ssent and beyond Whether Paul Atreides was liter ally the Kwisatz Haderach or not is, of ATRETDES PAUL MUAD DIB 98 ATREIDES PAUL MUAD DIB coarse, debatable However, it should be quite clear to all who would see that within Paul stood the essence of the ultimate warnor-chief (House Atreides) and the master politician (House Harkonnen) Such a man could and did rally the Frcmen, and lead die Second Jihad No other man could have, because the Frcmen simply would not have followed Finally, even if the breeding records did not exist (one might term diem fabrications along the lines of the three sources already mentioned), there ts still reason to believe thai the Lady Jessica was Paul's natural mother It is obvious from the events surrounding Paul Muad'Dib that he had the powers of Voice and could practice the Lite ny against Fear Where else could he have obtained such training except from a Bene Gessent adept7 And why would a member of the Sisterhood give a boy such thorough training unless he were her son? To conclude this section of die article then, it must be reasonable to accept Paul as Atreides-born No other theory so comfortably and consistently explains the known facts of the Fremcn and the rebellion of Arrakis that lead to the Second Jihad What then of Paul Atreides' actions m die years 10191 through 10193^ While it is true mat not much is known about him during this period, it would be foolish to conclude that this lack of information proves dm Paul is more legend titan man While many historians who specialize ui ancient history and myths are quick to point out that such gaps are part of mythic patterns that avoid stretching credibility by silence, they are guilty of rushing to conclusions simply because Paul's life at that time runs parallel to die pattern of mydi Does this mean dial whenever fiction successfully imitates reality, the reality must be considered fiction0 Such a statement is, of course, absurd It is not hard to see that there existed understandable reasons for this gap Paul, like the Fremen, was being hunted by the Harkonnen and the Padishah Shaddam IV (10134-10202) While both thought Paul and die Lady Jessica were dead, there was no hard evidence for this supposition and there was most certainly, every reason for Paul to conceal his existence Moreover, j why would the Fremen want to keep records of the life of Paul during this period9 They were not a writing-oriented people nor would they have been aware of the cosmic significance of what was happening in those two years But there are overwhelming grounds for believing that what Paul Atreides did during that time was indeed die stuff of legends dial is, his accomplishments were so awe-mspmng m the eyes of the Fremen that die stones they told were like legends And why would they not be9 Paul Atreides now Muad Dib, proved himself to partake of Fremen world view and to surpass it His personal magnetism gathered warriors from every sietch and creat