Dune Book II, Chapter 30 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • Dr. Kynes crawls along the dunes. The Harkonnens just dropped him in the desert—no stillsuit, no water, no nothing. Is this their idea of making it look like an accident? The mafia could teach these guys a thing or two about how it's done.
  • As Kynes crawls, he can smell pre-spice beneath him. This puts him at a dilemma. If he crawls beneath the sand into the cool under-layers, he has a better chance of surviving. But if he can smell the pre-spice, that means the gases under the sand have pressurized to an explosive level. So he can either die or be killed. Decisions, decisions.
  • Kynes's father's voice speaks to him from the desert, reminding him that the "highest function of ecology is understanding consequences" (30.11). Either Kynes is hallucinating or his father is Obi-Wan Kenobi.
  • Kynes's father's voice continues to lecture him on ecology. Kynes kindly asks his old man to shut up.
  • Kynes considers his options. A worm is sure to come when the pre-spice bubble bursts, but he has no hooks to mount it. Hmm, wonder what that means?
  • Kynes attracts some hawks instead, hoping his Fremen will investigate the possible source of water that is drawing the creatures.
  • Kynes's father's lecture moves from ecology to their plan of making Arrakis a planet of water and vegetation. Kynes wonders why his father continues to lecture and not help.
  • The hawks fly away. At first, Kynes thinks his Fremen have come, but then he hears the sand rumbling beneath him.
  • The explosion kills Kynes. His last thoughts are that he is "a desert creature" (30.77).