The Dune: Part Three trailer is here. And, as with all things Dune, it is jam-packed with action, emotion, and Easter eggs. Dune: Part Three will adapt Frank Herbert’s 1969 sequel novel, Dune Messiah. Dune told the story of young Paul Atreides and his rise to power. And now, Dune: Part Three takes place 17 years after Paul Atreides unleashed his Fremen armies across the known universe. He has become the figurehead of both church and state in his new empire and destroys any and all who oppose him. But Paul’s empire is under attack from both outside and within. Factions of the old imperium: the Bene Gesserit, the Spacing Guild, and the mysterious Tleilaxu, all aim to gain leverage over Paul and seize the monopoly of spice production from his control. And we get to see all this play out in the epic new sneak peek at the movie.

 

But how does someone destroy such a powerful leader who has the ability to see all of time and space? And how can Paul Atreides redeem himself from the terror he has set upon the universe? Well, let’s dig into this new Dune: Part Three footage to find out!

Paul Atreides Is Large and in Charge in the Dune: Part 3 Trailer

Like the first trailer, this new trailer shows the devastation of Paul Atreides’ war to solidify his hold on power. We see more shots of the brutal battle from the special preview at Cinemacon. Paul walks amongst the aftermath of another intense battle. Entire landscapes have been demolished and burned to ash, most likely the result of a Stone Burner. Paul’s sister, Alia, walks barefoot through even more ashes as she is surrounded by the dead bodies of those who tried to resist Paul’s rule. Paul Atreides climbs his dais to stand above his countless Fremen legions.

 

And in case you still weren’t sure who’s in charge, we also see a MASSIVE statue of Emperor Paul Muad’Dib and his even larger palace, the Arrakeen Keep. The Arrakeen Keep looks almost like an inversion of the Emperor’s Hutment from the battle at the end of Dune Part 2. Paul overthrew the 10,000-year-long Corrino empire to build a new empire that could defy the one before it. But as Paul will come to find out, history repeats itself when it comes to charismatic leaders and the power structures that support them.

Warner Bros./Legendary

Duncan Idaho Returns in the Dune: Part 3 trailer: Here’s How Jason Momoa Comes Back

In this Dune: Part Three trailer, we hear the voice of what sounds like Duncan Idaho, describing the crimes of Paul’s new empire. In Dune: Part 1, Duncan helped Paul escape by fighting the Emperor’s Sardaukar troops, and he died in the process. But now we see him kneeling in front of Paul in the Atreides throne room. So, how is Duncan Idaho alive?

Warner Bros./Legendary

Well, Jason Momoa’s returning Duncan Idaho isn’t actually alive. He’s Hayt, a ghola. In Dune: Part Three, that means he’s reanimated flesh grown from Duncan Idaho’s dead body. Gholas are manufactured by the Tleilaxu, a secretive group of genetically altered humans who specialize in biogenetic engineering. The Tleilaxu regrew Duncan’s body in their mysterious axlotl tanks, except for his eyes, which they replaced with metallic eyes of mysterious design. The Tleilaxu also have the skills to genetically alter these gholas as well, embedding secret abilities and behaviors into their cellular makeup.

But is this still Duncan? Survey says, no. Paul Atreides bests Hayt in combat, something that would have never happened against the original Duncan Idaho, the greatest Swordmaster to have ever lived. But Hayt has no memory of his body’s previous life, only that he’s been told he was a Swordmaster and was a loyal member of House Atreides.

But why would the Tleilaxu go through the trouble of bringing Duncan’s old body back to life? Hayt is merely a part of the grand conspiracy plot against the emperor Paul Muad’Dib Atreides. Hayt says he is meant to deliver a peace proposal. But as we see later in the Skull Tomb, he warns his former student that this proposal is meant to destroy him and his entire empire.

Paul Atreides Has Many Enemies in Dune: Part 3

The conspiracy against Paul takes a multi-pronged approach. We see the conspirators meet on a Spacing Guild Heighliner: Irulan, played by Florence Pugh, the daughter of the former emperor; the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, the head of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood; and Scytale the Face Dancer, a shapeshifter and yet another creation of the Tleilaxu.

Irulan is wife to Paul Atreides in name only, whom he married to secure his ascension to the throne at the end of Dune: Part 2 after he usurped her father’s regime. Irulan is also a Bene Gesserit sister, but her main priority is to keep her Corrino family name in power.

In this Dune: Part Three trailer, we can see Irulan landing in the Arrakeen spaceport and traveling to Paul’s Keep. She is surrounded by the Qizarate, Paul’s elite priestly guard of former Fedaykin warriors. Either she is under extreme protection or she is being held captive. As for why she’s covered in mud? We have no idea, unless the Predator is part of this conspiracy plot, too.

The Reverend Mother Mohiam aims to gain control of the Bene Gesserit’s breeding program once again. Paul Atreides is the result of generations of selective breeding, granting him his prescient powers as the Kwisatz Haderach. In the Dune Messiah book, Mohiam plots with Irulan for Irulan to give birth to Paul Atreides’ heir, thereby bringing Paul’s genetic line back into the hands of the Bene Gesserit.

Robert Pattinson’s Scytale Is Here to Menace and Delight Us in the Dune: Part 3 Trailer

Scytale is a representative of the Tleilaxu. The Tleilaxu are reviled throughout the Imperium for their genetic experiments, but many people rely on the Tleilaxu to supply manufactured creatures like Gholas or the shapeshifting Face Dancers. Scytale provides the Ghola Hayt as a way to distract Paul, but Scytale may have some additional tricks up his sleeve.

In one of Robert Pattinson’s more normal voices, Scytale explains in the Dune: Part 3 trailer that this conspiracy aims for “regime change,” to which Irulan replies that he has just signed their death warrants. Irulan fears that Paul’s prescient sight will reveal this secret meeting of traitors. But the last and maybe most mysterious member of the conspiracy, Edric the Spacing Guild Navigator, shields them from Paul’s vision.

Meet Edric of the Spacing Guild

The floating sarcophagus tank we see in both Dune: Part Three trailers most likely holds Edric of the Spacing Guild. Spacing Guild Navigators take heavy doses of the spice melange, granting them the limited prescience needed to safely guide their gigantic ships along the safest routes possible through space. The book Dune Messiah explores how those with limited oracular vision, like Edric, can cloud and muddle the oracular visions of others, like Paul.

Paul Atreides’ powerful abilities allow him to calculate the most likely futures possible. But if others can also see glimpses of those futures, they can take the actions to change potential outcomes. Both Paul and Edric are invisible to each other in their visions, but they can see the ripple effects each causes in the streams of time.

By hiding within the cloak of Edric’s prescience, the conspirators hope to distract and confuse Paul. Paul is aware there is a plot against him, but as he confesses later in the Dune: Part Three trailer, he can’t see the exact details. But could Paul be blind to the conspiracy or some other crucial moment later he cannot see beyond?

Here’s What We Think Happens

Similar to in the book, we can see the Spacing Guild most likely presenting Hayt as a gift to Paul. They do this under the guise of gaining favor with the emperor, but it is really to plant a dangerous weapon in his midst. Paul Atreides understands Hayt is part of a larger scheme, but can’t resist having his close friend brought back to him. The Tleilaxu engineered Hayt to function as a Mentat, like Thufir Hawat in Dune: Part 1, and he causes Paul to question his own actions.

With Paul distracted, the conspirators are free to strike at the power structures of Paul’s empire. Paul secured his rule with both his violent Fremen armies and his strict control over spice production, making Arrakis the sole source of power in the Imperium. But now, the fervor that rallied the Fremen to Paul’s cause has begun to wane.

Dune: Part 3‘s Trailer Shows a Blind Paul Atreides: Here’s Why The Loss of His Eyes Matters

In Dune Messiah, we hear the story of Farok, one of Paul’s top Fedaykin commandos, who finally sees a sea for the first time. For a Fremen, who grew up on a desert world and who could never conceive of the idea of that much water, the sea changed Farok’s outlook on Paul’s war.

In this trailer, we see this moment of Farok and Stilgar, wearing the same armor from the devastating battle in the preview, looking at the sea for the first time. Many of the Fremen kneel in the waves and pray, echoing the imagery of the Fremen when Paul rode his first sandworm.

The conspirators use disillusioned warriors like Farok to destroy their messiah emperor. The defectors spring a trap using an explosive weapon called a Stone Burner. In the Dune universe, the use of atomic weaponry against humans is outlawed, but a Stone Burner emits a specific type of radiation that burns away soft tissue of the body, specifically the eyes. Fremen law says any injured or blinded Fremen are considered useless to their tribes and must be cast out into the desert. So by blinding Paul Atreides, the Fremen would no longer deem him worthy as their leader.

And in this scene of Arrakeen at night, we see this part of the conspiracy play out. Paul and his elite guard, including his sister Alia, are lured out into the Arrakeen streets, and what looks like a Stone Burner explosion catches them in its blast. Paul is front and center, and we see a quick shot of him looking directly at the light with his eyes one last time.

Later in the trailer, we see the blast hasn’t killed Paul Atreides, but it has destroyed his eyes, literally turning him into a blind prophet. But can he still see? Was this the moment he couldn’t see in his visions of the future? Book readers know, but we won’t spoil more anything more for now.

There WILL Be Sandworm Action in Dune: Part 3

But what about Paul’s control over spice production? The giant sandworms are the only source of spice in the universe, and they only live on Arrakis. Paul Atreides has the ability to destroy the spice cycle on Arrakis, a threat that the rest of the Imperium would rather not put to the test. But if the Spacing Guild can break Paul’s monopoly on spice, then they, the Bene Gesserit, and the rest of the noble houses can freely access the most precious spice melange, upon which they are all entirely dependent.

In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sentence from the book, Paul learns that the Spacing Guild aims to kidnap a sandworm from Arrakis in the hopes of starting a new spice cycle on another planet. And from the look of this trailer, we think this film adaptation will greatly expand this plan to become a huge action scene.

The first Dune: Part Three trailer showed us Chani wielding a crysknife on what looked like the back of a sandworm. But now this new trailer gives us more of this major confrontation! Hayt jumps from an ornithopter and lands on a sandworm. As we hear him try to remember his past as the Atreides Swordmaster, we see Hayt unsheathe a sword. Paul watches on as Hayt gives Duncan’s old salute before mowing down any Fremen in his way.

Two Fremen glide with parachutes over the sand. A massive explosion goes off in front of a sandworm. And lastly, we see the final piece of the conspirator’s plan: Chani.

Zendaya’s Chani Brings a Big Change From the Dune Messiah Book to Dune: Part 3

In what is probably the biggest change from the source material, this Dune: Part Three trailer leads us to believe that Zendaya’s Chani is part of the conspiracy plot against Paul Atreides. We hear Scytale say, “I found someone,” and then see Chani testing the sand in the desert. In the first Dune: Part Three trailer, we also saw Chani hitting the sand in what looked like an attempt to summon a sandworm. But later in this trailer, a sandworm charges straight at her, only to abruptly stop right before she is engulfed. If you look closely, you can see it is surrounded by what looks like thumpers, or maybe those are devices that can stop a worm.

So is Chani a crucial part of the conspirators’ plan? At the end of Dune: Part 2, Chani left Paul Atreides after he seized the throne. She was upset at how Paul manipulated her people, and she was ashamed she enabled yet another oppressor to take over her world. In Dune: Part Three, could Chani go so far as to help remove Paul from power? Could she be the key to uniting the Fremen defectors?

The conspirators must know that Chani could be a weakness for Paul Atreides. In fact, it appears Paul meets Chani, but is it really Chani? After we hear Paul confess he can’t see the future, Chani asks him what it feels like to be human like everyone else. But she calls Paul by his full formal name, instead of his Fremen name like Chani actually would. We think this is highly likely Scytale, shifting his form into Chani’s, to taunt Paul and goad him further into a trap.

As for the real Chani, this massive shift of her role in this story could have major implications for what to expect at the ending of Dune: Part Three and for the future of the Dune saga to come. Because now, we can finally talk about the beginning of the Dune: Part Three trailer and what may happen between Paul and Chani.

The Beginning of the Dune: Part 3 Trailer is of CRITICAL Importance

The Dune: Part 3 trailer begins with Paul meeting Chani in what appears to be a sietch. Chani immediately lays into Paul for what he has done to rise to power as this scene cuts to the devastation of Paul’s war. But we also see shots of Paul and Chani happily together.

This argument between Paul and Chani appears to take place shortly after the end of Dune: Part 2. The trailer even flashes back to the ending of Part 2, when Paul chose Irulan for marriage, and Chani angrily disappeared into the desert. In the Dune book, Chani accepts her role as Paul’s concubine, but in the film adaptations, her role has been expanded. She now provides the audience with a close, personal viewpoint of Paul Atreides.

After Chani tells Paul she trusted him in the Dune: Part Three trailer, we see a flashback to when Paul and Chani were together during the events of Dune: Part 2. Chani wears her blue nezhoni scarf, which symbolizes when a Fremen woman is devoted to her partner. And many Dune fans saw this scarf as a sign that Chani may have been pregnant with Paul’s child by the end of Dune: Part 2.

We then see another shot of Paul and Chani together, where Chani wears her scarf and is clearly pregnant and showing. So is this another flashback? This would have to have happened after the end of Dune: Part 2, right? Or is this after Paul and Chani’s argument here in this Dune: Part Three trailer? Or could this even be one of Paul’s visions of a possible future that didn’t happen?

But then we get one of the most shocking shots in this entire trailer: Chani sitting on a dune next to two small children! Who could they be? Here we’re going to give you another spoiler warning, because this is a major reveal based on what we know from the books.