Freakzilla wrote:Obviously Shaddam IV was an unwilling puppet of the BG and Guild.
Without being in a position of power, a KH would be useless. I don't think it was a coincidence that they anticipated their child being born to House Atreides and Harkonnen, the two most powerful and influential families besides the Corrinos. With the Harkonnen power and the Atreides influence, ascending to the throne would be a cakewalk for the KH.
That explains why Paul needed to be born into nobility, not why the BG needed a KH. They had their puppet. They had Voice and imprinters and great manipulative abilities. Thufir Hawat, generally treated as one of the finest
male minds in the Empire, is like wax in the hands of Jessica, and Jessica is obviously not the most high-ranking BG member. They had shaped the religions of the galaxy to their liking.
I don't dispute that the BG intended to place the KH into a position of power. The question still remains why they needed him there. What power would a KH Emperor give them that they didn't already have?
And creating a KH to obtain the throne is like funding the Manhattan project to settle a game of cards. Now, if you say they needed a KH Emperor to smash the Guild monopoly on space travel, or abolish the faufreluches, then we're getting somewhere. But by then we've moved beyond 'mere power grab'.
I think their mistake was in assuming he would be loyal to the sisterhood once his ancestral memories were accessed.
Emperor Feyd Jr would be BG trained from birth, and presumably imprinted as soon as possible. He'd have been a very different creature from Paul (and I don't believe Paul's loyalties were significantly shaken up by his OM experiences)