WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dune, now playing in theaters and on HBO Max.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049), Dune is the first part of a two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s landmark sci-fi novel of the same name. As a result, the film firmly ends halfway through the story, with the hero on the run after an attack against his family. Things are already in motion for him to gain new power and take the fight back against the enemies who tried to kill him.
Dune‘s ending sets up a sequel to cover the continuing adventures of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he tries to garner enough power to take back what his family has lost. It also pointedly leaves the fates of certain characters up in the air.
Dune covers the first half of the original sci-fi classic, with Paul’s family arriving on the world of Arrakis. Alongside his father Leto (Oscar Isaac) and mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), Paul has little time to formally adjust to his new home before everything is thrown into chaos. An attack by the House Harkonnen — quietly strategized alongside the galactic Emperor — leaves most of House Atreides’ forces devastated. While Paul and Jessica manage to escape, their defenses collapse. Ultimately, Leto is captured and brought before Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) and attempts to assassinate him with the gas given to him by Doctor Yueh (Chang Chen), but Harkonnen survives. He soon orders his nephew Glossu (Dave Bautista) to rally their forces and begin the extermination of the local Fremen people.
Paul and Jessica secretly survived the House Harkonnen’s attempts to leave them to die and are taken in by Doctor Liet-Kynes (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) — reuniting them with their ally Duncan Idaho (Jason Mamoa). Although Paul and Jessica use their allies to escape into the desert and reach the Fremen, both Liet-Kynes and Idaho are killed in the process. The film ends with Paul earning their place alongside Stilgar’s (Javier Bardem) people and venturing into the deserts of Arrakis, with plans already in motion to rally an army strong enough to justify forcing the Emperor to arrange a wedding between his daughter and Paul. This will allow Paul to protect the remnants of his family, give the Fremen a chance to grow as a culture and earn their vengeance against House Harkonnen.
Dune very much ends in the middle of Paul’s journey, with the true extent of his abilities not yet revealed but hinted at by visions caused by the psychedelic effects of the Spice on the world. However, Paul’s begun to better understand his visions of the future and recognizes Chani (Zendaya) from them, noting her importance. Although the stage is set for Paul’s journey to continue and for his crusade against House Harkonnen to take a new turn — especially as Glossu begins his purge of Fremen people as Paul tries to rally them — there are still a handful of wildcards in play. Notably, two high-ranking members of the Atreides forces were not confirmed to have suffered the inglorious fates of their allies: Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin) and Thufir Hawat (Stephen McKinley Henderson).
Gurney was one of Paul’s primary mentors, teaching him combat and serving by Leto’s side before the coup. Gurney was last seen engaging the Harkonnen forces in combat, and his fate is left ambiguous. Likewise, Thufir was an advisor to the family and was not seen actively targeted in the assault. Since the events of the original Dune are effectively only half told by this new film adaptation, their overall arcs aren’t fully finished yet but give the heroes the chance to potentially call upon them in the coming battles. Paul’s visions of the future may yet have a serious impact on the entire universe and tease that the galaxy-spanning events of Dune are just the beginning for Paul.
Dune is currently playing in theaters and streaming for a limited time on HBO Max.
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