1.Where do the Navigators come from? Are they just the end result of extreme human spice addicts? Or are they intentionally created?
2.Is Arrakis Earth? Or rather are we looking at some kind of BSG style cycle that has been repeating for thousands/millions of years of human/sandworm creation and extinction?
3.Why do regular people take spice? Is it a recreational drug with a “high”? We also see it claimed it allows prescience, but does anyone aside from the protagonists show it?
I’m pretty sure the answer to this one is no. I recall there were passages in the books about how the Fremen had traveled from planet to planet before arriving at Arrakis.
I don’t believe it was ever 100% answered, but it seems to be a random mutation caused by excessive spice consumption.
No.
It extends life and expands consciousness.
It is intentional. It’s the end of a long path of spice consumption and the corresponding physiological changes.
No.
It is a geriatric drug that extends human lifespan.
IIRC The Navigators are humans who are deliberetly fed massive amounts of Spice by the Spacing Guild to mutate them into what they’ve become. Arrakis isn’t Earth. Dune is set over 20,000 yrs into the future. Earth is all but forgoten except by scholars & students of ancient history. What little knowledge of history we recognize is deeply warped. I don’t think the planet is still even inhabited (or exists) by the time of Dune.
I believe Earth was supposed to have been devastated by meteor impact (though long after other planets had been colonized). Following this, the survivors abandoned Earth, and people salvaged what artifacts they could (the “rescue of the treasures,” I think they called it).
1: I think the navigators are a bit of both actually, you start with an ordinary human who shows signs of prescience then feed them craploads of spice.
(its a wag but funny enough I am re-reading the entire 6 book series atm, just started Children of Dune last night)
I’m sorry, but for much the same reasons as Hollywood stopped making Matrix movies after the first, smash hit, Herbert put down his pen after writing Dune.
If I recall, the semi-canonical Dune Encyclopedia said that Earth was whomped by an asteroid, and later turned into an ecological park.
The Dune Wikia otherwise seems to answer the OPs questions about the guild navigators.
Can anyone add questions?
Did the Atredies continue to control Caladan after being forced to Arrakis?
I want to say it was basically given to Count Fenring, but I could be making that up. After Paul became Emperor he gave it to Jessica and Gurney.
I wanted to know that too, I always wondered if the house was the entire planet and the whole population had to move with the Duke. Not outrageous in the universe of Dune.
As for Earth, Hitler at least is remembered.
Gonna try my hand at this…
Navigators are people who are immersed in spice. Given the expense of spice, and the known outcome of this immersion, their change is both “intentional” and “addicting.”
No.
It’s used as a food and beverage spice (remember, it has a cinnamon smell) and I seem to recall a passage which describes the vice as having mild narcotic affects on the regular user (which I took as meaning a mild buzz). The longevity effect also takes place with surprisingly small doses as well.
The Atreides did not keep control of Caladan.
In the descriptions of the spice and how crucial it was to the running of their civilization, it is surprising that the control and distribution of it was so haphazard and sloppy.
I always thought the reason for the Guild to not take over Arrakis was specious (they didn’t want to attract attention to the planet) - it’s the foundation of their civilization! Who gives a shit if the other two groups don’t like your taking over this resource: You’re in space, they’re on the ground: They can’t attack you unless you give them ships! :rolleyes: The Landsraad and the Emperor want to eat, trade, communicate with the rest of their civilization, they’re just going to have to suck it up and accept the new change.
After all, Sardaukar can’t fly spaceships, and that is pretty much that.
While possible, it’s unlikely.
It’s supposed to be a feudal system, and serfs are always expendable and interchangeable. They basically don’t matter in the grand scheme of things, except as a virtual slave labor pool for the aristocracy.
It’s also reflected in the dinner party, where the Atreides invited the Houses Minor and other important local power groups. They didn’t leave the planet with the Harkonnens and were, in theory, subservient to the Duke. Further, none of the Caledanian aristocracy was represented there, indicating they stayed where they were.
Yes, control of the planets was exchanged. The Duke and his family and personal retainers relocated, but the bulk of the population of Caladan remained there, now under the jurisdiction of House Harkonnen.
I’m actually kind of curious why you asked this. Did something suggest it? I thought the books were clear that this is our future.
Good point, but no more half-assed than how our present world controls critical oil supply, especially when put in context of the 60s & 70s. I believe this is part of the deliberate metaphor Herbert intended with “spice == oil”.
True, but there’s a wider spread in the production of oil in our world compared to the Dune universe. If all the oil in the world was found in, say, Borneo, then the analogy would be stronger.
I just read Dune, I saw nothing at all to suggest the Harkonnens got control of Caladan. that bit was left out completely.
What was the deal with the Wierding Devices? They were sonic weapons of some type, right? Did you have to be trained in the Voice to manipulate them?