Chapter 13

As a small lighter buffets through Gammu’s atmosphere, Odrade half-listens to Taraza and Teg while reflecting on time, tradition, and the Bene Gesserit peril of love. Her memories revisit early seduction assignments and the overwhelming force of mutual ecstasy, reaffirming the Sisterhood’s vigilance against love’s power to derail duty. She notes a growing, dangerous affection for Miles Teg.

Taraza redirects the cabin’s conversation to “dependency infrastructure,” prompting Teg’s economical retorts. She highlights hydraulic despotism and the ancient “key log” concept, linking them to Leto II’s manipulations. Between jolts of turbulence, Taraza expands dependency into psychological and religious realms, criticizing the Missionaria Protectiva’s tools even as she uses them.

Focusing on the Honored Matres, Taraza warns they have fused sexual ecstasy with worship, courting catastrophe by demanding escalating dependencies. She presses Teg into Mentat mode to articulate their flaw—addictive control that can collapse society—and the danger that they could drag much of humanity down.

Using a mundane example of tooth care to illustrate interdependencies, Taraza ensures Teg grasps how simple needs become systemic levers. She then instructs Teg to consult privately with Odrade about the Atreides Manifesto to “prepare” him, signaling imminent strategic moves by the Sisterhood.

Odrade realizes Taraza’s broader target includes herself and recalls lines from the Manifesto with an author’s intimacy, recognizing Taraza’s intent to harness prescient-centered belief dynamics. The chapter closes with Odrade’s wary acceptance of Taraza’s design and the unresolved risk that love may compromise Bene Gesserit control.