Dune Messiah opens twelve years into Muad'Dib's jihad, with Emperor Paul Atreides worn down by his own visions. Abu and Leo kick off their Dune Messiah Book Club with the first 50 pages, just in time for Dune: Part Three.
Bronso of Ix gets the first word, and the hosts fall a little in love with the historian as he needles Muad'Dib's priests. Scytale's meeting with Gaius Helen Mohiam, Princess Irulan and the Guild Steersman Edric gets read for its subtext within subtext, while Paul's late night with Chani shows a man weighing one beloved life against the agony of multitudes. With help from the Dune Encyclopedia, the hosts trace how a Landsraad revolt turned into a holy war, then close on spice morsels about the Qizarate and the Dune Tarot, plus a fruitless hunt for the meaning of Mirabhasa.
This episode contains NO SPOILERS beyond the books and pages covered thus far.