Summary

• Duke Leto Atreides is alive in Dune: Awakening, a major departure from the original story's plot point.
• Leto's survival could change Paul's arc drastically, impacting the prophecy and his destiny.
• Leto's appearance suggests an ongoing war in Dune: Awakening, setting up potential alliances and faction conflicts.

Visually, Dune: Awakening looks like it's set in the world of Denis Villeneuve's Dune movie adaptations, with the studio behind these films, Legendary, having shared assets with the development team at Funcom, as well as inviting them on set. Despite this, the game's story has made at least one massive change from the book and the movies that could have major consequences going forward.

[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Dune, Dune: Part 2, and Dune: Awakening]

Dune: Awakening is set in the year 10199 AG, which is about eight years after the events of the Dune films. While this may sound like a way to ensure players are able to carve out their own story in Arrakis that's separate from the films, Funcom's Open World Survival MMO title has gone a step further by changing a major plot point to create a completely new alternate history, which could even erase the main events of the films and books entirely.

Duke Leto Atreides Is Alive In Dune: Awakening

Leto Atreides' Death Was A Major Moment In Dune's Story

In an interview with PC Gamer, Creative Director, Joel Bylos pointed to a "single point" that Funcom changed while working closely with the family of Dune author Frank Herbert, which was a major catalyst in the original story. While he didn't elaborate on what this exact moment was, he did reveal that many characters who died early in the Dune story are alive and can be interacted with in Dune: Awakening, including Duke Leto Atreides.

Those who have read the books or watched the films know this is a major departure as Leto died after being handed over to the Harkonnens by his private Suk Doctor, Wellington Yueh, during the attack on Arrakis by Baron Harkonnen's forces. Before giving Leto to the Harkonnens, Yueh replaced one of Leto's teeth with a poison gas capsule and told Leto to bite down hard to release the deadly gas. Although Leto did this, his main target, Baron Harkonnen survived, but Leto succumbed to the effects of the poison himself.

Duke Leto's Presence Could Completely Change Paul's Arc

If Leto Doesn't Die, Paul Doesn't Have To Flee Arrakeen

Duke Leto's death was a major catalyst in Dune's story, as it led to Paul fleeing Arrakeen and embarking upon his journey. While Paul had visions of a native Fremen woman, Chani, it was only after the fall of House Atreides that he met and rallied the Fremen to fight alongside him, and ultimately became the Kwisatz Haderach. Therefore, if Leto survived, Paul's main arc could be changed drastically in Dune: Awakening, making for an extremely different version of the character eight years later, compared to the one fans are familiar with.

In the Dune novel and the movie Dune Part 2​​​​​​, Paul became the Kwisatz Haderach after undergoing the process of spice agony via consuming the Water of Life to unlock his latent powers and grant him the knowledge of his ancestors.

This would also mean the prophecy and the Bene Gesserit's work on Arrakis could amount to nothing or could change entirely. If Paul and Jessica never visit the Fremen, this could be interpreted by them as the Lisan al Gaib never showing up, or alternatively, someone else could have replaced Paul as "The Voice from the Outer World" in Dune: Awakening.

The Bene Gesserit will likely still be trying to birth the Kwisatz Haderach, however, and there are other possibilities due to the survival of Duke Leto. For example, Lady Jessica is pregnant with Alia in Dune: Part Two, and with Leto surviving for eight more years, it's possible that he would get to know his daughter better, potentially changing her destiny too. The Bene Gesserit wanted Lady Jessica to have a girl, so it's extremely possible they could have turned their attention to Alia instead. Alternatively, they could turn to Feyd-Rautha and the Harkonnen side of the family tree to attempt to birth the Kwisatz Haderach, being an even more extreme departure from the source material.

Leto's Appearance Suggests House Atreides Never Fell

This Could Set Up An Ongoing War in Dune: Awakening

Duke Leto's survival could also provide Dune: Awakening the setup for a continued war between the Atreides, Harkonnen, and Fremen on Arrakis. New footage from Funcom's 15-minute Dune: Awakening Direct showcase showed some of this ongoing conflict, with players searching the wreckage of vehicles on the battlefield for scraps and resources, which they could later use to build bases across Arrakis. The aforementioned PC Gamer interview with Bylos also suggested that players could get a chance to align themselves with Leto depending on the choices they make, and who they opt to help up to that point, which also implies that players could forces with other factions instead.

However, this ongoing war suggests that there could be many other departures from Dune's story. It's unclear how exactly Leto survived. This could have been due to the Emperor not collaborating with the Harkonnens, or the Attack on Arrakis simply failing, resulting in House Atreides having an even larger presence on the planet by the time Dune: Awakening takes place.

Despite clearly being intended as a companion to the popular Dune movies, Dune: Awakening's "what if?" storytelling grants players the opportunity to embark upon an adventure across Arrakis that's familiar but also unique. While Funcom's intention to include more characters from the Dune stories in its game is a novel way to let players interact with and learn more about those who didn't survive long in the books or films - with Funcom stating that more characters will appear over time as the game continues to grow - it's yet to be seen how fans of the Dune books and movies will react to such drastic changes.

Source: PC Gamer