Otheym
Fedaykin of Muad'Dib
Otheym is a former Fedaykin of Paul Atreides who comes home from the Jihad dying of a disease caught on Tarahell. In Dune Messiah he hands Paul the names of the Fremen plotting against him, recorded in a Tleilaxu dwarf.
Otheym is a Fremen veteran who had once been one of Paul's Fedaykin, the Emperor's dreaded death commandos. By Dune Messiah he has come home from the Jihad a ruined man, and he uses the last of his strength to warn Paul Atreides about the Fremen plotting against him. (Dune Messiah)
Fedaykin and veteran#
Dune Messiah introduces Otheym through other people's eyes. Scytale, visiting Farok's house, notes that the house next door has been given to Otheym, once one of Muad'Dib's Fedaykin death commandos. The street is part of a suburb of Arrakeen built for veterans of the Jihad, stretching into the Imperial Basin. (Dune Messiah)
When Paul finally sees him, Otheym is barely recognisable. One side of his face is a ruin of scars, with a drooping, wet eye; the other still has clear skin and a straight blue-in-blue Fremen gaze. He tells Paul he caught the splitting disease on Tarahell, right after the victory, before a fit of coughing cuts him off. (Dune Messiah)
Lichna and the message#
Otheym's daughter Lichna had been living at Farok's house next door, kept there by Farok's blind son, who had addicted her to semuta. The Tleilaxu Face Dancer Scytale kills Farok and his son and leads her away. Her body is later found in the desert. (Dune Messiah)
Scytale then goes to Paul wearing Lichna's face, saying that her father, a former Fedaykin, wants Paul to come to him in secret. Paul sees through the disguise but goes anyway, because his visions show that exposing the Face Dancer leads somewhere worse. (Dune Messiah)
The names of the traitors#
At Otheym's house Paul meets his wife Dhuri, an older version of the Lichna the Face Dancer had copied. Paul remembers that Otheym had married sisters. Dhuri tells him that Lichna is the whole of the burden Otheym is placing on him: take the dwarf and go. (Dune Messiah)
The dwarf is Bijaz. Otheym says he bought him on some world he can no longer name, a toy thrown away by the Tleilaxu, and that Bijaz has recorded the names of all the traitors. Paul takes him, aware that the Bene Tleilax never throw away anything this valuable. As Paul's men move on the plotters, a stone burner goes off and blinds him, and Bijaz turns out to be a Tleilaxu agent with his own part in the plot. (Dune Messiah)
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Otheym in Dune Messiah?
- A Fremen veteran who had been one of Paul's Fedaykin death commandos. He comes back from the Jihad dying of the splitting disease and lives in a suburb of Arrakeen built for veterans.
- What does Otheym give Paul?
- The Tleilaxu dwarf Bijaz, whom he bought on another world. Otheym says the dwarf has recorded the names of all the Fremen traitors plotting against Paul.
- What happened to Otheym's daughter Lichna?
- The Face Dancer Scytale led her away from Farok's house next door, and her body was later found in the desert. Scytale then used her face to bring Paul a message asking him to visit Otheym.
- Who is Dhuri?
- Otheym's wife. When Paul meets her he sees an older version of the Lichna the Face Dancer had copied, and remembers that Otheym had married sisters.
- When did Otheym die?
- Frank Herbert's novels give no year for his death, and this page no longer gives one.
Gallery
Images via Dune Wiki
Sources
- BookDune Messiah, Frank Herbert, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1969
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Farok
Farok was a Fremen of Sietch Tabr who rose to Bashar of the Ninth Legion during Muad'Dib's Jihad, leading campaigns on distant worlds before he was killed by the Face Dancer Scytale, who took his shape to lead away Otheym's daughter Lichna.
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Bijaz
Bijaz was a Tleilaxu dwarf, prescient and immune to the prescience of others, who spoke in riddles and rhymes. A tool of the conspiracy against Emperor Muad'Dib, he carried the names of the plotters and planted a hidden command in the Hayt ghola to kill the Emperor in his grief.
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Scytale
Scytale is the Tleilaxu Face Dancer in Dune Messiah's conspiracy against Paul Atreides. He kills the veteran Farok, takes the shape of Otheym's daughter Lichna, and dies holding a knife over Paul's newborn twins. A Tleilaxu Master of the same name returns in Chapterhouse: Dune as the last of his kind.
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