Ghola/XD



A ghola was an artificially created human, who was replicated from a dead individual. Gholas were created in Axlotl tanks and could be reconstructed from as little as one cell from the original being. They were created almost exclusively by the Bene Tleilaxu, although at least one (based on Miles Teg) was created by the Bene Gesserit shortly before the Return of the Honored Matres.

Differences between gholas and clones
Though a ghola would at first seem synonymous with a clone, there were some key differences:
 * To be considered a true ghola, the cells used to grow the ghola were collected after the original human had died, whereas a clone is grown from cells collected while the original human was still alive. Clones do not poses a "death memory" when the original memories are restored.
 * Gholas possessed most (if not all) of the memories of the source human, thanks to a combination of conditioning and a variant on genetic memory.
 * Gholas originally possessed artificial 'metallic' eyes, due to an initial problem with the method of ghola production. This was later resolved, resulting in them possessing natural eyes.

Awakening of Original Memories
Up until the time of Muad'Dib, gholas were created to give people some comfort from the grief they experienced after the loss of someone close. However, this relief was limited because the gholas never remembered anything from their original lives. However, the Tleilaxu had long theorised that it was indeed possible to reawaken a ghola's original memories. This theory was based on the concept of genetic memory, as well as collected evidence that gholas could experience "echoes" of their past life, namely feelings stirred up from sounds or smells.

To test this theory, the Tleilaxu had provided Muad'Dib with a ghola of Duncan Idaho. He possessed none of his original Idaho memories, and had been given the name of Hayt. Hayt was conditioned by the Tleilaxu to assassinate Muad'Dib. However, because of Idaho's innate love for the Atreides, Hayt could not reconcile this feeling with his conditioning. The psychological trauma that ensued from this paradox caused his Idaho's memories to emerge. As a result, the theory was proven correct.

After that, a similar process was used to reawaken pre-ghola memories, whereby the ghola would be forced to experience some kind of psychological trauma to force the memories to the surface. This process continued until Miles Teg's pre-ghola memories were awakened by Sheeana with sexual imprinting techniques, at the suggestion of Duncan Idaho, who didn't like the original method.

Recurrence of gholas
Gholas played an increasingly important role throughout the history of the Known Universe, starting during the reign of Emperor Paul Atreides. Individuals who have been noted as being the source of one or more gholas included:
 * Duncan Idaho, who was replicated as a ghola countless times over the course of several thousand years, usually from previous Idaho gholas. This eventually led to an accumulation of memories and experiences. Each Idaho ghola was produced by the Bene Tleilax, and always possessed some deep-seated conditioning that was intended to assist the Tleilaxu in their political and cultural endeavors. The success of such conditioning was often poor, or resulted in unforeseen consequences; although the final ghola of Idaho ended up being with Ultimate Kwisatz Haderach.
 * Miles Teg, who was replicated twice, once by the Bene Gesserit after his death during the destruction of Rakis by the Honored Matres, and once by Duncan Idaho after Teg drained himself in an attempt to save the no-ship, the Ithaca from the Enemy. As was the case with Idaho, Teg was conditioned to assist his sponsors' efforts, again with limited success.
 * Various Tleilaxu Masters including Waff and Scytale.

During the Time of Kralizec
The Tleilaxu Master Scytale possessed genetic material from various important human persons from history, in a nullentropy tube he kept hidden on his person. As the Ithaca transversed the cosmos, always one step ahead of their being captured by the great Enemy, Daniel and Marty; the crew of the Ithaca let Scytale grew his own replacement ghola, if he would turn over his cells to Bene Gesserit leader Sheeana.

As a way of fighting the eventual battle against the Enemy, that the crew of the Ithaca believed must eventually come, Sheeana created numerous gholas over the next 26 years. In those years that the Ithaca evaded Daniel and Marty, eventually found out to be the Thinking Machine rulers, Omnius and Erasmus, Sheeana and her sisters created gholas of Paul, Chani, Stilgar, Liet Kynes, Leto II, Jessica, Wellington Yueh, Alia Atreides, and others. At times the Machine rulers could "see" inside the vessel through their ultra-technological Tachyon net, and they saw the ghola of Paul Atreides and others. Such a cavalcade of resurrected clones, especially the one of the first known super-being, Paul; caused the reborn Thinking Machine leaders to believe that the Ultimate Kwisatz Haderach was aboard the ship.

Concurrently, the Machine guiders had begun their own ghola program; and had their enforcer Khrone, command the Tleilaxu Scribe Uxtal, to create a ghola of Vladimir Harkonnen. Harkonnen was given the charge of raising the clone of Paul Atreides, named Paolo, whom Uxtal had also created. Paolo was believed by the Machine rulers to be a back-up Kwisatz, in case the Ithaca would never be captured. After Harkonnen had sufficiently raised Paolo with a negative and cruel personality, Paolo was brought to Synchrony to have his training completed by Erasmus. Harkonnen was brought as well, for Paolo to have human companionship on the machine world.

All the Gholas on Synchrony
On the Day of Kralizec, the Ithaca was captured and brought to Synchrony. All of the pen-ultimate ghola personalities from human-kind's past were all gathered in one spot as the man-machine war came to a final conclusion. Harkonnen got revenge on Alia, as he stabbed her brutally as the captives of the Ithaca were led to the Cathedral. Later, in Cathedral, Paul and Paolo engaged in a duel-to-the-death; as Paul near fatally wounded, and Paolo over-dosed on ingesting ultraspice. Yeuh fatally stabbed the ghola of the Baron, and got revenge for the death of his wife Wanna 5000 years earlier. Leto II gave his ghola body to be merged with the now-released sandworms that had been set free on Synchrony, in a final merging of consciousnesses.

But the most important ghola revelation occurred when Paul came out of his death experience trance, and spoke that Duncan Idaho, was the universe's Ultimate Kwisatz Haderach. This was confirmed as the Oracle of Time showed up, affirmed Paul's pronouncement, as she banished Omnius to another universe of existence.

The ghola lifetimes that Idaho had accumulated, having been resurrected again and again since the time of the God Emperor, had caused Idaho's personality to develop great empathy and compassion for all human-kind. This, and his expanded abilities given to him by intense Bene Gesserit training, caused the final ghola incarnation, to have pen-ultimate super abilities. When Erasmus bonded and shared all of the Evermind machine codes with Idaho and then died, Idaho was able to guide Machines and Man into a united and productive future.