Editor’s Note: The below contains spoilers for’Dune: Part Two.'
TheDunefranchise is a sprawling one, as vast asthe sands of Arrakis— and just as deadly, if you don’t watch your footing.The series currently consists of 16 books, five written by originatorFrank Herbertand continued by his sonBrian HerbertandKevin J. Anderson. DirectorDenis Villeneuve’s two films,Dune: Part OneandDune: Part Two, only cover the first book, a magnum opus mosaic enough to warrant a split narrative. One of the 20th century’s most influential sci-fi novels,Duneis a parable about power: those who want it, and the horrors that unfold when the wrong people wield it. Rival families war with one another in a complex political battle that happens to involve space travel.How are all these people connected?
Dune: Part Two
Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family.
Who Are the Atreides in ‘Dune’?
Everything starts with planet Earth. Set thousands of years in the future when humanity has harnessed interstellar transit and conquered other planets, an Imperial government overseesDune’s advanced galaxy, led by an Emperor.Underneath the Emperor are the Great Houses, of which House Atreides is one. The Houses operate like a feudal system, with the House leader ruling over their designated planet or planets. The Atreides are stewards of Caladan and proudly trace their origins back to Ancient Greece.
WhenDune: Part Oneopens, the current House Atreides patriarch, Leto (Oscar Isaac), is the 20th Atreides duke. Although Leto never married, he fell in love with Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), a noblewoman raised bythe Bene Gesserit, a secretive Sisterhood who trained themselves to harness mystical powers. As part of their breeding program designed to manifest the Kwisatz Haderach, a being capable of shaping the universe,the Bene Gesserit ordered Jessica to bear Leto a daughter. Because she loved Leto, she disobeyed their commands, birthing Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet). Roughly eight months after House Harkonnen and the Emperor’s forcesstage a coup against the Atreides, successfully murdering Leto and exiling Jessica and Paul to Arrakis,Jessica gives birth to a daughter, Alia Atreides. Because Jessica participated in the spice agony ritual while she was pregnant with Alia, her infant daughter has abilities that rival even the most powerful of Bene Gesserits.
The Harkonnens and the Atreides Are Related
Little is known about Jessica’s mother,a fellow Bene Gesserit, beyond her name and assignment: Tanidia Nerus, and seducing Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), the saga’s main villain. Mixing the Atreides and Harkonnen bloodlines was key to the Bene Gesserit’s plans. The Baron doesn’t know he has an illegitimate daughter, let alone thatshe’s the Bene Gesserit concubineof his enemy —which makes Paul, House Atreides' new and venomously vengeful Duke, his grandson.
House Harkonnen and House Atreides have been sworn enemiespractically as long as both Houses have existed. If the Atreides operate from a place of honor, morality, and public service, then self-serving cruelty is required for anyone of Harkonnen blood (with some, but few, exceptions). The Harkonnens were originally a Minor House but accumulated influence through their cunning, ambition, and sheer brutality.The Baron has no legitimate children. His nephews, Glossu “Beast” Rabban (Dave Bautista) and Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), loyally obey his commands. The brothers were born to Vladimir’s half-brother, Abulard Rabban, who rejected the Harkonnen name and all it represented. The Baron makes Feyd-Rautha hisde factoheir, seeing himself in the vicious young man.
Who Is the Emperor in ‘Dune’?
The Baron, wanting to eliminate any threat to his power and eventually usurp Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV (Christopher Walken), allies with the Emperor to destroy the Atreides. By Imperial decree, House Atreides leaves Caladan and assumes control of thelucrative spice mining operation on Arrakis, which the Harkonnens previously controlled. Weakened by the move, the Baron’s best operatives and the Emperor’s army of lethal soldiers, the Sardaukar, launch an assault that leaves the Atreides in ruins.
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Of course, Paul, Jessica, and the unborn Alia survive. During their time withthe Fremen, Paul falls in love with Chani (Zendaya), the daughter of Arrakis' planetologist Liet Kynes (Sharon Duncan-Brewster), who dies inDune: Part One.When Paul overthrows Emperor Corrino, much like his father,he takes Chani as his concubine and has a marriage of convenience with the Emperor’s eldest daughter,Princess Irulan Corrino(Florence Pugh). The marriage is entirely strategic; Paul and Irulan are never intimate. Instead,Paul and Chani have twins, Leto II and Ghanimah.
Paul Atreides Causes the Downfall of House Corrino
Irulan — a secret Bene Gesserit — also bears no children. (In the novels, her nephew eventually becomes Ghanima Atreides’s concubine.) Even though Irulan is heir to the throne, Paul takes the title of Emperor while Irulan serves as Sovereign Co-regent. Emperor Corrino and his wife Anirul — also a member of the Bene Gesserit — had four other daughters, named Chalice, Rugi, Josifa, and Wensici.
As for the Emperor, Shaddam Corrino was originally a good man. He was even fond of Leto Atreides, holding his altruism in high esteem. However,he grew jealous of Leto’s popularity. Seeing Leto and his descendants as a threat, Shaddam and Baron Harkonnen orchestrated Leto’s death and the Atreides' destruction.This is the decision that destroys them. Paul Atreides isn’t a hero, but he achieves his goals: averting a complete apocalypse despite the millions of lives it will cost,claiming the title of Kwisatz Haderach, deposing Shaddam, avenging his father’s death, and ending House Corrino’s millennia-long rule. (CueTaylor Swift: “karma isthe guy on the sandworm.") AlthoughDune: Part Twoconcludes some characters' stories, Denis Villeneuve has plans for a third and final film,Dune: Messiah. For those who remain, their stories are far from over.
Dune: Part Twois in theaters in the U.S. starting March 1. Click below for showtimes.
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