Twelve years after seizing the imperial throne, Paul “Muad’Dib” Atreides presides over a universe scarred by a jihad waged in his name, with billions dead. Trapped by his own prescient visions, he allows the bloodshed to continue, believing worse futures lie beyond any attempt to stop it. Rival powers—the Bene Gesserit, Spacing Guild, and Bene Tleilaxu—conspire to destroy him using political sabotage, a resurrected ghola of Duncan Idaho, and an atomic attack that blinds him. As his beloved Chani dies giving birth to prophetic twins, Paul rejects manipulation, sacrifices his own divinity, and walks into the desert, leaving his children an embattled empire.