As in real-world history, the human race started on Earth with several civilizations, explorations, empires, and world wars. However, an asteroid hit Earth thousands of years later, causing major destruction and damage to the planet. After the asteroid, Earth took a long time to recover environmentally.
According to The Dune Encyclopedia, some thousands of years after the solar system had been colonized by humans and then controlled by the Guild, Earth was hit by another "planetoid" and nearly destroyed. At the time, inhabitants of the rest of the solar system outnumbered the people of Earth, twenty to one.
All of the people/characters in Dune are human, descended from ancestors from Earth. There are, so far as the original books are concerned, no known alien races as of yet in the timeline.
As Frank Herbert's Dune (1965) begins, the known universe is ruled by Shaddam IV, the 81st Padishah Emperor of House Corrino, whose power is secured by his control of the Sardaukar, his brutally efficient military force.
What is Dune about? Dune is set roughly 20,000 years from now, in the year 10,191. In this future, humans have colonized planets all over the universe. There is a feudal interstellar society of various noble houses, who control planetary fiefs.
What Happened To Earth? | Terra's History Explained | Dune Lore Explained
What is the message of Dune?
Author Frank Herbert said in 1979, "The bottom line of the Dune trilogy is: beware of heroes. Much better [to] rely on your own judgment, and your own mistakes."
The complex story of Dune, set thousands of years in the future, revolves around power struggles, a desert planet called Arrakis, and the valuable spice that controls the empire.
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is the main antagonist of the Dune franchise. As the Baron of House Harkonnen, he rules from his ancestral homeworld of Giedi Prime, exercising a tyrannical rule of exploitation and sadism over the lives of the slaves unfortunate enough to end up in the service of his House.
The primary antagonist of the series, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, is a cruel and sadistic figure who is driven by his desire for power and revenge. Despite his evil deeds, he is a compelling character who is difficult to ignore.
All the other planets in the solar system were colonized over time and ended up outnumbering Earth's population. This expansion period was called Little Diaspora. Earth is barely mentioned throughout the Dune saga, aside from leaders and others acknowledging that the planet is generally gone, dead, and/or dying.
The "evil" comes only from self-interest of the group. The more loyal among them tend to pursue Gesserit goals at the expense of others. But each Reverend Mother has the ability to be a huge benefit to society and politics on their planet, and most are.
Approximately 13,000 years later, Earth was designed to house the genocidal supercomputer Omnius; the resulting war between humans and machines drove the humans to destroy Earth with nuclear weapons, leaving it desolate.
Jamis : [Paul's vision] The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience. A process that cannot be understood by stopping it. We must move with the flow of the process. We must join it.
The bridge collapses and Leto's entourage, including Hwi, plunge to their deaths into the river below. Leto's body rends apart in the water; the sandtrout which are part of his body encyst the water and scurry off, while the worm portion burns and disintegrates on the shore.
Strictly speaking Paul Atreides is a flawed or failed hero. He isn't exactly a villain (bad guy) but he also isn't truly a hero. He is in fact an example of the danger of heroes.
While the Expanded Dune Universe explains the Baron's weight as the result of a disease, the main canon - and the Baron himself in dialogue - suggest that years of gluttony and greed have morphed the villain into the man he is portrayed in the film.
In Children of Dune (1976), Alia becomes progressively more devious and power-hungry as she slowly succumbs to Abomination. Falling under the influence of the persona of her deceased grandfather, the Baron Harkonnen, Alia abuses her powers as Regent and becomes a ruthless tyrant.
Who are House Atreides. One of the most powerful Houses in the known universe, honorable, efficient and highly respected, there's little wonder why Baron Harkonnen considers them such a threat to his aspirations of power and control.
Indeed, at this point it seems that Duncan Idaho is the true protagonist of the Dune series. Even though he's been killed off multiple times, and the current version is a copy of a copy, he is still the one constant thread running through the Frank Herbert's books.
“Dune” is one of those movies that you have to pay attention to or else you will be lost the entire time. Even then, everything is still confusing. The beginning of the movie feels like you are being dumped into the middle of something.
House Atreides was a threat because it did not need the thing that the rest of the imperium needed. The emperor conspired with House Harkonnen to destroy House Atreides, a move motivated by weakness and insecurity. And they very nearly succeeded. They killed Duke Leto and most of his cohort.
