Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Dune.
2021’s ending of 2021’s Dune only concludes the first half of the complete story, which naturally leads to cliffhangers and questions that will find resolution in the second half – provided that Villeneuve’s plan for a Dune sequel pushes through.
Unlike David Lynch's famously flawed attempt to adapt Dune, Villeneuve's version ends soon after Paul and Jessica encounter the Fremen. After narrowly escaping Harkonnen and Sardaukar forces following an imperial plot, the pair are adopted by the sietch of Fremen ruler Stilgar. After Paul defeats and kills an agitated member of the group known as Jamis, both he and Jessica are accepted into the tribe. This prompts Chani, played by Zendaya, to remark that this is "only the beginning" of their journey into the deserts of Arrakis.
The inherent constraints of adapting a dense piece of literature for film greatly limits the context behind certain moments or events in the story. This further contributes to Dune’s unanswered questions and unresolved mysteries. There’s simply no time for the film to expound on everything that’s in the book, which can leave some viewers confused about certain characters or events – especially if they’re newcomers to the franchise and aren’t well-versed in general Dune lore and terminology. Dune 2021’s biggest unanswered questions are a combination of missing Dune lore and omitted details, conversations, and events from the book. However, the Dune reboot is generally faithful to the source material. And this means that the books can potentially provide the answers to many of the questions that the movie leaves hanging.
How Did The Bene Gesserit Lay A Path For Paul And Jessica In Arrakis?
In Frank Herbert’s Dune, The Lady Jessica was instructed by the Bene Gesserit to bear a daughter to Duke Leto as part of the order’s centuries-long breeding program to bring about the Kwisatz Haderach, a male super-mind whose prescience isn’t limited by female genetic memory like the of the sisterhood. However, when Jessica defies Bene Gesserit orders and gives birth to Paul, the Kwisatz Haderach is born a generation too early. This is why Dune’s Paul Atreides has dreams and visions about the future and the past, and why he was tested by the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam with the gom jabbar.
After the test, Mohiam tells Jessica that the Bene Gesserit has done what they can to lay out a path for Paul in Arrakis. This is a reference to the Missionaria Protectiva, an arm of the Bene Gesserit that sows superstition, mysticism, and prophecies on specific planets in order to aid the sisters in their political machinations. Although the term Missionaria Protectica is never spoken in the Dune reboot, their work is the reason why many the Fremen and other people from the planet of Arrakis see Paul as a messiah, which is part of the Bene Gesserit’s plan for the ascension of the Kwisatz Haderach.
Are Weaponmaster Gurney Halleck And Duke Leto’s Advisor Thufir Hawat Still Alive?
After House Harkonnen attacks House Atreides, the movie doesn’t show what happens to both Gurney Halleck and Thufir Hawat. In the books, the former Atreides Weaponmaster Gurney escapes the attack, but also gets disillusioned by how House Atreides was so easily defeated, leading Gurney to become a smuggler. After getting caught by the Fremen, Gurney res Paul and declares his allegiance to the young Duke. Meanwhile, Hawat gets recruited as an advisor to the Baron Harkonnen after the poison gas from the Duke’s tooth kills the Baron’s former advisor Piter De Vries. Notably, Gurney’s disillusionment also stems from a suspicion that Lady Jessica works for the Harkonnens, and Hawat also accuses Jessica of treason even before House Harkonnen’s plot was revealed. However, since both Gurney and Hawat didn’t die onscreen, they could still return in the sequels, and potentially cause problems for Jessica.
Why Did The Padishah Emperor Betray House Atreides To The Harkonnens?
As it was the Padishah Emperor who commanded the Atreides to become the stewards of Arrakis, the Emperor was instrumental in setting up the Harkonnen trap. However, the Emperor is never shown in the movie, and there’s also no clear explanation for why he allowed the Harkonnens to exterminate an entire noble house, and even allowed his own elite Sardaukar to participate in the massacre. In the books, it’s revealed that the Emperor Shaddam IV of House Corrino has no male heirs, which means that both the noble houses of Atreides and Harkonnen threaten to undermine the over 10,000-year reign of House Corrino. However, Dune’s Padishah Emperor sees the Atreides as a greater threat to their hold on power than the Harkonnens. Moreover, the Harkonnens not only have the money, but also the cunning to conspire with the Emperor against the mutual threat of the Atreides. The role of the Emperor in Arrakis could be further explored in the sequel, which will tackle the second half of the book.
How Exactly Do The Fremen Ride The Sandworms?
The true masters of Arrakis are the giant sandworms that roam the deep desert, known to the Fremen as Shai-Hulud. Dune’s trailer briefly shows a Fremen riding a sandworm, and in the film, the Fremen Jamis appears to Paul in a vision while holding maker hooks, which the Fremen use to ride Shai-Hulud’s back. However, the movie never actually shows how the Fremen do this, only offering clues about how it’s accomplished. In the books, the Fremen coax a sandworm out of the dunes by using a thumper, the repetitive rhythm of which is irresistible to Shai-Hulud. After strategically placing one or more thumpers, the Fremen move with the sandworm’s flow and use ropes and maker hooks to get on its back. The maker hooks can also be used to pull the sandworm towards the direction in which the rider wants to travel. While the first Dune movie only teased at sandworm riding, the sequel is likely to reveal the entire process from Paul’s perspective.
What Does A Fremen Sietch Look Like?
Duncan Idaho, after making first with the Fremen, tells Duke Leto of how the Fremen live in large underground cave dwellings or sietches inhabited by thousands, and that there are many of these sietches hidden in the deep desert. Later, a group of Fremen led by Stilgar agrees to take Paul and Jessica to their sietch, which is when the movie ends. Dune: Part Two, as it will be based on the second half of the book, is likely to reveal not only what a sietch looks like, but how it functions. In the books, a Fremen sietch is basically a large underground city, the entrances of which are protected by moisture seals. Inside, the Fremen develop various water-preserving technologies, perform mystical rituals, and consume the spice as part of their regular diet.
Is Imperial Planetologist Dr. Liet Kynes Chani’s Mother?
Dr. Liet Kynes assists the Atreides in the stewardship of Arrakis and helps them escape the Harkonnens before she in the desert. In the books, Liet-Kynes, who is originally male, is later revealed to be the father of the Fremen Chani. This is why those familiar with the source material are wondering whether or not Dr. Liet Kynes is Chani’s mother in the movie. And if the answer is yes, it could have larger implications down the line, not just for the character of Liet Kynes, but for Chani and Paul’s prescient children. In Dune, prescience can be determined by male and female lineage, as shown by how Bene Gesserit sisters can access only female ancestral memories. If Dr. Liet Kynes is the grandmother of Paul and Chani’s children, their prescience could include a direct line to Kynes’ knowledge of the Fremen, the ecology of Arrakis, and even Imperial activities in the desert. As Frank Herbert’s third book Children of Dune, which focuses on Paul and Chani’s children, isn’t part of the reboot, this is unlikely to be explored in any sequels.
Is Dune 2021 The Last We’ll See Of Duncan Idaho?
In Dune, the Atreides warrior Duncan Idaho dies at the hands of Sardaukar soldiers, which allows Paul and Jessica to escape. However, it’s likely that Duncan will return for Villeneuve’s third Dune movie, as it will be based on the second book Dune: Messiah. In this book, Duncan is reborn as a ghola, and is then gifted to Paul by the Bene Tleilax, an isolationist order of genetically enhanced humans. In fact, Duncan’s death in the movie is just one of the many deaths that the character suffers throughout the succeeding books, wherein Duncan repeatedly dies and gets reborn as a ghola again and again.
Why Does Paul Keep Seeing Dune’s Desert Mouse?
Paul first sees the desert mouse in the hologram he was viewing before he caught the hunter-seeker that almost killed him. Paul sees the mouse again when he emerges from the stilltent which he and Jessica use to hide in the desert. The mouse is shown as a resilient desert creature, whose movement cannot be detected by sandworms, and whose ears can even gather moisture from the desert air. In the books, the Fremen of Dune call this creature muad’dib. Moreover, Paul is referred to as Muad’Dib in the retrospective excerpts that open chapters in the first book. This is because Paul takes this name when the Fremen finally accept him as one of their own, as the muad’dib of the desert represents resilience and wisdom.
Why Does Paul Have A Vision Of A War Being Fought In His Name?
Paul’s visions of an war being fought in his name exhibit the extent of his emerging prescience in the movie. In Frank Herbert’s Dune, Paul’s visions of war come to fruition at the end of the first book. After Paul becomes the Emperor and rules from Arrakis, the Fremen and other zealots launch an intergalactic war to conquer worlds in Paul’s name, which Paul is powerless to stop. As Paul Atreides’ powers of prescience develop further, it becomes clearer that the path he walks as Arrakis’ messiah will lead to war and genocide. However, as straying from this path usually means Paul or Jessica dying, Paul pushes through, aiming to use his prescience to at least minimize the collateral damage. Paul’s terrible visions of war aren’t just a foreshadowing of things to come, they’re also meant to show the delicate balances of leadership, the dialectical nature of historical events, and the burdens of being Dune’s messiah.
