That's a good last point. Very interesting.
As for the child-molestation, while I agee with you in real life, I just can't apply that to fiction. Maybe I'm desensitised, but I literally mentioned it in passing, not attaching much thought to it at all.
I noticed in the Farthest Shore thread where you mention that any depiction of child abuse is very difficult for you to read. Of course, your own life almost certainly has made it easier to identify with in ways I can't imagine, so it's not surprising.
I hope its that, and that I'm not simply unbelieveably callous.
What's always stood out in that chapter for me especially is the Sarduakar. The authority, the competence, and the Emperor's wish that Leto die cleanly, compared to the torture the Baron intended to subject him to.
Of course, we know that the Emperor secretly admired Leto. And that gives us another great insight into the politics of the story.
--A
I don't know whether I like that (in terms of canon) or not. Suppose it doesn't matter really. Even if it shouldn't be, it will become so. To us these new books are Johnny-come-latelies. 
) (But I would.)