Battle of Arrakeen
the fall of the Corrino Empire
The Battle of Arrakeen was the pivotal engagement of the Arrakis Revolt, fought between Muad'Dib Paul Atreides's Fremen and the Sardaukar of Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV. The Fremen routed the Imperial forces, and in the surrender that followed Paul won control of the known universe.
The Battle of Arrakeen was the decisive event of the Arrakis Revolt within the wider Desert War. It was fought between the Fremen of Muad'Dib, Paul Atreides, and the Imperial forces of Sardaukar commanded by Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV. Muad'Dib's forces routed the Sardaukar, and the Emperor was brought to negotiate. The battle ended the reign of House Corrino and raised House Atreides to the Imperial throne.
Prelude#
The revolt on Arrakis grew out of the failure of House Harkonnen to safeguard spice production after it seized the planet from House Atreides. That failure eventually demanded the attention of the other Great Houses of the Landsraad, the Spacing Guild, and finally the Padishah Emperor himself. Shaddam Corrino IV came to Arrakis in person, bringing his elite Sardaukar to crush the desert uprising. By this time Paul Atreides, the surviving heir of the slaughtered House Atreides, had taken his place among the Fremen and was known to them as the prophet Muad'Dib, commanding a vast and fanatical army.
The battle#
The conflict culminated at the capital, Arrakeen. Muad'Dib used family atomics against the natural rock barrier of the Shield Wall, choosing to breach the mountains rather than to strike directly at the opposing forces. The detonation tore open the Shield Wall and exposed the Imperial position. Through the breach the Fremen drove sandworms, riding the great beasts through the fortifications and into the Imperial lines. Aided by the chaos of an approaching sandstorm, the Fremen overwhelmed the Sardaukar and the Harkonnen troops, routing the forces that had long been thought undefeatable. The capital itself fell, and House Harkonnen was near annihilated in the fighting.
Aftermath#
With his army shattered, the Emperor was forced to negotiate with Paul Atreides. During those negotiations Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, by then the new Baron of House Harkonnen, challenged Muad'Dib to a kanly duel. Paul killed him, and with his death sealed an agreement that gave him control of the known universe. The victory marked the end of the Corrino Empire and the beginning of the era of the Atreides Empire. Shaddam Corrino IV abdicated the throne, and House Corrino was exiled to Salusa Secundus. From the foundation laid at Arrakeen, Muad'Dib's Jihad would soon spread across the Imperium.
Frequently asked questions
- What was the Battle of Arrakeen?
- The Battle of Arrakeen was the decisive event of the Arrakis Revolt within the wider Desert War. It was fought between the Fremen of Muad'Dib, Paul Atreides, and the Imperial Sardaukar commanded by Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, and it ended the reign of House Corrino while raising House Atreides to the Imperial throne.
- Why did Emperor Shaddam IV come to Arrakis?
- House Harkonnen's failure to safeguard spice production after seizing Arrakis from House Atreides eventually demanded the attention of the Great Houses, the Spacing Guild, and finally the Emperor himself. Shaddam Corrino IV came to Arrakis in person, bringing his elite Sardaukar to crush the desert uprising.
- How did Muad'Dib win the Battle of Arrakeen?
- Paul Atreides used family atomics against the natural rock barrier of the Shield Wall, tearing it open and exposing the Imperial position. Through the breach the Fremen drove sandworms, and aided by an approaching sandstorm they overwhelmed the Sardaukar and Harkonnen troops, routing forces long thought undefeatable.
- What happened to Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen at Arrakeen?
- After the battle, as the captured Emperor negotiated, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, by then the new Baron of House Harkonnen, challenged Muad'Dib to a kanly duel. Paul killed him, and his death sealed the agreement that gave Paul control of the known universe.
- What was the outcome of the Battle of Arrakeen?
- The victory marked the end of the Corrino Empire and the beginning of the Atreides Empire. Shaddam Corrino IV abdicated the throne, House Corrino was exiled to Salusa Secundus, and House Harkonnen was near annihilated in the fighting.
Gallery
Images via Dune Wiki
Sources
- WikiBattle of Arrakeen — Dune Wiki entry
- WikiArrakis Revolt — Dune Wiki entry
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Related entries
Desert War: the fall of the Corrino Empire
The Desert War, also called the Harkonnen war or the Arrakis Affair, was the conflict that destroyed House Harkonnen, ended the Corrino Empire, and raised Paul Atreides to the Golden Lion Throne. It began as a War of Assassins in 10191 AG and concluded with the abdication of Shaddam Corrino IV.
Muad'Dib's Jihad: the holy war of Paul Atreides
Muad'Dib's Jihad was a twelve-year holy war waged from 10196 to 10208 AG by the Fremen legions of Emperor Paul-Muad'Dib Atreides. It carried the worship of the Fremen messiah across the Known Universe, killed tens of billions, and forged the Atreides Empire from thousands of conquered worlds.
Arrakeen
Arrakeen was the first settlement on Arrakis and its seat of power, a city near the northern pole sheltered by the Shield Wall. It served as the governor's seat under the Corrino Empire, the capital of Muad'Dib's empire, and later the festival city Onn before becoming Keen.
Arrakis Revolt
The Arrakis Revolt was the uprising of the Fremen of Arrakis under Paul Atreides during the latter events of the Desert War. Waged as a guerrilla campaign against the Harkonnen occupiers, it crippled spice production, drew in the Padishah Emperor, and ended with the fall of House Corrino.
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House Atreides was a respected House Major of the Galactic Padishah Empire, ruled by a Duke and seated for twenty generations on the ocean world of Caladan. Through Paul Muad'Dib and his son Leto II, the Atreides line rose to rule the Known Universe before passing into a bloodline scattered across the millennia.
Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides was the last Duke of House Atreides and the prophet Muad'Dib of the Fremen. The long-awaited Kwisatz Haderach of the Bene Gesserit, he toppled Emperor Shaddam IV, founded the Atreides Empire, and unleashed a jihad across the Known Universe before walking blind into the desert.
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Arrakis Revolt
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The Desert War, also called the Harkonnen war or the Arrakis Affair, was the conflict that destroyed House Harkonnen, ended the Corrino Empire, and raised Paul Atreides to the Golden Lion Throne. It began as a War of Assassins in 10191 AG and concluded with the abdication of Shaddam Corrino IV.
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen was the na-Baron and heir of Vladimir Harkonnen. Charismatic, cunning, and vicious, he was groomed to inherit House Harkonnen and to win the Imperial throne, but was killed in a duel with Paul Atreides shortly after the Battle of Arrakeen.
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Gaius Helen Mohiam was a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother who trained Lady Jessica, served as Truthsayer to Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, and tested the young Paul Atreides with the gom jabbar. She later joined the conspiracy against the Atreides Empire and was executed for it.
Glossu Rabban
Glossu Rabban, called the Beast, was the brutish eldest nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. As Count of Lankiveil and Governor of Arrakis, his merciless oppression of the population earned him the Fremen name Mudir Nahya and helped ignite the Desert War that destroyed his House.
Guild Navigator
A Guild Navigator, also called a Steersman, was a spice-transformed human at the pinnacle of Spacing Guild ambition. Saturated in melange within antigravity tanks, Navigators used prescience to guide Heighliners safely across the folds of space.
Gurney Halleck
Gurney Halleck was the Warmaster of House Atreides under Duke Leto and later his son Paul, and one of Paul's principal teachers. A warrior, minstrel, and implacable enemy of the Harkonnens, he served the Atreides line from Caladan to the reign of Leto II.
House Corrino
House Corrino was the imperial House of the Known Universe, ruling family of the Padishah Empire for ten thousand years from the Golden Lion Throne. Seated at Kaitain and rooted on Salusa Secundus, it fell to House Atreides after the Battle of Arrakeen.
House Harkonnen
House Harkonnen was a Great House of the Landsraad seated on the industrial world of Giedi Prime and the historical enemy of House Atreides. Ruled by a Siridar-Baron, it built its power on the brutal exploitation of Arrakis before being shattered as a political force at the Battle of Arrakeen.
Iakin Nefud
Iakin Nefud was the captain of the House Harkonnen guard, raised from corporal to that rank after his quick thinking saved Baron Vladimir Harkonnen from the poison gas that killed Duke Leto Atreides' captors. A Semuta addict, he served the Baron throughout the occupation of Arrakis.
Korba
Korba was a Fremen follower of Paul Muad'Dib who rose from the original Fedaykin to become Panegyrist and Priest of the Qizarate, before turning against his Emperor in a conspiracy to martyr him and meeting death at the hands of Stilgar.
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