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You don't recall it being mentioned because it wasn't, which is a pity. Not essential to the immediate story, but knowing how the sandworms are tied to the spice does make the ecology of Arrakis seem more believable.
Again, haven't seen the second installment but I would certainly miss that omission. As an ecologist, a storyteller who includes environmental connections has really thought his creation through. As he did for the very detailed social and religious aspects of the stories. Connections like that are fascinating and add so much depth and believability to other worlds, whether they exist or not. Cultures and belief are the products of environment and vice versa.
OT, but I read the other day that Villeneuve's worm design was partially inspired by the adaptations that filter-feeding organisms here on Earth (especially the baleen whales) have evolved. The "teeth" are primarily strainers, not cutting/stabbing weapons.
Ah, interesting idea, but it makes the crys knife as a powerful weapon a bit harder to believe. Consider using whale baleen for an Inuit knife. Not too plausible. I know, I know, just because something produced by an earthly creature doesn't possess certain qualities doesn't mean something from an otherworldly creature can't!
I don't recall that they even identified why spice is essential to the rest of the galaxy.
It's mentioned very briefly at the start of the first movie. I wish Villeneuve had included at least one scene with the Spacing Guild in Dune 2 to reinforce that point!
Quote:
As for the worms: They're sand ramjets, of course.
*head smack* Of course! How could I have missed that?
You don't recall it being mentioned because it wasn't, which is a pity. Not essential to the immediate story, but knowing how the sandworms are tied to the spice does make the ecology of Arrakis seem more believable.
Again, haven't seen the second installment but I would certainly miss that omission. As an ecologist, a storyteller who includes environmental connections has really thought his creation through. As he did for the very detailed social and religious aspects of the stories. Connections like that are fascinating and add so much depth and believability to other worlds, whether they exist or not. Cultures and belief are the products of environment and vice versa.
Yes, and knowing the relationship of spice, water, and the worms to the overall ecology of Arrakis helps the reader to understand why the various parties (the Fremen, the Spacing Guild, and the Emperor and Great Houses) have different views about the importance of both the spice and of how it is collected.
Another OT thought, related to both the book and the films: it never made sense to me that the Emperor would back house Harkonnen against House Atriedes. I can see why he'd set the two houses against each other in order to weaken them both, but why ally with the more dangerous House in order to destroy the less dangerous House? Atriedes is popularity, but Harkonnen has both control over the spice mining AND the tremendous wealth obtained as a result of that. That makes them much the larger threat.
Why, once the properties of the spice were discovered, would the Emperor allow ANY House other than his own to control any part of that trade?
Yes, and knowing the relationship of spice, water, and the worms to the overall ecology of Arrakis helps the reader to understand why the various parties (the Fremen, the Spacing Guild, and the Emperor and Great Houses) have different views about the importance of both the spice and of how it is collected.
Another OT thought, related to both the book and the films: it never made sense to me that the Emperor would back house Harkonnen against House Atriedes. I can see why he'd set the two houses against each other in order to weaken them both, but why ally with the more dangerous House in order to destroy the less dangerous House? Atriedes is popularity, but Harkonnen has both control over the spice mining AND the tremendous wealth obtained as a result of that. That makes them much the larger threat.
Why, once the properties of the spice were discovered, would the Emperor allow ANY House other than his own to control any part of that trade?
I've wondered that too. Maybe that's a hint that the Emperor had more secret obligations or connections to the Harkonnens than is ever revealed. Aligning yourself with a story's bad guy implies you're a bad guy too. If you don't, it leaves readers/viewers unsure. It remains speculation which fosters more intrigue and tension. If the Emperor attempted to control the spice trade in addition to ruling an empire, rebellion is even more likely and so is collapse. As it is, the tenuous balance and more tension persists.
I've wondered that too. Maybe that's a hint that the Emperor had more secret obligations or connections to the Harkonnens than is ever revealed. Aligning yourself with a story's bad guy implies you're a bad guy too. If you don't, it leaves readers/viewers unsure. It remains speculation which fosters more intrigue and tension. If the Emperor attempted to control the spice trade in addition to ruling an empire, rebellion is even more likely and so is collapse. As it is, the tenuous balance and more tension persists.
That means the Emperor would always be better off with the more noble house in control of spice. A more noble house would be harder to influence...but that wouldn't be a bad thing even for the emperor.
I've wondered that too. Maybe that's a hint that the Emperor had more secret obligations or connections to the Harkonnens than is ever revealed.
I wonder if in order to secure his position, the Emperor made a marriage agreement with the Baron, offering his daughter Irulan to Feyd-Ruatha. The Baron wants House Harkonnen to ascend to the throne, and with the control of the spice and the wealth he's made from it he probably has enough power to achieve that through violence, but he's no fool. If he can obtain that power without a fight, he'll take it that opportunity.
(As an aside: you know everything you need to know about the Bene Gesseritt's eugenics program when you learn that they consider Feyd-Ruatha an acceptable breeding specimen!)
That means the Emperor would always be better off with the more noble house in control of spice. A more noble house would be harder to influence...but that wouldn't be a bad thing even for the emperor.
Yes. Too bad for him that he couldn't see that. House Atriedes would never move against the Emperor unless he did something truly monstrous, and they wouldn't use their power over the spice coercively.
Another OT thought, related to both the book and the films: it never made sense to me that the Emperor would back house Harkonnen against House Atriedes. I can see why he'd set the two houses against each other in order to weaken them both, but why ally with the more dangerous House in order to destroy the less dangerous House? Atriedes is popularity, but Harkonnen has both control over the spice mining AND the tremendous wealth obtained as a result of that. That makes them much the larger threat.
Harkonnens were happy where they were and the Emperor was explicitly scared of Atriedes because they were popular in the Landstraadt and a direct threat to the throne. He wanted to squash them before they got other house's backing. The Harkonnens wern't getting any other houses help, nor did they have a decent claim on the emperorship.
Not at all in these movies and I don't remember if Lynch made any mention either.
Harkonnens were happy where they were and the Emperor was explicitly scared of Atriedes because they were popular in the Landstraadt and a direct threat to the throne.
Except that House Harkonnen is a much more significant threat, as they control the one commodity essential to the continuation of the empire. The popularity of House Atriedes in the Landsraadt is only dangerous to the Emperor if the Emperor is ruling with such a heavy hand that he's alienating the majority of the other Great Houses. House Harkonnen, on the other hand, could bring the Emperor down singlehandedly any time they wished to do so, regardless of whether or not the other Great Houses objected. That's a REAL threat, not a hypothetical one.
As the into to the second movie says, control of the spice is control over all. And it was House Harkonnen, not the Emperor, who had that control.
The political stuff was explained in the book. The CHOAM company controls the trade of all commodities that Guild will transport, and House Corrino had the majority of the shares. The House that held fiefdom of Arrakis does not 'control' spice.
Paul could claim to control spice because he knew of a way to poison pre-spice masses sandworms depend on and collapse the entire spice-producing ecology. He who has the power to destroy something controls it.
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