The Entire Dune Timeline Explained

Several decades before the first "Dune," Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV (Christopher Walken) charges the ruthless members of House Harkonnen — led by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) — with maintaining the production of the valuable resource known as spice that's found only on Arrakis, a vast desert planet inhabited primarily by large sandworms and a proud, rebellious people called the Fremen. Though this station makes them unimaginably rich and politically dominant, their brutal occupation of the planet puts them in conflict with the formidable Fremen military, resulting in years of costly asymmetrical guerilla warfare.

During the opening moments of "Dune: Part One," Chani (Zendaya) narrates that the Harkonnens arrived on Arrakis long before she was born (which, in the books, is somewhere between 10,174 and 10,177, depending on who's writing). Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) reiterates this in "Dune: Part Two," though he states that the Fremen have only been fighting the Harkonnens "for decades." This likely means that their arrival on Arrakis took place after 10,100, with the books detailing instances of Harkonnen-Fremen violence as early as 10,150.

As part of the Bene Gesserit's strict and highly calculated breeding plans, Jessica is tasked with conceiving a female child with Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac), future ruler of the planet Caladan and leader of the powerful House Atreides. The ultimate goal is for Jessica and Leto's prospective daughter to marry a son from House Harkonnen, ending the bitter feud between the houses for good. This couple would then sire a son who would become both the Padishah Emperor and the omniscient messianic figure known as the Kwisatz Haderach (he'd also be carefully groomed by the Bene Gesserit, promising unique advantages to the secretive order).

Because this union is strictly designed for the purposes of producing offspring for prophecies and/or politics, Leto opts not to marry Jessica so that he can still wed a more politically advantageous partner down the road. But Jessica and Leto fall in love and she ultimately becomes pregnant with a baby boy, much to the dismay of the Bene Gesserit. Leto, on the other hand, is overjoyed to sire an heir and continue his bloodline. Around the year 10,175, Paul Atreides is born — placing him in his mid-to-late teens by the start of "Dune: Part One." At this point, however, neither Leto nor Jessica are aware that their union has intertwined the Houses Harkonnen and Atreides, producing a child with a lineage as powerful as it is volatile.

Despite their fury at his birth, the Bene Gesserit have all but resigned themselves to accept Paul as the potential Kwisatz Haderach. Before they can even entertain him as their savior-slash-ward, however, Reverend Mother Mohiam needs to perform the so-called "Test of Humanity," a sacred rite in which the outcome can only be life or certain death.

In a dark room, Paul is instructed to place his hand in a box, knowing that it will cause him immense and indescribable pain. Should he recoil and attempt to remove his hand from the box, Mohiam will prick his neck with a poisonous needle referred to as a Gom Jabbar. Paul manages to withstand the agony for the full duration of the test, instantly earning the attention of the Bene Gesserit. Around this time, he also begins having visions of a young, blue-eyed woman on Arrakis.

Unbeknownst to Paul and his mother, Mohiam is in league with the Harkonnens and is fully aware of their impending coup attempt. As a result of Paul's performance during the test, she asks Baron Harkonnen to spare him and Jessica in the coming assault. The Baron agrees, albeit dubiously — and with his own plan to leave them for dead anyway.

Increasingly certain that Emperor Shaddam is plotting against him, Duke Leto begs Lady Jessica — and, by extension, the Bene Gesserit — to protect Paul if he dies. We should note here that, before or around this time, Leto has unknowingly impregnated Jessica with a second child.

Leto's worst fears about the Harkonnens are realized that night, when he is betrayed by Dr. Wellington Yueh (Chang Chen), the family physician whose wife is being held and tortured by the Harkonnens. Having immobilized Leto's body with a paralytic, Yueh plans to deliver him to Baron Harkonnen in exchange for his wife's safety — though he replaces one of Leto's teeth with a poisonous capsule, granting Leto the chance to enact vengeance against the Baron by way of murder-suicide.

Meanwhile, the Harkonnen's forces — led by the Baron's nephew, Count Glossu Rabban (Dave Bautista), and aided by the Emperor's personal troops (called Sardaukar) — descend upon Arrakeen, slaughtering most of the opposing guard and capturing Paul and Lady Jessica.

Per his agreement with Reverend Mother Mohiam, Baron Harkonnen had instructed his forces not to outright kill Paul or Lady Jessica. However, he tries to find a loophole in the deal by having the mother and son cast into the desert and left for dead, jeopardizing the Atreides bloodline and the coming of the Kwisatz Haderach.

But during their captive flight above the dunes of Arrakis, Paul manages to use "the Voice" (a Bene Gesserit power that allows the user to give compulsory commands) to have their restraints undone. Jessica slays their captors before she escapes the craft with her son, as the two of them set out to survive the night in the dangerous environment. Fortunately, in addition to giving Leto the poison pill, Dr. Yueh sought to ease his conscience by sneaking supplies into Jessica and Paul's packs before they were taken out to the desert.

During their first night in the desert, Paul is awakened by a visceral, spice-induced vision of the future. Enraged, he claims to have seen a vengeful holy war fought in his name, and appears to be somewhat overcome by bloodlust.

In the desert, Paul and Jessica are rescued by Duncan and Dr. Kynes, both of them uniquely familiar with the dunes of Arrakis. The four of them regroup at a small shelter, where they evaluate the dire consequences of what the Emperor and the Harkonnens have started.

Ever the diplomat, Paul vows to survive so that he can bring this betrayal to light and avenge his father's death, but also states that he will marry the Emperor's daughter, Princess Irulan Corrino (Florence Pugh's character in "Dune: Part Two") as a means of ensuring peace between the two houses. He also figures that the Great Houses will be so outraged by the Emperor's brazen assassination of their family that a chaotic power struggle will ensue unless what remains of House Atreides unites with House Corrino for a decisive new regime.

Just as they catch their breath, the Sardaukar discover their hiding spot and attack. Desperate to help Paul escape, Duncan places himself between the fighters and his former ward — bringing to life the exact vision of his death Paul had before they left for Arrakis. Though he and his mother flee, Dr. Kynes is left behind — but before she can be assassinated as a witness, she calls a sandworm to swallow the entirety of the Sardaukar squad along with herself.

Per the terms of his fight with Jamis, Paul and his mother are offered safe passage off Arrakis by Stilgar (the hope being that, once home in Caladan, they can rally their forces and reveal the Emperor's plot). However, Paul refuses this offer — much to Jessica's dismay — and insists that they be taken to Sietch Tabr to live among the Fremen. Seeing as Duke Leto, his father, believed in an everlasting alliance with the Fremen, Paul is determined to see this through and help the people of Arrakis liberate themselves from the grip of the Harkonnens.

This is where "Dune: Part One" begins to bleed into "Dune: Part Two," with one of the biggest timeline-related changes made from the novel. The events of the first book — from House Atreides landing on Arrakis to the climax of the Fremen's battle with the Harkonnens and the Imperium — take place over the course of three years. In Denis Villeneuve's films, all of this happens in the year 10,191, as confirmed in Princess Irulan's diary entry at the opening of "Part Two." Even though there are things that "Dune: Part Two" get totally wrong from the book, this change arguably helps streamline the story.

After a minor scrape with some wandering Harkonnen troops, Paul and Jessica finally arrive at Sietch Tabr. Here, Stilgar shares his suspicions about Paul's sacred destiny with Jessica and makes a weighty request of her.

While Jessica embraces the messianic religion of the Lisan al Gaib (holding services for believers and beginning to convert non-believers gradually), Paul sincerely tries to become one with the Fremen. He risks his life to help them disrupt the Harkonnens' mining operations, survives on his own in the desert, learns their language and the ways of the Fedaykin, and even succeeds in riding a great, grandfather sandworm.

As a consequence of his genuine effort and skills, Paul is fully embraced by the Fremen — believers and non-believers alike. Stilgar grants him the Fremen name "Usul," which loosely translates to "strong" in the Fremen language (this is essentially a first name for the Fremen to use when referring to Paul). Paul is then asked to choose a Fedaykin warrior name to be used in combat — he chooses "Muad'Dib," the name of a mouse-like creature that scurries in the sand throughout the movie.

The Fremen embrace the newly christened Paul Usul Muad'Dib one by one, with Chani lingering longer than the rest. Not long after, they share a kiss and begin a romantic relationship.

During a raid of a spice-mining vehicle, Paul reunites with Gurney Halleck. Since the coup at Arrakeen, Gurney has been secretly living and working with a crew of spice smugglers unaffiliated with the Harkonnens, hoping to take revenge on the Baron, Rabban, and their minions. Paul welcomes Gurney into the Fremen tribe, though Chani is skeptical of how this old friend might affect her new lover.

Paul has been having dreams in which he voyages southward, toward the more religiously inclined Fremen fundamentalists. In these dreams, he sees himself leading a fanatical army of believers into a genocidal holy war, which ultimately results in the death of Chani. As a consequence, Paul refuses to venture to the south of Arrakis, even as his mother does so in an attempt to rally more believers behind the prophecy. Though Chani is unconvinced that the man she loves could be capable of what he sees in his dreams, she grows concerned that Gurney's vengeful ambitions could influence him.

This fear is exacerbated by the revelation that Duke Leto had the nuclear stockpile of House Atreides safely hidden on Arrakis. Gurney leads Paul and the Fremen there and urges him to use the firepower to liberate the Fremen and destroy the Harkonnens.

In the south, Jessica (at the behest of her unborn daughter) plots to have Paul ingest the Water of Life. It is commonly known that the ritual is fatal to males, but Jessica believes Paul is destined to survive anyway. Once he arrives, Paul feels the responsibility to drink and does so, rendering him unconscious. A furious Chani finds him comatose, and lashes out at Stilgar and Jessica for using him as an instrument in their misguided faith.

Jessica, however, believes Chani to be an important part of the prophecy as well. She uses the Voice to command Chani to weep tears onto Paul — and when she does, Paul instantly recovers from his coma, effectively confirming the veracity of the prophecy for almost everyone who witnesses.

Paul experiences an influx of revelations, including that he and his mother are Harkonnens themselves. He now believes he must lead the Fremen against the Harkonnens and the Imperium, and presents himself to the Fremen as the Lisan al Gaib. They embrace him as their leader and prepare for war.

Paul and his forces enter the Emperor's spacecraft, greatly outnumbering the remaining troops onboard. During the battle, Baron Harkonnen's breathing apparatus was damaged — and yet, he attempts to crawl his way up to the briefly vacant Golden Lion Throne of Emperor Shaddam. When Paul arrives and witnesses this, he easily ascends the steps and plunges a blade into the Baron, revealing to his defeated foe in his dying moments that he has been murdered by his own grandson.

Paul then challenges the Emperor for the throne, but the Emperor chooses a champion to fight in his place, as is his right. Of course, Shaddam enlists the help of Feyd-Rautha. During their duel, Paul and Feyd are relatively evenly matched, though Feyd often gains the upper hand through particularly vicious means. He taunts Paul by insinuating that he means to harm Chani after killing him, then successfully stabs Paul in the gut.

Before Feyd can land the killing blow, however, Paul intercepts Feyd's knife with his bare hands. While Feyd is momentarily distracted trying to force the knife into Paul, Paul removes the other knife from his gut and stabs Feyd with it, killing him.