Dune: Part Two ending explained

Dune: Part Two turns Paul Atreides into the most powerful – and dangerous – “mahdi” in the universe; here’s a breakdown of the movie’s ending.

In the first Dune film, 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 increasingly popular family, assisted by their generational rivals: the Harkonnens, led by the Baron (Stellan Skarsgård).

The sequel 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) is endeavouring to become one with the desert-dwelling Fremen. Chani (Zendaya) doesn’t believe in the Lisan Al’Gaib – and nor does he – but when Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) becomes their Reverend Mother, she starts fanning the flames of his so-called prophecy.

There’s a lot to take in when you’re watching Dune: Part Two, so here’s what you need to know by the time the movie ends. “You are not prepared for what is to come.”

Dune: Part Two ending explained

Warner Bros.

Dune: Part Two ends with another beginning: Paul becomes the new Emperor with Princess Irulan as his wife. But the other great houses refuse to condone his ascendancy, kicking off a “holy war.”

Paul’s story in the sequel is all about temptation: he’s constantly 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 that’d 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 afflicted by a poison: the need for revenge for the invasion of Arrakis, and above all else, his father’s death.

It all goes haywire when Paul, Chani, and the Fremen ride sandworms to the south of Arrakis, a once-thought-uninhabitable region occupied by fundamentalists. He’s forced to drink the Water of Life, essentially the Shai Halud’s bright blue poison – and his momentous survival (it’s generally fatal for men) confirms him to be the Kwisatz Haderach.

His past vision of a 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.”

Elsewhere, amid constant attacks and a lack of spice being shipped, the Baron tasks his nephew Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) – also 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 to have killed or scared off the “Muad’Dib” (this is the Fremen name Paul chooses, inspired by the cute desert mice).

Paul becomes the Lisan Al’Gaib

Warner Bros.

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.

Just 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.

The Emperor and his daughter soon arrive in Arrakis to confront the Baron over his failure to quell the Fremen threat. This allows Paul to strike: wielding the Atreides’ secret atomics, he blasts the area around the Emperor’s ship and sends a massive army into battle, riding in on sandworms and easily overpowering the enemy forces.

Paul then assassinates the Baron, whispering “grandfather” as he sticks a knife into his throat, and orders the Emperor to kill Sardaukar and “give the Baron to the desert.” Later that night, Guerney finds Rabban and quickly defeats him. “For my duke, and for my friends,” he says, before killing him (if you’re confused, don’t be: we never saw their supposedly gnarly face-off in the first film, so just trust that vengeance has been truly served).

The next day, 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. But Paul is relaxed, telling the Emperor that the other houses wouldn’t be too pleased to learn that he ordered the Atreides cull, and 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, but before she can say anything else, he uses the voice. “Silence,” he shouts, and as she stumbles back, she mutters “abomination” under her breath (this is a term used by the Bene Gesserit to “describe individuals who could not control the ego-memories that had surfaced within them,” as per the Dune wiki).

Paul fights Feyd-Rautha and gives the Emperor an offer

Warner Bros.

Paul makes the Emperor an offer he’d love to refuse: he’ll rule over the universe as its new Emperor, with Irulan (Florence Pugh) by his side 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 with a fight between either side’s champions. The Emperor chooses Feyd-Rautha, while Paul decides to put himself forward. 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 scrap, 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, managing to pull 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, to which Helen responds: “You of all people should know there are no sides, Reverend Mother.”

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 already made his choice, Chani storms out and finds a sandworm to ride back north.

Meanwhile, Guerney tells Paul that the great houses are refusing to 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.