Frank Herbert’s Dune places the reader in
an interstellar feudal society set some 20,000 years into mankind’s future. The various regions and planets in this civilization
are governed by noble houses that control planetary fiefs. The great house that serves as the primary
antagonist for Frank Herbert’s first book is the ruthless and power hungry House Harkonnen. In this video, I’d like to examine a few
notable events in the history of this great house as well as what makes them so relentless
in their constant struggle for Imperial dominance. Spoiler warning as I will be covering the
timeline of House Harkonnen leading up to and throughout Frank Herbert’s Dune saga. The Harkonnen family name is derived from
the Finnish word härkä which means ox. This name dates back to ancient Earth and
was believed to originate in the western Russian Empire from the area that is currently Finland. During the time of the League of Nobles and
before the events of the Butlerian Jihad, a war which resulted in the banishment of
thinking machines, the Harkonnen family ran mining operations on the planet Hagal/ Hagol
which served as a basis for their flourishing commercial empire. Born some 18 years before the end of the Butlerian
Jihad, Abulurd Harkonnen became the founder of the family’s House. The centuries-long feud with House Atreides
began during the battle of Corrin, a major military event which served as the final strike
against the last haven of thinking machines. During the course of this battle, Abulurd
refused an order from commander Vorian Atreides . As a result, Abulurd was branded as a coward
and traitor. He was subsequently banished from the worlds
controlled by the League and exiled to the backwater planet of Lankiveil. From then on Vorian Atreides swore that his
descendents would forever regard the Harkonnen name as shameful. Eventually the Harkonnens would acquire a
planet called Giedi Prime which they filled with cities, factories and arenas that were
used to feature gladiatorial events and other spectacles for the inhabitants. The rule of House Harkonnen was marked by
fear, terror, hatred and brutality. Through their governance, the entire planet
of Giedi Prime became a harsh, industrial volcanic wasteland. This oppressive environment combined with
the restrictive living conditions stemming from the tyrannical Harkonnen rulership served
to produce effective conscripts for the house’s military fhorces. Because of the prevalence of treachery and
punishment in their society, Harkonnen soldiers would often climb the ranks through trickery,
deceit and assassination if necessary. Although they only held the status of a minor
house for several centuries, their power and influence gradually increased within the Landsraad
by means of their crafty economical maneuvering. Through their willful disregard of ethical
business practices, the Harkonnens were able to maximize output and minimize production
expenses. Many natives of Giedi Prime were used as slave
labour to work the industrial machines littering the planet's surface. In the year 10130 AG, House Harkonnen won
the planetary fief of Arrakis. With this, they were responsible for the oversight
of the mining and supply of the spice melange to the universe. The Harkonnens carried their harsh governing
methods from their homeworld to Arrakis, resulting in the persecution of the native Fremen people. They continued to skimp on infrastructure
maintenance and as a result after paying their tithe to the Emperor, were able to retain
a substantial amount of melange for themselves. Over the 80 years of their rule of Arrakis,
the Harkonnens had managed to amass considerable wealth through spice mining. Before the rise of Vladimir Harkonnen, his
father Dmitri served as ruler of the House and of their homeworld. Dmitri had two wives: Victoria Harkonnen who
was the mother of Vladimir; and later Daphne Harkonnen who gave him two more sons Marotin
and Abulurd. Abulurd proved to be Dmitri’s preferred
child and as such was granted control of House Harkonnen and the Arrakis fiefdom upon his
father’s death. However Abulurd was good-hearted and lacked
the brutality and ambitious thirst typical of the Harkonnens. As a result, he proved to be an ineffective
leader for the house, causing a drastic decline in spice production. Subsequently he was removed and replaced by
his older half-brother Vladimir. In disgrace, he was sent to rule as the planetary
governor of Lankieveil where he oversaw the whale fur trade. Abulurd was so repulsed by the brutal methods
of his half-brother, that he petitioned the Landsraad to let him adopt the maiden name
of his wife Emmi Rabban with whom he had two sons Glossu and Feyd-Rautha. Unfortunately both of his sons were taken
into the Harkonnen household. Glossu proved to be a vicious brute who eventually
killed his father strangling him to death. This earned him the name "Beast Rabban". While Vladimir saw the usefulness of Glossu’s
brutality, he desired a more intelligent and charismatic heir and turned his attention
to developing and training Glossu’s younger brother Feyd-Rautha. As their leader, Vladimir Harkonnen greatly
added to the House’s already notorious reputation and he fostered and regularly acted on sadistic
pedophilic tendencies. He also utilized the methods of widespread
torture, murder and slavery to maintain his power. Often he would neutralize threats by ordering
executions of individuals over extremely trivial matters. The Baron’s thirst for power was so great
that he grew to covet the authority of the Imperial House Corrino. In tandem with his inherited hatred for the
Atreides, he plotted in secret against both houses in order to destroy the Atreides and
usurp the Corrinos. Vladimir's remained unmarried and never claimed
any children. However it was revealed later that unbeknownst
to him, Lady Jessica of House Atreides’ was actually his illegitimate daughter. In the expanded Dune novels, it is detailed
that the Baron was forced into conceiving a daughter for the Bene Gesserit’s breeding
program. The Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohaim was
able to compel his cooperation by threatening him with a Guild bank audit of his sinister
activities and the possible revocation of his temporary CHOAM directorship. While it can be said that the Harkonnens operated
regularly outside of the limits of ethical boundaries, they still had to respect the
power and authority held by the major institutions of the universe such as CHOAM, The Spacing
Guild and the Landsraad. With the rise of Paul Atreides on Arrakis
the Baron's plans for Imperial domination were foiled. Vladimir met his swift death at the hands
of Paul's younger sister, and his biological granddaughter Alia Atreides with a single
poisonous prick from her Gom Jabbar. The title of Baron passed briefly to Feyd-Rautha
before he ultimately met his end being killed by Paul in an act of kanly. With Paul’s rise to power as the new Emperor,
House Harkonnen effectively came to its end. Control of the Harkonnen homeworld of Giedi
Prime was handed to the people of Caladan. Under the governance of one of House Harkonnen’s
former slaves, the Atreides Warmaster Gurney Halleck, Giedi Prime was renamed Gammu. In the years that followed, most of the Harkonnens’
industrial machines were dismantled, and through massive reforestation efforts, the planet’s
natural ecosystem was largely restored. And although dead in body and spirit, the
terrible Vladimir Harkonnen would re-emerge through Alia Atreides as she was possessed
by the ego memory of her grandfather. This was due to her status as a Bene Gesserit
abomination who was unable to control her ancestral genetic memories. Also, due to the Bene Gesserit’s breeding
program, while this sinister House met its end early on in Frank Herbert’s series,
the Harkonnen bloodline would continue on through the Atreides as the rest of the Dune
Saga unfolded. But I’m curious to know what you think of
House Harkonnen, are there any events or characters in this House’s history that stand out to
you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments
section below. I hope you enjoyed this video. Leave a like if you did and be sure to subscribe
for more Dune and other sci-fi and fantasy news and lore. Thank you all so much for your support and
as always, have a very nerdy day.
