Before ‘Dune: Part Three,’ Paul Atreides’ Best Line Is Still the Most Powerful Moment in the Saga

Denis Villeneuve accomplished what many tried but few accomplished. Paul “Muad’Dib” Atreides is officially a monster. The messianic figure in Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two, played by the masterful Timothée Chalamet, starts as a young man full of promise and ends as a genocidal dictator manipulating an indigenous culture for his own use. Frank Herbert’s Dune was always a warning about charismatic leaders, and that is what Paul has become going into Dune: Part Three.

Villeneuve has put the right message across, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that the story of Dune is actually a tragedy. Paul eradicating 60 billion lives puts him out of the realm of redemption, though there is nuance to his arc. The tragedy of Paul Atreides is demonstrated in a subtle scene toward the climax of Dune: Part Two. After the Kwisatz Haderach takes the Water of Life, he becomes a person he never had any intention of being.

It Is Too Late For Paul By the Time He Takes the Water of Life

Simplistic readings of Paul Atreides tend to mischaracterize the future Emperor during the infamous Water of Life scene. Paul knows that going south will lead to war, and even with that knowledge, he does so anyway. This sequence is a lot more complicated than Paul simply changing his mind.

He believes that he needs to see the entire picture to understand how to proceed. The real tragedy is that by the time he takes the Water of Life to see all the paths he can take, it is too late. Paul explains this to Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) when he tells her that there are enemies all around him.

“The visions are clear now,” Paul says. “I see possible futures, all at once. Our enemies are all around us, and in so many futures they prevail. But I do see a way. There is a narrow way through.” This moment is overshadowed by the revelation that Baron Harkonnen is his grandfather, but it has subtle implications expanded upon in the book.

When Paul states that in possible futures their enemies prevail, this means the deaths of his mother, sister, and the destruction of the Fremen. This is not an eventuality he is willing to accept. There is only one option available to him, and even though he knows it will start a Holy War, he does so anyway.

He trades the safety of his family and his new community for the lives of billions. This seems like a drastic decision to make, but by the time he takes the Water of Life, it is too late to make any other choice. Established further in Frank Herbert’s book, Paul’s visions show that this Holy War is the least egregious future that could happen. While he will destroy countless worlds and demoralize others, it is the best-case scenario.

Paul is such a tragic character because he was forced into this persona. His mother decided for him that she could birth the Kwisatz Haderach with no consideration of the complications. From the moment he was born, he was destined for this horrible fate. This doesn’t take away accountability for the character, however. Paul is completely responsible for his actions. Perhaps even more so, because he knows he will lose the most important thing to him.

Paul Sacrifices What He Loves Most So the Fremen Can Survive

Paul achieving complete prescience comes with many downsides. His visions stop being abstract and he can see the entire picture. He learns that Jessica is the secret daughter of Baron Harkonnen just as he sees that his decisions will start a Holy War. This is especially bleak because that means he also understands the consequences his actions will have on Chani (Zendaya).

As the Lisan al Gaib, Paul sees every possible future but only one where his loved ones don’t die excruciating deaths. He understands that taking on this mantle and climbing his way to the Emperor’s throne is drastic, and it will mean losing the love of his life. Chani represents how the Bene Gesserit have manipulated an entire culture so they will fall in line and cannot accept Paul taking power in his own name.

Chani rejects prophecy and wants Arrakis to be self-governing and not under the thumb of an outsider. Paul knows all of this and takes power anyway. Dreams of Chani’s death haunt him, and losing her is the price he is willing to pay so that she and the Fremen can survive. This decision demonstrates even further the tragedy of Paul Atreides in a way that the books did not. Paul sacrifices the person he loves most to ensure victory, which did not occur in the first Dune book.

This will be a decision that weighs heavily on him, especially going into Dune: Part Three when the Holy War has razed religions and planets. This doesn’t absolve Paul of anything but instead makes him an incredibly multifaceted character who was caught in a web woven thousands of years before he was born.

Release Date

February 27, 2024

Runtime

167 minutes

Director

Denis Villeneuve