The situation is desperate for the Bene Gesserit as they find themselves the targets of the Honored Matres, whose conquest of the Old Empire is almost complete. The Matres are seeking to assimilate the technology and developed methods of the Bene Gesserit, their "last enemy in the million planets" (i.e. the Old Empire before The Scattering). Given the strength and record of the Matres, the Bene Gesserit need a plan.
In charge of this plan is Mother Superior Darwi Odrade, successor of Taraza. Her prescient visions show an unknown axeman stalking her — an adequate analogy to the Bene Gesserit situation.
The Bene Gesserit are also creating a new Dune on the planet Chapterhouse. Sheeana, in charge of the Worm project, expects a sandworm soon.
The Honored Matres conquest destroyed the Bene Tleilax, who falsely assumed that their control of spice production guaranteed their protection. The Matres, we come to see, are surprisingly impulsive in their use of violence. A single Tleilaxu Master remains, albeit in Bene Gesserit captivity. He yields a secret of the Tleilaxu: ghola production. The technology compromises Bene Gesserit ethics; the Tleilaxu method requires a human womb — turning women into "tanks" fit for ghola production. The first ghola produced is that of Miles Teg, the great military commander introduced in Heretics of Dune.
The Bene Gesserit have three important prisoners on Chapterhouse, held in a no-ship: Scytale, Duncan Idaho and Murbella (the Matre introduced in Heretics). The Bene Gesserit considers them valuable keys to the present predicament. This mode of thinking — that people are tools fit for a task — makes the prisoners uncooperative, despite the shared threat of the Matres.
The Bene Gesserit intend to wring more secrets of the Tleilaxu from Scytale; namely, how to create spice from the axlotl tanks. Scytale bitterly regrets supplying the Bene Gesserit with ghola technology, but he must barter with them; he is their prisoner. Within Scytale's chest is a nullentropy tube, containing the cells of all Tleilaxu masters and various figures of the last few millennia, including Paul Atreides himself. Capable of recreating the Bene Tleilax, he retains his sense of destiny. Additionally, Scytale also wields the mind-controlling whistling language imprinted in all gholas; what ends could Duncan Idaho achieve for Scytale?
Duncan Idaho and Murbella are living together. The bond created by their mutual imprinting in Heretics has made them somewhat reluctant lovers. The Bene Gesserit have accepted Murbella as a novice and are training her to be a Sister, despite their belief that she intends to steal their secrets and escape back to the Honored Matres.
The Bene Gesserit wonder about Idaho's capabilities and potential; they suspect he remembers more than this ghola existence because they see signs of his being a Mentat, a talent not taught to him. They also wonder why Leto II consistently resurrected Duncan; was it his genetic potential? Indeed, he remembers his serial ghola lives, which mystifies him. His mentat awareness tells him that the Bene Tleilax could not have accomplished this, implying that his awareness is linked beyond genetics.
