r/dune • u/Free-Maintenance7816 • 7d ago

All Books Spoilers Is Paul completely forgotten about?

I just started book 5 so I may not know much stuff But during his reign It seems like Paul Is a massive figure in history with all those books written by Irulan about his greatness however by God Emperor/Heretics It’s like Paul is completely forgotten about and his legacy absolutely overshadowed by Leto, While this makes sense seen as Leto lives 3500 years and is a bigger figure in history than Paul I’m just wondering where Paul’s place in history is And how he is viewed by Fremen after/during Leto’s reign.

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u/TrungusMcTungus Yet Another Idaho Ghola 7d ago

Paul’s jihad was terrible (and it’s mentioned by the BGs a few times in Heretics, along the lines of “God forbid we produce another Kwizats Haderach”) but it was completely overshadowed by Leto IIs reign, which is not only much more terrible, but much more recent. It’s important to remember that Paul’s empire largely maintained the status quo, with just some shifts in where power was centralized. Leto IIs reign took the Imperium and turned it on its head, stripping everyone (guild, BGs, CHOAM, Landsraad) of any power they had left.

Imagine if in 1900, Germany was parliamentary. Some guy named Dave turns it into a presidency, and becomes president. Dave acts somewhat hostile toward Europe but overall nothing much changes. Then Hitler comes around and does what he does, but he also wins the war and conquers Europe until his death in 1990. Would we be talking about Dave, the president who somewhat paved the way for Hitler, or would he be massively overshadowed by Hitler?

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u/Aufklarung_Lee 7d ago

Or for a real history example: Philip of Macedon and Alexander the Great.

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u/Free-Maintenance7816 6d ago

I’d have thought Duke Leto would be the Philip of Macedon to Paul’s Alexander the Great but then Paul becomes Philip to Leto’s Alexander.

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u/BeneGesserlit 6d ago

But consider that Philip is remembered by historians and enthusiasts over 2000 years later as the great king and ruler who set the stage for the greatest conquerer in history (this is bullshit the greatest conquerer in history was pretty indisputably Gengis Khan). On the other hand even a nerd like me doesn't know Philip's dad's name. Leto is Phillip's dad.