Editing Children of Dune (section)

==Plot==
Nine years after Emperor Paul "Muad'Dib" Atreides walked into the desert, the ecological transformation of [[Arrakis|Dune]] has reached the point where some [[Fremen]] are living without [[stillsuit]]s in the less arid climate and have started to move out of the sietches and into villages and cities. As the old ways erode, more and more pilgrims arrive to experience the planet of Muad'Dib. The imperial high council has lost its political might and is powerless to control the [[jihad]].

Paul's young twin children, Leto II and Ghanima, have concluded that their aunt and guardian Alia has succumbed to [[Abomination (Dune)|Abomination]]—possession by her grandfather [[Vladimir Harkonnen|Baron Vladimir Harkonnen]]—and fear that a similar fate awaits them. They (and Alia) also realize that the [[terraforming]] of Dune will kill all the [[Sandworm (Dune)|sandworms]], thus destroying the source of the spice, but the Baron desires this outcome. Leto also fears that, like his father, he will become trapped by his prescience.

Meanwhile, a new religious figure called "The Preacher" has risen in the desert, rallying against the religious government's injustices and the changes among the Fremen. Some Fremen believe he is Paul Atreides. Princess [[Wensicia]] of the fallen House Corrino on [[Salusa Secundus]] plots to assassinate the twins and regain power for her House.

[[Lady Jessica]] returns to Arrakis and recognizes that her daughter is possessed, but finds no signs of Abomination in the twins. Leto arranges for Fremen leader [[Stilgar]] to protect Ghanima if there is an attempt on their lives. The Preacher journeys to Salusa Secundus to meet Wensicia's son [[Farad'n]], and in return pledges the [[Duncan Idaho]] [[ghola]] as an agent of House Corrino. Alia attempts to assassinate Jessica, who escapes into the desert with Duncan's help, precipitating a rebellion among the Fremen. The twins anticipate and survive the Corrino assassination plot, faking Leto's death.

Leto leaves to seek out Jacurutu, a mythical Fremen sietch and possible holdout of the Preacher, while Ghanima, changing her memory with self-hypnosis, reports (and believes) that her brother has been murdered. Duncan and Jessica flee to Salusa Secundus, where Jessica begins to mentor Farad'n in the ways of the [[Bene Gesserit]]. He sidelines and publicly denounces his regent mother Wensicia over the assassination attempt, and allies with the Bene Gesserit, who promise to marry him to Ghanima and support his bid to become Emperor.

A band of Fremen outlaws capture Leto and force him to undergo the spice trance at the suggestion of [[Gurney Halleck]], who has infiltrated the group on Jessica's orders. Leto's spice-induced visions show him a myriad of possible futures where humanity becomes extinct and only one where it survives. He names this future "The Golden Path" and resolves to bring it to fruition—something that his father, who had already glimpsed this future, refused to do. He escapes his captors and sacrifices his humanity in pursuit of the Golden Path by physically fusing with a school of [[sandtrout]], the larval form of sandworms, in the process gaining superhuman strength and near-invulnerability. He travels across the desert destroying [[qanat]]s to slow down the ecological transformation of Dune, and eventually confronts the Preacher, who is indeed Paul.

Duncan returns to Arrakis and provokes Stilgar into killing him so that Stilgar is forced to take Ghanima and go into hiding. Eventually though, Alia recaptures Ghanima and arranges her marriage to Farad'n, planning to exploit the expected chaos when Ghanima kills him to avenge her brother's murder. Paul and Leto return to the capital, where Jessica and Farad'n have arrived for his betrothal to Ghanima, to confront Alia. Upon arriving, Paul is publicly murdered by agents of Alia's government, to her horror. Leto reveals himself in a display of superhuman strength and triggers the return of Ghanima's genuine memories. He confronts Alia and offers to help her overcome her possession, but the Baron resists. Alia, while fighting the Baron's possession, manages to throw herself off a high balcony, killing both herself and the Baron.

Leto declares himself Emperor and asserts control over the Fremen. Farad'n enlists in his service and delivers control of the Corrino armies and his [[Sardaukar]]. In describing the Golden Path to Farad'n, Leto reveals that he will live for thousands of years due to the sandworm skin and genetics he is encased in. Leto marries Ghanima to consolidate power, but because his sandworm skin destroyed his ability to reproduce, he allows Farad'n to be her true consort so the Atreides line can continue. Ghanima reflects that one twin had to follow the Path, but Leto was always the stronger.