How The Dune Books End

Spoilers are ahead for the Dune franchise and books.

Summary Dune: Part One & Part Two set the stage for the rise and fall of Emperor Paul Atreides.

Frank Herbert wrote six novels for his Dune series, which boasts a total of 23 canonical novels.

God Emperor of Dune and the books that follow explore Leto II's legacy and impact on the universe.

A classic sci-fi epic, Frank Herbert's 1965 Dune novel launched a beloved multimedia franchise. Most recently, the original book was adapted into a two-part film saga by Denis Villeneuve. With the filmmaker's Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two chronicling Paul Atreides' (Timothée Chalamet) rise to power, the upcoming Dune: Part Three aims to show the newly minted Emperor's downfall. Set 12 years after the ending of Dune 2, the third Dune movie will likely adapt Herbert's sequel, Dune Messiah, though it may also pull from the third book in the series, Children of Dune.

Of course, 2024 is the year of Dune for other reasons. In addition to the $711.8 million blockbuster Dune: Part Two, the franchise is releasing a prequel series, Dune: Prophecy. Set roughly 10,000 years before the events of Paul's story, the prequel spin-off will depict the formation of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood as well as the early days of the long-reigning Corrino Empire and the Atreides and Harkonnen's feud. While Dune: Prophecy will answer many questions about Herbert's universe, viewers will still be left wondering how the original author's six Dune books end.

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The Rise Of The Atreides

The First 3 Books By Frank Herbert: Dune, Dune Messiah & Children Of Dune

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Frank Herbert penned six Dune novels before he passed away. The first three — Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune — are probably the most well-known projects, especially since they have been adapted into films and TV series. However, after Herbert's death, his son, Brian Herbert, and bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson teamed up to write many more canonical Dune stories. Thanks to the duo's contributions, the Dune series boasts a remarkable 23 novels in total, as well as a vast number of short stories, comic-book spin-offs, and video game, movie, and TV adaptations.

In the first novel, readers are introduced to Dune's Kwisatz Haderach plotline. For centuries, the Bene Gesserit's carefully plotted breeding program has culled crucial genetic material, which the order hopes will result in the birth of a messiah — a male Bene Gesserit with access to genetic memory and the ability to bridge space and time with prescient ability. One of the Bene Gesserit agents, Lady Jessica, goes against the order's wishes. Instead of having a daughter with Leto Atreides, Jessica uses her Bene Gesserit abilities to bear Leto a son, Paul.

Dune Dune the big-screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal bestseller of the same name. A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive. Director Denis Villeneuve Release Date October 22, 2021 Studio(s) Legendary Pictures Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Writers Frank Herbert , Eric Roth , Denis Villeneuve , Jon Spaihts Cast Zendaya , Javier Bardem , Timothee Chalamet , Josh Brolin Dave Bautista , Rebecca Ferguson , Sharon Duncan-Brewster , Jason Momoa , David Dastmalchian , Stephen McKinley Henderson , Stellan Skarsgård , Charlotte Rampling , Chang Chen , Oscar Isaac Runtime 155 minutes Expand

Paul spends much of Dune trying to avoid his destiny...

The move upends centuries of careful planning, as the Bene Gesserit had planned for Leto and Jessica's would-be daughter to marry Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. In addition to uniting two of Dune's most powerful houses, the marriage would produce the foretold Kwisatz Haderach. Due to Lady Jessica's deviation from the plan, the Kwisatz Haderach came a generation early. Although Paul spends much of Dune trying to avoid his destiny, he eventually becomes not just the Kwisatz Haderach — he imbibes the Water of Life — but the Fremen messiah too.

At the end of Dune, Paul leads the Fremen in liberating Arrakis from the choke-hold of the Harkonnens and the Corrino Empire. While Paul's prescient visions indicate that he's taking the best path for humanity's sake, he also knows that in stepping into the role of Kwisatz Haderach he's prompting the Fremen to unleash a galaxy-wide holy war in his name. Between Dune and Dune Messiah, 12 years pass, and the Fremen kill upwards of 60 billion people in Paul's name.

Knowing that the birth of his heir will kill Chani, Paul doesn't press the issue too much.

Dune Messiah

In addition to being the Fremen leader, Paul is Emperor of the Known Universe, and tries his best to guide humanity on a path that won't end in total stagnation or destruction. Throughout Dune Messiah, the Bene Gesserit, Spacing Guild, and Tleilaxu conspire to dethrone Paul. One of the Guild members, Edric, uses his own prescience to shield the conspiracy from Paul. Meanwhile, Paul refuses to conceive a child with Princess Irulan Corrino, who, in turn, thwarts Paul and Chani's attempts to have a child. Knowing that the birth of his heir will kill Chani, Paul doesn't press the issue too much.

According to Fremen tradition, those who become blind must wander the desert alone.

Hoping to exploit Paul's love for his deceased mentor, Duncan Idaho, Edric gifts the Emperor with a ghola (a Tleilaxu-made doppelgänger). Soon after, a Tleilaxu atomic weapon, a stone burner, blinds Paul. Instead wandering into the desert, Paul proves that he can still "see" thanks to his oracular abilities. By the end of Dune Messiah, Chani dies after giving birth to twins, Leto II and Ghanima, both of whom have access to ancestral memories. With Alia Atreides, Paul's sister, acting as regent for the twins, Paul walks into the desert — an act he believes will undermine his god-like status.

Children Of Dune

A power-hungry Alia Atreides rules the universe as regent while the Fremen raise Leto II and Ghanima, both of whom have prescient visions. Even though Paul is gone, the Bene Gesserit, Tlailaxu, Spacing Guild continue their alliance in order to seize control of spice production as well as Paul's powerful heirs. Lady Jessica realizes that her daughter, Alia, has been possessed by one of her ancestors: her grandfather, Baron Harkonnen. Meanwhile, Leto undergoes a spice trance, allowing him to see many possible futures for humanity.

2:37 Related Max's Dune TV Show Must Set Up A Dune 3 Story Denis Villeneuve's Movies Cut In order to successfully pull off Dune 3, the team behind Dune: Prophecy must include a plot thread that Denis Villeneuve's movies shouldn't have cut.

According to Leto's spice-induced visions, humans become extinct in nearly every possible future — except one. That one, which Leto dubs The Golden Path, is something Paul turned away from. In order to preserve humanity, Leto physically fuses with a sandworm larva, which grants him superhuman strength and invulnerability. After meeting with a desert-wandering Preacher (a.k.a. Paul), Leto decides to rescue his sister from the possessed Alia, who is arranging Ghanima's marriage to the Corrino heir.

Leto becomes Emperor, leads the Fremen, and marries Ghanima...

When Paul returns, Alia's agents murder him. Horrified and unable to overcome Baron Harkonnen's possession, Alia throws herself off a high balcony. In the aftermath, Leto becomes Emperor, leads the Fremen, and marries Ghanima. It becomes apparent that the sandworm skin and genetics will allow Leto II to live for thousands of years, setting him up to become God Emperor.

The Reign & Fall Of The God Emperor

Frank Herbert's God Emperor Of Dune

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While Frank Herbert's first three novels form a kind of trilogy, God Emperor of Dune delves into the weirdest Dune storylines. Now a human-sandworm hybrid, Paul's son, Leto II Atreides, has ruled the Known Universe as God Emperor for a staggering 3,500 years. With complete control over the spice, the universe is fully under the command of the tyrant Leto II. With interstellar travel not accessible to most people, humanity has stagnated as has any technological development. Leto believes thwarting progress with prevent humanity from self-destructing.

The seemingly immortal Leto II has also physically transformed into a worm, retaining just his human face and arms.

Not to mention, his rule has resulted in the death of all Arrakis' sandworms; while the desert planet has become lush, it isn't necessarily a good thing. Like his father before him, Leto II's decisions have turned him into a deity of sorts. Plus, the seemingly immortal Leto II has also physically transformed into a worm, retaining just his human face and arms. Ghanima's bloodline, including Moneo Atreides, Leto's confidant, and Moneo's daughter, Siona, are also key figures. While Siona plans a rebellion against Leto, she's eventually persuaded to the importance of The Golden Path.

The God Emperor's death results in the Scattering — the spread of humans across the universe...

Although Leto II is killed at the end of God Emperor of Dune, he reveals to Siona that she is the result of centuries of carefully plotted breeding. Siona is the first of a line of humans who will go undetected by prescient vision, which means humanity will no longer be ruled by oracles or subject to the whim of one person. Although Siona (and the remaining Duncan ghola) manage the late Leto's empire, the God Emperor's death results in the Scattering — the spread of humans across the universe — as well as a new era reliant on navigation computers.

3:07 Related Is Paul Atreides A Villain Or A Hero? Dune 2 Settles The 59-Year-Old Debate Dune: Part Two finally settles the 59-year-old debate over Frank Herbert's Dune protagonist Paul Atreides — and whether he's a villain or a hero.

The Fallout Of Frank Herbert's Scattering, Explained

Frank Herbert's Final Books: Heretics Of Dune & Chapterhouse: Dune

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The final arc in the Frank Herbert-written Dune books centers on the Scattering. Set roughly 1,500 years after God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune sees humanity still on the path that Leto II established, which, theoretically, will ensure their survival. Although Leto II dismantled the universe's reliance on the spice and Arrakis, the desert planet's sandworms return in Heretics, resulting in the renewed flow of the spice. The Scattering has also ushered in new threats, including the Honored Matres, a matriarchy that's even more brutal than the Bene Gesserit.

The Bene Gesserit enlist the help of Mentat Miles Teg to oversee the protection of yet another Duncan Idaho ghola, though the order also discovers Sheeana, a girl who can control Arrakis' sandworms. Hoping to manipulate Sheeana into being their new religious prop, Reverend Mother Odrade trains Sheeana in the Bene Gesserit ways. Eventually, Teg goads the Honored Matres into incinerating Arrakis and killing the sandworms. At the end of Heretics, Odrade and Sheeana flee with one sandworm to the hidden Bene Gesserit planet of Chapterhouse.

Chapterhouse: Dune

In the sixth novel, and the last one penned by Frank Herbert, the very existence of the Bene Gesserit order is threatened by their even darker counterparts, the Honored Matres. On Chapterhouse, Mother Superior Odrade and Sheeana breed giant sandworms in the wake of Arrakis' destruction. Meanwhile, a former Honored Matre, Murbella, is trained in the ways of the Bene Gesserit. This backfires eventually, with Murbella learning the Bene Gesserit's most prized secrets. The novel ends with Murbella becoming the leader of the Honored Matres, Odrade dying, and Sheeana and Duncan fleeing Chapterhouse.

Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune

Frank Herbert's Dune 7, Explained

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Although Chapterhouse: Dune ended on a cliffhanger, Frank Herbert passed away before he could pen the epic conclusion. However, the author's son, Brian Herbert, and novelist Kevin J. Anderson finished the saga using Frank's Dune 7 outline. In Hunters of Dune, Duncan Idaho, Teg (also a ghola), Sheeana, and a ship of refugees flee from the Murbella, the leader of both the Honored Matres and Bene Gesserit. While the characters, whose ship is carrying Arrakis' last surviving sandworms, search for the new Dune, gholas of classic characters, including Paul, Baron Harkonnen, and Leto II, are created.

Hunters of Dune sets the stage for the arrival of a mysterious enemy that's so powerful that even the Honored Matres fear them. Ultimately, this looming threat is revealed to be the thinking machines of Omnius, the machine overlord that was destroyed in the Butlerian Jihad (the computer-destroying conflict that unfolds just before Dune: Prophecy). Splitting Dune 7 into two books, Herbert and Anderson resolve the epic story in Sandworms of Dune. While Murbella ready to stand against Omnius' armada, gholas of Dune's original characters settle their unfinished business.

On Arrakis, gholas of Paul and Chani restore the planet to what it once was...

At the end of Sandworms of Dune, Paul's ghola reveals that Duncan is the ultimate Kwisatz Haderach. A constant presence in all of the Dune novels, Duncan's continual ghola rebirth has perfected him. Duncan merges minds with the robot Erasmus, becoming the bridge between the human and machine worlds. Sheeana, leader of a new sisterhood, vows to never breed a messiah figure again. On Caladan, Lady Jessica's ghola settles down with a ghola of Leto I. On Arrakis, gholas of Paul and Chani restore the planet to what it once was in Dune.