Dune: Part Two is finally in theaters! Not only that, but the third film in Denis Villeneuve’s visionary adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel series has already been announced. Big things are in store for Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) in Dune: Part Two and beyond, but what’s his eventual fate? Does Paul Atreides die in the Dune saga, and how does it happen?
Warning: this article contains massive spoilers for Dune: Part Two and Frank Herbert’s novels.
Does Paul Atreides die in Dune: Part Two?
In Dune: Part Two, Paul Atreides embraces the prophecy that the Bene Gesserit have planted among the Fremen of Arrakis. Although at first he denies that he’s the Mahdi/Lisan al Gaib (or messiah) of the Fremen, he eventually decides to go with it, seizing the throne of the emperor (Christopher Walken) and goading the Fremen into a war with the great houses of the empire. The end of Dune: Part Two sees Chani (Zendaya) striking out on her own, severing ties with Paul and trying to find some other way to liberate her people.
Paul Atreides doesn’t die at the end of Dune: Part Two. However, the movie does pave the way for his eventual death in Dune Messiah.
Paul Atreides’ apparent death in Dune Messiah (or Dune: Part Three)
As Denis Villeneuve explained when we sat down with him last month, Paul Atreides isn’t a hero in the Dune saga. He’s an antihero, claiming messiah status when he knows that it’s not really true, and leading the Fremen into to a bloody war.
Paul’s actions catch up with him in Dune Messiah, the second book in Frank Herbert’s series and the third film in Villeneuve’s adaptation. Paul abdicates the emperor’s throne, leaves his sister Alia to rule as regent until his children come of age, and goes into the desert to die alone. That’s the last we see of Paul Atreides … or is it?
Paul in later Dune books
The third book in Frank Herbert’s series, Children of Dune, takes place several years after the events of Dune Messiah. The story focuses on Paul’s son Leto II, who becomes embroiled in a conflict with Alia. A mysterious figure called “the Preacher” begins to preach against Alia and the religion of the Muad’Dib. It’s eventually confirmed that the Preacher is Paul, who survived the desert.
Paul dies in Children of Dune when Alia’s priests stab him. However, he lives on as an ancestral memory in the next book, God Emperor of Dune.
Will Paul die in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three (or Dune Messiah)?
It’s hard to say what will happen to Paul in Villeneuve’s final Dune film. Villeneuve might want to give the character a clean ending, rather than implying that he survives the desert. Or, he may incorporate material from later Dune books into the film. We’ll have to wait and see!
In the meantime, you can catch Dune: Part Two in theaters now.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
