those exposed to it. Thus it has become the most precious substance in the universe.

Paul's mother, the Lady Jessica, was one of the "Bene Gesserit": an order of women with carefully developed mental and physical capabilities. In their plans and prophecies, the Bene Gesserit foretold of the 'Kwisatz Haderach' - a leader who would unite the warring tribes and build a peaceful future for all. Lady Jessica dared to wonder if her son Paul might be this heralded savior.

When the leader of the Bene Jesserit, the "Reverend Mother", tested Paul's abilities, she found that he had learned to withstand both pain and fear - for as the Bene Gesserit taught, "Fear is the mind-killer". Even as a young man, his strengths were considerable.

As Duke Leto and his family traveled to Arrakis, the planet's tyrannical leader Baron Harkonnen and his family prepared for departure. The Harkonnens and the Emperor remained fearful of Duke Leto's popularity, however. Secretly, the Emperor prepared the elite Sardaukar soldiers to join Baron Harkonnen's forces in a brutal attack against House Atreides.

The Duke knew the Harkonnens to be a threat. He also knew that Arrakis was filled with dangers; the desert wastes were infested with giant sand worms which could swallow whole armies and their equipment.

Yet the native people, the Fremen, had adapted to the planet's harsh conditions - and if befriended, the Duke believed, they could form an army just as strong as that commanded by the Emperor.

Arriving upon Arrakis, the Atreides family moved into a grand home, with stone walls enclosing gardens and comfortable rooms, safe from the heat and peril of the desert.

Yet even within their palace, dangers lurked. The family's physician, Dr. Yueh, revealed that his wife had been kidnapped by the Harkonnens. Rumors spread of traitors within the Atreides' staff.

Paul was alarmed to see a small robotic probe glide into his room. Deftly, Paul destroyed the dangerous device before it could poison him. This attack discouraged all within House Atreides; the Atreides' swordmaster Duncan Idaho even departed to live among the Fremen. Yet the Duke continued to negotiate with spice miners and spice smugglers, and to recruit Fremen warriors.

An intercepted message from Baron Harkonnen confirmed there was indeed a traitor operating within House Atreides. The Duke's head of security, Thufir Hawat, believed the traitor to be Jessica, the Duke's wife. Leto rejected the idea immediately - but he realized he must behave as if he did believe it, so the Harkonnens would assume their plot was successful.

That night the Duke called Paul into his private chamber. "If anything should happen to me," said the Duke, "Please tell your mother that I never doubted her." The next morning, Duke Leto toured a spice-mining operation. As their insect-like 'ornithopter' craft hovered over a team of spice workers, however, the group was attacked by a gigantic sandworm. At great personal risk, the Duke rescued the miners - leaving behind their precious cargo of Spice. The Duke's action was very costly, but the workers' faith in his leadership grew.

That evening the Duke returned to his castle chambers, where he felt an impact on his chest. He'd been hit by a tranquilizer dart fired by his physician, Dr. Yueh. As the Duke collapsed, alive but helpless, Dr. Yueh explained his plot. "You will soon be a prisoner of the Harkonnens. This is the only way I may rescue my wife, now held hostage by the Baron. I will arrange for Jessica and Paul to escape - but I must ask something of you in return. I will place in your mouth a false tooth of poison gas. When you are close to Baron Harkonnen, you must bite down on the false tooth and breathe the poison toward him."

At that same terrible moment, some distance away, Harkonnen soldiers seized Jessica and Paul, transporting them deep into the desert. As a member of the Bene Gesserit, Jessica had a powerful weapon at her disposal: a mysterious ability to control others using her commanding Voice. The gag in her mouth prevented her from speaking, however. Yet Paul had learned enough to use his own Voice to compel one of the soldiers to remove Jessica's gag. Jessica then directed the men to fight one another. As Paul and Jessica escaped, they discovered a kit of survival supplies left for them by Dr. Yueh.

Baron Harkonnen was pleased to have captured the Duke - pleased, but not grateful. When Dr. Yueh asked to be reunited with his wife, the Baron had Yueh put to death.

Brought before Baron Harkonnen, Duke Leto bit down on his poison tooth, releasing the poison gas. Several guards immediately fell dead - but the Baron narrowly escaped.

Deep in the desert, Jessica and Paul hid inside a survival tent. As Jessica grieved, Paul found his mind transformed by the Spice which now permeated everything he touched. Thousands of possible futures lay before him, as he now clearly saw. On many of these paths, Paul was horrified to see himself leading the Fremen in a holy war which raged through the galaxy.

Paul also saw two secrets Jessica had kept from him. She was pregnant with a daughter, Paul's sister. And Jessica herself, Paul now understood, was the secret daughter of Baron Harkonnen.

Drawing on his mystical insights, Paul showed Jessica how to walk over desert sand without rhythm, to avoid attracting sand worms. After harrowing escapes from Sadaukar attacks and the dangers of the desert, Paul and Jessica joined a group of Fremen, led by Stilgar - an ally of Duke Leto. Although Stilgar was determined to protect Paul, however, he was suspicious of Jessica's mysterious capabilities. As the Fremen travel over the dunes, Paul was guided by a young woman named Chani, whom Paul recognized from his prophetic dreams.

But not all the Fremen welcomed the new arrivals. One named Jamis, suspicious of the Atreides' motives, challenged Paul to a duel. Though reluctant to fight, Paul defeated Jamis - a triumph which the Fremen took as an admirable show of strength. Now accepted into the tribe, Paul accepted the name Muad'dib.

At Jamis' funeral, Chani asked Paul to play a song on Jamis' baliset - the musical instrument of the Fremen. Paul sang a love ballad to Chani, which upset Jessica, who had her own plans for Paul's future. In his mystical insights, Paul understood that Jessica would ultimately cause the jihad he has seen in the future.

Finding her place within the tribe, Jessica participated in a dangerous ritual, drinking the poisonous Water of Life - which Jessica had not realized would infuse her unborn daughter with mystical powers.

In time Paul became the leader of the Fremen tribe, and Chani soon gave birth to their son, Leto II.

As the years passed, word of the new Fremen leader reached both Baron Harkonnen and the Emperor. The Fremen regularly attacked Spice mining operations - and as Spice production plummeted, Baron Harkonnen and the Emperor grew suspicious of one another.

During one of the Fremen raids, Paul recognized his father's old friend, Gurney Halleck, who had become a smuggler following the Duke's demise. Gurney was thrilled to see his old friend - but he still believed that Jessica had been the traitor who betrayed Duke Leto. Only Paul's desperate intervention stopped Gurney from attacking Jessica.

Convinced he should have anticipated this moment of conflict, Paul realized he must develop his visionary powers by drinking the Water of Life - which was known to be fatal to men.

Paul imbibed the liquid and fell into a death-like sleep. Only after three weeks had passed did he emerge into consciousness and find himself able to see clearly through divergent paths crossing time and space. He had become the Kwisatz Haderach, the prophesied leader foretold by the Bene Gesserit.

It was at this fateful moment that the Emperor and Baron Harkonnen arrived on Arrakis. The Emperor's troops attacked a Fremen outpost, killing many - including the young Leto II. Jessica's daughter Alia was captured and brought to the Emperor.

Alia was still a young child in the world of her enemy, but she was not helpless. The Water of Life had granted her the wisdom of her tribe and she had already spent her young life learning the warrior ways of her people. As her brother Paul led the Fremen, riding sandworms in a victorious attack against the Emperor's troops, Alia outwitted and assassinated Baron Harkonnen.

Following these victories, Paul at last faced the Emperor himself. The Fremen had seized control of all Spice production facilities - and would destroy them, Paul announced, if the Emperor did not abdicate the throne.

Baron Harkonnen's nephew Feyd-Rautha challenged Paul to a ritual knife fight - a perilous battle which Paul knew he could not decline. Even while Feyd-Rautha wielded a hidden spur covered with poison, however, Paul at last triumphed - and Feyd-Rautha fell dead.

The Emperor reluctantly ceded the throne to Paul and promised his daughter, Princess Irulan's hand in marriage.

And so Paul took command of the Empire - with the wisdom of a benevolent ruler, but also with the knowledge that he would not be able to stop the Fremen jihad from spreading across the galaxy.

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