Topic: Question about "Children of Dune"

[Mooning Freddy]

Recently, I've watched the "Children of Dune" miniseries made in 2003. Before that, I have only read the first novel and watched the "Dune" miniseries, which was really good.
Overall, "Children of Dune" is a nice sequel, though I doubt it outdoes the first miniseries, which was marvelous IMO.
Also, apparently it is a composition of two books: "Children of Dune" and "Dune Messiah"

*********** SPOILER ***********************

Not reading the books, I've watched the movie with mixed feelings. The plot, while perhaps even more complex than the first book, is confusing and sometimes frustrating.
What I cannot understand are the action of Muad'dib.
In the first novel, Muad'dib becomes the most powerful man in the universe. He is the messiah of the Fremen, and the Quisatz Hederach, the man with the greatest prescience powers, he is almost a god in the flesh. He defeats his enemies and makes the Emperor give up his throne. It seems that nothing remains in the way of his rightful judgment.
And yet 12 years later, he gives up everything. Blinded and broken after the death of his loved one, he wanders to the desert, abandoning his empire which could, without his guidance, be swept into chaos.
Furthermore, he continues to make efforts to disgrace his name, and destroy the legacy which he, himself, has worked so hard to create.

This all is very confusing, as the whole view of Arakkis in Muad'dib's eyes is turned upside down. At first he was an agent of change: "The way has changed!" was his motto. His dream was to transform the desert planet into a blooming paradise with seas and wildlife.
But later it seems somehow that the dream has become a nightmare; "The desert is dying!". Quite a strange motto, since desert usually means death and obliteration. So now he wishes to undo the change? Why? It bothers my mind! 

[X]

If my Dad was still alive he could tell you all about Dune as it was his favorite Sci-Fi series. He collected all the books until his death in 2007 and even had a couple of collectors books that were still wrapped up in the original packages. I never really caught on to this series as I did with Star Trek and Star Wars, but needless to say it does have some interesting points to it.

-X

[Gunlord]

Hmm...that's a good question. IIRC it might have to do with some of that prescience and stuff, but it's been a while since I saw the miniseries and I've never read any but the first book. Again, IIRC though, he found that being Emperor kinda sucked--his troops ransacked and killed bunches of people, for instance. So maybe it just broke him down and he went out like that. ;_;

[Grim_Creeper]

Having read later novels of the Dune series (though not children of dune), Mua'dib's body and mind are changing radically, and he is aware of -all- of history -everywhere- 24/7/365. Thats how prescient he is.

As the most powerful person in the universe there is probably a paralyzing feeling of 'I can't be everywhere at once and things are going badly wrong somewhere all the time'. So he is trapped in a dichotomy of being -aware- of everything everywhere all the time, yet being trapped in one small body on one small planet.

Regarding his bodily changes, in the later books his DNA as a whole starts to change radically, altering the fundamental nature of his general physiology, [for example subtracting old organs because you now have new ones that do the same thing].

Wouldn't YOU have some mental disturbances if every aspect of your body and mind was changing at that great a pace?

Consider the guild navigators, who have for the most part changed into things that aren't even remotely human. Imagine what it would be like to know, (for certain), that when this is all over you won't be a human and won't be anything like a human EVER again.

[Mooning Freddy]

It would be quite inappropriate to compare the Dune saga to any other popular Science Fiction series.
Star Wars, for example, is a very popular sci-fi saga. However, if there is a need to compare it to Dune, I would cast it aside as childish fairy-tales.
Dune has so many deep meanings, philosophical questions and original ideas, that I don't know whether there is any other sci-fi universe quite like it. There are more memorable quotes in the first book (and films based on it) than most sci-fi works.

In retrospect, I can say I really feel sorry for two characters in the story. Children of Dune has some elements of classic tragedy, as all characters suffer and cause suffering to each other, sometimes without intending it.
The first is princess Irullan. Hers is such a sad fate, as she is never loved by Muad'dib, the man whom she loves genuinely.

The second is Alia, a true tragic heroine. Her fate is possibly the most terrible. The infinite knowledge which she bears eventually causes her to go insane. I think her condition can be seen as a severe case of paranoiac schizophrenia.
But who blames her?  : With so much knowledge, anyone could lose his mind. IMO, when Paul was still at her side, she could resist the voices within her. However, his disappearance left her in great loneliness, eventually giving way for "the abomination" to take control.

So Muad'dib is also to blame for the events in the book, and his sister's tragic fate. Could it have been avoid if he remained in power?
Perhaps. That's an interesting thought.

[Vampire Killer]

His name was being used as a device for death and destruction.  No matter what he said, his followers started Jihad'ing throutout the cosmos, and basically he was sick of it.  So he decided that instead of attempting to lead a bunch of religious fanatics bent on death and destruction, he walked away and left them to their own destruction.  Plus, his son Leto, was more mentally equipped to do what needed to be done to truly further mankind.  The ultimate goal being the betterment of the soul, though a long lesson in humility.  Read the following books to understand.