Contents
Chapter 7
Overview
Miles Teg recalls formative lessons about Tleilaxu Face Dancers and his Bene Gesserit-guided training, grounding his loyalty to the Sisterhood. Summoned to Gammu, he interviews with Schwangyu, who opposes the ghola project even as she reveals the Duncan ghola’s enhanced nerve-muscle system. Teg recognizes the political divide and commits to protecting and training the child per Taraza’s orders.
Summary
The chapter opens with a Bene Gesserit maxim on warfare’s moral corrosion, then shifts to Miles Teg’s childhood memory: a dinner where his mother, Lady Janet, guides his father, Loschy, through a Tleilaxu-tinged trade. From a viewer, young Teg observes Face Dancers, while Lady Janet explains their illusions, communal nature, lack of ethics, capacity to mimic, and new memory-absorption by touch. She teaches Teg how to detect their subtle tells and hints at his Mentat potential.
As Teg grows, he is sent to Lampadas for advanced schooling, where the Sisterhood confirms him as a Warrior Mentat and reveals his Atreides ancestry. Tested for prescience and for sensing no-ships, he fails those measures but, under spice, experiences the “Mind at Its Beginning,” gaining a lasting inner resource. His loyalty is deftly transferred from mother to Sisterhood, reinforcing his alignment with their designs.
After accepting assignment as Weapons Master to the Duncan Idaho ghola, Teg draws on this inner clarity during a first meeting with Reverend Mother Schwangyu at the Gammu Keep. In a controlled, adversarial exchange, Schwangyu stresses that Teg is selected to be a grandfatherly influence and forbids discussion of gholas with the child without her leave.
Pressed, Schwangyu reveals a critical alteration: the current Idaho ghola’s nerve-muscle system has been modernized, demanding meticulous prana-bindu training. Teg reads her jealousy and anger, recognizing explicit opposition to Taraza’s plan and that the ghola is treated as a what rather than a whom by her faction.
Teg accepts the political reality—lines drawn between Taraza and Schwangyu—while adhering to Taraza’s directive. The scene closes on his unequivocal commitment: he will protect the child against any threat, setting the stakes for the ghola’s perilous development.
Who Appears
- Miles TegWarrior Mentat; recalls Tleilaxu lessons, training on Lampadas, and commits to protect and train the Duncan ghola.
- Reverend Mother SchwangyuKeeper on Gammu; opposes the ghola project, reveals the ghola’s enhancements, and restricts information to Teg.
- Lady Janet Roxbrough-TegTeg’s Bene Gesserit mother; teaches him to detect Face Dancers and understand Tleilaxu strategy.
- Loschy TegTeg’s father; conducts a risky trade that lures Face Dancers, illustrating Tleilaxu-linked bargaining.
- Face DancersTleilaxu operatives; masters of illusion and mimicry, now able to print memories by touch.
- TarazaBene Gesserit leader directing the ghola plan; her orders frame Teg’s mission against Schwangyu’s opposition.
- Duncan Idaho gholaSubject of the project; enhanced nerve-muscle system requires careful prana-bindu training and protection.