Juno: the Titan lieutenant of Agamemnon
Juno, born Julianna Parhi on Old Earth, was one of the original Titans and the lover and lieutenant of their leader Agamemnon. Cold, analytical, and lethal in battle, she ruled as a cymek for centuries before falling to Quentin Butler on Hessra.
Juno, born Julianna Parhi, was one of the original Titans and the lover and frequent lieutenant of their leader, Agamemnon. She brought a cold, analytical intelligence and fierce fighting ability to the conquest of the Old Empire, and Agamemnon likened her gifts to those of an empress and general of Old Earth. For centuries she ruled as a cymek, outliving her flesh through brain transferral before she was destroyed during the long struggle against the thinking machines.
Origins on Old Earth#
Born Julianna Parhi on Old Earth, Juno met Agamemnon during a disaffected youth spent playing tactical war games across the computer networks of the Old Empire. Their friendship swiftly became a passionate relationship. Juno shared Agamemnon's enthusiasm for the philosophies of Tlaloc, and the three of them formed the core of the small group that would come to rule a large part of the Empire.
Rise of the Titans#
By seizing control of the vast legions of domestic and military robots, Juno and her colleagues overthrew the complacent rulers of the Old Empire. Like most of the Titans, Juno governed her new subjects, the hrethgir, with brutality, and over the centuries she was responsible for countless deaths. After speaking with the Cogitor Eklo, she came to see that preservation canisters offered an even surer way of cheating death than the Titans' life-extension treatments, and she had her brain transferred into a canister to live on through a robotic chassis, becoming the second Titan to do so.
War against Omnius#
When the thinking machine Omnius rose to dominate the machine empire, the Titans found themselves enslaved to an unwanted master, and Juno conspired with Agamemnon to break free. After more than a thousand years their efforts bore fruit, and Juno took part in the capture of Bela Tegeuse and later Hessra. Though she remained devoted to Agamemnon, she used her seductive skills without scruple to draw information from human men before turning her cold and brutal nature upon them. On Bela Tegeuse she oversaw the conversion of the "liberated" slave population into cymeks who served the Titans willingly, and she reigned as the planet's "Queen" for decades until the Titans relocated to Hessra.
Death on Hessra#
After the Great Purge and the imprisonment of the Corrin-Omnius, the war veteran Quentin Butler was captured by cymeks, brought to Hessra, and converted. Juno regarded the helpless brain as her "pet." When Vorian Atreides came to Hessra to free Butler, he approached the Titans as a repentant prodigal son and was welcomed, professing his old wish to become a cymek. In the surgical chamber, while Vorian tended Agamemnon's mechanical body, Juno explained the coming surgery to her "pet." Quentin, already warned of Vorian's true purpose, got a surgical laser into his grasp, broke the protective panel, and severed Juno's thoughtrodes, leaving her paralyzed and unable to speak or feel. Her brain was removed from its canister and vivisected on the surgical table. With Juno destroyed and only two Titans left alive, the watching secondary cymeks agreed to aid Quentin and installed his brain canister on her former body.
Frequently asked questions
- Who was Juno in Dune?
- Juno, born Julianna Parhi on Old Earth, was one of the original Titans, the rebels who overthrew the Old Empire using its own thinking machines. She was the lover and frequent lieutenant of the Titans' leader, Agamemnon, and was known for cold, analytical intelligence and fierce fighting ability.
- How did Juno become a cymek?
- After learning from the Cogitor Eklo that preservation canisters offered a surer way of cheating death than the Titans' life-extension treatments, Juno had her brain transferred into a canister to live on through a robotic chassis. She was the second Titan to undergo the procedure.
- How did Juno die?
- Juno was killed on Hessra by the captive war veteran Quentin Butler. While Vorian Atreides distracted the Titans by posing as a repentant prodigal, Quentin seized a surgical laser, severed Juno's thoughtrodes, and removed her brain from its canister, after which it was vivisected.
Sources
- WikiJuno — Dune Wiki entry
- WikiAgamemnon (Titan) — Dune Wiki entry
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