Dune Ending Explained: Where Are Paul and Lady Jessica Going? What Do Paul’s Dreams Mean?

Here’s a breakdown of what happened in Dune The End and what it all means. The open ending clearly implies that there are more stories to come, and that’s exactly the case: Duna only adapts the first part of Frank Herbert’s seminal novel, and Warner Bros. and director Denis Villeneuve agreed on a plan to adapt the lengthy story. to two movies. Still, there are a number of questions audiences are sure to ask about the ending of Duna and where the characters and story go next.

Dune follows Paul Atreides from Timothée Chalamet, the son of the noble House Atreides, into a galaxy of the feudal system overseen by the Padishah Emperor Shadam IV. When the emperor of the known universe asks Paul’s family, led by Oscar Isaac’s Duke Leto, to take over the stewardship of the planet Arrakis (also known as Dune), Leto detects a trap, but can do nothing to stop it. However, when they arrive on the planet, they encounter a complicated dynamic.

The duke must work closely with the native people of Arrakis, the Fremen, to extract the mixture of spices, a coveted resource in Dune of the universe. The planet’s previous administrators, the Harkonnen, are the mortal enemies of House Atreides and their relationship with the Fremen was controversial. Although Duke Leto tries to fix this, it is too late and the Emperor and the Harkonnen forces attack Arrakis. Duke Leto and much of the rest of House Atreides perish in the conflict, sending Paul and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), to flee into the desert. There they must seek safety with the Fremen.

Dune Ending Explained

Director Denis Villeneuve concludes his adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel with a quieter moment than before. After being chased into the desert by the forces of Harkonnen and the Sardaukar, Jessica and Paul survive a sandworm attack only to encounter a group of seemingly hostile Fremen. While much of Duna spent time featuring various factions at play in the film world, Villeneuve’s film barely scratched the surface when it came to exploring the indigenous peoples of Arrakis. Still, enough groundwork had been laid with characters like Liet Kynes and Stilgar, so it was an obvious choice to finish before Paul and Jessica headed to the Sietch of the Fremen.

As for the ending itself, Paul and Jessica are desperate for help to survive in the bleak desert. Fremen know better than anyone how to survive in the landscape, but not all immediately welcome outsiders. Jamis from Babs Olusanmokun is one of those hesitant to welcome Paul and Jessica to the Sietch and offers to fight Paul in hopes of preventing them from coming. Paul and Jamis fight and the young Atreides hesitates to kill the Fremen; as Jessica points out, he had never killed anyone before. In this case, however, it is life or death and Paul chooses life, ultimately defeating Jamis and earning the respect of the Fremen who watched the duel.

How Dune’s Ending Fits Into The Narrative

By earning the respect of the Fremen, Paul and Lady Jessica are welcomed to the Sietch. This causes Paul to become their young messianic leader in the future, one they will follow on a galaxy-wide crusade. He also earns him the respect of Chani, his future lover and mother of his children. However, the most important thing is that it prepares you for what is to come.

Ultimately, the story of the Dune novel is a twofold story, in part about coming of age in which Paul becomes a leader and in part it is a critique of the hero’s journey. Paul, by making the difficult decision to kill someone, not only shows that he can be a pragmatic leader when it comes to protecting loved ones, like his mother, but it also indicates a sign of maturity. At the beginning of the film, in a conversation with his father, Oscar Isaac’s Duke Leto, Paul expresses his discomfort at becoming the leader of House Atreides. However, by the end of the film, Paul is clearly ready to be a leader, embracing Duncan Idaho from Jason Momoa when he calls Paul ‘. My lord duke, «And also taking care of the only person in her family who is still alive, Lady Jessica.

However, Jamis’ death at the hands of Paul is also a sinister harbinger of Paul’s future. The duel was largely out of Paul’s control and he was forced to take a position where he had to kill someone. This reflects his journey as the Kwisatz Haderach, the prophesied messiah of the Bene Gesserit. Certain decisions Paul is forced to make will lead to the crusade mentioned in his name later on, resulting in the deaths of billions throughout the universe. Jamis’s death is the first of many.

Where are Paul and Lady Jessica Going?

After Paul’s fight with Jamis, the Fremen group takes him and his mother further into the desert. They are likely heading to Sietch Tabr, one of the largest Fremen strongholds in the inhospitable desert and where much of Dune 2’s history will take place. The inhospitable conditions of the desert make the environment dangerous for anyone unfamiliar with it. Staying at the Sietch will not only give Paul and Lady Jessica safe from sandworms, but it will also protect them from other enemies, including House Harkonnen.

What Do Paul’s Dreams Mean?

Much of the film’s marketing relied heavily on the dreams and premonitions of Dune Paul Atreides, but most of what he sees has yet to materialize in the film. While he meets Chani and Jamis in the final scene of the film, much of what is shown in his dreams is actually still a while away from happening. Paul’s encounter with the Fremen is also crucial to the realization of these dreams. The young Atreides is destined to become a messianic leader for the indigenous peoples of Arrakis, inspiring their bloody crusade.

This crusade is hinted at in two fundamental dreams. One is when Paul and a group of soldiers carry out an attack in the desert. Paul can be seen in golden armor as he and other soldiers emerge from under the sand, a known Fremen guerilla fighting technique. Another shows Paul, Chani and some of their followers watching from a boat at the soldiers in Caladan. They are waving Atreides banners and cheering for their leader. The rest of Paul’s dreams simply hint at the importance of Chani in his story and how their relationship will be pivotal in the future.

What’s Next for Arrakis?

With the Atreides’ dominance over Arrakis now diminished, the Harkonnen will now return to rule the desert planet. The malevolent plan underlying the Dune 2021 movie was actually about reinstating the Harkonnen and eliminating the Atreides. The emperor was threatened by the popularity of Duke Leto within the Landsraad, the political body that represents all the Great Houses. The political move to put the Atreides in charge of Arrakis was a two-pronged effort, one that would eliminate a threat to the emperor’s rule while gaining favor with the brutal and powerful House Harkonnen.

Dune is only half the story and that’s ultimately for the best. Herbert’s novel is dense and complex, and it establishes a world that is completely unknown. Much of Villeneuve’s film accomplishes this, but hardly touches the complexity of Fremen people. Dune 2 will rectify that. As Paul and Lady Jessica become even more entrenched with the Fremen, they will earn their support, as Paul did on Dune Termina during his duel with Jamis.

By gaining their support, Paul will be able to rally the Fremen against the Harkonnen, and while he has his own motivations for doing this, so do the people of Arrakis. Before the arrival of the Atreides on the planet, the Harkonnen were brutal overseers of the spice trade, inciting the fury of the Fremen. Paul will capitalize on that for his own benefits, leading to his messianic role as Muad’Dib and preparing much of what follows for the people of Arrakis.

The True Meaning Of The Dune Ending

With the Dune adaptation split into two parts, it really only explores the novel’s themes halfway. Paul sets out on a typical hero’s journey in the first part of Herbert’s novel and that’s intentional. Herbert plays with this archetype only to deconstruct it in the second half of Dune and the rest of the series. Villeneuve seems to be on a similar path. While Paul stands out as the leader in Dune In The End, he is also forced to kill someone. This not only paints a picture of the kinds of tough decisions leaders have to make in this brutal world, it also drives home the point that Paul’s ” hero ‘s journey ” isn’t necessarily a heroic story at all.

Paul’s leadership will result in the death of billions, but it will first begin as a mission of revenge against those who harmed his family: the Harkonnen and the emperor. Dune The ending is not happy nor is it meant to be. Paul has taken his mother to safety, but he has also set events in motion that he cannot stop. It also establishes the underlying message that those with great power can never be heroes, as brutal, sometimes ruthless decisions will always have to be made by anyone with that much power or influence. This drives home Herbet’s idea that there are no true heroes, only those who see themselves as the heroes of their own stories.