As I recall it was him teaching back into his own genetic memory and recalling something that would be for the benefit of the reader, while also demonstrating the gulf between him and Stilgar

[–] axont@hexbear.net 24 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Yeah this scene is Paul musing and Stilgar trying his best to keep up. It should be mentioned that at this point Stilgar is Paul's chief advisor. He's the governor of Arrakis and a highly learned man who's an expert on stuff like galactic history. He has no idea who Genghis Khan or Hitler are. He probably has no idea what Earth is. In fact, when Paul says that Genghis Khan killed 4 million people, Stilgar asks if he killed that many people with laser guns. He's confused and thinks these historical figures killed that many people by themselves.

Paul explains Hitler and Genghis Khan killed people through subordinates, Stilgar's no longer impressed because he simply doesn't get it. He can't conceive of such a distant past, but for Paul it's a very clear memory he's explored in his genetic lineage.

[–] Formerlyfarman@hexbear.net 13 points 8 months ago

This is a good point. I think the movies forget how alien paul is after he goes tgrough the ritual.