In the feudal society of Frank Herbert’s
Dune, the various planets and interstellar regions are governed by the noble houses of
the Landsraad. Set some 20,000 years into mankind’s future,
much of the story of Dune revolves around the members of House Atreides, a house that
has a long history beginning long before the start of Frank Herbert’s series. In this video I’d like to discuss a few
of the notable events in the history of House Atreides that have contributed to its reputation
and rise in popularity in the Landsraad and how the members of this house shaped much
of the Dune Saga. Spoiler warning as I will be covering the
timeline of House Atreides leading up to and throughout Frank Herbert’s series. The Atreides lineage is rumored to come from
a noble family that originated in Greece on Earth. As such House Atreides includes several figures
from ancient Greek mythology. In the expanded universe novels it is detailed
that the earliest known ancestor of the house was Vorian Atreides, whose family rose to
fame during the events of the Butlerian Jihad, a war which saw the banishment of all machines
made in the likeness of a human mind. In the expanded universe books, it is detailed
that Vorian was the biological son of a cyborg named Agamemnon. In an act of rebellion against his father
and the thinking machines, Vorian aligned himself with the League of Nobles, a confederacy
of several thousand free human systems. With his help, the League was able to attain
victory in their war against the Thinking Machines and as a result, Vorian’s prestige
and the family’s popularity began to grow. Vorian adopted the hawk to serve as a symbol
worn by military forces under his command and from then on it would continue to be associated
with the Atreides name. The ancient feud between the Houses Atreides
and Harkonnen began during the final strike against the thinking machines at the battle
of corrin. In this battle, Abulurd Harkonnen disobeyed
an order from Vorian Atreides, resulting in Abulurd’s branding as a traitor and coward
as well as his subsequent banishment from the League’s worlds to a harsh and cold
water planet called Lankiveil. This feud between the Harkonnens and Atreides
would continue until the events of Frank Herbert’s first book. Several generations later, when the Landsraad
League was formed, Vorian’s descendant Willem became the House’s first official representative. For some twenty-six generations during their
existence as a major house the Atreides maintained the planetary fief on the lush oceanic world
of Caladan. The Atreides continued to maintain great prestige
among the landsraad, with a succession of strong and charismatic leaders. The people of Caladan saw great prosperity
and spiritual satisfaction as the fair but firm hand of the Atreides ruling class contributed
greatly to a well organized society. The industrial levels were kept low on Caladan
assisting in their protection and maintenance of the planet’s lush environment. Over the centuries under Atreides rulership,
Caladan became a hub of creativity, art and culture producing great works of music, theater,
and literature. In comparison to the harsh conditions of other
worlds controlled by houses of the Landsraad, it is assumed that this idyllic environment
caused the people of Caladan to grow soft and lose their edge. In spite of this perception, the Atreides
also maintained a reputation for their proficiency in warfare, with the House’s army being
trained and led by a collection of the universe’s best Swordmasters, Warmasters and Mentats. The Atreides military also formed and used
its own Battle language in order to ensure that communications could not be intercepted
or recognized by enemies on or off the battlefield. In the years prior to the events of Frank
Herbert’s first book, Caladan was ruled by Paul’s grandfather, the Old Duke Paulus
Atreides. While not overly formal Paulus held the reputation
of being an honorable man and proved to be a great leader. He was well respected by the Landsraad and
beloved by the common people of Caladan. Paulus believed in the importance of developing
strong bonds with commoners, emphasizing this to his son Leto by having him socialize and
work alongside the planet's ordinary citizens. Much like the generations of Atreides that
came before, the Old Duke had a knack for inspiring loyalty in his men, many of whom
faithfully served house Atreides for multiple generations. The Old Duke, was also a showman with a talent
for drama. This quality ultimately led to his demise
as he died in a bullfighting spectacle. The bull that killed Paulus was put down,
and its head was preserved, still covered in the Old Duke’s bloodstains. It was initially mounted in the Dining Hall
of Castle Caladan and when the Atreides were assigned to Arrakis it was relocated to the
Keep at Arrakeen. Duke Leto carried on his fathers legacy and
proved himself to be an even-handed and compassionate leader. He won the loyalty of his father’s advisors
and generals, continuing to use them to bolster and train the Atreides military troops and
serve as mentors to his son, Paul. Paul’s primary teachers were the Mentat
master of assassins Thufir Hawat, Swordmaster of the Ginaz Duncan Idaho, and Warmaster Gurney
Halleck. Leto had ruled Caladan with Lady Jessica for
nearly two decades when he received an order from the Emperor to relocate to Arrakis where
they would replace House Harkonnen and take over the planetary fief. This order came due to the Atreides’ swift
rise in popularity among the Landsraad, which the Emperor saw as a threat to his rule. It was no secret that this Imperial order
was a trap for the Duke as both the Emperor and the Harkonnens held a vested interest
in the humiliation of House Atreides. Leto did not shy away from this trap, instead
seeing it as a chance to cement the Atreides status as a powerhouse in the universe and
to secure a better life for his son. The Duke’s noble qualities and charismatic
leadership resulted in the swift support from many of the minor houses and Fremen people
of Arrakis after their arrival. The Duke met his end after being captured
during the siege on Arrakeen by House Harkonnen with the aid of the Emperor’s mighty Sardaukar. Upon his capture, the Duke was given a poisoned
tooth by his betrayer, Dr. Yueh, which was designed to release a lethal toxin when bit
killing the Duke and anyone else in close proximity. However, it only partially worked as it killed
the Baron’s twisted Mentat Piter De Vries and a handful of others in the room, but not
the Baron himself. The loyalty that the Duke inspired from his
men would prove instrumental during the assault on Arrakeen as many of them gave their lives
to ensure the safety of the Duke’s son, Paul, who was able to escape with his mother,
Lady Jessica into the desert. While Paul was much like his father, his mentors
noted that he resembled the Old Duke more closely in his conduct, manner and speech. As a product of the Bene Gesserit’s multi-generational
breeding program, Paul had the capability of becoming a Kwisatz Haderach. Which was a human male that possessed tremendous
clairvoyant abilities, enabling them to predict events and steer the course of humanity’s
future with great precision. With these abilities, combined with the training
he received on Caladan and the existence of ancient prophecies that were in place on Arrakis,
Paul rose to become the sole leader of the Fremen, viewed as their messiah who would
lead them to freedom. On Arrakis, Paul met and fell in love with
the Fremen girl Chani with whom he had a son named Leto II who tragically was murdered
in his infancy in a Sardaukar attack. Paul then led the Fremen in a campaign to
overthrow House Harkonnen and the Imperial Sardaukar on the planet. At the end of this campaign, Paul was able
to bring an end to the Corrino Empire crowning himself as Emperor through a marriage of convenience
to the Emperor’s daughter Irulan. However, he made it clear to Irulan that he
would only give children to his beloved Chani. After Paul claimed the imperial throne, the
Fremen spread across the known universe unleashing a violent and relentless jihad over the course
of 12 Years. Through this Jihad the Fremen forced upon
the masses their theology and customs including the view of Paul as their god-head. By the time all was said and done, this resulted
in the death of billions. As he struggled to come to grips with the
reality of what had been unleashed in his name, Paul found himself increasingly isolated
from his family and friends. During this time, he also oversaw the continuation
of the Fremen's efforts to transform Arrakis from a harsh desert into a lush environment. As a result of his swift rise to power, Paul
made many enemies from various discordant groups and organizations throughout the empire. Despite the loss of his vision as a result
of a nearby stone burner detonation, Paul’s prescient abilities allowed him to continue
to perceive the world around him. He was able to foresee the birth of his daughter,
Ghanima (ga-NEE-ma) but was not able to see the birth of his second son who was also named
Leto. During this time, Paul’s enemies continued
to plot against him leading to the poisoning and death of Chani. A grief stricken Paul who was then having
severe doubts about his prescience, feeling frustrated and having no control, then disappeared
into the desert offering himself to the mighty Sandworms as was the custom for blind Fremen. Meanwhile the Imperial house Atreides came
under the Regency of his younger sister Alia. Alia was considered abomination by the Bene
Gesserit due to her inability to control the flood of ancestral memories set upon her while
she was still in her mother’s womb. Alia became corrupted by her considerable
political power and gained a cult following. Shortly thereafter, she fell completely into
Abomination tormented by the living personality of her ancestors including possession by the
ego memory of the evil Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, who was revealed to be Lady Jessica’s father. Eventually, Paul would secretly return as
a figure called the preacher who gained a following by speaking out against the Imperial
House Atreides. He would then go on to reveal his true identity
to his son Leto. As a Kwisatz Haderach, Paul had arrived a
generation earlier than the Bene Gesserit had intended, as such his son Leto II also
held the potential for becoming such a being and to an even greater degree. As a wielder of supreme prescience Leto was
able to see the Golden Path clearly , an optimum future that would ensure the survival of humanity. The steps required to lead humanity along
this path, however, would call for a tyrannical extended grip on power. In order to accomplish this, Leto would need
to transform himself into a powerful human-sandworm hybrid becoming a nearly immortal being that
could force his will upon the universe. Paul was able to make this transformation
as well but was unwilling to do so, as such he left the choice of whether or not to enact
the Golden Path to his son Leto II. Leto chose to accept the golden path and began
his conversion into the sandworm-hybrid. This resulted in a tremendous magnification
of his strength, reflexes, and speed. After his metamorphosis reached a sufficient
stage, Leto emerged from the desert and returned to the city of Arrakeen to confront his aunt
Alia and claim the Imperial throne. This confrontation along with already rising
tensions caused Alia to commit suicide and in the chaos that ensued The Preacher Paul
was assassinated by her followers. Leto then claimed the title of God-Emperor,
arranging for a purely legal marriage to his sister Ghanima. Ghanima would go on to take Farad'n Corrino
as her mate and their children would bear the Atreides name. During his Reign, the God-Emperor Leto began
the reversal of the terraforming on Arrakis, reverting it back into a desert world. Leto eventually reached the point where his
life would need to come to an end in order to continue humanity’s traversal of the
Golden Path. Before his death, he oversaw seeding of the
Atreides genes into future generations which brought forth a human species that, like him,
was invisible to prescient vision. This invisibility to prescience was required
in order to protect humanity from the control and ruination by any other clairvoyant beings. Although other descendants of the Atreides
would continue to appear throughout the rest of the Dune saga, the history of House Atreides
effectively ends with the death of Leto II. And although the Atreides Empire saw its end
with Leto, their legacy and the religion of the God Emperor would continue to live on
long after his passing. But I’m curious to know what you think of
House Atreides. Are there any figures or events involving
this noble house that stand out to you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments
section below. I hope you enjoyed this video, leave a like
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lore. Thank you all so much for your support and
as always, have a very nerdy day.
