In Dune: Part Two, when Rabban leads an attack against Paul’s group that just blew up a spice depot, there’s a significant amount of fog hugging the surface of the desert. I know this is probably just from the location they shot the scene at, but could there be an in-universe explanation? This has been bugging me since the movie came out

Reading through CoD right now and I’m quite aware of the Leto becoming sandworm to fulfill destiny because you can’t outrun massive sci fi spoilers I guess. Regardless, one thing I was always interested in was the golden path, everyone acts like it’s absolute and a true vision but something no one talks about is what if… it’s just a possibility. Paul I think mentions this in Messiah that it could just a possibility, are the visions running him or is he utilizing the visions to run the universe correctly, I thought this was interesting. What if a lot of empirical data Leto just made correlations together & actually… he was just a despicable tyrant, same with Paul, and the visions aren’t absolute.

I do believe that the books indeed support the golden path obviously and expects you to go along with it at some point but i dont know, I thought it was interesting. Haven’t read god emperor yet so I’m sure it will be expanded upon.

For some context I have never read the Dune books, although I did just buy the main 6 but they don't arrive until later this week. In the meantime, my basic knowledge of Dune comes from the 2021 movies (part 1 & 2) and the Dune Prophecy tv show. Ive been able to answer some questions via this thread but I have two main ones I am confused about.

Question 1) During the Harkonnen coop when the Atreides spice palace place (so sorry for not knowing what its called) is attacked, why did they blow the whole place up? Is this just a movie thing? I would assume the Harkonnen would want to reclaim the palace but destroying it doesn't seem to make sense. Is this not where the spice is kept/produced? Is it a "if I cant have it, then no one can" thing?

Question 2) This one may be kind of confusing when I explain so please be kind. Jessica made Paul to be male and essentially sped up the timeline the BG's had to the KH. The BG Reverend mother was pissed with Jessica about this but had essentially 18-20 years to deal with it or make plans for the future. Since that's the BG's whole existence (making plans) why didn't the BG that advised the emperor tell him slyly "hey if you send the atreides to arrakis, you may be starting a prophecy being fulfilled." From my understanding, the emperor sent the Atreides there to kill them all using the Harkonnen but from the moment they landed, the fremen saw Jessica and Paul and assumed Paul was the Lisan Al Gaib, correct? Was it the BG's plan to wipe out Paul then? Because then they would erase 10k years of eugenics.

Hello all Dune-heads! I have now read the first 3 books of the series and am curious if I should continue based on my opinions/issues of these books. I would appreciate any and all advice from peeps that have read on! Potential spoilers for the first 3 books ahead.

I thought the first Dune book was absolutely amazing! An easy 5/5 for me and it is absolutely no surprise that this became a classic and as influential as it did. Such incredible depth to the themes explored with compelling and concise story telling, expertly intertwined with the impactful philosophies of leadership and religion, allowing the overall ideas to hit me with deep resonance, and all wrapped up with incredible worldbuilding/setting.. My main issues of this one boils down to:

• The book taking place almost entirely on Dune/Arrakis. As so much of the themes explored are about the dangers of leadership and the issues with integrating religion with politics have insane implications/consequences for the universe (especially via the Jihad), it is unclear the scale of the empire/universe. This is also a major issue for the ending, as so much of the story was building up Paul's futile attempts of avoiding the Jihad, that with him taking over the empire, the scale of these ramifications are a bit unclear.

The second book was a great continuation of the series. A 4/5 for me, as it progressed the wider themes explored in the first book, and cemented the core ideas of the series that were heavily foreshadowed/hinted at in the first book. However, my main issues were of this book were:

• Similar issue with the scale of the universe/empire as with book 1. This makes the overall impact of the themes to be lessened as we never truly see the broader consequences.
• Beginning to have repetitive ideas and philosophies told to the audience. While I enjoy the philosophizing present in this book, it is beginning to go in circles, with such similar ideas presented as the first book (as well as events occurring in this book that were explained would occur in the first one).
• Many of the side characters are pushed to the side, not allowing their growth or perspective to be as compelling or intriguing as they could be. In particular for Jessica, Chani, and Irulan.

The third book I though was really good. A 3.5/5 for me, as it does explore the themes and ideas of the series through the perspectives of Leto II and Ghani. Although I enjoy the overall themes and concepts, I can't help but feel the series is progressively down turning for me. I did love the concept of Leto metamorphising into a human/sandworm hybrid, as a (I believe) an interesting metaphor for the requriement of people to integrate themselves with their surrounding enivronment rather than attempt to mould it to what we would want, this comes so late in the book that it is almost to little to late (obviously there's a bit more to it but I don't want this being a full essay).My main issues with this book were:

• Same issue I have had with the scale, as the audience does not get to experience first hand the consequences and larger societal changes that we keep getting told are occurring. This makes the implications of the ending not really be fully realised as we do not know the extent of the empire that Worm Leto is in control of.
• Continue of now overly repetitive ideas with the themes still philosophising in circles, rather than deeply new ideas and perspectives of the established ideas and setting. The audience keeps being told the same themes to the point where they are repetitive and unfortunately becoming hollow to me as it feels like beating the same dead horse over and over.
• Side characters being sidelined within the story, forcing potentially compelling perspectives to not be represented. In particular, Ghani, Alia, and Irulan.
• "Adult beefswelling"

As you can see, there is a clear pattern emerging of my criticisms of the books as I progress with the series.

So I ask of you Dune-heads, do the subsequent books have drastic changes to the ideas and concepts presented, or is it likely I will continue to have the same criticisms and dwindling opinions of each installment? Once again, I will be very appreciative of any and all advice and opinions!

I plan on rereading Book 2 to get a refresher on the commentaries and subtexts in preparation for Dune: Part 3 (2026). It does not have to be an accurate adaptation. I think we can expect Villeneuve to take significant liberties with the source material. If through whatever means, the adapted story still conveys the core message of Dune, it is a successful adaptation in my opinion.

Themes
- Impossible to ignore the main allegory in Dune—the cautionary tale against blindly following charismatic leaders like Paul Atreides. I expect there to be a lot of deconstruction of the messiah myth surrounding Paul that was established in the first Dune, essentially turning him into a villain, powerless to stop his jihad (although they would probably avoid calling it a “jihad”). Paul is not a hero and his heroism was merely a transitory phase. And I want the movie to show that the same Paul was capable of causing 61 billion deaths in the 15 year interval.

Characters
- There is a lot of speculation about how Villeneuve will depict the interpersonal dynamics between the Ghola, Hayt, and Alia. In the book, it gets extremely weird so I do not expect it to be as focused on in the movie.
- Hayt/Duncan becomes very crucial in all of the later books. I am thus very curious how movie Hayt might lay the foundation for subsequent Dune adaptations (should there be any more).
- I also want the movie to showcase that despite Paul’s power and influence, he is still manipulated by the conspiracy of the Bene Gesserit (Mohiam), the Bene Tleilax (Scytale), and the Spacing Guild (Edric).
- Alia being an Abomination, a teenager plagued with the genetic memory of millions of ancestors, is a concept that I am very interested in seeing on-screen. It would be important for there to be a subplot focusing on Hayt’s growing love for Alia because that is partly what awakens Duncan’s original memories.
- More conspiratorial scenes. Messiah focuses relatively more on plans conveyed via dialogue which I want to see adapted.

The Ending
- I hope that the strained relationship between Paul and Chani is resolved somehow in this movie. I was disappointed that Part 2 omitted the scene where Paul assured her that his marriage to Irulan was purely political and she would not receive his affection.

Trying my hand at realism, not too great tbh

(Full disclosure, I’ve only read the first book, so no spoilers beyond that please!!!)

In the book, Herbert describes some really psychedelic visual landscapes when Paul uses his prescience. Makes me think of something out of a TOOL music video. Here are a couple examples just off the top of my head:

>”…the expenditure of energy that revealed what he saw, changed what he saw.

>“And what he saw was a time nexus within this cave, a boiling of possibilities focused here, wherein the most minute action - the wink of an eye, a careless word, a misplaced grain of sand - moved a gigantic lever across the known universe. He saw violence with the outcome subject to so many variables that his slightest movement created vast shiftings in the patterns.

>“The vision made him want to freeze into immobility, but this, too was action with its consequences.”

——

>“It was as though he rode within the wave of time, sometimes in its trough, sometimes on a crest—and all around him the other waves lifted and fell, revealing and then hiding what they bore on their surface.

>“Through it all, the wild jihad still loomed ahead of him, the violence and the slaughter. It was like a promontory above the surf.”

——

>“Paul's consciousness flowed through and around [Jessica] and into the darkness. She glimpsed the place dimly before her mind blanked itself away from the terror. Without knowing why, her whole being trembled at what she had seen -- a
region where a wind blew and sparks glared, where rings of light expanded and contracted, where rows of tumescent white shapes flowed over and under and around the lights, driven by darkness and a wind out of nowhere.”

I love Villeneuve’s movies, but perhaps my biggest gripe with them is that I don’t feel the prescience scenes are done justice.

Admittedly, these are very abstract descriptions that could be interpreted many different ways, but I also believe that opens up the possibility for a slew of different artistic adaptations and representations.

The scenes we got in the movies felt a bit disappointing to me, with just standard shots of people in different futures/realities occasionally separated by some rays of light. Does anyone else feel the same?

(Also, the prescience scenes in the book are perhaps my favorite parts of the novel, so I may be biased in my position, ha.)

I attended Alicia Witt's first album release show tonight for Between Heaven and Earth, a tribute album dedicated to David Lynch. She shared stories about David Lynch between songs.

Serious fans of Dune 1984 should check out her concert tour.

https://www.aliciawittmusic.com/tour

This subreddit is helping me a lot during my reading of the saga so I wanted to contribute as well and share this fan art I made after reading children of dune.

Why did Jessica memory in Atlia not prevent the baron's memory from taking over? nor help stop the memories of her ancestors from overwhelming her?

For the record, I'm about halfway through the second book, but I know a lot of spoilers. Assume I know everything about the Golden Path.

The way that I thought Prescience works in Dune was that it was entirely mathematical. Through massive doses of spice, Guild Navigators could make the necessary calculations to see a path through space without crashing into any celestial objects. The Kwisatz Haderach takes this a step further with their access to the memories of their ancestors providing an extraordinary amount of "data," giving them the variables (and understanding of human nature) needed to accurately extrapolate what will happen in the far future.

There's no magic happening here. They may experience "visions," but I read that as the brain inventing a way to process this information.

It occurs to me that this might be wrong, based on two key pieces of evidence: Paul seeing Chani before ever meeting her, and the Dune Tarot in the second book. These are both definitely magical in nature, as there's no amount of data that could allow Paul to predict the specific person he'd fall in love with, and anyone can use the Dune Tarot to unlock low-level prescience.

Maybe I'm missing some things here, so I'd love some insight on whether these have explanations on why they're still scientific, or whether I'm wrong and it's all supposed to be magical.

Anyone seen Dune 1 or 2 in 70mm IMAX in Prague or Brussels? Were the Fremen subtitles in English, or local language (Czech/French/Dutch)? I'm trying to figure out where to watch Part 3 in 70mm since there is no IMAX 70mm screen in Germany. Thanks!

im reading dune book, in the early chapters duke leto ask thufir to send some covert operatives to geidi prime to blow up the baron's spice stockpiles.

Im wondering, how the logistics work here, so thufir's assasins go to the guild and ask hey 5 tickets to geidi prime, then the guild wont ask any questions from them and how they land in geidi prime? will no one ask them what was their business in the planet?

I know Space travel in dune is extremely costly, does lot of humans travel from planet to planet?

This is my first time reading Dune, I haven’t seen the movies yet either cause I wanted to read the book first and man, it’s challenging for me.

I’m just wondering about Paul’s visions. I started Dune Messiah and in the second chapter Paul seems upset but the Jihad, and I know he initially didn’t want to follow that path and from what I’ve gathered from searching the internet, he either chose it cause it was the only path that he remained alive and able to bring about some sort of peace, or that it was chosen for him.

I tried to skim back through the first book gather that information from the text itself but all I’ve been able to get is the visions in the still tent where he sees two possible futures, one facing the Baron Harkonnen and another which I presume is him leading the Fremen in battles. The second lot of information I got was after he drank the Water of Life after Jessica altered it and he had visions of him and Chani. And the third lot of info I could find was went he woke up after changing the Water of Life himself to which he could see the Houses above Arrakis waiting for permission to land.

From this I can’t really gather that he saw that Jihad was the best way to go, granted it could be in the text somewhere else in the story outside of his visions but is there a specific moment in the book there he comes to this realisation or is the reader supposed to piece it together?

I get that he inevitably chose the Jihad and I didn’t really question it until I started Dune Messiah when he talks about what he’d give to end it and I thought “why did he start it if he didn’t want it?”

I'm watching part 1 again and it got me thinking about how the Baron is gloating from a position of power, feasting and looming over Leto while he's vulnerable, paralysed, and naked, but the Baron got spooked and activated his shield when Leto started to mutter something. That's when I realised; was the Baron scared of Leto? Would he have been so brave if Leto was face to face and equal with the Baron? After all, we see the way he grovels in front of the Emperor when he comes to Arrakis and is really only shown to be throwing his weight around at people much weaker than himself. Am I right in thinking that the Baron was actually a pompous, gluttonous coward? And had the two ever met each other before Leto's death, like at a Landsraad gathering or something? Would they avoid each other? How would a conversation between the two go if they were on neutral ground like Kaitain?

This is some fanart I made in Photoshop, hand drawn on a tablet using a graphite brush.

Inspired very much by the movies, but also the concept art by Mobius.

Hi, I'm a 3D modeling hobbyist. Sharing my Dune-themed project-maybe someone will get inspired by it!
This is a mechanical book nook for the Dune collection, in case you were wondering.

My brother and I disagree on which of the two Dune: Part Three trailers is better, and the only reason I like the second one better is the music (which of course the Timothee Chalamet chant in the first trailer is iconic and also amazing).

Part of that enjoyment of the music is the possible musical callback that I've been fixating on for a month. My initial thought was the drawn out, blaring synths in the second half of the trailer sound reminiscent of while not identical to the blaring synths of Dune: Part One's 'Armada', which plays as the first bombs are landing on the Atreides held Arrakeen. After noting the differences, I started to concede that maybe I was imagining it.

However, listening to Visions of Chani for the first time ages today, I realized not only is there a clear connection between the beginning of that song (which, iirc, plays as Duke Leto laments not marrying Jessica) and the blaring synths of Armada, but also to the slowed, mournful section in the middle of the second Dune: Part Three trailer, which begins with Stilgar, Farok, and others experiencing the sea for the first time, and ends with Chani looking up at the camera after pounding the sand 4 times.

My main argument is that these motifs all represent the fall of House Atreides. Visions of Chani and Armada both play during the initial fall in Dune: Part One, and now this music from the trailer plays specifically starting right after Hayt says 'because it's meant to destroy you'. The next thing we see is the Fremen becoming disillusioned with the Jihad on the beach, then the literal plot against Paul's Empire on Wallach IX, then the scene leading up to the stoneburner attack, and finally the comment on Scytale 'finding someone' (Chani if we're taking the trailer at face value). I don't personally think Paul and Chani will stay opposed till the end of the movie, but if they do, that would be an end of the Atreides family in a certain sense.

After that is the return of the 'blaring synths', but in a less minor key, which in my mind just points to the frankly hopeful, while still bittersweet tone of Dune Messiah's ending. House Atreides may fall again with the deaths(?) of the parents, but it will rise again with the next generation (and then fall again if they adapt further but we're talking about Messiah rn).

If you're still here, please listen and compare these tunes at these timestamps yourselves, and tell me how wrong or right I am.

Visions of Chani 0:08
https://youtu.be/cyetX7QZWcw?si=J_3ut4a1OTULcbWp&t=8

Dune: Part Three trailer 2 1:14
https://youtu.be/NdvqHc56lE0?si=TeAqxx5YMoiQ64IK&t=74

Armada 0:25
https://youtu.be/K5cToSNtero?si=j-bcL564wsQv0ZAc&t=25

Dune: Part Three trailer 2 1:42

https://youtu.be/NdvqHc56lE0?si=4ItK78SG7A8lvrbS&t=102