“Dune” is set about 20,000 years in the future, and much of the series takes place on the desert planet of Arrakis. Part of the galactic empire of the Imperium, which is ruled by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam, Arrakis is vital because it offers a necessary resource — spice — that exists nowhere else. In “Part One,” the emperor transferred control of Arrakis from the brutes of House Harkonnen to their longtime foes, House Atreides. “Part Two” opens with the words “Power over spice is power over all.” After a religious revolt against robots millenniums before the start of the series, the use of intelligent machines was banned. The resource is particularly crucial to the navigators, who enable interstellar travel.

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Persons: Shaddam, Harkonnen, Atreides, Duke Leto Atreides, Arrakis, Leto’s, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Stellan, Leto, millenniums