Dune Messiah: Chapter 10 Summary & Analysis

Alia kneels in the sand, examining the remains of a dead body. Hayt and a few mortuary assistants stand behind her. Paul sent Alia to examine this strange occurrence: a 20-year-old Fremen woman, addicted to semuta music and dead from a Tleilaxu poison. Alia only feels the mysteriousness of the situation and wants to get back in her ‘thopter (plane) and fly away. She looks at Hayt, longing to replace a piece of hair falling loose from his stillsuit and wondering if he knows anything about the dead woman. Hayt meets Alia’s gaze with his metal eyes, and she trembles.

Puzzling again over the dead woman, Alia resents that Paul perpetuates the false notion that she can figure out anything; because of religion, she and Paul aren’t considered human. Alia asks Hayt what he thinks. Hayt says that the body is too decayed to be identified. Alia agrees that the body is too decayed for the Tleilaxu to revive it the way they revived Hayt. She asks Hayt to take her back to the city.

When Alia and Hayt are airborne in their ‘thopter, Alia remarks that Hayt flies like Duncan Idaho. Alia then asks what Hayt is thinking. When he deflects her question, she says she wants to compare her uneasy reaction to the dead woman to his. Hayt says he wasn’t thinking about the dead woman but was registering the emotions he feels when people mention Duncan Idaho; he feels eagerness, uneasiness, and has flashes of memories. However, he is worried that he is not who people believe he is. Alia says that Hayt is Duncan Idaho. Hayt says Duncan Idaho is only his “primary computation.” Alia is infuriated that Hayt addresses her familiarly as Alia.

Alia and Hayt fly over the place where Alia’s father died. Hayt voices his desire to see this place in hopes of recapturing some of Duncan Idaho’s memories. Seeing how strong he desires to know himself, Alia tells Hayt to steer the ‘thopter towards the place. As they approach, Alia questions Hayt’s loyalty to Paul. She is shocked to see Hayt shed a tear, and she touches his wet cheek. She calls him Duncan twice, and then Hayt explains that he felt a ghost’s an arm on his shoulders—a friend. Alia radios her attendants, explains her and Hayt’s detour, and tells Hayt to head for the city. As Hayt turns the plane, Alia suggests that the arm he felt was her father’s.

Alia tells Hayt that she gained Reverend Mother awareness while in her mother’s womb and that she knows and remembers her father as her mother did. Hayt says that he asked Paul all about this; as a mentat, he wanted data. Alia looks down at the hidden valleys in the dunes and says they remind her of the human mind with its “concealments.” Hayt assumes that Alia is wondering what his mind conceals. Alia accuses him of having no respect for her prescience. Hayt says that he does respect her powers but thinks she’s become careless with them. When Alia rebukes his daring, Hayt says that he dares more than the Tleilaxu anticipated.

Alia wonders if Hayt is a product of the Tleilaxu’s intentions, or if he is more than this. Grasping her knife, she asks Hayt why he was given to her brother. Hayt says that she knows the answer: he is to destroy Paul. Hayt then asserts that the gift of the ghola wasn’t necessary because Paul is already destroying himself. Changing subjects rapidly, Alia asks how she is careless with her powers. Then she asks how Paul is destroying himself. Hayt laughs at her lack of reason, and Alia demands that he reason for her.

Hayt says that it is strange that the Fremen gave Paul an “official Panegyrist”—Korba—to surround Paul with flattery and servility and cause everyone to view him as a religious savior. Alia says that Hayt would be killed if others heard what he is saying. She also claims that Paul rules by “the natural law of heaven.” Hayt asserts that Alia does not believe this. He says that Alia and Paul were taught to govern and instilled with a thirst for power, but that these things have nothing to do with a natural law. Hayt says that he is a servant of Atreides and speaks the truth. Alia says that Paul has disciples, not servants.

When Hayt addresses her as “child,” Alia starts to unsheathe her knife. Hayt says that Alia’s new womanhood has disturbed her child’s flesh. Feeling frustrated, Alia lets go of her knife and says that Hayt is the most complex creature she’s ever met. Hayt says he was made with the freedom to mold himself. When Hayt says he has already told all this to Paul, Alia asks how Hayt is still alive and free. Hayt says that Paul agreed he was destroying himself, and Hayt promised to understand and help him.

Alia demands the exact words of Hayt’s exchange with Paul. Hayt lands the ‘thopter and then says that he told Paul that enduring oneself is the hardest task of the universe. Alia stutters and then says that that is “bitter nonsense.” Hayt says that the highest and lowest of people experience the same problem, and that no one can solve it for anyone else. Alia whirls away and then feels that she has betrayed her feelings. When she asks, Hayt says that he instructed Paul to protect his friends and destroy his enemies; since justice means nothing when there are two sides to every collision, all Paul can do is keep order.

Alia says Hayt is dangerous because he has mastered his passions. Hayt concurs that he is dangerous, but that this is not why. He grips her chin and kisses her familiarly. Alia touches her lips and accuses Hayt of being presumptuous. Hayt steps out of the ‘thopter and Alia follows, saying she will tell Paul everything he said and did. Hayt says that Alia wanted the kiss, and she realizes that he is right. Alia says that Hayt’s truthfulness makes him dangerous. Pleased that Alia has returned to sense, Hayt asks about the dead woman in the desert. Alia grabs Hayt’s arm and says she keeps thinking about Face Dancers. Hayt says that perhaps no young Fremen woman is missing.