How It All Goes Down
- The Baron Harkonnen is in the Imperial audience chamber when who should walk in but the Emperor… to have an audience… with him.
- The Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam is with him to provide her truth-saying services.
- The Emperor questions the Baron about Hawat's whereabouts and what his nephews are doing. It's obvious he's upset about something.
- Then the Emperor asks the Baron about this Muad'Dib character. Ah, now we're getting somewhere.
- The Baron tries to write Muad'Dib off as a madman. The Emperor has a little girl come into the audience chamber. It's Alia.
- The Emperor had sent in five troop carriers to pick up prisoners for questioning. Against the elderly, women, and children, only one carrier managed to escape with a whopping three prisoners. Talk about the law of diminishing returns.
- Alia even suggests that she let herself be kidnapped, and we don't think she's just trying to save face.
- The Emperor accuses the Baron of plotting against him. How else could he not know about the superb fighting skills of these people?
- The Baron tries to plead for his innocence, but the Emperor will have none of it until the Reverend Mother proclaims he's telling the truth.
- The Emperor is pretty astonished that the Baron is so simpleminded as to not recognize Alia as Duke Leto's daughter.
- Speaking of Alia, the Reverend Mother asks kindly if the Emperor will kill her. She is an abomination, after all.
- Alia teases the Reverend Mother about her own role in Alia's creation. She enjoys the teasing just a bit.
- The Emperor says they'll return to space and regroup. He also orders Alia thrown out into the storm.
- Alia runs into the Baron's arms. The Baron thinks he has the girl captured, but Alia uses the gom jabbar on her grandfather, killing him.
- At that moment, the shield is knocked out. The Sardaukar make the Emperor retreat, and he sees the Fremen riding the worms into battle through the storm.
- The Emperor reconvenes with the Reverend Mother and orders her to get Count Fenring from his chambers. They need to devise a new plan.