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It has been two years, five months and four days since Dune: Part One It was released in theaters, but who’s counting? After a strike-induced delay, the sequel’s fall 2023 release date was canceled. The story will finally continue when Dune: Part Two premieres on March 1. If you haven’t recently seen the first installment of Denis Villeneuve’s ambitious take on Frank Herbert’s iconic sci-fi saga, or just need a little help keeping the dense mythology clear, read on. We have put together a handy manual that will bring you up to date with everything that has happened so far.
Who are the main actors in this story? What they want? And where are they found? To keep things simple, we’ve divided all of this information into sections based on the Great Houses of Dune universe and a few other groups that will play a vital role in the upcoming film. With so many new characters about to be introduced in The second partIt wouldn’t hurt to approach it with a deep knowledge of what we already know.
House Atreides
As the story begins, Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Issac) has just been granted jurisdiction over the highly lucrative spice mines of the planet Arrakis. Spice has psychotropic effects, but its main value is that it makes interstellar travel possible. As the saying goes, “The spice must flow,” so the Duke packs up his family and moves them all to the dangerous desert planet to oversee his new operations.
As the sole source of spice, Arrakis is of great strategic importance to the intergalactic governing body known as The Empire. While it may seem like receiving stewardship would be a good thing for House Atreides, in fact, they are being set up to fail. Emperor Shaddam IV has been getting jealous of Leto’s popularity among the other Great Houses (all but one) and forced the transfer just to piss off his greatest enemy, House Harkonnen. The Harkonnens have been running things on Arrakis and making money in the spice trade for the last 80 years, so they’re not too happy to give it up.
Leto’s consort is Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), a member of the Bene Gesserit order (more on them later). She is part of her long con to bring a savior into the world, but to achieve this she has been instructed to have only daughters. Instead, she decided to give birth to a son (because Bene Gesserit women can do that). That left her out of her order, but some believe she may have managed to give birth to the chosen one known as Kwisatz Haderach, “a mind powerful enough to unite space and time, the past and the future.”
And then there is his son Paul (Timothée Chalamet), who bears the burden of being the sole heir of his house, and possibly also the predicted messiah, without ever having a say in either destiny. He has been training for both paths his entire life. He has some of the mental abilities of the Bene Gesserit, including visions and prophetic dreams, but is also a skilled fighter. When he arrives on Arrakis, the signs that he is indeed the Kwisatz Haderach, or Lisan al-Gaib in the local vernacular, begin to accumulate.
Shortly after their arrival, House Atreides is betrayed and attacked by House Harkonnen, now allied with the Emperor’s own elite troops, known as Sardaukar. Paul and Jessica manage to escape, but Leto is captured. His final act of self-sacrifice is to attempt to eliminate Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) and as many of his men as possible using a false tooth filled with poison gas. Many of them die, but the baron survives.
Paul and his mother, who is pregnant, are abandoned in the desert to die, but are discovered by a group of indigenous people, known as Fremen. One of them is a woman Paul has been seeing in his dreams (but wisely doesn’t tell him), played by Zendaya. The Fremen are wary of outsiders and Paul is forced into hand-to-hand combat with one of them, which he wins. Then they agree to take him and his mother in.
Harkonnen House
The leader of the House is Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, a burly and cruel fellow who swears revenge against House Atreides for taking Arrakis from him, just as the Emperor planned. Before leaving, they sabotage the spice production equipment to avoid making a profit in the short term. The Baron then joins the Emperor to retake Arrakis and destroy his rivals in the process. He also has a side agreement with the Emperor’s own Bene Gesserit Truthsayer (Charlotte Rampling), who makes him promise that he will prevent Paul and Jessica in the attack. She solves it by not killing them outright and waiting for the desert to do her job for him. After retaking Arrakis, he leaves his evil nephew Glossu Rabban (Dave Bautista) in charge.
The Bene Gesserit
Think of them as an order of witch nuns with psychic powers. They supposedly serve as partners of the Great Houses, but as Paul says, “they direct the politics of the Empire from the shadows.” His abilities include prophecy, mind control, and forcing anyone to do as he is told through the use of a technique called “the voice.” Her abilities are not usually taught to men, with the exception of the Kwisatz Haderach. It’s considered a bit of a transgression that Jessica trained Paul in The Way without first confirming that he is the one.
Before leaving for Arrakis, Jessica is visited by Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, the same Truthful who visits House Harkonnen, who was also her own teacher. The Reverend Mother gives Paul a “pain box” test to determine the extent of his abilities and willpower. After he passes the test, she accepts that he may be the one, but keeps his options open.
The Fremen
The native inhabitants of Arrakis live in underground communities called sietches, where they practice traditions perfected over thousands of years to help them survive the dangerous conditions of their homeland. They have developed complex technology, such as suits that filter and preserve moisture from their bodies, allowing them to cross the hot, dry desert, which can reach temperatures of 140 degrees. They also have reverence for the sandworms that populate the planet (and they are interesting places too). popcorn bucket designs), which they call Shai-Hulud. Their constant exposure to spices gives them deep blue eyes and health benefits such as increased awareness and longevity. The Harkonnens estimated that there were approximately 50,000 of them on the planet, but in reality their number is closer to one million.
Leto’s plan was to make an alliance with the Fremen and hopefully have their support in the inevitable conflict with House Harkonnen. Paul, now the new duke after the death of his father, is determined to finish what he started. But he has a vision of a future “holy war that will spread across the universe like an unquenchable fire” that will be fought in the name of his father.
When we pick up the story in the next film, Paul has been living with the Fremans and learning their ways. His mythology includes a story about a figure known as “the Mahdi,” a stranger from another world who will lead them to paradise. This legend is actually the work of the Bene Gesserit, who began seeding the idea many generations ago. Some of them are beginning to believe that Paul could be that savior. It’s something you’ll have to accept, whether you want it or not. His strength and abilities will come in handy when it comes time to once again face the forces of House Harkonnen.