Dune: Part Two ends on quite a cliffhanger. Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) becomes Emperor and unleashes his Fremen legions across the galaxy, starting a new Jihad that should consolidate his power -- same as the book. Frank Herbert wrote it this way on purpose, hinting that war itself isn't as important as who or what causes it or its outcome. The whole Dune saga also ends on a huge cliffhanger, one fans still debate nearly 40 years after the release of the sixth and final novel Herbert wrote,Chapterhouse: Dune. Things get even weirder than the average Dune story, but just as fascinating.
✕ Remove Ads 'Chapterhouse: Dune' Ends on a Head-Scratching Cliffhanger
Dune is a huge saga in terms of chronology, taking place over the span of more than 5,032 years. In the meantime, Paul Atreides rises and falls. His son, Leto II, rises to the throne, becomes the God Emperor, and reigns for 3,500 years. In the following 1,500 years, the Atreides line continues through Sheeana Brugh and Miles Teg, although they don't carry the iconic surname. A new threat rises in the form of the Honored Matres, a group that aims to conquer the universe, fleeing a powerful enemy from outside. The only force powerful enough to hold them are the Bene Gesserit.
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As the conflict escalates, Sheeana and the current Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa) ghola attempt to escape into uncharted space with a group of survivors that include the Tleilaxu master Scytale (who should make his debut in Denis Villeneuve's upcoming Dune: Messiah), a girl called Rebecca, and a rabbi, as well as the genetic material to produce gholas of the main characters of previous Dune books. As they escape, however, two new characters are introduced: Daniel and Marty. They appear to Duncan as an elderly couple tending to a garden, observing the group as they flee and commenting on their actions. They take a particular interest in him, finding him particularly clever since he can see them. It's never explicitly stated who or what Daniel and Marty really are. They have access to infinitely superior technology and seem almost godlike, knowing all the characters and events of the saga very well, although they never reveal their true intentions towards the heroes. Duncan believes the two of them are powerful Tleilaxu masters who have driven the Honored Matres back into the known universe, but even this is left uncertain.
✕ Remove Ads Who Daniel and Marty Are Is Still a Subject of Debate Close
Unfortunately, Chapterhouse: Dune is the last Dune novel Frank Herbert ever wrote, as he died the year after its publication, so we never got an official explanation as to who Daniel and Marty really are. Their conversation in the final chapter of the novel is very mysterious, with Daniel mentioning how people don't usually think they could be independent Tleilaxu, then completing that this is just the persona they take. It's not even clear if "Daniel and Marty" are the personas he's talking about or if they are pretending to be Tleilaxu.
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It's said that Herbert had plans for a seventh and final Dune novel. Without it, however, fans have speculated for decades about who Daniel and Marty could be, and it gets pretty meta. The most popular theory is that they are, in fact, Herbert inserting himself and his wife Beverly into the Dune universe, thus building a metaphor for how their story is ultimately beyond them as authors. In real life, Beverly often offered input into Frank's writing and was his editor. Without an actual closing chapter, fans tend to agree that Chapterhouse: Dune is the ending, so, at least according to this point-of-view, Daniel and Marty being Frank and Beverly would work as a confession on Frank's part that, although Dune discusses many important issues - like societal stagnation, authoritarian leaders, religious conflicts, etc. - he doesn't have proper answers or solutions, and is simply using the means he has (writing) to discuss them. This feels especially true given how different the tone and language Daniel and Marty use, as if they were debating a story and one of the characters suddenly became self-aware.
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The Tleilaxu explanation also seems like a viable possibility for who Daniel and Marty really are. After God Emperor of Dune, an event known as the Scattering takes place, with humanity spreading through the universe after millennia of tyranny and decay under Leto II. Tleilaxu are beings capable of copying other people's appearances and absorbing their knowledge, and, with the Scattering being like a human "renaissance," they would have been able to advance, too, until surpassing humanity to the point of attempting to dominate the universe and reaching an inevitable conflict with the Bene Gesserit. It wouldn't be as thought-provoking, though.
The 'Dune' Saga Was Finished by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson ✕ Remove Ads
Frank and Beverly's son, Brian Herbert, mentioned in a 2006 interview that he likes the idea that Daniel and Marty are supposed to be versions of his parents peeking into the universe they created together. Brian actually got to finish the saga with Kevin J. Anderson, writing and publishing Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Their ending to the saga, however, is completely different from anything the fans speculated up until then, and many fans still struggle with accepting it as the "official" ending.
Brian and Kevin Went on To Write 'Dune' Prequels
Brian and Kevin also wrote many prequels to the main Dune saga, including the Legends of Dune trilogy, comprising the novels The Butlerian Jihad (2002), The Machine Crusade (2003), and The Battle of Corrin (2004). Set more than 10,000 years before the original novel, they tell the story of humanity's struggle against the so-called thinking machines and explain why there is no advanced technology throughout the main saga. In these stories, the main leaders of the machines are the artificial intelligences Omnius and Erasmus, who keep showing up somehow even after the end of the Jihad. In Brian and Kevin's ending of the saga, Daniel and Marty are actually Omnius and Erasmus, who have been keeping tabs on the story and the characters until they were able to mount a final offensive against humankind, an event known as Kralizec or Arafel.
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In Hunters and Sandworms, the machines pit gholas of some of the main characters in previous Dune novels against the gholas made by the heroes of Chapterhouse, resulting in some rather weird confrontations. This proved to be a rather lackluster outcome for the whole saga;however ,Brian and Kevin claimed that they drew from an outline left by Frank. Instead of a thought-provoking ending or a more practical approach to closing the story with the elements at hand when Chapterhouse ends, it brings back enemies long-defeated and boils the whole Dune storyline to a tale of humanity against machines, something Brian and Kevin had already explored in Legends of Dune. Not nearly as interesting as the actual ending Frank may have left, or the one fans like to discuss.
Dune and Dune: Part Two are available to stream on Max in the U.S.
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Dune PG-13
A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future.
Release Date October 22, 2021 Director Denis Villeneuve Cast Dave Bautista , Rebecca Ferguson , Sharon Duncan-Brewster , Jason Momoa , David Dastmalchian , Stephen McKinley Henderson , Stellan Skarsgård , Charlotte Rampling , Chang Chen , Oscar Isaac , Zendaya , Javier Bardem , Timothée Chalamet , Josh Brolin Runtime 155 minutes Expand ✕ Remove Ads
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