Leto II mentioned that Paul also saw the Golden Path, but was too weak to implement it and instead went into the desert as the Preacher. It wasn't mentioned that worm transformation was required for the Golden Path to succeed, but it gave Leto longevity to oversee it.
What I'm trying to say is that Paul likely thought about transforming into the worm.
My interpretation agrees with you. I suppose it's possible he only saw the thousands of years of being a tyrant and was rejecting that. But I still think he saw the worm transformation.
So really this should one of those distribution graph memes where most people in the middle are crying saying it was Leto II while the extreme ends (very dumb and very smart) are saying it's Paul
It’s really getting to me how many people are memeing Paul turning into a worm.
It feels like it’s a fact that was misinterpreted from one of those “7 CRAZY Things that Happen in the DUNE Novels - You’ll never believe number 6!” Videos. But because they haven’t read the books, they assume it must be Paul that worms out because he’s the Main Character, right?
I haven't seen any of the movies or YT videos, but read the series years ago. Honestly, I forgot until reading this thread that it wasn't Paul. Are you sure it wasn't Paul....? I might have to re read. I do remember stopping at that book because I felt like the worming out thing was jumping the shark.
Or maybe people aren't all stupid, and just make vaguely related dune memes that still are a bit humorous? It's not like there are movie adaptations of god emperor of dune.
Also, even disregarding God Emperor, the joke still works, the fremen literally worship sandworms
Well, technically the meme does not say he'll actually do it. And as Paul had to option to go down that road, but choose not to, it's not truly incorrect.
The weird part is absolutely "a lot of sand puppies biting this dude's arms at the same time somehow turns them and him into an immortal worm." With that context, "they stop being a worm by not biting him anymore" makes perfect sense.
Become a worm, to do what your father was too scared to. Rule as a tyrant for three thousand years to fundamentally shake shit up and keep shit shook up. Die. Shit comes back as if nothing ever happened.
(I haven’t read Heretics and ChapterHouse for a while)
I think the last coming back was a Brian Herbert thing because Frank spent too much time beating his children and not enough telling them that Paul is actually a bad guy.
Should we tell them about that time every major character gets reborn as a child clone thousands of years later so they can be chased by 2 beings, one of which is named Marty?
God Emperor has a lot of super cringey stuff in it. This is, imo, the worst. In addition to being cringey, it is maybe some of the worst writing I have ever seen.
Basically, Duncan Idaho is climbing this like 3km tall wall for reasons that I won't get into while Nayla (who is one of Leto II's weird mutant fanatical female bodyguards/soldiers who he orders to have sex with his enemies/allies for political reasons) gets progressively hornier, saying things like "[if Duncan climbs that wall] I think I'll have an orgasm". This goes on for a whole chapter. Like 30+ pages of this iirc. Then Duncan finishes climbing the wall and Hugo and Nebula award winning author Frank Herbert ends this weird horny fanfic of a chapter with "And then Nayla had her orgasm". The whole thing is ridiculously gratuitous, serves almost no purpose, and drags on in a book that already seriously needed to be edited.
I'm pretty sure I've only read "Dune" and nothing else in the series. I didn't know there were even more than 1 book until the last movie was being hyped up.
Are they as good? Better? Weirder? What ends up being the actual main plot of the story as a whole?
God Emperor is essentially a fever dream. I was like WTF while reading it but I love how off the rails it went.
The last couple are kind of meandering and forgettable.
The immediate prequels (house books) are a fun read and plotted well, but his kid isn't as good of a writer as poppa Herbert
The legends books are garbage
The last 2 books that tie up the original series (hunters and sandworms) are not good and are infuriating in that elements from the legends books are reintroduced as deus ex machina bullshit. I saw the twist coming halfway through the last book.
I never read any of the other gap filler books that have been written in that universe. It got tiresome
Everything up until God Emperor is worthwhile with the prequels being a fun appetizer. Read the synopses of the others if you need to know what happens
As with most sci-fi the author gets loopier in the later books. That being said:
Dune: masterpiece of philosophy, one of the best books ever put to print
Dune Messiah: a worthy sequel and must read after the first book; completes Paul's arc
Children of Dune: more plot driven than the first, but still thematically rich and entertaining.
God Emperor of Dune: the most divisive of the books: you love it or you hate it. I am in the love it camp, the book is unhinged and the themes are marvelous. This is where I'd stop a read of the series.
Chapterhouse and the other (Heretics?): forgettable in my opinion, simply because I've forgotten them. Later book fan opinions welcome.
anything Brian Herbert: not terrible but not awfully good either. Makes for decent light reading I guess, and there's good lore building in some of the books despite some unforgivable retcons (Agemmemnon, sigh)
Heretics and Chapterhouse are also weirdly horny. Sure, sex was always a big part of how the Bene Gesserit operated, but when they were made the hero faction it got... weird...
Those two books also fully raised Duncan to be the main character, though, and they introduced Miles Teg, so they have that going for them.
Consider the first three books one trilogy that completes a story. It ends with a cliffhanger that picks up millenia later with the next three. The two written by Frank's son "finish" the main story.
I enjoyed all of them and will reread them at some point. Of all of them, chapterhouse was the weirdest of them.
Children of Dune is the only one i have to grin and bear. I love Good Emperor through Chapterhouse better than Messiah and only slightly less than the original.
As others said, not Paul. It's weird as fuck, completely surreal. But it's the most amazing book I've ever read. The transformation is considered weird as fuck by the characters in the book too, but it allows Frank to explore some truly unique and interesting ideas.
I don't think I will ever again have a literary experience as satisfying as reading that book.
Anyone else feel like the Fremen are blatantly meant to represent the Jewish people? Not saying that Hollywood has been run by the MIC since the 1920's and that this is yet another Hollywood propaganda piece disguised as super hero action entertainment or anything...
They're specifically orange catholic protestant arabs (orangists are an actual thing) based regions spread by the Belun Jesuit to control developing people with powerful myth.
In the first film, there is some of the most blatant "oh yeah?!" 25 year old Israeli conscript moments that is unmistakable. Have you met a lot of Israelis, personally?