What Happened To Dune's House Harkonnen After The Baron's Death

The first two "Dune" novels, which are currently two-thirds of the way through being adapted into a movie trilogy, are often seen as a tragic condemnation of hero worship. Paul Atreides (played by Timothée Chalamet in the recent films) starts off likeable, but by the time he becomes emperor of the universe the reader/viewer should already be wondering if he's fit for the job. This whole jihad/holy war he's doing sure gives us the ick, especially in "Dune: Messiah" when Book Paul casually mentions how his regime has killed far more people than Hitler ever did. I for one believe that killing sixty billion people is wrong, and you can quote me on that.

But the "Dune" series wouldn't be that interesting if Paul was a straightforward bad guy, which is why the common claim that "Dune" is a clear-cut critique of the savior narrative misses the mark. I'd argue the series is more of a rumination on saviors, not a condemnation of them. That's made most clear with how House Harkonnen (the main villains of the first book) are genuinely terrible, and Paul does the galaxy a favor by taking them down. The Harkonnens are portrayed not just as evil but truly grotesque; their mere existence is depressing, to the point where "Dune: Part Two" portrays their planet as being entirely devoid of color.

When Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) is killed by Alia in the book and by Paul in the movies, it's one of the few clear-cut moments where the audience is allowed to cheer the Atreides siblings on, unbothered by any moral complications. When Paul kills his cousin Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler) in that final duel, it's hard to complain either; Feyd-Rautha was many things, but warm and fuzzy he was not. Although Paul and the rest of House Atreides didn't seem to bother killing any of the other Harkonnens, those two main deaths appeared to put an end to the Harkonnens as major players in the series. They're not seen in the flesh in "Dune: Messiah," and when we do hear about them the implication is that the family has learned to behave themselves among the universe's new Atreides regime.

There is one complication though, which was revealed when Jessica went through the Spice Ritual and drank the Water of Life: Baron Harkonnen is an unavoidable part of the Atreides bloodline.

Jessica is a member of the Bene Gesserit, a mysterious, powerful sisterhood founded thousands of years before the story begins. There's a lot going on with these Bene Gesserit witches, but the big thing to know is that they've spent generations trying to breed the Kwisatz Haderach, someone with just the right genetic combination to make him the most powerful person in the universe.

Some of those genes, they must've believed, needed to come from the Harkonnens, which is why Jessica's Bene Gesserit mother (left unnamed in the main series) seduced the Baron and used his seed to give birth to Jessica. In standard Bene Gesserit protocol, Jessica's parentage was concealed to everyone except the upper-most Bene Gesserit members.

In hindsight we should've known that Jessica's father was the Baron; whenever a character's parentage is unknown to them at the start of a story, that's a pretty good sign that we're in for some big dramatic reveal. Jessica learning her father is the villain of the story is a lot like Luke Skywalker realizing his dad's Darth Vader, except it's worse because, in the "Dune" universe, a person's consciousness can live on inside their descendants' minds. Sure, "Star Wars" has its force ghosts, but the ego-memories in "Dune" can do so much more damage. That's why, even though the Baron Harkonnen's been dead for twelve years by "Dune: Messiah," he's still able to stir up some trouble through Jessica's daughter, Alia...

The idea of having access to the memories and consciousness of all your ancestors is a fascinating one, and something Frank Herbert was more than happy to explore throughout "Children of Dune" (book 3) and "God Emperor" (book 4). He dives into the awkwardness inherent in having your child know about every private moment you've ever experienced. He also establishes that having the wisdom of your deceased ancestors to draw upon is helpful for a leader, but there's also the risk of letting one of your bad ancestors take the wheel. That's exactly what happens to poor Alia, who takes a little too much spice and accidentally gives the Baron's consciousness too much control.

Although Alia tries to resist the Baron, the guy simply won't leave her brain. In "Children of Dune" she's almost fully under his spell, having turned into a vindictive tyrant towards the rest of her family. It's a tragic fate for Alia, who was always suspected of being an "Abomination" due to the bizarre circumstances of her birth, and who finally became one in her final years. Making it more ironic for Alia is how she's the one who killed the Baron (in the books at least). The Baron's consciousness being the thing that gets her killed feels like the Baron getting his posthumous revenge. The Atreides family may have declawed the Harkonnens in their real world, but in their minds the Harkonnens are still there to wreak havoc.

After Alia's arc in "Children of Dune," the Baron still lives on in her nephew Leto II, but thankfully Leto's figured out how to stay in charge of his own mind. It helps for Leto II that he was born years after the Baron's death. The subtle Harkonnen presence in their consciousness stung a lot for Jessica, Paul and Alia because they all had real-life experiences with the guy, but as more time goes on, the further back in the Atreides' minds his consciousness seems to live. A bad guy being your father is a big deal; a bad guy being just one of your eight great-grandparents is easier to grapple with. The Harkonnens may continued to torment the Atreides for years after the Baron's death, but thankfully they don't seem to do much damage after Alia. As it turns out, Leto II is capable of inflicting more than enough damage on his own.