WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dune, now in theaters and on HBO Max.
In the known universe in the world of Dune, there are many powerful individuals. Frank Herbert describes an interaction between Thufir Hawat, the Master of Assassins of House Atreides and a man who conjured dread in the Emperor himself, and the Lady Jessica, where he leaves shaken and in awe of her power, a power he did not think she was capable of.
A feared Mentat and a Bene Gesserit witch are two likely candidates without ever mentioning Paul Atreides, a man who was trained in both disciplines since birth and fated to become something more than human. However, there is another person possessing power of a different sort whose actions changed the course of history and, unintentionally, brought about all of the events that unfold under the bright sun of Arrakis during the ascension of Muad'Dib.
Possessing material wealth surpassing even that of the Padishah Emperor, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen was potentially the richest man in the known universe. House Harkonnen has always been fluent in the practice of industrial economic cruelties, which yield enormous profits and little overhead, made possible by a workforce of undernourished slaves. In addition to his own cunning and the counsel of the corrupted Mentat Piter De Vries, his fortune not only lies in legal tender and commercial infrastructure but the spice melange.
The Baron had been hoarding the spice for years before his fief on Arrakis was granted to House Atreides. This provided him the means to sabotage his rival's efforts in advance by crippling necessary production components but also creating the opportunity to allow the cost of spice to rise and effectually set its price by strategically releasing supply into the free market. This would disproportionately give him influence over all of the factions dependent upon spice, including the Bene Gesserit and, of even more consequence, the Spacing Guild, which in effect makes the existence of the empire possible.
Vast riches aside, the Baron's power can also be measured in the sheer force of will. Dune Part One ends with Lady Jessica pregnant and in hiding among the Fremen with her son Paul, heir to House Atreides. Once she went among the people of her new sietch, there was a call for her to take up the mantel of Reverend Mother since their own had reached an age of infirmity. A ritual of spice agony is required for this transition, wherein the candidate must imbibe the Water of Life and metabolize, demonstrating not only the most supreme act of mastery over their own internal body chemistry but also resulting in a powerful hyper-awareness that is of great advantage to the community.
Undergoing the ceremony while with child is a thing forbidden. But with circumstances as they are, Jessica had very little choice. The result is a child who is pre-born, cognizant and possessing vast intellect while still in the womb, an Abomination among the teachings of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood. This child, Alia Atreides, while still physically a child but mentally a sophisticated genius, killed the Baron, her grandfather, since Jessica was unbeknownst to him as his daughter. Due to Alia's premature awareness and access to the ego and memories of her ancestors, Baron Harkonnen's personality vied for control of her own upon his death and eventually it partially succeeded.
In the years that came after as Alia became the Knife of House Atreides, the Baron was in control of her body and actions for a large part of her regency, which was only thwarted by her suicide. Even in death, the Baron's power was such that he could compel a being born into power and heedful of the vastness of the past into subjugation, without his bloated suspensor supported body or the immense riches that had once made him one of the most dangerous men in existence.
Dune is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.
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