Questions tagged [dune]
For questions about "Dune", a science fiction franchise which originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Use this tag for the franchise, universe and/or the novel.
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Where does the other path lead to?
I'm re-reading the original Dune book, and in the end of (the inner) Book 1 (Dune) it says:
He had seen two main branchings along the way ahead - in one he
confronted an evil old Baron and said: &...
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What was blocking Thufir from guessing the Guild was bribed into forbidding satellites over Arrakis?
Soon after taking possession of Arrakis, the Atreides discover the Guild will not allow one of their frigates with a climate control system on board to orbit the planet.
The Guild agent [...] was ...
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What is the most complete version of David Lynch's Dune film?
The 1984 "Dune" film by David Lynch is said to have multiple cuts, many of which add back deleted scenes that weren't in the theatrical release. Altogether, I think the "complete" film would be ...
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Why did Leto II change his wedding location to Tuono Village, despite the obvious danger?
I just finished re-reading God Emperor of Dune and the final bit where Leto II is setting up his marriage ceremony seems awfully silly and careless when considered at the surface level:
Tuono Village ...
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Why didn't Emperor Shaddam have Irulan marry Paul at the beginning of Dune?
Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV orchestrated the fall of the Atreides because his adoptive cousin Leto was becoming too popular in the Landsraad, and the Atreides army was beginning to rival his own ...
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How do the Fremen harvest spice?
In Frank Herbert's Dune, the people who are native to the Planet Arrakis are known as "Fremen".
Whilst the planet Arrakis is under imperial rule, the Fremen have certain freedoms which they ...
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Dune book with very obscure character from 20th century?
In one of the Dune books, was there ever a very minor mention of a person who wound up (through some unknown mechanism) in the Dune universe from our time (20th century)? This wouldn't have been in ...
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What is the point of the "many machines on Ix" conversation?
In David Lynch's 1984 Dune adaptation, the opening scene has the following dialogue:
Guild Navigator: We have just folded space from Ix.
Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV: Yes? How was your journey?
Guild ...
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Why does Paul's fight with Feyd-Rautha take so long?
Paul challenges the emperor and Feyd-Rautha is offered as his champion. Paul has already drunk the spice water and can see the future. Meaning that he can predict Feyd's every move. So, why does ...
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Is the supposedly fake prophecy of Mahdi that the Bene Gesserit implanted on Arrakis actually a real prophecy?
I've been re-reading through Dune recently, and I've been considering the prophecy of the coming of Mahdi that the Bene Gesserit supposedly implanted on Arrakis as part of the Missionaria Protectiva.
...
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What was Jessica and the Bene Gesserit's game plan if Paul failed the test?
Early in the novel Dune, Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam administers a test to Paul Atreides to determine, as she puts it, whether he is or not "human". It seems that this testing is ...
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Can someone explain the two old people at the ending of "Chapterhouse: Dune"?
In Chapterhouse: Dune who are the two old people at the ending and what are their significance? I understand they are supposedly Face Dancers, but I don't understand why they have been watching Duncan ...
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What titles were used by Minor Houses during the Empire under House Corrino?
Houses Minor are a well established part of the Dune Universe, being mentioned in passing many times. But I can't recall a single character from a Minor House.
The Siridar Titles of the Major houses ...
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Guild Navigators: Does their eventual form imply anything?
Do Guild Navigators look as they do because of, for example, some kind of merging of sandworm DNA with their own?
Do they eventually resemble a known alien lifeform? (I understand that the very ...
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Was there specific evidence that Dune's house of Atreides was related to Ancient Greeks?
Goran Jovic in Are Jews in Chapterhouse: Dune the same cultural group as in our universe/timeline? states:
... a book which features direct descendants of Ancient Greeks in far future as main ...
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Why was it such a big deal when Jessica decided to have a male child? Surely she could get pregnant again?
I read Dune several years ago, and this has always bothered me. Jessica's decision to bear a male child was such a big deal amongst the Bene Gesserit that they call it 'The Jessica Crime'.
However I ...
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Was the appearance of the sand worms in David Lynch's Dune (1984) completely original to that film?
Yesterday's Oglaf (link, since this particular comic is SFW, although most are not) featured a gargantuan worm bursting out of the earth—a gargantuan worm that looks a lot like the sand worms for the ...
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What is the inspiration behind the Weirding Module in Dune (1984)?
In the David Lynch version of Dune (1984), he added a weapon that amplified sound into a concussive blast called a Weirding Module. Is there anything discussing why he thought this necessary to his ...
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Why didn't the Atreides or Harkonnen launch their own satellites?
Prior to the invasion, Baron Harkonnen says:
There are no satellites over Arrakis. The Atreides will die in the
dark.
In the novel, we're given to understand that the Fremen bribe the Spacing Guild ...
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How does Alia have the ability to communicate with male ancestors?
Reverend Mothers are connected with their female ancestors. Paul and Leto have access to both male and female ancestors. What’s the explanation for Alia’s communication with Agamemnon and Vladimir ...
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How much detail does Paul's prescience provide?
I just finished watching Dune: Part 2 a second time, and in the rewatch I'm seeing a lot more meaning behind everything Paul says after he drinks the Water of Life. I'm wondering how detailed his ...
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Dune: Appendix III Who/What controlled the higher dimensional plan?
Appendix III: Report on the Bene Gesserit Motives and Purposes
On the surface it would seem that the Golden Path of Leto II was that plan and he was in charge, but he was not alive during the Arrakis ...
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What are the logistics behind getting everyone on and off a sandworm?
In Dune: Part Two (2024), we saw how intense it was when Paul hitched a ride on a giant sandworm, clinging on for dear life. But then later, there is a scene with like dozens of Fremen casually riding ...
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How was the miraculous complement of two Harkonnen legions for the retaking of Arrakis explained?
In Dune, the first novel in Frank Herbert's cycle, the condition sine qua non for the Imperial Sardaukar to take part in the venture is that the Harkonnens provide plausible deniability to the Emperor....
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At the start of Dune, who knew about the Spacing Guild's dependence on spice?
In the Dune series, the Spacing Guild has a monopoly on interstellar/faster-than-light travel, and its Navigators consume massive amounts of spice to fuel the prescience that allows them to plot their ...
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Why don't they use guns or lasers on Arrakis?
I know about the shields fighters wear on other planets, but it's said repeatedly that use of shields on Arrakis attract the worms. So if nobody wears shields there, what is the downside to guns or ...
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Why were the Atreides guarded so weakly?
From them moment Shaddam IV ordered him to Arrakis, Duke Leto knew that it was a trap. He was even aware that there was a traitor in their ranks. Nevertheless when the Duke was attacked by
he didn't ...
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Muad'Dib vs. Mahdi
When the Atreides arrive on Arrakis, there are a number of instance where the Fremen call Paul Mahdi. While I realise that Mahdi is Arabic for guided one, I can't help but wonder at its close ...
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What happens if a very heavy impact hits a person's Holtzmann shield?
The basic purpose of a personal shield is that it's bulletproof, transferring so little impact to the wearer that unlike modern body armour, the wearer isn't even knocked back or winded.
But ...
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Why doesn't the Emperor control Dune (Arrakis) himself?
I finally decided to read Dune as I have never read a book from that series. I immediately had a question. Why doesn't the Emperor control Dune (Arrakis) himself? Why does he let houses control it? As ...
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Where was the Shield Wall brought down?
At the end of the first Dune book, the Paul Atreides and the Fremen attack Arrakeen. They bring down part of the Shield Wall using Atomics in order to be able to ride worms to the city. I tried to ...
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Why does Duke Leto have a pug?
In the 1984 Dune film adaptation, Duke Leto Atreides possesses a pug (a dog) that appears in several scenes. At one point, Gurney Halleck, as portrayed by Patrick Stewart carries it into battle. I don'...
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How is it that the Bene Gesserit are trusted when doctors are not?
The Bene Gesserit are a secret and mysterious school of mental and physical training for women. Those who complete the training possess almost superhuman powers of psychological manipulation, as well ...
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Are the books written by Irulan in Paul of Dune meant to represent the books quoted in Frank Herbert’s 1965 version of Dune?
In the Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson works Princess Irulan writes The Life of Muad’Dib, Volume 1-3. Are these meant to be the original Frank Herbert trilogy - Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of ...
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Why didn't Paul Maud'Dib marry Chani Kynes?
From the last pages of Dune and right after Hasimir Fenring restrains himself from killing the emperor for having cuffed Fenring viciously across the jaw:
Paul cleared his throat, said: "We were ...
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Was the Holtzman Shield gas permeable?
The Holtzman Shield in Dune works by blocking the movement of objects faster than certain threshold. This has rendered projectile weapons obsolete in universe and combat has become primarily melee.
...
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What is the device that the Baron's servant is holding in this scene?
What is the handheld device called that the Baron's servant is playing during his healing bath scene? I can't find it anywhere.
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Why do they fight with knives and not with assault rifles in Dune?
In the Dune series, especially in the movies, the fight scene involves combat with knives and daggers without use of energy weapons or "old-fashioned" assault rifles. Why?
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How much of the book does the movie "Dune: Part Two" (2024) cover? [duplicate]
In terms of the original book, how much does Dune: Part Two cover?
I have finished the contents of the first movie (in the book Dune) and want to read the book and then watch the second movie, but ...
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Dune: Are Bene Gesserit abilities "magical/supernatural", or natural in-universe?
Specifically, I’m wondering if Bene Gesserit have actual “magic” (supernatural) abilities with their words, or if it’s simply psychological tricks using inflection, tone, and specific words.
Gesserit ...
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Is the man Paul talks to in the south desert meant to be Korba?
Towards the end of the 2024 Dune, Part 2, Paul talks to a man about his grandmother who is later in some other scenes of the battle at the end.
Is this meant to be Korba?
It seems like a lot of screen ...
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Change of Fremen mourning color in Dune series
Recently, while re-reading the original Dune series for the umpteenth time, something caught my attention. In the first book green is the color of mourning among the Fremen:
"Chani came down the ...
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Information about the Padishah Emperors in Dune
Is there much canon information about the Padishah Emperors in the Dune Universe?
If I remember correctly, the calendar in Dune dates from the Spacing Guild's legal monopoly on interstellar travel, so ...
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How do the Fremen make plastic?
In Frank Herbert's book Dune, much of the Fremen's technology is based on plastic. For example, still suits and dew collectors are both plastic items, as are the tents the Fremen use.
On Earth, ...
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How could Dune's sandworms get so large? [duplicate]
I mean, they spent their entire lives in the maybe the most barren desert in the galaxy, right? There wasn't much to eat. How did they get to be so large? Has there ever been any discussion of this ...
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How was Duncan with Paul at Sietch Tabr?
There is something that has been bothering me in God Emperor of Dune. When the new Duncan arrives and is taken to meet Leto II, Leto says: "When we climbed to Sietch Tabr for the last time together, ...
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What did Leto do to earn the enmity of the Padishah Emperor?
Leto Atreides seemed an open and honorable man. Yet the Padishah Emperor conspired with House Harkonnen to deliberately betray Leto, and destroy House Atreides.
Why?
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Why is it called an axolotl tank?
Early in the book Dune Messiah, the readers are introduced axolotl tanks, which are tanks that can reproduce livings beings (at least according to the Wiki). Why are they referred to as this. Axolotls ...
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Are the knife/sword fights too fast in Dune (2021)?
"The slow knife penetrates the shield", we are told in both the Dune novel and its 2021 adaptation. Personal shields are meant to stop (or at least, severely slow down) fast-moving objects, ...
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How much of the book does the movie Dune (2021) cover?
I've read like... 100 pages of the book. How much more should I read before watching Dune (2021), so that the movie does not spoil anything from the book for me?
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