Vladimir Harkonnen
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Vladimir Harkonnen is a fictional character from the science fiction series Dune.
Born in the year 10,110 after the foundation of the Spacing Guild. His father served as head to the House Harkonnen and as Siridar (planetary governor) and Baron of the planet Giedi Prime. Vladimir was trained since youth as a possible successor to him. Vladimir presumably proved to be the most promising candidate as he was eventually chosen over his younger half-brother Abulurd Harkonnen.
Abulurd eventually married into the House Rabban and renounced the name Harkonnen and his rights to the title. Under the name Abulurd Rabban he reigned as Count and governor of planet Lankiveil. Vladimir was uncle to his sons: Glossu Rabban (year 10,132 - 10,193), nicknamed Beast Rabban, and Feyd-Rautha Rabban (year 10,174 - 10,193). Vladimir later adopted them back into the House Harkonnen and the latter became his designated heir as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen.
Vladimir never married due to his preference for young boys as sexual partners. His apparent paedophilia, however, did not prevent his seduction by a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother during the year 10,154. The exact circumstances are uncertain; but to the end of his life, Vladimir would react to the mere mention of the Bene Gesserit with a mixture of suspicion, fear, disgust and even anger. Unknown to Vladimir, this encounter resulted in the birth of his illegitimate daughter, the Lady Jessica Atreides. The Bene Gesserit sought such a child because the Harkonnens had long been part of their breeding programme. Thus, the Baron Harkonnen was a biological ancestor of Paul Atreides and all of Paul's line, including the God Emperor Leto II.
Vladimir was a skillful, if ruthless, politician with an apparent talent of manipulate people and events towards his chosen ends. During his reign the House Harkonnen progressively gained in both wealth and power. His major sources of wealth were his dominance in the whale fur market and his control of the Melange-producing planet Arrakis. The Baron was able to finance elaborate political schemes that further added to his power. For several years he was assisted by sadistic mentat Piter De Vries. Much of his success at political manouvering was due to a ruse that he was rash and overtly brutal, using such overtures to mask his subtler primary plots.
The Baron's most prominent political rival was his distant cousin Leto Atreides, head of the House Atreides and Duke of planet Caladan. Ironically enough, Lady Jessica become concubine of the Duke. Both noblemen were unaware of this connection. In year 10,176, his grandson Paul Atreides was born.
In year 10,191, Vladimir was apparently contacted by Shaddam Corrino IV, 81st Emperor of the House Corrino with the proposal of an alliance against the Duke. Vladimir was content in accepting, although uncertain of the Emperor's motivation.
Leto was pressured to surrender Caladan to Vladimir and receive Arrakis instead. He complied, though he sent a small invasion force, really no more than a raid, against Giedi Prime.
Shortly after this, a much larger invasion force arrived on Arrakis, consisting of both Sardaukar and Harkonnen forces. The Sardaukar were disguised by Harkonnen uniforms, so that outsiders would not recognize the hand of the Emperor in destroying Duke Leto. The Duke had not yet had time to establish a solid presence on Arrakis, and soon most of the Duke's army was slain.
The Baron Harkonnen was known for his creativity. This showed itself in the war against the Duke Leto, when the Harkonnen soldiers fought the Atreides at one point with old-fashioned explosive artillery. While artillery and firearms were generally worthless against force fields, the Baron calculated that the Atreides soldiers would retreat to caves. The artillery shells sealed them in, causing the Atreides soldiers to die by the thousand of suffocation and starvation. This tactic greatly reduced Harkonnen and Sardaukar casualties. It is not known if the Baron had studied the ancient history of humankind, but the Baron's re-introduction of a weapon that was obsolete since the days of Old Earth helped him achieve a crushing victory.
Vladimir had arranged for the Duke to be taken prisoner by Dr. Wellington Yueh, his own physician. But Yueh had personal reasons to hate Vladimir. A tooth of the captive was filled with poisonous gas intended to kill him and those around him. The Baron survived Yueh's assassination attempt but Piter De Vries did not. He was replaced with Thufir Hawat, Mentat to the deceased Duke, under duress. Vladimir apparently managed to convince Hawat that they could join forces against the Emperor.
The following two years saw Vladimir becoming increasingly aware that both of his nephews were conspiring against him to obtain the Baron's throne. The Baron let them continue to do so, reasoning that they had to somehow learn to organize a conspiracy. However as punishment for a failed assassination attempt against him, Vladimir forced Feyd-Rautha to single-handedly slaughter all the female slaves who served as his lovers, while the Baron watched. He explained that Feyd-Rautha had to learn the price of failure.
By year 10,193, the Fremen of Arrakis had managed to gain a series of victories against Beast Rabban and to capture most of the territory of the planet, which threatened to disrupt the trade of Melange. The Emperor decided to take control of the situation and arrived on Arrakis along with ten legions of Sardaukar forces. Vladimir and Feyd-Rautha escorted him with a vastly larger Harkonnen army, made up mostly of conscripts but also containing seasoned Harkonnen troops.
Vladimir was shocked to learn that Paul Atreides led the Fremen. The imperial forces fell prey to an surprise attack by the Fremen. Part of the Fremen/Atreides strategy was to wait till a sandstorm shorted out the force field shields of the Harkonnen/Imperial transport ships, disable them with projectile weapons, and attack at that time with a vast assault force, using Sandworms under cover of such severe weather to break the enemy lines. The Sardaukar and Harkonnen forces were trapped on the planet, astonished at the Sandworm mounts and vast numbers of their attackers, and their past ruthlessness gave them little hope of quarter from the enraged Fremen.
Beast Rabban died in the initial part of the battle. The Harkonnen army was massacred to the last man, almost all the 300,000 Imperial Sardaukar died, and Vladimir was poisoned by Alia Atreides, his own granddaughter, and took his last breath at the age of 83. Feyd-Rautha was killed by Paul in a duel. The death of the three men and the massacre meant the end of House Harkonnen as a galactic power. But, since grandson Paul subsequently was named emperor, Vladimir's descendants would long reign as the Imperial House Atreides.
The Baron's story does not end with his death however. Paul's sister Alia was born with her ancestral memories in the womb, a circumstance the Bene Gesserit call abomination, because in their experience it is inevitable that the individual will become possessed by one of their ancestors. Alia falls victim to this prediction and initially shares control of her body with the Baron, gradually falling under his power. At the end of Children of Dune Alia commits suicide, partly because she realizes that the Baron has virtually taken her over.
External links
- A timeline of the Dune Universe (http://sslx.orl.szote.u-szeged.hu/timelines/DUNECHRO.HTM)