Quick recap
Eighteen years after Shaddam's coronation, the series returns to the pasts of key Dune figures. Gurney Halleck suffers at Harkonnen hands, Leto rules Caladan as duke, Jessica is groomed by the Bene Gesserit and young Liet Kynes grows up on Arrakis. Meanwhile, the Emperor and Count Fenring bet on a synthetic spice the Tleilaxu are secretly developing. Baron Harkonnen suffers from a mysterious illness and doubles down on cruelty. The volume shows House Harkonnen's schemes starting to shape everyone's future, and it continues without resolution in Volume 2.

