Kaitain

From DYOS Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
Spork.svg This page was originally sporked from Wikipedia.
Kaitain
Dune Movie Kaitain.jpg
Orbital elements
Known satellites 4
Story data
Universe Dune series
Planet type Earth-like temperate
Notable features Corrinth City; Imperial Palace
Affiliation CorrinoHeraldic.svg House Corrino
Creator Frank Herbert

Kaitain is a fictional planet in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.

In Herbert's 1965 novel Dune, it is mentioned briefly as the seat of power of Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, the Royal Court being previously located on the planet Salusa Secundus.

The Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999-2001) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson further explores Kaitain and its origins.

Origins and description

The Prelude to Dune series establishes that, after centuries as the capital of the Corrino Padishah Empire, Salusa is devastated by atomics before the events of 1999's Dune: House Atreides. Padishah Emperor Hassik Corrino III relocates the Imperial throne to Kaitain, and the renegade House which had perpetrated the attack is exterminated, their name erased from history. Salusa Secundus is intentionally left as a barren wasteland.

According to Dune: House Atreides, Padishah Emperor Hassik Corrino III had reestablished the Imperium's seat of government on Kaitain and had sought to rebuild the capital to new heights of grandeur:

Following the nuclear holocaust on Salusa Secundus ... everyone had been anxious to establish an optimistic new order. Hassik III had wanted to show that even after the near obliteration of House Corrino, the Imperium and its business would continue at a more exalted level than ever before.

On Planetologist Pardot Kynes' visit for an audience with Emperor Elrood IX, he notes:

On the Imperial planet Kaitain, immense buildings kissed the sky. Magnificent sculptures and opulent tiered fountains lined the crystal-paved boulevards like a dream. A person could stare for hours ... Kaitain was exquisitely planned and produced, with tree-lined boulevards, splendid architecture, well-watered gardens, flower barricades . . . and so much more ... Official Imperial reports claimed it was always warm, the climate forever temperate. Storms were unknown. No clouds marred the skies ... when the ornate Guild escort craft descended, [Kynes] had noted the flotilla of weather satellites, climate-bending technology that — through brute force — kept Kaitain a peaceful and serene place.

In Dune: House Atreides it is also noted that Kaitain has four moons.

Corrinth

The Prelude to Dune series also establishes that the lavish capital city of Kaitain is named Corrinth.

In Dune: House Harkonnen (2000), Abulurd Harkonnen notes how the extravagant beauty of the city differs from his homeworlds of Giedi Prime and Lankiveil:

The towering government buildings of Corrinth ... rose around Abulurd Harkonnen like a drug-induced fantasy. In his wildest dreams he had never visualized so many soaring edifices, jeweled inlays, and polished slabs of precious stone ... Colorful chime kites were tethered to the tall buildings, writhing on breezes in the perpetually blue skies. Prismatic ribbons drifted across the sky and shed rainbows on the flagstones below. Kaitain was obviously more concerned with form than substance.

According to Dune: House Corrino (2001), "Hassik III ... had taxed his subjects nearly into bankruptcy in order to rebuild a governmental infrastructure. Members of the Landsraad, vowing not to be outdone by House Corrino, had built their own monuments in the growing city. Within a generation, unremarkable Kaitain had become an awesome spectacle of Imperial architecture, museums, and bureaucratic self-indulgence."