Scytale
the Tleilaxu Face Dancer of the conspiracy
Scytale was a Face Dancer of the Bene Tleilax who took a central part in the conspiracy against Paul Atreides, offering the ghola Hayt as a trap. Reborn as the last Tleilaxu Master, he survived into the age of the Honored Matres carrying the genetic patterns of his people within his own flesh.
Scytale (died 10210 A.G.) was a Face Dancer of the Bene Tleilax, and later the youngest Masheikh and the last surviving Tleilaxu Master, whose part in the affairs of the Imperium spanned more than five thousand years. He was the Tleilaxu agent in the conspiracy against Paul Atreides, and through the long centuries of gholas and rebirths he became the vessel in which the patterns of his vanished people were carried forward.
The conspiracy against Muad'Dib#
Scytale was born a Tleilaxu Face Dancer during the last decades of the Corrino Empire. At the end of Muad'Dib's Jihad, the Bene Tleilax took part through Scytale in the plot to destroy the royal family. Their instrument was a gift to Paul-Muad'Dib: Hayt, the ghola of Duncan Idaho. Outwardly the ghola was meant to undermine Paul, but the Tleilaxu had a deeper aim, to learn at last how to restore a ghola's original memories rather than to use Hayt as an assassin.
Scytale was first sent to Wallach IX as the Tleilaxu representative in the conspiracy, alongside Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, the Guild Navigator Edric, and Princess Irulan Corrino. He then went to the imperial capital on Arrakis, where he killed the Fremen Farok, his blind son, and the neighbor's daughter Lichna, whose shape he took. Disguised as Lichna, he came before the Emperor Muad'Dib to arrange the delivery of the Tleilaxu Master Bijaz, the dwarf who proved instrumental in reawakening Hayt's buried identity as Duncan by driving him to attempt and fail to kill Paul.
The bargain over Chani's flesh#
When Chani died giving birth to the twins Leto Atreides II and Ghanima Atreides, Scytale saw that Hayt had been successfully reawakened as Duncan, and he revealed to Paul that this had been the plan from the beginning. He delivered his ultimatum: he would kill the newborn children, or Paul could make a bargain with the Tleilaxu by giving them Chani's flesh, from which they would grow and reawaken a ghola of her. Scytale was killed before the bargain could be struck, slain by Paul with the help of his newborn son.
Rebirth and the last Master#
Because Scytale had made it possible for the Tleilaxu to renew the flesh and reawaken a ghola's memories, they had won a kind of immortality through their gholas, though they confined the power to a single government so that it would not be demanded everywhere. As the one who made this eternal life possible, Scytale was the first to be brought back, reawakened and promoted to a Tleilaxu Master.
By the time the Honored Matres returned to the Old Empire, Scytale had become the youngest and most junior of the nine Masheikhs of the Tleilaxu ruling Council. On the order of the Mahai Tylwyth Waff, he armed the faithful as the Bene Tleilax set out to convert humanity to their Great Belief. Shortly before Waff died in the Battle of Rakis and the Honored Matres destroyed Tleilax and the worlds of the Bene Tleilax, all but ending Tleilaxu civilization, Scytale fled Bandalong and sought sanctuary on the planet Junction, only to be taken aboard a Bene Gesserit ship and carried to Chapterhouse.
There he was imprisoned aboard a great planet-bound no-ship for a decade. He told the Sisters how to grow a ghola in an axolotl tank, but not how to use such a tank to make the spice melange. When Reverend Mother Sheeana, a Miles Teg ghola, and a Duncan Idaho ghola escaped aboard the ship, Scytale became a willing passenger in their flight into uncharted space. Within his body lay a vial of genetic samples from many individuals, the Tleilaxu Masters among them and much of the Atreides line and their servants, making it possible for him to recreate his culture.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Scytale?
- Scytale was a Face Dancer of the Bene Tleilax who served as the Tleilaxu agent in the conspiracy against Paul Atreides. He was later reborn as the youngest Masheikh and the last surviving Tleilaxu Master.
- What was the Tleilaxu's real aim in giving Paul the ghola Hayt?
- Outwardly the ghola of Duncan Idaho was meant to undermine Paul, but the Tleilaxu had a deeper aim, to learn how to restore a ghola's original memories rather than to use Hayt as an assassin.
- What bargain did Scytale offer Paul Atreides?
- When Chani died giving birth to the twins, Scytale gave Paul an ultimatum: he would kill the newborn children, or Paul could give the Tleilaxu Chani's flesh so they could grow and reawaken a ghola of her. Scytale was killed before the bargain could be struck, slain by Paul with the help of his newborn son.
- How did Scytale come back to life?
- Because Scytale had made it possible for the Tleilaxu to renew the flesh and reawaken a ghola's memories, he was the first to be brought back, reawakened and promoted to a Tleilaxu Master. He rose to become the youngest and most junior of the nine Masheikhs of the ruling Council.
- What happened to Scytale after the Honored Matres destroyed Tleilax?
- He fled Bandalong and sought sanctuary on Junction, but was taken aboard a Bene Gesserit ship and carried to Chapterhouse, where he was imprisoned for a decade. When Sheeana and the Teg and Duncan Idaho gholas escaped aboard the ship, Scytale became a willing passenger, carrying within his body a vial of genetic samples of the Masters and of the Atreides line.
Gallery
Images via Dune Wiki
Sources
- WikiScytale — Dune Wiki entry
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Hayt
Hayt was the name given to the first Duncan Idaho ghola, grown by the Bene Tleilax and presented to Emperor Paul Atreides as a gift that concealed a weapon. Trained as a mentat, he came to love Alia Atreides before recovering his original memories in the crisis that followed Chani's death.
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Bijaz
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Edric
Edric was a third-stage Spacing Guild Navigator and ambassador who joined the failed conspiracy to assassinate Emperor Paul-Muad'Dib. His prescience shielded the plot from the Emperor's foresight, and he delivered the Hayt ghola to Arrakis before the scheme collapsed and he was executed.
Enhanced Face Dancer
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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.
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Ghola
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Hayt
Hayt was the name given to the first Duncan Idaho ghola, grown by the Bene Tleilax and presented to Emperor Paul Atreides as a gift that concealed a weapon. Trained as a mentat, he came to love Alia Atreides before recovering his original memories in the crisis that followed Chani's death.
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