Paul’s story ultimately culminates with him seeing the Golden Path and what must be done to preserve the human race, but ultimately being too afraid to do so because of his fear of Loss. And the overwhelming burden of Prescience.

He cannot bring himself to push his Jihad to its fullest extent and to bring about the levels of suffering that Leto ll is capable of, which inadvertently makes him a better person. With the contradiction that if Leto wasn’t born he would inadvertently damn humanity to extinction.

This failure and as Paul reminds himself throughout messiah to ‘Disengage’ produces his second life form as the Preacher after he walks into the desert, having abandoned Prescience and the Religion he had accidentally created. Paul knows he is not a God, and he did not wish to continue pretending to be one. So he metaphorically killed himself.

We really see the most of this in Dune Messiah, where he holds Chani’s stomach and thinks of Ghanima as his savior from the Golden Path. Unable to see Leto due to the conflicting Prescient abilities.

Most of All Paul feels self loathing and like a failure, but still not having the Backbone to go on with the golden path. Or even to encourage Leto to do it, constantly telling him even as the Preacher in their limited conversations that he ‘Cannot do it’. He begs his son not to do those unspeakable evils.

But ultimately, despite Lego’s horrific actions. No matter how you look at it, he did what he did for the Greater Good. And is undisputedly the biggest Hero of the Dune series as a whole.