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The Galactic Imperium, as ruled by Shaddam IV, is in most respects a mixture of bureaucratic and monarchical structures, in which Shaddam is a monarch with limited power, enforced mainly through the deployment of his Sardaukar military forces. Rather, much of the authority comes from the contractual agreements with the noble Houses of the Landsraad, and, in the end, largely from the bureaucratic forces of the Spacing Guild, who have a monopoly on space travel and essentially have the final word on all matters through their ability to control mobility, trade, and even where and when Shaddam may deploy his Sardaukar. This then, though simplified, is the general makeup of Shaddam’s assemblage empire.

Paul begins to deconstruct Shaddam’s empire when he changes the relations of exteriority with the Spacing Guild. As Paul and the Fremen continue their attacks on the Harkonnen, their master plan is to so completely disrupt the mining and production of the all-important spice mélange that it will capture the undivided attention of the Spacing Guild and the Emperor. The Spacing Guild needs the spice because it fuels their ability to fold space and travel between planets. The Emperor needs the spice because it fuels the entire economy, and because without it the Spacing Guild will cut off his ability to travel as well. For decades, the Spacing Guild has been the power behind the throne, and even the Emperor must often bow to their demands. As Paul states to Shaddam, the Guild only permitted him to mount the throne on the assurance that the spice would continue to flow. This balance of power changes in the final chapter, with Paul. When Shaddam threatens Paul with an armada of ships from the Great Houses of the Landsraad ready to attack at any moment, Paul does not respond to the Emperor, but to the two Spacing guildsmen in the room, ordering them to “Get out there immediately and dispatch messages that will get that fleet on its way home” (Herbert, 1965, p. 475). The guildsmen respond by explaining that they do not take orders from him. In order to gain their attention, Paul threatens to destroy all spice production on Arrakis: “The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it,”[5] explains Paul (Herbert, 1965, p. 477), and therefore the Spacing Guild is now also under his control. He describes the guild as a village beside a river:

They need the water, but can only dip out what they require. […] The spice flow, that’s their river, and I have built a dam. But my dam is such that you cannot destroy it without destroying the river. (Herbert, 1965, p. 477)

By exerting his power over the Spacing Guild, Paul dismantles nearly all the bureaucratic power it has over the empire, vastly restructuring the relations of exteriority between it and the throne.

Paul breaks apart and rebuilds Shaddam’s Imperium in other ways as well. When he removes the Sardaukar from power, and announces that he will turn their prison/training planet Salusa Secundus into a “garden world, full of gentle things” (Herbert, 1965, p. 488), he eradicates the Galactic Imperium’s only other real method of enforcement outside the bureaucratic structures of the Spacing Guild. Instead, Paul replaces the Sardaukar with his Fremen forces, leading the Reverend Mother to burst out in fear and horror: “You cannot loose these people upon the universe!” (Herbert, 1965, p. 488) when she senses the coming jihad. Paul responds: “You will think back to the gentle ways of the Sardaukar!” (Herbert, 1965, p. 488). This further highlights the difference Paul envisions in the way his forces with interact with the empire and the universe at large. By making the Fremen one of the most significant components of his empire, Paul also restructures the ceremonial and expressive elements of the assemblage. The Fremen religion becomes a new method for enforcement and obedience as their sacred histories and rites influence the expected behavior, language, and hierarchies of all the people in the empire.

Manuel DeLanda’s (2006) assemblage theory gives us the tools and lens through which the intricate nature of imperial power is demonstrated in Dune. However, this only begins to scratch the surface of the possibilities of how both assemblage theory and Hardt and Negri’s (2000) Empire can be applied to the series as a whole. A more in-depth analysis of the multitude of assemblages that appear in Herbert’s world-building could offer promising insights into his portrayals of religion and the politics of the masses. Moreover, the capitalistic nature of the spice trade and the Spacing Guild are ripe for an analysis based upon the issues of capitalism and globalization discussed in Empire.

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• DiTommaso, Lorenzo (November 1992). "History and Historical Effect in Frank Herbert's Dune". Science Fiction Studies. 19 (3): 311–325. Retrieved April 22, 2025.

The link between faufreluches and the stagnation of technology is the enigmatic Spacing Guild, whose historical relationship with the Imperium is fundamentally symbiotic. Space travel is monopolized by the Guild, which controls most aspects of inter-planetary banking, economics, and military policy. In fact, it was a Guild-B.G. compact that placed Shaddam IV on the throne with his promise to keep the spice flowing and to continue to allow the Bene Gesserit breeding program. [...]Strangely, of all the power groups and institutions in Dune, it is only the parasitic Guild that could break methodology, since it has the absolute ability to move defeated or renegade Houses "outside the system" (15/18/18) or to Tupile, thus completely severing those Houses from the restrictions and demands of faufreluches