Discrepancies between Dune novels

The collective Dune universe, as described by its creator Frank Herbert, or in works authorized by Herbert or his heirs, is comprised of the six original novels by Frank Herbert, the prequel novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, and the Dune Encyclopedia by Dr. Willis E. McNelly. Despite their official and authorized nature, these works contain numerous discrepancies, both within particular works by the same author, and between the works by different authors.

In the specific case of The Dune Encyclopedia, it should be noted that, while Dr. McNelly was a close friend of Frank Herbert's, and his work written and published with Herbert's knowledge, permission and approval Herbert says he "hold[s his] own counsel some of the issues still to be explored" in the Chronicles.

In the discussions below, the term "rationalization" simply refers to explanations which are not explicitly found within any of the primary texts.

Rationalization of Discrepancies Based on Literary Analysis
A Narrator shouldn't be conflated with the author of a literary work. Author Lois Leveen, Ph.D, explains the relationship between author and narrator in, The Narrator. Because our universe differs from that of the Duniverse there must exist a narrator from within that use universe. While Frank Herbert is the author of Dune, he is unlikely to be one of the narrators. The same is true of all texts in-universe, whether they are narrative or historical.

Though theories of different Duniverse narrators are outside of the scope of this article, potential narrators may include Irulan Corrino, Paul Atreides, Leto Atreides II, Duncan Idaho, Siona Atreides, the Oracle of Time, Daniel and Marty, and Erasmus.

In addition, all texts and source materials are likely to have been written in Galach and other languages in use within the Duniverse. It's clear due to stylistic differences, that at least two narrators exist, and due to the time span likely many more with differing historical accounts and source texts. Any discrepancies within texts are likely due to the combination of different source materials, different narrators, and different translators.

The existence of the writings of Irulan, Leto II, and the Dune Encylopedia—which is viewed as a heretical account of the timeline of the larger Duniverse—don't require a complete an accurate depiction of events. Over great periods of time, history will be written and rewritten, oral traditions will change. Language will evolve. History in the Duniverse will conflict, just as history on Earth does.

Narrators often misunderstand, misquote, misremember, misinterpret, display certain biases, recount people, events, and dialogue differently, or intentionally alter narratives. Discrepancies by translators suffer similarly, with the compounding addition of inadequate translation of source texts.

Further rationalizations for discrepancies aren't strictly necessary, but this doesn't mean it can't be fun or illuminating to speculate.

Alia's ancestral memories in Dune
Jessica endures the spice agony, and receives the memories of a Fremen Reverend Mother who had, in turn, received the memories of the Reverend Mother who came before her. As a result, Jessica inherits the memories of countless generations of Reverend Mothers. Jessica's unborn child, Alia, also inherits these memories and is born with the awareness and memories of an adult in the body of a child. In Children of Dune, however, Alia instead possesses the memories of her ancestors (including the Baron Harkonnen).


 * Rationalization: Alia gives herself a massive spice-overdose in ''Dune Messiah. It is possible that this spice-overdose triggers her ancestral memories.
 * Rationalization #2: It was also stated that Alia possessed her other memories all throughout her life from birth, but succumbed to them through a combination of flesh-weakness (puberty), the disapproval and subsequent burying of friendly other-selves (such as the other-memory version of the Lady Jessica), and futile attempts to dominate other-memories instead of forge a working relationship with them (as stated by Leto II).

The Bene Gesserit's ancestral memories
The Bene Gesserit Reverend Mothers in Heretics of Dune are possessed of ancestral memories. However, this ability is not possessed by any Bene Gesserit in the earlier novels. When Jessica endures the spice agony in Dune, for example, she gains access to the memories of all the Reverend Mothers who came before her, but she doesn't gain ancestral memories.
 * Rationalization: The events of Heretics of Dune take place 1,500 years after God Emperor of Dune. During that time, the Bene Gesserit have all been explicitly bred to inherit the genes of Siona Atreides. Siona briefly gained ancestral memories as a result of enduring the spice agony. Siona's father, Moneo, also briefly gained ancestral memories as a result of enduring the spice agony. It seems likely that ancestral memories are a trait inherited from Ghanima, bred for by the God Emperor, and triggered by the spice agony. It is possible that the Bene Gesserit further strengthened this trait through their breeding program. Or it may be that the Bene Gesserit's endurance of the spice agony is simply more prolonged, intense, and/or prepared for than those endured by Siona and her father.

Duncan Idaho's Ghola Memories
In God Emperor of Dune, the Duncan Idaho ghola remembered dying while defending Paul and his mother Jessica. However, he also recalls events witnessed by his first reincarnation: "Idaho remembered a strange child - twins, really: Leto and Ghanima, Paul's children, the children of Chani, who had died delivering them." Later, while being interviewed by Leto II, Duncan states "I wish I had the memories of those others [his predecessors]" to which Leto replied "You couldn't have and still be the original."
 * Rationalization: It is possible that as Idaho does not appear to remember dying during the events of Children of Dune, he could have been restored from pre-death cells of the original Idaho ghola.
 * Rationalization #2: This could have been an early (and unknown to Leto) attempt by the Tleilaxu to incorporate serial ghola memories into one body. They had made a previous attempt to change the psyche (and body) of a ghola with disastrous results, so it would be understandable that they would be more cautious with any changes made.

In Heretics of Dune, Duncan Idaho is initially awakened with his memories only up to the point of his original death in Dune (before Paul Atreides becomes Muad'dib). However, he later speaks, prior to gaining the memories of his later incarnation, of being taught how to resist the Voice control of the Bene Gesserit: "I learned the way of that from Paul Muad'dib himself."
 * Rationalization: It's possible that Paul taught Duncan how to resist the Voice before they came to Arrakis and that Duncan is simply referring to him as "Muad'dib," due to his earlier training and study of history. It's also possible, perhaps even likely, that this is deliberate foreshadowing that Duncan's memories include his later incarnations.

Farok's Arm in ''Dune Messiah
A minor character named Farok is initially described with a missing arm: "Scytale returned his gaze to the old man [Farok], noted the empty sleeve dangling from the left shoulder and the lack of a stillsuit." Only a few paragraphs later, however, Farok has mysteriously regained his arm: ""Thrice blessed," Farok said, folding his hands into his lap in the ritual clasp."
 * Rationalization: Simple writing error by Frank Herbert.
 * Rationalization #2: Farok merely had a very short hand, hence the empty sleeve.
 * Rationalization #3: Farok is secretly a Face Dancer.
 * Rationalization #4: Farok is given back his hand very quickly “off-screen”.
 * Rationalization #5: There are two Faroks.
 * Rationalization #6: Farok had three hands, but one was cut off so now he has two, but there is still a stump.

Honored Matre's use of voice/Murbella's learning of it
In Heretics of Dune, an Honored Matre uses voice to good effect, but in Chapterhouse: Dune, Murbella sees it as one element of the cornucopia of Bene Gesserit skills which she looks forward to learning.
 * Rationalization: It may be that only certain orders of Honored Matres learn voice, or that it was not taught until later in training, Murbella being but newly robed as an Honored Matre at the end of Heretics.

Scytale
Scytale is a Face Dancer. In Heretics of Dune, Scytale is a Tleilaxu Master. Heretics of Dune also establishes that Face Dancers are the servants of the Masters, who are not Face Dancers themselves.
 * Rationalization: The Scytale appearing in Heretics of Dune is not, in fact, a ghola-descendant of the Scytale in Dune Messiah - although this is unlikely, as Scytale the Master also met Paul. Also, Masters with serial lives, as they are known in Heretics and beyond, was a Tleilaxu political development that came after the discovery of how to make gholas remember past lives in Dune Messiah. It is possible that ghola-Scytale was a Face Dancer who later became a Master.

Shaddam's Birthdate
In the very first chapter-heading of Dune, Princess Irulan writes: "[Paul Atreides was] born in the 57th year of the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV." However, in the appendices of Dune, it states: "SHADDAM IV (10,134-10,202) The Padishah Emperor, 81st of his line (House Corrino) to occupy the Golden Lion Throne, reigned from 10,156 (date his father, Elrood IX, succumbed to chaumurky) until replaced by the 10,196 Regency set up in the name of his eldest daughter, Irulan." This would indicate that Paul was born in 10,191. However, this is the same year that the novel begins (with Paul already 15 years old). Similar confusion over Shaddam's age can be found in another passage from Dune: "My father, the Padishah Emperor, was 72 yet looked no more than 35, the year he encompassed the death of Duke Leto and gave Arrakis back to the Harkonnens." (Although this later date is consistent with the claim that Paul was born in Shaddam IV's 57th year.)
 * Rationalization: The prequels resolve this inconsistency by subtracting fifteen years from the birth dates of Shaddam IV and Count Hasimir Fenring.

Discrepancies Between the Original Novels and Dune Encyclopedia
The Date of Leto II's Death: In God Emperor of Dune, it is stated to be 3,508 years since Leto became Emperor in Children of Dune. However, the Encyclopedia places Children at 10,219 (the date which the references made in the original books match with) but God Emperor at 13,724 rather than 13,728, so it would be 3,504 years into his reign according to the Encyclopedia.

"Famine Times" v "Starvation": Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune refer to the period after the death of the God Emperor Leto II which led to the Scattering as the "Famine Times". However, the Encyclopedia always calls it "the Starvation".


 * Rationalization: There were multiple names used to refer to this period, and "the Starvation" was used later on (as the Encyclopedia was published a good 300 years after Heretics and Chapterhouse).
 * Discrepancy to Rationalization: Considering that the Encyclopedia consistently refers to the Scattering as the Scattering, it is strange that they would have an alternative name for the Famine Times.

Duncan Idaho gholas: The Encyclopedia says that the Duncan Idaho ghola which appears in God Emperor of Dune ("Duncan-13724") was the last. However, in the original saga, fourteen more gholas are created after, the last at the time Heretics of Dune, for the purposes of the Bene Gesserit, who are one of the main sources for the Encyclopedia.

Discrepancies Between the Original Novels and Prequels
Discrepancies between the original novels by Frank Herbert and the prequels written by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert are frequently used by critics of the prequels. Criticism of the prequels also extends to a perception of poor quality and a negation or misrepresentation of Frank Herbert's original points and themes. For example, John C. Snider wrote in his review of Dune: House Harkonnen:


 * "If any criticism could be made about the prequels, it's that they just don't have the Byzantine mystique of Frank Herbert's original novels. The characters within the prequels would fit well within any of the old pulp dramas - driven by vengeance, driven by justice, driven by love - you get the picture. The Harkonnens, for example, are so ridiculously evil it stretches believability that they could control a thriving empire for millennia! Frank Herbert was a master at plunging you into strange, alien worlds of the far-flung future. The prequel novels, while satisfying, will just never attain the artistry of the original."

Such critique are, ultimately, matters of opinion and taste. The inconsistencies below are matters of fact within the Dune universe.

Bene Gesserit Psychic Powers
In the original Dune books, Frank Herbert presents the Bene Gesserit as a secretive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain powers and abilities that can easily be seen as magical to the uninitiated. It is an important aspect of their place in the Dune universe, and thematically within the books that their powers are not supernatural and mystical, but based on a thorough understanding of their physical body and the body politic.

Frank Herbert's Bene Gesserit were consummate politicians who understood the use of body, mind, and spirit in pursuit of power. Still, they do have some powers which might be classed as supernatural within the context of the created Duniverse. In example, the "genetic memory," or remembering the direct experiences of an ancestor or individual with whom they have "shared," most commonly via a spice-trance.

In Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert, however, endow their predecessors, the Sorceresses of Rossak, with telepathic and telekinetic abilities, changing not only the Bene Gesserit but the metaphysical rules of the Dune universe. Later, in Dune: House Harkonnen, they give the now fully-formed Bene Gesserit the ability to hide in shadows, close to invisibility. In none of the six original books does any Bene Gesserit give any hint of knowing of any such abilities of invisibility or telekinesis - not even in situations where such abilities would be lifesaving. Telepathy is mentioned in Dune by Emperor Shaddam during the confrontation between Alia, Baron Harkonnen and Reverend Mother Mohiam. He uses the term TP when Mohiam says that Alia is in her mind, but his reaction is more indicative that it is a sought after but never found mystical ability.

In Dune: House Harkonnen, the Bene Gesserit are also apparently able to sense and wrest control telepathically of a no-ship being flown by the Beast Rabban. This seems in stark conflict with the characterization of a no-ship in the original Frank Herbert novels as explicitly undetectable, most particularly by those with extra-sensory perception.
 * Rationalization: It is imaginable, especially in the case of the telekinetic powers which were only used to kill cymeks and resulted in the Sorceress's death, that the Bene Gesserit in the original novels had these powers, but a situation never arose where they needed to use them. It is never explicitly stated that they do not have these powers, they are just not expressed in the writing, much like the existence of Face Dancers and gholas were not mentioned in the original Dune, and yet play a significant role in its sequels.
 * Discrepancies to Rationalization: A false analogy is made by comparing the existence of new information in works authored later and set at a later time to the existence of old information in novels authored later and set at an earlier time. The Dune sequels come after Dune and so can introduce new information freely that doesn't contradict earlier information.
 * Rationalization: It is mentioned in the prequels that the telekinetic powers were a result of various chemicals that were found on Rossak. It may be that within a generation or two after the Bene Gesserit left Rossak, they lost these powers.
 * Discrepancies to Rationalization: Bene Gesserits engage in life-or-death combat dozens of times throughout the novels, for instance, against Honored Matres in Chapterhouse: Dune. They also plot and scheme on a way to remove Paul from the scene for decades. At no point is the option of telekinetic attack mentioned or portrayed in any fashion. Even moreso, even Paul and his descendants themselves never show this ability or knowledge of anything approaching it.


 * Rationalization: The no-ship described in the prequels is a prototype model designed by a Richesean scientist, who is murdered by Rabban after building the ship. The plans for the technology are temporarily re-discovered by his Richesean colleagues, but are permanently lost when the orbital lab is blown up by the Sardaukar. The no-ships in the original novels are an independently-developed technology. So it is entirely possible that the original no-ship was only built to, basically, have a Star Trek-like cloaking device, while the no-ships from the original novels also included a prescience-shield.

The Butlerian Jihad
In Dune and subsequent books by Frank Herbert, the Butlerian Jihad is described as a human religiously- (and/or philosophically-) grounded revolution, a great war in which all thinking machines were banned, and then purged. This Holy War cleverly set the scene for a futuristic universe without computers, which allowed the organic growth of both the Bene Gesserit, the Guild, and the Mentat schools, which focused on development of the human being.

The Butlerian Jihad further thematically served to make points about the dehumanizing dependence on automation, while highlighting questions of determinism vs. human free will. Frank Herbert explored the question of free will by showing how Paul Atreides became ensnared by his own dependence upon seeing the future to the point that he is determined by it. So too prior to the Butlerian Jihad, humanity had become so dependent on computers ("thinking machines") that they did not control their own fate.

In the prequels by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert, the Jihad is described as a war between oppressed humans and murderous machines, and started by a slave rebellion. According to the prequels, humans were enslaved first by rebels (the Titans), then Omnius enslaved all, having the Titans serving him and ruling the humans. The humans were enslaved physically by machines and the Titans, held in pens and tortured, and then rebelled.
 * Rationalization: "The target of the Jihad was a machine-attitude as much as the machines." This quote from God Emperor of Dune suggests that the war was started for many reasons. It was a religious, philosophical, and physical war all wrapped into one, but the lesson to be passed down was the philosophical one, and thus that is how it is portrayed 10,000 years later.
 * Discrepancies to Rationalization: This rationalization does not address the fact that the Jihad, as portrayed by Frank Herbert, was implied to be a strictly ideological struggle. The quotes below make little sense if computers had taken over and tried to enslave and torture mankind. For instance, humankind had been "guided" by machines, which is not the right word for genocidal enslavement.

There is some controversy over Frank Herbert's view of the Jihad, as he only referred to it indirectly. There are quotes spread out over the original six books which arguably add up to a relatively clear image, are still open to individual interpretation. The characters of these books speak of machines as perversions, and something that can "trap" you into a sense of complacency, a point which is strange to discuss if the real problem was that humankind was almost annihilated by an evil artificial intelligence:


 * Then came the Butlerian Jihad—two generations of chaos. The god of machine-logic was overthrown among the masses and a new concept was raised: "Man may not be replaced."


 * Its possession was the shibboleth of this age, but it carried also the taint of old immorality. Once, they'd been guided by an artificial intelligence, computer brains. The Butlerian Jihad had ended that, but it hadn't ended the aura of aristocratic vice which enclosed such things.


 * The human-computer replaced the mechanical devices destroyed by the Butlerian Jihad. Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind! But Alia longed now for a compliant machine. They could not have suffered from Idaho's limitations. You could never distrust a machine.
 * Note that Alia had memories about the time of the Jihad, and consequently Omnius, who tried to enslave and eradicate mankind. But yet, she believes that one cannot distrust a machine.


 * One moment he felt himself setting forth on the Butlerian Jihad, eager to destroy any machine which simulated human awareness. That had to be the past—over and done with. Yet his senses hurtled through the experience, absorbing the most minute details. He heard a minister-companion speaking from a pulpit: "We must negate the machines-that-think. Humans must set their own guidelines. This is not something machines can do. Reasoning depends upon programming, not on hardware, and we are the ultimate program!" He heard the voice clearly, knew his surroundings—a vast wooden hall with dark windows. Light came from sputtering flames. And his minister-companion said: "Our Jihad is a 'dump program.' We dump the things which destroy us as humans!"
 * Here, the speaker is trying to talk people into a fervor about ridding the world of machines. It makes no sense not to mention the fact that machines are also trying to kill humanity off, and in fact, it seems ludicrous to mention that machines "destroy us as humans," when Omnius has enslaved entire planets.


 * "The target of the Jihad was a machine-attitude as much as the machines," Leto said. "Humans had set those machines to usurp our sense of beauty, our necessary selfdom out of which we make living judgments. Naturally, the machines were destroyed."
 * Leto II had detailed memories of the Jihad, and specifically tells us why the Jihad started, and why the machines were destroyed - for philosophical/religious reasons. For comparison, imagine a historian who has all the facts, yet claims that America went to war against Japan after Pearl Harbor over some differences in opinion regarding the Emperor's status as deity and his political opinions.

Another suggestion that the Butlerian Jihad was originally intended to be a philosophical struggle, rather than a literal war between factions, may lie in the very name "Jihad." While jihad can refer to political and military combat akin to the war portrayed in Brian Herbert's books, it can also refer to "inward spiritual struggle."
 * The god of machine-logic was overthrown among the masses, and a new concept was raised: "Man may not be replaced." Those two generations of violence were a thalamic pause for all humankind. Men looked at their gods and their rituals and saw that both were filled with that most terrible of all equations: fear over ambition. Hesitantly, the leaders of religions whose followers had spilled the blood of billions began meeting to exchange views.
 * Firstly, the "god of machine-logic" is overthrown for a concept - so what was overthrown cannot have been a murderous machine-empire, but rather another concept or belief. Secondly, we are told explicitly that the Jihad was "followers of religions" who fought primarily among each other - this makes no sense if the fighting was between man and machine.

References to the need for humans to transcend the need for "thinking machines" in the original books (in the absence of any reference to combat with the machines) suggest that Frank Herbert employed the term "Jihad" not simply for the sake of exoticism, but to suggest that the Butlerian Jihad was chiefly conducted in the minds and practices of the population, rather than on any physical battlefield.

Mentat Origins
Another supposed discrepancy related to the Butlerian Jihad regards the origin of the Mentats. Frank Herbert clearly states the Mentats arise from humanity's need for a computer-like ability to process information, just as the Spacing Guild is a response to the need for space travel. In the prequels, the Mentats are the product of the independent computer Erasmus's experiment to make humans "better" in the computer's view, and thus are a sort of by-product of the machine-enslavement of humanity.

This appears to run directly counter to Frank Herbert's point that the Mentat's abilities far exceed those of computers because they are not limited to raw, deterministic number-crunching. Frank Herbert's Mentat is able to make deductions and leaps of logic which a machine-mind cannot. Thus, Mentats are not computer-like humans, but humans who are trained to be better than computers, because humanity saw the need to evolve beyond such machines.


 * Rationalization: The experiments which produce the Mentat Gilbertus Albans, that are conducted were probably changed into a full-fledged school after the war was over, due to the new need for such a school. Also, the Mentat being better than a computer is not something that is trained into them, but merely a fact about humans that cannot be erased. The Mentat is trained to think like a computer, but then also has the skills of a human.

"This will be your first time off-planet" - Paul's Early Years
In Dune, shortly before the move to Arrakis, Paul asks his father, "Are the Guild ships really big?" Duke Leto then replies, "This will be your first time off-planet," before explaining some of the intricacies of Guild travel. Leto's statement, coupled with Paul's lack of knowledge and general uncertainty, make it clear that Paul has never been offworld before.

In addition, Paul reflects that, "This world of Castle Caladan, without play or companions his own age, perhaps did not deserve sadness in farewell." This, coupled with other information, paints a fairly-vivid picture of Paul's life as the only child of a Landsraad Noble.

However, in Paul of Dune, in the year 10,187 AG, Paul travels to both Ecaz and Grumman. In the second Heroes of Dune novel, The Winds of Dune, in 10,188 AG, Paul joins a travelling Jongleur troupe with his friend Bronso Vernius (also aged 12 at the time), which takes him to Chusuk and Balut.

He raised his eyebrows. "Your publication has defined my life's story." "You told me you had never left Caladan before your House moved to Arrakis. Whole parts of your youth have been left out." "Painful parts." He frowned at her. "But, more importantly, irrelevant parts. We've streamlined the story for mass consumption..."''
 * Rationalization: Dune paints a picture about the three critical years 10,191 AG to 10,193 AG of the Imperium and the life of Paul Atreides. Kevin J. Anderson explained that Paul of Dune "is about the inaccuracies and liberties taken in Irulan’s purported histories of Muad’Dib." The following is an excerpt from Paul of Dune:
 * One morning she [Irulan] went to Paul's Imperial office to talk with him, holding a copy of the first volume in The Life of Muad'Dib''. She dropped the deep blue book on his desktop, a plane of polished Elaccan bloodwood. "Exactly how much is missing from this story? I've been talking with Bludd. In your accounts of your life, you left out vital details."
 * Discrepancies to Rationalization: The clear implication of these statements and rationalizations made in Paul of Dune and by Kevin J. Anderson, is that Dune is the aforementioned Life of Muad'Dib - the first draft of Paul's biography, and that any inaccuracies are there because Irulan did not have all the information. The fact that the sources for discrepancies found in the main text suggests that Frank Herbert's original Dune should, or could, be read as in-universe propaganda. In Dune, however, Paul states: "I didn't even draw my knife, but it'll be said of this day that I slew twenty Sardaukar by my own hand." It is unlikely that this is a detail Irulan, in her role as myth-builder, would include.

Other Discrepancies

 * In Dune, it is established, in the very first paragraph of the novel, that Paul was born on Caladan: "Do not be deceived by the fact that he [Paul] was born on Caladan and lived his first fifteen years there." This is verified further into the novel, and also in Dune Messiah. In Dune: House Corrino, Paul is born on Kaitain.
 * Prequel Rationalization: Paul was only on Kaitain for a few days, and then was transferred to Caladan where his naming-ceremony took place, thus it is seen as the place of his birth, much like what would happen to a baby if he were born while his family were on vacation.
 * Prequel Rationalization #2: This particular inconsistency is directly referenced in Paul of Dune, where it is explained that Irulan "streamlined the story for mass consumption" in order to "[eliminate] unnecessary complications, cut off unnecessary questions and explanations"


 * In Dune, Duke Leto sends agents to buy Jessica: "Not since the day when the Duke's buyers had taken her [Jessica] from the school had she felt this frightened and unsure of herself." In House Harkonnen, the Bene Gesserit send Jessica to Duke Leto without his consent, and he allows her to stay.


 * In Dune, Duncan Idaho claims he first killed on Grumman: "He lifted his face toward the ceiling, bellowed: "My sword was firs' blooded on Grumman!"" This is contradicted in the prequels.
 * Prequel Rationalization: Duncan was referring to the first use of his current sword - which was given to him shortly before the assault on Gumman in Paul of Dune (10,187 AG).
 * Discrepancy to Rationalization: However, using "Occam's Razor," it immediately becomes clear that Frank Herbert's intentionality with this scene was indeed to refer specifically to Duncan Idaho's very first personal combat-kill ever (an important event in the character's life), not a rhetorical hair-splitting over which particular sword/weapon was actually used on Grumman.
 * Rationalization: Occam's Razor becomes dull in this occasion.


 * In Dune: House Harkonnen, Liet Kynes meets up with the rogue elements of House Vernius, who have also enlisted the services of one Gurney Halleck. During this period, the two become close comrades, with a strong component of mutual respect. In the original Dune novel, however, Kynes' meeting with Halleck makes no reference whatsoever to this past contact - in fact, Halleck's manner is brusque and formal, whilst Kynes is notably resentful of Halleck's presence.
 * Prequel Rationalization: This was answered on the official Dune website: "More than fifteen years have passed. Gurney met Liet then on a different planet, when he was using a false name, and his appearance was different. It¹s not surprising he would not recognize Dr. Kynes."
 * Discrepancies to Rationalization: We are given no explanation for two persons' faces should change that much, nor why Gurney, who is overall a rather competent soldier, does not even remember Kynes' name.


 * In Dune: House Atreides,it is general knowledge that the Tleilaxu are religious fanatics; however, in Heretics of Dune,this fact is a major revelation for the Bene Gesserit. The same is true when the nature of the Axlotl tanks are revealed in House Corrino.
 * Rationalization: The knowledge was slowly forgotten over the years, or during the Scattering and Famine Times.


 * The planet Harmonthep, a "no longer existent satellite of Delta Pavonis" (Caladan also orbits Delta Pavonis) is mentioned several times in the Dune prequels.


 * Fixing a crysknife is explained as "keyed to the body of the owner so it would dissolve upon his death" in this book. In Dune, "Fixed knives are treated for storage," which is demonstrably the opposite.


 * In Dune, the Baron is shown to be a "seeker of sensations." Moneo Atreides, in God Emperor of Dune, explains it well, "The fat was a side-effect, then perhaps something to experience for itself, because it offended people and he enjoyed offending." However, in House Atreides, his weight is revealed to be the result of a disease given to him by Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam when he raped her. This does not explain why Alia begins to put on weight in Children of Dune.
 * Prequel Rationalization: The Baron is depicted as riven by disease by David Lynch in the 1984 film version of Dune. Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert may have been taking their lead from the movie adaptation.


 * In Dune, Gurney Halleck explains that Duke Leto was "the man who rescued me from a Harkonnen slave pit, gave me freedom, life, and honor." In House Harkonnen, he escapes all by himself.
 * In Dune, the colour of mourning for the Arrakeen people is, multiple times, said to be green. For example, Chani wears a green sash after Liet-Kynes dies for that reason. However, in Children of Dune, it is written that "Alia wore the yellow of Arrakeen mourning, the color of the burning sun from Fremen History."
 * Rationalization: The color of Arrakeen mourning was, for whatever reason, changed after Paul’s ascension.


 * In House Corrino, Dr. Wellington Yueh explains how, following an industrial accident, he found a specialist to replace "Wanna's hips, spleen, and uterus with synthetic parts, but she could never have children." But in Dune, he wonders why Wanna Marcus never gave him children - he knows, as a doctor, "there was no physical reason against it."
 * Prequel Rationalization: This was answered on the official Dune website: "Yueh later learns that Wandra's injury did not, in fact, make her incapable of bearing children - but the Sisterhood had commanded her not to conceive."
 * Discrepancies to Rationalization: A uterus is not essential to a normal life, women and female animals often have hysterectomies, so there is no point in having a uterus replaced with a non-functional synthetic replacement.


 * In Paul of Dune, when planning the "Great Surrender" ceremony, Paul orders all representatives to come to Arrakis with his frigate's cargo hold filled with water as a gift. From Dune: "Many, not understanding the prohibitive mass-ratio problem, may even think we'll bring water from some other planet rich in it."
 * Prequel Rationalisation: This could be intended as a humiliatingly expensive act of submission to Paul precisely because of how inefficient it is.

Discrepancies Between Prequels

 * In the House Atreides prequel, House Ecaz is led by Duke Prad Vidal, who is noted as being an avowed enemy of the "Old Duke" Paulus Atreides. In the subsequent House Harkonnen and House Corrino prequels (written by the same authors), however, House Ecaz is led by Archduke Armand Ecaz, whose actions are continually cordial (to the extent of proposing a marriage alliance) with regard to House Atreides.
 * The timeframe between these novels is in the vicinity of ten years, and no attempt is made to explain Ecaz's change of leaders, or their apparent about-face on all matters relating to House Atreides over this period.
 * Rationalization: In Paul of Dune, it is explained that Duke Prad Vidal is a sub-leader who oversees House Ecaz's holdings on Vidal's continent only. The Archduke Armand Ecaz oversees all of House Ecaz's vast holdings, which span various star-systems.


 * In Hunters of Dune, it is revealed that Hasimir Fenring once stabbed Paul in the back. However, in Paul of Dune, he stabs Paul in the chest.
 * Rationalization: The truth was altered and distorted over 5,000 years. It is no surprise that the details are not quite right.
 * In the timeline at the end of Hunters of Dune, the Orange Catholic Bible is said to have been compiled in the first century A.G. However, in Sisterhood of Dune, which is set in 5 B.G., it was compiled twenty years ago (25 B.G.)
 * Rationalization: the A.G. calender is possibly not exact, and the exact date of 1 AG could ocasionally vary, due to the Spacing Guild-like organizations and predecessors before 1 AG.
 * In House Atreides, Aurelius Venport is named as the founder of the Spacing Guild. However, in the Legends of Dune and Great Schools of Dune trilogies, the Guild is formed 164 years after Aurelius’s death by the Corrinos after the defeat of Venport Holdings.
 * Rationalization: Aurelius founded VenKee Enterprises, which became Venport Holdings, a subsidiary of which was Foldpace Shipping Company, which became the Spacing Guild after the Corrinos defeated VenHold. Therefore he is viewed as it’s true founder.
 * In House Harkonnen, it is stated that Jool Noret was killed by a tidal wave in his sleep. However, in The Machine Crusade, he dies awake, thinking that he has finally met an enemy he cannot fight.
 * Rationalization: Across time (over 10 millenia), the story was distorted.