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Imperial Conditioning
The galactic Padishah Empire under the rule of House Corrino. Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV is the current head of the Imperium and therefore the ruler of the universe. Realistically, though, galactic power is held in a four-way relationship between the Imperium, the Landsraad, the Bene Gesserit, and Guild. The four powers hold stakes in CHOAM, which carries out the majority of the galaxy’s economic transactions.
Imperium Quotes in Dune
The Dune quotes below are all either spoken by Imperium or refer to Imperium. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Book 2, Part 2
Quotes
And Paul, walking behind Chani, felt that a vital moment had passed him, that he had missed an essential decision and was now caught up in his own myth. He knew he had seen this place before, experienced it in a fragment of prescient dream on faraway Caladan, but details of the place were being filled in now that he had not seen. He felt a new sense of wonder at the limits of his gift. It was as though rode within the wave of time, sometimes in its trough, sometimes on a crest—and all around him the other waves lifted and fell, revealing and then hiding what they bore on their surface.
And through it all, the wild jihad still loomed ahead of him, the violence and the slaughter.
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Book 2, Part 12
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Survival is the ability to swim in strange water.
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Book 3, Part 3
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“When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movement becomes headlong—faster and faster and faster. They put aside all thought of obstacles and forget that a precipice does not show itself to the man in a blind rush until it’s too late.”
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Book 3, Part 11
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“If I hear any more nonsense from either of you,” Paul said, “I’ll give the order that’ll destroy all spice production on Arrakis … forever.”
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“Do it!” Paul barked. “The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it. You’ve agreed I have that power. We are not here to discuss or negotiate or compromise. You will obey my orders or suffer the immediate consequences!”
“He means it,” the shorter Guildsman said. And Paul saw the fear grip them.
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"Do you know so little of my son?" Jessica whispered. "See that princess standing there, so haughty and confident. They say she has pretensions of a literary nature. Let us hope she finds solace in such things; she'll have little else." A bitter laugh escaped Jessica. "Think on it, Chani: that princess will have the name, yet she'll live as less than a concubine — never to know a moment of tenderness from the man to whom she's bound. While we, Chani, we who carry the name of concubine — history will call us wives.”
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Imperium Term Timeline in Dune
The timeline below shows where the term Imperium appears in Dune. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 1, Part 2
...to human life. Consequently, doctors with Imperial Conditioning aree the most trusted beings in the Imperium. The Baron and Piter plan to cause Duke Leto and his Mentat Thufir Hawat to...
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Book 1, Part 7
...Arrakeen Crisis” reveals the success of Bene Gesserit “sowing implant-legends” throughout the worlds of the Imperium since ancient times. The Arrakeen implant-legend of the coming of a Reverend Mother and a...
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...Fremen culture, which Jessica attributes to the sisterhood’s protective practice of planting prophecies throughout the Imperium’s worlds that can help the Bene Gesserit if needed.
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Book 2, Part 3
...to allow Paul Imperial rule. Paul is betting on the Emperor’s wish to preserve the Imperium rather than see the Great Houses tear worlds apart in their fighting.
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Book 2, Part 7
...“genetic-eunuch” Count Hasimir Fenring who was known as one of the best fighters in the Imperium. On one occasion, spying on the Emperor, Irulan is worried to see that her father...
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Book 2, Part 15
...once again conflicted by his visions of the Fremen religious war that will devastate the Imperium. Chani and Paul leave the cavern together.
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Book 3, Part 11
...of seeing potential futures that all result in a brutal Fremen holy war sweeping the Imperium.
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...that he cannot stop the Fremen holy crusade that will one day sweep across the Imperium.
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Appendix II
Firstly, the narrator describes the dominant religious faiths in the Imperium before Muad’Dib’s ascendancy to the Imperial throne. The widespread followers of the Fourteen Sages follow...
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The Butlerian Jihad is one of the most significant events in the Imperium’s history. It was sparked by religious and political outrage over “the god of machine-logic” and...
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...only revelation.” However, the Commission proved ineffective and soon became a ridiculed organization throughout the Imperium.
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...that killed close to eighty million people. The narrator explains that these events reflect the Imperium’s “psychological tone” and “deep uncertainties” in “striving for something better, plus the fear that nothing...
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Turning to consider Muad’Dib, the narrator relates the different ways that various groups in the Imperium prophesized and explained his practically unchecked religious and cognitive powers. Muad’Dib likely met such success...
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Appendix III
Despite the Bene Gesserit order’s significant influence over the Imperium, the matriarchal program was guilty of error on the subject of Paul Atreides. They wrongly...
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...these elements suggests that there is a higher power than the Bene Gesserit in the Imperium, which they are completely unaware of.
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