If Paul {is} an heir-designate who is an heir-apparent at the time of the move to Arrakis only because there was no other child, doesn't that mean he is, by definition, not an heir-apparent? If an heir apparent's claim cannot be set aside by the birth of another heir, doesn't it mean that Paul is not an heir-apparent if that could change without a "designation?"
yes ... & no;
or, maybe ...
heir apparent: claim cannot be set aside by the birth of another heir
heir presumptive: claim could be set aside by the birth of another heir
that's what I getting at - in the European Feudal system, birthright often outweighed the political schemings of a sitting noble
after the noble's death - in the example of the Plantagenets used above, Richard never really gave any indication that he was
too concerned with Henry's ravings; he assumed he would be King of England after Henry not only due to his birthright, but also
due to his military position (he was the beloved general of England's Army) and his political power (he was a "Special Friend" of
Phillip of France); had Henry died leaving John the legal heir-apparent, Richard knew he could simply
take the crown -Rome
would support him due to birthright alone, the army would support him because he was Richard ... the nobility would support him
for these reasons and the fact that Phillip of France would support Richard's claim & lend military and financial aid in case a civil
war was necessary ....
but how strong was the heir-designate and Emperor's Sanction in the Empire ?
if the choice of successor by the sitting noble was considered sacrosanct, and the Word of the Emperor solid law,
then Paul could be called the "heir-apparent" (as Frank says Feyd was, using that phrase in the definition of
Na-)
because his claim "could not be set aside by the birth of another heir", even one of a legal Duchess Atreides, without the
"sanction" of the Emperor ....
I had thought this was really clear in the text - until I started searching the .pdf; I think, from the quotes in the first book, anyway,
that Frank saw the succession question as depending on hand-picked heirs & the Emperor's agreement above birthright ...
and I started to look at the other books and think about it some more, but then I got majorly sidetracked trying to find
that fucking .gif of Kyle's Hair flapping it's feathered sides like a launching ornithopter, so I could post:
NB4:
[ .gif image ]
Hair-Apparent
but I couldn't fucking find it, and it pissed me off ...