Butlerian Jihad

Lore & Background

The conflict began when twenty cymeks, known as the Titans, conquered a complacent universe by exploiting humanity's reliance on machines. These former humans, whose brains were implanted in preservation canisters and mechanical bodies, ruled until they were overthrown by Omnius, an artificial intelligence of their own design. Omnius sought to replace human chaos with machine order, igniting the war against humanity. The Titans themselves later became desperate to break free from these new masters. Key figures emerged from this chaos: Vorian Atreides, son of Titan Agamemnon; Xavier Harkonnen, leader of human forces on Salusa Secundus; and Serena Butler, a vocal rebel who was captured by the machine Erasmus. The Sorceresses of Rossak perfected psychic powers against machines while inventors like Tio Holtzman and Norma Cenva worked on new technologies. On Arrakis, Selim Wormrider began his mission to save Shai-Hulud from those seeking the spice.

In Their Own Story

The turning point arrived when Serena Butler was captured by Titan Barbarossa and placed under the watch of Erasmus, a robot who tortured humans to understand them. Discovering Serena was pregnant with Xavier Harkonnen's child, Erasmus found this distraction inconvenient. He subsequently removed her uterus and killed her young son, Manion (named after her father), in front of her. This act incited the entire Jihad, labeling the baby as the first martyr, 'Manion the Innocent.' Vorian Atreides, realizing the lie he lived as a machine trustee, betrayed his masters to flee with Serena, joined by slave leader Iblis Ginjo. The human rebellion achieved its first major victory by destroying Earth and the Earth Omnius using atomics. Later, Xavier Harkonnen sacrificed his life and reputation by flying a spacecraft containing Iblis Ginjo into the Tlulaxa sun Thalim to stop organ raids, though he was wrongly marked a traitor while Ginjo became a martyr.

Reader's Guide

This era establishes the absolute ban on thinking machines, a prohibition rooted in the trauma of slavery and the murder of Manion Butler. The war featured brutal clashes between human generals like Xavier Harkonnen and Vorian Atreides against machine forces led by Omnius and Erasmus. Key turning points include the destruction of Earth with atomics and the rise of religious leaders Iblis Ginjo (Grand Patriarch) and Serena Butler (Priestess). The conflict also saw subplots like the slave uprising on Poritrin led by Bel Moulay, which was suppressed by Lord Niko Bludd's Dragoons before Moulay was executed. The series details how the Atreides, Corrinos, and Harkonnens trace their lineage back to these specific events on Salusa Secundus and Poritrin.

Did You Know?

• The novel reached #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list in its second week of publication.
• Serena Butler's son, Manion, was named after her father and became known as 'Manion the Innocent' after being killed by Erasmus.
• Vorian Atreides is the human co-pilot of the Dream Voyager and the son of the cymek Titan Agamemnon.
• Xavier Harkonnen sacrificed his life by flying a ship into the Tlulaxa sun Thalim, but was publicly marked as a traitor while Iblis Ginjo became a martyr.
• The spice melange was about to be discovered by pharmaceutical magnate Aurelius Venport during the events of this novel.