{"id":46985,"date":"2024-03-01T16:00:18","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T15:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1995406"},"modified":"2024-03-01T18:02:40","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T17:02:40","slug":"dune-part-two-embraces-the-novels-dark-and-twisted-essence-and-is-the-better-for-it","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/dune-part-two-embraces-the-novels-dark-and-twisted-essence-and-is-the-better-for-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Dune: Part Two embraces the novel\u2019s dark and twisted essence and is the better for it"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Who will our next oppressors be?” <\/p>

By Lewis Knight\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 01 March 2024 at 15:00 PM<\/p>

\n\n

**Warning: contains spoilers for Dune: Part Two.**<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYou of all people should know by now, there\u2019s no such thing as sides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charlotte Rampling\u2019s imperious Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam delivers this cynical line to her gloating former pupil Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) at the climax of the epic and rather nihilistic Dune: Part Two<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Denis Villeneuve has certainly made his fair share of adaptational changes when approaching the landmark sci-fi novel Dune by Frank Herbert, but none that haven\u2019t furthered the messaging of the original text.<\/p>\n

Dune is, above all else, a cautionary tale about the power of messiahs, the dangers of organised religion, and the cult-like adoration of a single person.<\/p>\n

Herbert himself once noted in the introduction to his short-story collection Eye: \u201cDune was aimed at this whole idea of the infallible leader because my view of history says that mistakes made by a leader (or made in a leader\u2019s name) are amplified by the numbers who follow without question.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the novel and films, Paul Atreides (Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet) begins his journey as a somewhat daunted teen aware of his potential as the chosen one dubbed the Kwisatz Haderach by his mother\u2019s sisterhood, the Bene Gesserit; a male figure with all the prescient abilities of the sisterhood, achieved through generations of breeding plans.<\/p>\n

By the time of Dune: Part Two, Paul is all the more aware of his destiny and what his power could bring \u2013 a bloody holy war that will claim the lives of billions across the universe.<\/p>\n

\"Timothee\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet as Paul-Muad\u2019Dib Atreides in Dune: Part Two.<\/span><\/figcaption> Warner Bros Pictures<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

While initially trying to avoid such an outcome, Paul is pushed by his mother Lady Jessica to ascend to power, using prophecy, myth and propaganda \u2013 with even less internal conflict than her book counterpart and aided through the voice of her unborn child Alia Atreides<\/a> (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy).<\/p>\n

The decision to not depict Alia as a sentient toddler-like in the novel, as well as a wise tonal decision, also gives a larger role for Lady Jessica and brings the metamorphosis of Paul into starker focus, awarding the darker acts of violence to him too.<\/p>\n

It is Paul who embraces his dark destiny towards the end of the film and commits the violent murder of his grandfather Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd), the man who killed his father Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac).<\/p>\n

The ending of the novel Dune always feels rather hollow, even on re-reads, as it is supposed to. While Paul \u2013 the hero of the story \u2013 succeeds in defeating the Imperium and House Harkonnen, this happens so quickly and he is soon treating terms with Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV and even becoming engaged to his daughter, Princess Irulan.<\/p>\n