Dune 2 ending explained

Part Two’s ending turns Paul Atreides into the most powerful and dangerous “Mahdi” in the universe. Here’s the Dune 2 ending explained.

In Dune 1, House Atreides was given the fiefdom of Arrakis, a giant sand planet home to the most precious substance in the universe, Spice: a hallucinogenic, addictive resource that extends life and makes interstellar travel possible. It was a malicious ploy by the Emperor (Christopher Walker) to exterminate the family, assisted by their generational rivals the Harkonnens, led by the Baron (Stellan Skarsgård).

Dune Part Two picks up shortly after, with Arrakis returned to House Harkonnen and Rabban (Dave Bautista) trying to restart the planet’s spice distribution. Meanwhile, Paul (Timothée Chalamet) endeavors to become one with the desert-dwelling Fremen. Chani (Zendaya) doesn’t believe in the Lisan Al’Gaib — nor does he — but when Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) becomes their Reverend Mother, she fans the flames of the prophecy.

There’s a lot to take in with Dune 2, so here’s its ending explained. And as for Dune 3, “You are not prepared for what is to come.”

Dune 2 ending explained

Dune 2 ends with Paul becoming the new Emperor and taking Princess Irulan as his wife. The other great houses refute his ascension, which begins the “holy war.”

Paul’s story is about temptation; he’s told he’s not just Fremen’s messiah, destined to deliver them from liberation to paradise, but the Bene Gesserit’s Kwisatz Haderach: an all-seeing superbeing who could fortify the Sisterhood’s grip across the universe.

Initially, he says he doesn’t want to lead. He wants to join the Fremen, fight among them, and be with Chani. But he’s also motivated to get revenge for the invasion of Arrakis, and above all else, his father’s death.

Things go haywire when Paul, Chani, and the Fremen ride sandworms to the south of Arrakis, a once-thought-uninhabitable region occupied by fundamentalists. He chooses to drink the Water of Life, the Shai Halud’s bright blue poison derived from worm bile. His survival (it’s generally fatal for men) confirms him to be the Kwisatz Haderach.

His past vision of scorched land and starving people (and Jessica strolling angelically around them) gives way to a different future. He sees someone in a stillsuit climbing a dune, before approaching an ocean. It’s revealed to be Alia (Anya Taylor-Joy), Paul’s unborn sister, who warns him he’s “not prepared for what is to come… it will hurt you to your core.”

Paul becomes the Lisan Al’Gaib

Elsewhere, amid constant attacks and a lack of spice being shipped, the Baron tasks his nephew Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) — the Bene Gesserit’s new pet project, and the father of Margot Fenring’s (Lea Séydoux) — with cleaning up Arrakis. They blow Sietch Tabr to kingdom come, believing they killed or scared off the “Muad’Dib” (the Fremen name Paul chooses, inspired by the cute desert mice).

How wrong they are. Paul, who’s since reunited with Guerney (Josh Brolin), professes himself to be the Lisan Al’Gaib. “I am the voice of the outer world, I will lead you into paradise,” he tells the Fremen, who rally behind him.

One small thing: the Water of Life leads Paul to a jaw-dropping discovery… Jessica is the Baron’s daughter, making him the grandson of the Harkonnen leader. “That’s how we’ll survive… being Harkonnens,” he tells his mother.

Paul kills the Baron

The Emperor and his daughter soon arrive on Arrakis to confront the Baron over his failure to quell the Fremen threat. This allows Paul to strike. He wields the Atreides’ secret atomics to blast the area around the Emperor’s ship. This signals the Fremen’s army into battle, riding in on sandworms and easily overpowering enemy forces.

Paul then assassinates the Baron, whispering “grandfather” as he sticks a knife into his throat. He orders the Emperor to kill Sardaukar and “give the Baron to the desert.”

The Emperor goes against Paul, Guerney, Chani, and the Fremen. He warns him that a “grave invasion” is coming, with the other great houses set to arrive on Arrakis. Paul is relaxed, telling the Emperor that the other houses wouldn’t be pleased to learn that he ordered the Atreides cull. He even threatens to “obliterate the spice fields” if another army sets foot on the planet.

“Consider what you are about to do, Paul Atreides,” Gaius Helen Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling) tells him. Before she can say anything else, he uses ‘the voice’. “Silence,” he shouts, and as she stumbles back, she mutters “abomination” under her breath (we’ve explained why she calls Paul an abomination here).

Paul fights Feyd-Rautha and becomes the Emperor

Warner Bros.

Paul makes the Emperor an offer: he’ll rule over the universe as its new Emperor, with Irulan (Florence Pugh) as his wife. “But you have to answer for my father,” he tells him. “He was a man who believed in the rules of the heart… but the heart isn’t meant to rule,” the Emperor explains.

Paul’s challenge to the throne can only be won by a fight to the death. The Emperor chooses Feyd-Rautha as his champion, while Paul decides to put himself forward instead of choosing a champion. Guerney urges him not to sully himself with such an “animal,” but Paul says it’s his “burden.” When Guerney asks Stilgar (Javier Bardem) why he takes so many risks, he replies: “Muad’Dib leads the way.”

Before they duel, Paul reveals to Feyd that they’re cousins, but he couldn’t care less. “May thy knife chip and shatter,” they both say, before duking it out in a brutal knife fight. Paul doesn’t emerge unscathed, but he’s ultimately victorious, after pulling Feyd close enough to stab him in the stomach. “You fought well, Atreides,” he says, before slumping to the ground.

As Feyd lies dead on the ground, Jessica communicates telepathically with Helen. “You picked the wrong side,” she says. Helen responds: “You of all people should know there are no sides, Reverend Mother.”

An unhinged Paul paves the way for Dune 3

Before Paul can kill the Emperor, Irulan pleads with him to spare his life. “I’ll be your willing bride, the throne will be yours,” she promises. As everyone else in the room bows to Paul, only he, the princess, and Chani remain standing. Knowing he’s chosen a warpath, Chani walks out and finds a sandworm to ride back north.

Meanwhile, Guerney tells Paul that the great houses won’t permit his ascendancy. “What is happening, mother?” Alia (still unborn, but now speaking aloud for the audience) asks. “The holy war begins,” she says, as Paul summons the forces of Arrakis to go up against the universe.

At the end of Dune 2, Paul is a frightening figure armed with unimaginable powers and the faith of his Fremen followers. The holy war he was warned about is the next stop in this story. For more, read our Dune 2 review, find out about the Atreides and Harkonnen family tree, or check out the Dune 2 gaming crossovers.

Alternatively, see what other new movies are coming soon.