After 'Dune: Part 2' Some Are Wondering If Paul Atreides Is Really a Villain

Paul unleashes a holy struggle at the end of 'Dune: Part 2,' but what does that mean for his morality? Is he a villian? Fans want to know.

Mar. 4 2024, Published 10:46 a.m. ET

Spoiler alert: This article comprises spoilers for Dune Part 1 and Dune Part 2, in addition to the Dune book collection.

If you believe you studied the primary a part of Dune, which ends up with Timothee Chalamet's Paul Atreides linking up with the Fremen and strolling off into the wilderness, you may have assumed that Part 2 would give Paul a probability to seek redemption for the murder of his father by means of the Harkonens. If that was once your bet, you have been principally proper.

However, as Part 2 makes clear, Paul's story is not essentially that of a hero incomes redemption. Instead, he spends much of Part 2 seeking to avoid beginning a holy struggle, best to sooner or later succumb to his future, even though it will purpose untold bloodshed. Following this complication in Paul's story, many are now looking to perceive whether or not Paul is actually a villain in the world of Dune.

Is Paul Atreides a villain?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the answer to that query is relatively difficult. Paul spends much of Dune Part 2 running with the Fremen to take keep an eye on of Arrakis again from the Harkonens, who killed his father and sought after to kill him. As Paul works with the Fremen, though, many among them start to suspect that he is in truth a messiah figure who has been foretold to them, in large part throughout the workings of the Bene Geserit.

Paul sooner or later sees a vision that unearths that if he is going to the south of Arrakis, and follows his mother, who is actively trying to persuade the Fremen that he is their messiah, billions of folks will die. Eventually, regardless that, Paul succumbs to the force of those around him who need to defeat the Harkonens. Paul ventures South, where he unlocks even better energy and sooner or later ascends to turn out to be emperor of the recognized universe.

As Part 2 ends, Paul is using off with the Fremen to begin what Lady Jessica describes as a "holy war." Those types of wars are in most cases beautiful dangerous, and Zendaya's Chani isn't on board. Paul, even though, has defeated the Harkonens, who attacked his circle of relatives, and has helped the Fremen to disencumber their planet. That's now not conventional villain habits, even if he's additionally conscious that the battle he is about to start will result in untold suffering.

Paul is also a Harkonen.

One of the main finds on the finish of Part 2 is that Paul is himself a Harkonen. Lady Jessica is Baron Harkonen's daughter, that means that Paul is each a Harkonen and an Atreides. Of route, a individual's bloodline isn't their future, however this after all signifies that he is much nearer to the tale's villains than he first concept.

Now that he is emperor, the query of Paul's villainy best turns into more complicated. His visions expose that billions will die as a results of the path he has now taken. Of direction, in case you are somebody who subscribes to Machiavellian philosophy, it is conceivable to look how all of the ones deaths could be justified, even supposing Paul additionally knows they're a moral abomination.

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