Dune’s Atreides & Harkonnen Family Tree Explained

Warning: Accommodates main spoilers for “Dune: Half Two” and “Dune: Prophecy.”

The story of “Dune” is, on many ranges, a narrative about household. On the coronary heart of Denis Villeneuve’s lauded science fiction movies (based mostly on the seminal novels written by Frank Herbert) is the coming-of-age story of younger Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), whose journey into manhood is intently guided by his mom Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) and the shadow of his father Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac).

Shifting the lens from the intimate to the intergalactic, nevertheless, we see the universe is essentially managed by the sprawling households of three Main Homes: the Imperial Home Corrino, the ostensibly altruistic Home Atreides, and their bitter, badder rivals Home Harkonnen. When 2021’s “Dune” begins, the latter two homes are engaged in a feud nearly as outdated because the Corrino Empire itself.

Their relationship is made all of the extra difficult in “Dune: Half Two” (which delves into the Kwisatz Haderach breeding program meant to bind them to the desire of the mysterious Bene Gesserit) and within the HBO sequence “Dune: Prophecy.” Setting the books (largely) apart in the intervening time, we’ll clarify the Atreides & Harkonnen household tree in “Dune” as comprehensively as doable — in addition to the implications their lineage have for the way forward for the Imperium. 

Keep in mind that whereas we can’t be spoiling the “Dune” novels (or sharing potential spoilers for future movies and sequence adapting them), this process cannot be finished with out dropping main spoilers for each “Dune: Half Two” and “Dune: Prophecy.”

On the middle of those two feuding households — and certainly your entire “Dune” universe, in the intervening time — is Paul Atreides, Timothée Chalamet’s princely, messianic struggle lord who serves because the protagonist of Denis Villeneuve’s two-part epic. Although Frank Herbert’s novels got here a few years earlier than a lot of the movies and tv exhibits that outline the favored science fiction style (together with “Star Wars”), the creator’s apparent skepticism of charismatic leaders like Paul gave him stunning, darkish character beats that subvert the historically heroic tropes strengthened by the slew of sci-fi heroes that adopted him. This inversion of the “chosen one” archetype is what initially drew Chalamet to the venture, proving why Villeneuve wanted no other actor to play the role.

What Paul is “chosen” to be is the Lisan al Gaib, the product of a breeding program shrouded in prophecies shepherded (learn: manufactured) by the Order of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. Their finish aim is to supply the Kwisatz Haderach, a bodily, spiritually, and culturally omnipotent being who additionally does their bidding to be able to improve the Sisterhood’s affect within the Imperium. Nonetheless, because of the actions of his mother and father (which we’ll get to additional down), Paul’s declare to the title is considerably ambiguous in its validity. There are others who may very well be, and certainly are, higher groomed for this position — but it’s in the end Paul who steps up (once more, at the least in the intervening time), utilizing his powers to defeat the Harkonnens, finish the over 10,000 12 months reign of the Corrino Empire, and take the title of Padishah Emperor for himself.

Arguably probably the most regular (and certainly one of the best) characters within the “Dune” cinematic franchise up to now, Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) is the chief of Home Atreides, steward of planet Caladan, and the daddy of Paul Atreides. Leto is proven within the first movie to be a good ruler, incomes the respect of his folks and the opposite Nice Homes.

Nailing this dynamic within the movie required a light-weight contact from all concerned to lend Leto credibility as each a ruler and a father. “I can attempt to give off dad vibes as a lot as I need, nevertheless it’s that outdated appearing adage that it is the court docket that tells all people who the king is, not the king,” he informed The Hollywood Reporter. “How the court docket treats the particular person of upper standing tells you every part you’ll want to learn about them.” In consequence, Paul and Leto’s go to to the household cemetery — whereby Leto reassures Paul that, ought to he refuse his birthright as inheritor to Home Atreides, he’ll nonetheless be proud to name him son — is the movie’s most significant depiction of Leto’s place on this world whereas he is nonetheless residing.

Wielding near-universal respect and an immense quantity of navy energy earned Leto the concern of Paul’s imperial predecessor, Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV (Christopher Walken), who thus collaborated with the Harkonnens to have Leto and his home extinguished throughout their isolation on Arrakis. This plot was quickly profitable largely, leading to Leto’s assassination.

Although Duke Leto by no means married, he had an extended and deeply intimate romantic partnership with the Bene Gesserit Girl Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson). Jessica was Leto’s concubine, tasked by her order with conceiving a daughter with him to be able to advance the Kwisatz Haderach breeding program. Leto and Jessica’s daughter would subsequently mate with a son from Home Harkonnen, thus creating the specified Atreides-Harkonnen youngster who would turn into the true Kwisatz Haderach.

Jessica, nevertheless, overcome by a mixture of hubris and a real love for Leto, disobeyed her order (who can management the delivery intercourse of their offspring) and gave delivery to Paul — a son who may very well be Leto’s inheritor. She additional agitated them by coaching Paul within the methods of the Bene Gesserit, a proper which was to be reserved just for the true Kwisatz Haderach. Although she really loves Paul, consuming the Freman Water of Life modifications her notion of the world and compels her to turn into a fanatical Reverend Mom, insidiously paving the best way for her son’s personal corruption and violent ascension to energy. This transformation in persona is brought on by an element the previous Reverend Mom did not contemplate when she compelled Jessica to drink the concoction — Jessica was, actually, already pregnant with Paul’s sister.

As we shift focus to the Harkonnen aspect of this twisted tree, a pure root to look at is the Baron himself, Vladimir Harkonnen. For almost all of the 2 movies launched up to now, Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) is solely a despotic, grasping dictator seeking to maximise his personal energy whereas destroying Home Atreides. It is not till Paul drinks the Water of Life himself that we be taught the Baron is definitely his organic grandfather — confirming to Paul and his mom (the Baron’s daughter) that he’s certainly the Atreides-Harkonnen-blooded Kwisatz Haderach the Bene Gesserit deliberate for.

The movies do not explicitly state who Baron Harkonnen conceived Girl Jessica with, apart from noting that she was a robust Bene Gesserit herself. It’s left up within the air whether or not or not that Bene Gesserit sister may very well be Reverend Mom Gaius Helen Mohiam (performed by Charlotte Rampling within the movies), who administered the Gom Jabbar take a look at to Paul and is certainly revealed to be his grandmother within the expanded “Dune” literary canon. Both approach, the Baron dies simply as quickly as he begins to know his secret lineage by the hands of Paul, leaving the future of this once great house in major turmoil.

Girl Jessica’s parentage makes Baron Harkonnen’s disgusting nephews her cousins — and, by extension, Paul’s as nicely (first cousins, as soon as eliminated). Within the books, the Baron’s half-brother Abulurd Rabban (dropping the Harkonnen surname to distance himself from the household) sired two kids, whom the Baron was compelled to groom as his heirs, given his obvious reluctance to have kids of his personal (suffice it to say, it’s strongly implied in arguably homophobic trend that Baron Harkonnen has some disturbing sexual proclivities). The eldest of his nephews was the brute Glossu Rabban, referred to within the movies as Rely Rabban Harkonnen (performed by Dave Bautista).

There is not a lot to recommend the movies have or plan on altering the Harkonnen household tree from what we have described right here, past that they’ve seemingly tweaked Rabban’s title and side-stepped hypothesis on the Baron’s sexuality (Stellan Skarsgård portrays him as a sociopath so grotesque that you just could not place him on any spectrum, which works completely with Denis Villeneuve’s imaginative and prescient for this universe). The Rely was slain by Atreides Warmaster Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin) in “Dune: Half Two” after being given a quick rule over Arrakis. Rabban’s rule ended when his youthful brother arrived on the planet to take management.

Rabban’s youthful brother is Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (née Rabban, within the books), the fascinatingly depraved and sadistic chosen inheritor to Home Harkonnen. He’s portrayed within the movies by Austin Butler, who swapped his “Elvis” voice for an eerie replication of Stellan Skarsgård’s, emphasizing their shut familial ties and instantly signaling to the viewers that he is the one logical successor to the Baron’s title.

Baron Harkonnen prefers Feyd-Rautha over Rabban as a result of he errors the previous’s merciless clear-headedness as real mind — the place Rabban is a blunt instrument of destruction, Feyd-Rautha is a lethal and exact blade. Like the remainder of the ruling Harkonnens, Feyd-Rautha is slain throughout Paul’s takeover of Arrakis, killed in a ceremonial duel between the two cousins. Nonetheless, his loss of life and people of his speedy household don’t symbolize the tip of Home Harkonnen as a bloodline — the Bene Gesserit made positive of that.

Girl Margot Fenring (Léa Seydoux) is a loyal member of the Bene Gesserit who conspires with Reverend Mom Mohiam and Home Corrino within the aftermath of the Harkonnen ambush on Arrakis. Measuring their plans in centuries, the Bene Gesserit need to be certain that no matter chaos brought on by Paul’s survival and potential ascension is mitigated by the deliberate preservation of the Harkonnen bloodline. Ought to Paul (an clearly {powerful} particular person making use of the Bene Gesserit myth-making on the planet) achieve his vengeful goals, there could be no Harkonnens left to create a real Kwisatz Haderach for them to regulate.

To keep away from this consequence, Girl Margot is distributed to Geidi Prime forward of Feyd-Rautha’s journey to Arrakis. She seduces him with the deliberate aim of conceiving a feminine youngster, succeeding in protecting future prospects open regardless of his demise.

The final piece of the modern branchwork of the Atreides-Harkonnen household tree is Princess Irulan Corrino (Florence Pugh), the daughter of Emperor Shaddam IV who’s, by all appearances, going to be wed to the brand new Padishah Emperor Paul Atreides. After killing Feyd-Rautha and decisively profitable the three-way struggle between the Nice Homes, Paul asks for her hand to consolidate his energy.

Within the books, Irulan sees some political benefit in marrying Paul, as their kids would then keep Corrino-Atreides hegemony all through the Imperium. The one situation with this plan is, after all, Chani (performed by Zendaya within the movies). In each variations of the story, Paul’s choice to marry Irulan is in battle along with his profound love for the Freman warrior — with out spoiling something, that is a love triangle that should be resolved earlier than any Corrino inheritor can come to be.

At this juncture, we start venturing into considerably uncharted territory. In contrast to Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune,” the HBO sequence “Dune: Prophecy” doesn’t instantly adapt any of the books, as a substitute telling an largely authentic story with ideas, concepts, and plot factors sourced from each Frank Herbert’s authentic “Dune” sequence and the expanded (and hotly contested) canon of the follow-up novels written by his son Brian Herbert and sci-fi creator Kevin J. Anderson. Although “Dune” purists have robust opinions about what points of the expanded canon really matter to the unique universe, some main story components have been made canon within the movie universe by “Prophecy.” That is your closing spoiler warning for the sequence, as we’re about to dive into its largest twist.

The first antagonist of the sequence is Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), a personality authentic to the movie universe with a secret allegiance to the damaging and thought-to-be vanquished thinking machines. Because it seems, he’s additionally the primary particular person chronologically to own each Atreides and Harkonnen ancestry — his father hailing from the previous home, his mom hailing from the latter.

Desmond’s mom is Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams), a personality initially from the expanded canon novel “Mentats of Dune.” Within the movie universe, the Harkonnens had been exiled to the planet Lankiveil in retaliation for his or her ancestor Abulurd Harkonnen (for whom Abulurd Rabban was derisively named) deserting the Imperium during the Butlerian Jihad. Abulurd’s act put him in battle with Vorian Atreides, thus starting their millennia of feuding.

On the time of “Dune: Prophecy,” nevertheless, only some many years have handed since Abulurd’s desertion. The household is thus break up over how you can reply, notably to the perceived betrayal by Home Atreides. After an try at peace seemingly leads to the loss of life of her brother, Tula chooses vengeance.

Orry Atreides (Milo Callaghan) is a distant ancestor of the good home whom Tula Harkonnen romanced as a younger woman. He was so smitten together with her that he requested to marry her. When she stated sure, they instantly set about conceiving a son — Desmond Hart.

The evening after the proposal, nevertheless, Tula fatally poisoned Orry together with the remainder of the Atreides ancestors current. When she found she was pregnant afterward, the Bene Gesserit breeding index revealed that the kid could be extremely essential to the way forward for the universe. Although her sister Valya (Emily Watson) wished to boost the kid below the affect of the Sisterhood — a plan that feels much like that which was to create the Kwisatz Haderach — Tula selected to ship him away for his personal good. Future couldn’t be prevented it appears, as Orry’s son ultimately proved to be simply that {powerful} — for higher and, largely, for worse.

The Atreides have an extended and storied bloodline within the books, together with King Atreus, a real-world determine in historical Greek mythology who dominated Mycenae and sired sons Agamemnon and Menelaus. Except for that little bit of trivia, nevertheless, we’ll preserve issues centered on what we have seen within the movies and tv present to be able to keep away from spoilers and pointless confusion.

As of writing, the one different identified Atreides ancestors are Leto’s father (unseen within the movies, generally known as “Outdated Duke” within the books), Orry’s slain relations (Uncle Shander and cousin Ronan amongst them), and the lone survivor Albert. Tula had mercy on Orry’s youthful cousin and allowed him to flee. A few years later, he sired a son — Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason), who turned a Swordsmaster previous to the ascension of Home Atreides.

Keiran is an instance of how the Atreides-Harkonnen feud has been capable of persist and escalate by traded acts of violence, Albert having handed right down to Keiren his trauma from witnessing the loss of life of his complete household. Keiran can also be unknowingly Desmond Hart’s cousin, although he considers Desmond an enemy because of his obvious Imperial allegiance. The previous Atreides ancestor mockingly resents {powerful} homes — the likes of which Home Atreides would sooner or later turn into — because of their irresponsible use of assets. It’s but unknown how any of those Atreides (save Outdated Duke) result in Paul.

The remaining Harkonnens seen within the “Dune” movie cannon are direct family of Tula. Most essential amongst them when it comes to “Dune: Prophecy’s” plot is Valya, her elder sister who reigns as Mom Superior of the Bene Gesserit (a place she obtained by violent means). Given the impression and energy demonstrated by the Atreides-Harkonnen-born Desmond Hart, it’s doable that her arrival in Arrakis on the finish of the primary season (alongside Keiran and an ancestor from Home Corrino) may see her impressed sufficient to start spreading these prophecies which can later assist Paul set up credibility because the Lisan al Gaib. It may be an indication of the approaching daybreak of the trio of Nice Homes that exists at the start of the primary “Dune” film.

Different Harkonnens proven in “Prophecy” are Baron Harrow Harkonnen (Tula’s nephew, performed by Edward Davis), Uncle Evgeny (Mark Addy), and oldsters Sonya (Polly Walker) and Vergyl (not seen within the sequence). Tula and Valya additionally had a brother Griffin who died earlier than the sequence begins, seemingly as a consequence of making an attempt to cause with Vorian Atreides. The reality is a little more difficult within the books, however we can’t spoil that right here within the probably case it performs a component in a future “Prophecy” storyline (Griffin’s story is chronicled within the ebook “Sisterhood of Dune”). As soon as once more, this exhibits simply how a lot this feud is fueled by rash motion and, typically, pure misunderstanding. A lot of the “Dune” movie/TV franchise will probably chart how the violence escalated from traded lives to full-scale navy battle.