The Dune Universe Timeline EXPLAINED

The Dune Timeline Explained

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re explaining the universe of the “Dune” franchise - including its most important events and factions. We’ll be focusing on the canon of the original Dune novels, written by Frank Herbert.

The Butlerian Jihad

A distinguishing feature of “Dune” is the absence of artificial intelligence. There’s a good reason for this - a conflict known as the Butlerian Jihad, or Great Revolt. In the year 201 BG - over 10,000 years before the events of the original “Dune” - humans revolted against the “god of machine logic”, wiping out thinking machines, computers, and conscious robots. The war raged on for almost a hundred years, until the year 108 BG - with humans emerging as the victors.

This massive conflict instilled a taboo around building complex computers and artificial intelligence. Humanity has adhered to this with a religious zealotry ever since. In fact, one of the best known prescripts from the Orange Catholic Bible, a fusion of religious thought produced after the Butlerian Jihad, commands: “Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of the human mind.”

From the ashes of this conflict, many factions arose, including the empire that has ruled ever since.

The Corrino Empire

The Imperium, or Corrino Empire, spans the entire galaxy. Although composed of countless planets and people, power is still concentrated at the top. The imperial family is House Corrino, and the head of this House has ruled the empire since the Battle of Corrino in 88 BG during the Butlerian Jihad. Known as the Padishah Emperor, he maintains power both militarily and politically.

House Corrino’s military force is called the Sardaukar, raised on the harsh prison planet Salusa Secundus - originally House Corrino’s homeworld, until they moved their capital to Kaitain. The Sardaukar are renowned for their utter ruthlessness and effectiveness in combat. The Emperor isn’t an absolute power though, since they must also balance themselves against the other major factions, including the other Great Houses - who are represented by a council called the Landsraad. Luckily enough, the two most prominent Houses hate each other - and have done for a long, long time.

Ancient Enemies

House Atreides and House Harkonnen despise each other. The origin of their feud once again goes back to the time of the Butlerian Jihad. After the Battle of Corrin, an Atreides had Abulurd Harkonnen exiled for cowardice. While the details vary, depending on who you ask, this event sparked a vendetta that has lasted millennia!

Killings and sabotage have gone back and forth between the Houses until the present day. Currently, House Atreides has a reputation for honor and integrity, while the Harkonnens are infamous for underhanded tactics and cruelty. If only they could just settle things with a duel…

Shields, Lasguns & Atomics

Speaking of duels, the “Dune” universe has some interesting fighting tactics, thanks to the use of energy shields. Powered by ‘Holtzman generators’, these defensive shields produce a “negative repelling effect”. They can be worn by an individual or projected across vehicles or large areas. While they block high velocity objects, shields can still be penetrated at slower speeds. This leads to a peculiar fighting style in close combat that emphasizes slowing down to land killing blows.

Lasers, or ‘lasguns’, do exist, but when they hit a shield the reaction is…explosive. There are also ‘atomics’, or nuclear weapons; but the Great Convention prohibits their use against humans, with a punishment of “planetary obliteration”.

On the planet Arrakis, shields have a major disadvantage - attracting sandworms. But while the technology of “Dune” has advanced in some ways, the lack of A.I. has led to incredible human specializations.

Mentats

A remarkable example of this specialization is found in Mentats. Complex calculations were once child’s play for any ‘thinking machine.’ But with these being forbidden, specialized training programs have been devised to produce people with superhuman recall and analytical abilities. Those trained in this manner are known as Mentats. A high-energy liquid called ‘sapho juice’ amplifies their abilities and stains their lips a ruby red.

Mentats are frequently employed by the Great Houses as aides or strategists. They’re also instructed to work within strict ethical guidelines, though some have been known to twist Mentats to their own views on morality (or lack thereof). However, while Mentats are the most obvious replacement for machines, their order is not the most famous or impactful to arise after the Great Revolt.

The Bene Gesserit

Even more important than the advent of Mentats is the Bene Gesserit Order. This sisterhood of mental and physical training, cloaked in ritual mysticism, similarly emerged from the Butlerian Jihad. Their dedicated conditioning of nerve and muscle has led to abilities that seem superhuman - such as a form of movement known as the Weirding Way, and control over others using just their voices. By drinking the Water of Life - the bile of a drowned sandworm - Reverend Mothers are able to unlock the genetic memory of their female ancestors.

Members of the Order are often seen as advisors, but really act as power brokers within the Imperium. In order to exploit various regions, a Bene Gessert arm known as Missionaria Protectiva sows superstitions and religious prophecies on other worlds. They’ve also enacted a centuries long selective breeding program, with the aim of creating a superbeing known as the ‘Kwisatz Haderach’.

The Kwisatz Haderach

The Kwisatz Haderach would be a male Bene Gesserit, with the same abilities, able to command others verbally and possessing the same minute control of his own body. However, unlike his female counterparts, the Kwisatz Haderach would be able to view the memories of both his male and female ancestors. Additionally, this supposed messiah would see not only into the distant past, but also the future. Using these mental powers, the Kwisatz Haderach would be able to “bridge space and time”.

Given the plot of “Dune,” it would seem that he has arrived at last, in the form of Paul Atreides. But whether he can guide humanity down a “Golden Path” or not remains to be seen. After all, he isn’t the only one who can see the future…

The Spacing Guild

You may have wondered how humanity is able to travel the stars without complex computing. The answer is the Spacing Guild, and its Navigators. By immersing themselves in high concentrations of a certain substance, which we’ll touch on next, Guild Navigators can see a short way into the future. This allows them to pilot ships safely through space, which the ships ‘fold’ to traverse vast distances - making sure that they don’t reappear inside a star or something.

And because only the Guild knows how to create their Navigators, they have a total monopoly on space travel. It also makes the substance used by Navigators the most valuable in the universe.

The Spice

Better known as Spice or the Spice, Melange is the key to the prescience of the Navigators, and thus, to space travel. However, it’s even more important than that! While the narcotic has an addictive quality, it extends a person’s lifespan. Heavy doses can also allow some to expand their awareness, such as in the Bene Gesserit’s viewing of their ancestral memories. Consume it enough, and your eyes turn blue.

Melange’s importance is only further emphasized by its rarity. It can only be found on one planet in the galaxy - Arrakis. The inhospitable nature of the world is legendary - as are its most famous creatures.

Sandworms

The sandworms of Dune are perhaps its most iconic feature, save the dunes themselves. These enormous monstrosities carve their way through the sands of Arrakis. They’re attracted to rhythmic vibrations, making travel on the ground incredibly difficult. Their huge maws can devour even large vehicles whole.

Tough to kill and even tougher to study, the “old man of the desert” is one of the greatest mysteries of Arrakis, particularly its relationship to Melange - which is bound up with the sandworm life cycle. However, the native population have adapted to live alongside them - even harnessing their might for their own ends.

Fremen

Plenty of people live in cities and towns all over Arrakis. But when talking about the natives of Dune, most people mean the Fremen. Descended from Zensunni Wanderers, followers of a religion fusing Sunni Islam and Zen Buddhism, the Fremen live in large communal groups called Sietches. Unlike most of the known universe, the most valuable substance to the Fremen is not Spice, which is everywhere on their world, but rather water, which is not. They dream of changing that, however.

Desert living and constant warring against their Imperial occupiers, especially the Harkonnens, has honed them into incredible fighters. Their mastery over the sandworms, and by extension the Spice, has given a seemingly ragtag group of guerillas galactic importance. But while the Fremen vie to control the Spice - who controls the Fremen?

Mua’dib

The answer to this question is found in the story of “Dune,” as all of the aforementioned factions’ plans, schemes, and motives become centered on Arrakis. History will be made and the universe will never be the same! We don’t want to give too much away, but the Kwisatz Haderach will arrive, and the legend of Mua’dib will be born! To learn more, well, you’ll just have to check out “Dune” yourself, in whichever medium you choose.

Is there something from “Dune”’s past that was swallowed by the sands and lost from our video? The comments, like the Spice, must flow!