Dune: Part Two ending explained – What happened to Paul and Chani?

The second instalment in the sci-fi epic perfectly tees up an as-yet-unconfirmed third instalment.

By Patrick Cremona

Published: Friday, 01 March 2024 at 06:00 AM

The second entry in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation has finally arrived on the big screen more than two years after the first was simultaneously released in both cinemas and on streaming.

With the film having already been delayed by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes last year, it’s safe to say there’s been a huge amount of hype around the release and thankfully it’s proved to be very much worth the wait.

The film sees Timothée Chalamet return as main character Paul Atreidis and follows his journey as he gradually becomes the leader of the Fremen tribe he joined at the end of the last film – all while starting a love affair with Zendaya’s Chani and facing a new threat in the form of Austin Butler’s evil Feyd-Rautha.

A third instalment in the sci-fi epic has not yet been officially confirmed, but a quick look at critic reviews and box office projections for the newly released Dune: Part Two makes it seem all but a certainty.

And with Villeneuve having been very public about his desire to adapt Frank Herbert’s follow-up novel Dune: Messiah as the next part of his series, it begs the question of how events at the end of the new film set up this surely inevitable third chapter.

If you need a little help making sense of the final scenes, you can read on to have the Dune: Part Two ending explained – but be warned: full spoilers follow.

Dune: Part Two ending explained

With Paul having learned the Fremen ways and been accepted as their new leader, things come to a head when the Emperor (Christopher Walken) arrives on Arrakis flanked by Sardaukar troops in a desperate bid to halt the planned rebellion.

The Emperor confronts Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) in the capital city of Arrakeen for failing to control the situation on the desert planet, but this encounter is interrupted when Paul and the Fremen arrive on the scene riding sandworms, overpowering the Emperor’s forces and violently breaching the city’s defences.

Paul then dramatically slays the Baron and demands that the Emperor relinquish control of the Imperial throne to him, threatening to destroy Arrakis’s vital spice resources if he does not comply and suggesting that he takes the hand of Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) in marriage to seal the deal.

At this point, Feyd-Rautha sniffs a shot at glory and challenges Paul to a dual in the name of the Emperor, but Paul is victorious and thus claims the throne to Arrakis, with the Emperor reluctantly yielding his power and Irulan accepting his marriage proposal.

In other words, Paul has succeeded in his aim of becoming the Emperor of the Known Universe.

What happened to Paul and Chani in Dune: Part Two?

Timothee Chalamet as Paul Atreides has his face held by Zendaya as Chani on the sand dunes of Dune: Part Two.
Timothee Chalamet as Paul Atreides has his face held by Zendaya as Chani in Dune: Part Two.
Warner Bros/Niko Tavernise

Although Paul has been victorious, it very much comes at a cost. The other Great Houses refuse to accept him as their leader and so Paul instructs his Fremen troops to “lead them to paradise” – in other words starting a holy war between the Fremen and the Great Houses.

In his visions throughout the two films, Paul has seen glimpses of this holy war and the trail of devastation it will leave across the galaxy, and so his decision to order his troops regardless of the fate he knows will await them clearly emphasises his transition into a dangerous despot.

And that’s not the only thing Paul has to worry about. Having sworn to love Chani eternally, she is furious about his marriage to Irulan and his decision to embark on a dangerous battle for power, and is shown angrily mounting a sandworm to leave Arrakeen.

This sets up a future conflict that will clearly play a huge part in the next film… let’s just hope we don’t have too long to wait!

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