Dune: Part Two's Spice Is Never Properly Explained, So Let Us Do It For You
02 -03-2024
"Dune", a science-fiction novel with complex characters and intricate worldbuilding is one of history's most influential and acclaimed books. No wonder film-makers have been drawn to the book for so long, or why getting it right has been so difficult.
Denis Villeneuve has cracked the code. His two-part version of "Dune", a dark blockbuster, is as full of complex themes and spectacle as it is with giant worms. The movie is about messianic characters, revolutions, and the brutality of the desert. It is also about people passing out on the set.
With so many storylines and moving parts, it is inevitable that some elements will be removed, cut, or be confusing without the full context. The spice mixture is one of Denis Villeneuve’s most confusing features in "Dune". Spice is constantly referred to as the most valuable and important substance known in the universe. It can even bring down empires. We don't know exactly how or why the spice is valuable. We're here to explain what melange really is and why it was so important to Muad’Dib Usul's rise.
Who controls the spices controls the Universe
First, the melange of spices is supposed to smell and taste like cinnamon. It is a sign of influence and wealth in the world, and it's mixed with drinks and food. Spice is a powerful influencer. The more you use it in your life, the greater your power. It's also an oil metaphor that is not subtle at all.
Spices have many practical applications, beyond simply improving the taste of food.
The melange is a powerful drug which can help slow the ageing process. It also extends the lives of people who use it. The melange is used to increase consciousness by awakening parts of the brain that we do not use, and expanding the senses. The spice is able to give some people prescience, allowing them to see the future, past and present. This makes it important for religious orders such as the Bene Gesserit, but also the Spacing Guild.
The spice, therefore, is more than just an indulgence. It is essential for all of the universe's inhabitants, as it grants the first group clairvoyance and the second the ability to travel through space.
It is true that it's still a very powerful drug with side effects. Spice is highly addictive and can alter your physical appearance. The eyes will turn a dark blue at the very least, or even bizarre mutants in some cases.
Spices are a part of the culture of the Fremen who can access all they want. It is used in clothes, paper and explosives.
Spice must be flowing
Villeneuve never mentions why and how melange was so widely used (although it's a part of Lynch's unappreciated version's prologue). It's because the Butlerian Jihad was a holy conflict in which all "thinking machine" slaves were destroyed. This war created a long-lasting and deep fear of machines capable of replacing humans.
The war lasted for almost a hundred years and caused the destruction of many historical documents.
After computers had been phased out, three new schools were created that were specialized in the development of the mind: the Bene Gesserit and Spacing Guild. Mentats or Human Computers replaced the thinking machines in computing. They are well known for having a vast memory, as they can organize a large amount of information.
In the "Dune" world, the Bene Gesserit who opened their minds with spice, secretly use prescience in order to influence the politics. There's also the Spacing Guild, and its Navigators who have taken over interstellar traveling from computers. Interstellar space travel would be extremely dangerous without the navigators, who rely on spice to become high while finding the best route
. Both transport and trading would also come to a standstill.
Where does this spice come from, you ask? It's actually sandworm excrement. It's the excretions from sandworm larves that are mixed in with the water under the Arrakis sand. This mixture, which is created by pressure explosions below, is then brought to the surface and interacts with hot air at the surface. It is essential for the stories that follow "Dune" and "Dune Messiah".