Jamis’ water is transferred to Paul. The tribe, and Jessica, observe the all-encompassing power of water in two ways. When Paul sheds a tear at Jamis’ funeral, the sietch calls it a gift, and murmur that Paul has performed a sacred act, giving water to the dead. Secondly, when Jamis’ water, symbolically represented by metal watercounting rings that each member carries is given to Paul, he asks Chani to carry them for him. Paul names Jessica as his “enemy”, as the act of even bearing him pushes him into a destiny both awesome and terrible.
Back on Geidi Prime, the Harkonnens have hatched a private plot to burnish the reputation of Feyd-Rautha during his 17th birthday. The Fenrings take note of the illusion of gaiety amidst a dilapidated lifestyle for the people outside the Imperial court. The Baron floats the idea of Arrakis as a new Salusa Secundus, a prison planet, in regards to taming, but not killing, the fierce Fremen. In the gladiator ring, the audience is expecting a drugged fight which gives advantage to the na-baron. Feyd-Rautha and Hawat have devised to fake the drugged state of the opponent, instead choosing to give Feyd-Rautha the upper hand by implanting a code word to hypnotically immobilize the fighter. As another feint within this, Feyd-Rautha, unknown even to Hawat, has further obfuscated the truth of the fight by switching his poisoned and non-poisoned blade. His victory sets off one of two hotblooded, frenzied parties in this section, and he is carried away by the crowd. Undeterred by various feints, the Fenrings leave, determining that the Lady will seduce the boy in order to reclaim genes for the Bene Gesserit breeding program that they believed lost with Paul Atreides.
In the cavern, Jessica attempts to “pass within” during a Fremen ceremony to emerge as a Reverend Mother, whose voice can speak multitudes. She drinks the Water of Life, which transports Jessica into a heightened drug state. She uses her prana-bindu training to molecularly alter the Water before it kills her, thus changing it for the whole sietch. She communes with the dying Reverence Mother, absorbs her, and comforts the pre-born awareness of her unborn daughter, who unwittingly participated in this ceremony with her. Many things are revealed to Jessica: the history of the Fremen stretches back further than is known off planet. She briefly gains access to the place within than Reverend Mothers fear, that only the Kwisatz Haderich may see, and learns the source of the Water of Life. It is a byproduct of a drowned sandworm. Using the changed Water of Life, the rest of the Fremen launch into an unrestrained spice orgy.