10 biggest book-to-screen changes in Dune: Part Two
By Dan Selcke
3. Paul and Chani have a son
Speaking of kids we don't get to meet in Dune: Part Two, the movie leaves out Leto II, Paul and Chani's son.
Remember, in the book, there is a time jump of a couple of years after Lady Jessica drinks the water of life. At the other end of that time jump, Alia is walking around being weird. Also, Paul and Chani have had a baby son they have named after Paul's father.
Unfortunately, Leto II dies in a Harkonnen attack on Sietch Tabr, the Fremen stronghold where Paul and Jessica spend a lot of time. Alia is also captured in this raid, which is when she's brought before the Emperor.
4. Gurney Hallack attacks Lady Jessica when they reunite
In the first half of Dune, the Atreides family knows that there's a traitor in their midst, but they don't know who it is. It ends up being Doctor Yueh (Chang Chen), who betrays the Atreides to the Harkonnens, who were holding his wife captive. But not everyone knows that. When House Atreides falls, loyal retainer Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin) is convinced that Lady Jessica was the actual traitor.
Now masterless, Gurney Halleck becomes a smuggler, but encounters Paul Atredies again after Paul has become the Fremen leader known as Muad'Dib. In the movie, Gurney rejoins the team and helps Paul fight the Harkonnens. However, the movie skips over a dramatic scene from the book: Gurney sees Jessica and, assuming she was the traitor, attacks her, putting a knife against her back. Paul diffuses the situation by explaining the truth of what happened to Gurney, whereupon he is ashamed and asks Paul and Jessica to kill him. They refuse, and he becomes their ally.
In the book, Paul did not foresee this conflict coming with his prescient vision. Fear over these kinds of blind spots is what convinces him to drink the Water of Life himself, which is what takes his presience to the next level, even if it puts him on a path to mass slaughter he's increasingly convinced he can't avoid. In the movie, Gurney never attacks Jessica, so Paul doesn't have this motivation. Instead, he just drinks the Water of Life because he thinks it's what has to happen.