Questions about Scytale’s plot in Dune Messiah
SPOILER WARNING - I’m really trying to wrap my head around this and I’ve seen similar questions in several other posts but none have supplied satisfying answers.
My understanding is that the BT (tleilaxu) ultimately as a contingency for all else, want to create a ghola of Chani to bribe Paul with in order to trade that for his power. All of the stuff with Duncan/Hayt is meant to be a win/win as in - if Hayt is successfully triggered by Bijaz, he kills Paul and it’s a success - if Hayt resists the trigger and becomes Duncan Idaho, it proves that the BT can truly resurrect the dead which they can use to hold power over Paul through his love for Chani. I understand there are plans within plans but the whole plot point surrounding the stone burner is confusing to say the least. I understand that it was Fremen betrayers (I believe in league with the spacing guild) who planted the stone burner. That being said, I don’t believe the BT didn’t know about it and also why does Scytale go to great lengths (disguised as Lichna, Otheym’s daughter) to lure BOTH Paul AND Chani to the stone burner? Was the plan to just kill both of them and, if so, deal with Alia through Hayt? That wouldn’t make sense though, because Bijaz (who is prescient which is why he exists outside of Paul’s prescient vision of this whole event playing out) desperately urges Paul to leave with him BEFORE the stone burner goes off. Did the BT intend for Paul to be blinded and for Chani to die so that they could use her ghola as leverage later? (Because they certainly could not know for certain that she will die, only Paul knows that as certainty I believe. That being said, it seems the BT’s plan relies entirely on Chani dying.) So are we to assume the BT orchestrated the whole meeting as a way of luring Paul out so he is blinded and Chani dies somehow (though I can’t imagine them being seperated to a degree that would allow this to happen)? Many explanations state that it was a plan within a plan and that the BT were not aware of the stone burner and that it was planted by other conspirators… then why was Scytale trying to desperately to make sure Chani was physically there at Otheym’s house? I have more to say but this is turning into a ramble lol. Any help in gaining clarity on this would be greatly appreciated
Additional note: Assuming the BT knew that the contraceptives Irulan was feeding Chani were certain to lead to her death (I don’t see how they could know this for a certainty but fine let’s assume that), then again, why did they try to lure Chani to Otheym’s house? The Stone burner sequence really muddies my understanding of the schemes. Writing it off as the BT not knowing about the stone burner is 1. Not satisfying because this is the most competent faction and 2. Raises more questions about why Scytale tried to physically lure them both there in the first place.