What happens in the second Dune novel, Dune Messiah? Spoilers for book series

Together, the Atreides - through some unsettling religious manipulation - lead the Fremen in a crusade against the Harkonnens and the Imperium - resulting in one cataclysmic ending.

However, the story of the novel Dune does not end there, and should a third Dune film be made, it will adapt the second novel from Frank Herbert, the unique 1968 sequel novel Dune Messiah.

So, what exactly happens in Dune Messiah? Well, here's what goes down and what it all means in the grand scheme of things.

*Spoiler warning for Dune Messiah and potentially a third Dune film*

What happens in the second Dune novel, Dune Messiah?

There’s a time-jump

The story of Dune Messiah opens 12 years after the end of Dune. Much has changed in the interim but many character relationships are the same.

Paul-Muad’Dib is the Emperor of the Known Universe and - as they never parted in the first Dune novel - Chani remains by his side as his concubine and closest advisor. Stilgar is also still a close advisor and is now a Minister of State.

With the Atreides dynasty now based on Arrakis and overseeing Spice production and Fremen culture, the planet has become the governmental and religious centre of the Imperium.

The Imperium has begun terra-forming parts of the planet and reservoirs of water are being grown, as previously envisioned by Dr Liet-Kynes and was hinted at in Paul’s visions (as seen in Dune: Part Two).

Emperor Paul-Muad’Dib is all-powerful and is guilty of genocide

Having unleashed the Holy War caused by the Fremen that he once dreaded, Paul is now the most powerful ruler in history and the crusading Fremen has left no corner of the Known Universe untouched and 61 billion people have perished.

Despite the mass death and destruction, Paul’s powerful prescient abilities mean that he has foreseen this as the “narrow path” that avoided even more devastation.

Many more than just the Fremen have joined the religious juggernaut behind Muad’Dib, but the religion around this messiah is centred on Arrakis and led by the Qizarate, among whom the high priest is Korba, one of Paul’s former loyal Fedyakin commandos.

Lady Jessica is absent

Despite her vital role in her son’s ascent to power and God-like status, Lady Jessica is absent in the second novel.

Having retired to the old Atreides homeward of Caladan, Lady Jessica has returned to the place she was happiest: her home with her late lover Duke Leto Atreides.

Jessica is not the only one as Gurney Halleck has also returned to Caladan.

Regardless of her absence, Jessica is heavily mentioned and counsels her son from afar and is remembered by the Bene Gesserit for her betrayal of their plans.

Yet, Paul is not the only Atreides remaining on Arrakis.

Alia Atreides is a religious icon

Now a young woman by the time of Dune Messiah but having been sentient since the womb with all the prescient abilities of her powerful brother, Alia Atreides is worshipped among the religions around him as St. Alia of the Knife, another living deity like her brother. Taking part in many holy ceremonies, Alia is tired of the pomp and circumstance of it all.

In the first novel, a four-year-old Alia had been the one to slay her maternal grandfather Baron Vladimir Harkonnen with a Gom Jabbar needle and had proclaimed her brother as the Kwisatz Haderarch.

Despite having had the abilities of an adult Reverend Mother since being a child, Alia is still a maturing young woman and experiences a sexual awakening in the novel.

The Bene Gesserit, who consider Alia’s abilities to be unnatural, regard her as an Abomination and fear what dangers lie beneath the surface of her consciousness.

Princess Irulan Corino is part of a conspiracy against the Atreides

Having never known the affection of her husband and with her family living in exile, Princess Irulan Corrino plots against her husband with his enemies in a conspiracy.

The conspirators against Paul include Irulan and Jessica’s Bene Gesserit tutor Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam who represents her sisterhood, Edric of the Spacing Guild whose Spice-related abilities as a Guild Navigator means he can shield the cabal from the Atreides’ prescient abilities, disaffected Fremen who resent Paul’s changes to Arrakis, and Scytale, a shapeshifting Face-Dancer of the genetic manipulators the Bene Tleilax.

These parties have been enacting their plots in multiple ways, with Irulan feeding Chani contraceptives to prevent her having Atreides heirs as she tries to persuade Paul to give her a child of her own.

Meanwhile, the Bene Tleilax have given Edric a gift to present to Paul, undermining his standing with the Fremen who will consider it unnatural…

Duncan Idaho is resurrected - with a catch

Edric gifts Paul with a ghola, a manufactured human body grown from the remains of his old swordmaster and mentor Duncan Idaho.

This ghoul is named Hayt and has been trained as a Mentat - a human ‘thinking computer’ - and also a philosopher with no memories of the life of Duncan Idaho but occasionally flashes of his old life come through and carry his appearance as a younger man than even Paul knew.

Paul accepts Hayt as a gift - an act which horrifies the Fremen and even leads to doubts and confusion from his sister Alia.

Hayt’s presence also leads to sexual confusion from Alia who finds herself attracted to him despite her abilities giving her memories of the original Duncan Idaho.

Chani longs to Paul’s children - but he predicts tragedy

After Irulan fed Chani contraceptives through her diet, Chani switched out to a Fremen diet and then became pregnant by Paul but the impact of the poisoning has fastened the pregnancies.

Chani realises what Irulan has been doing and longs to kill her but Paul stops her as he believes his consort still has her uses and can cause them no more harm.

Paul also had been aware of what Irulan was doing but his visions had shown that if Chani does give birth to Paul’s heirs then she will undoubtedly die.

Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam is taken prisoner

Having been exiled to never return to Arrakis, Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam is arrested by Paul’s troops abroad a Guild Heighliner in the planet's orbit and taken to a cell in Paul’s citadel.

Irulan visits the captive Mohiam and the two communicate through their Bene Gesserit abilities it becomes clear that Irulan is being pragmatic and trying her best to survive in the Imperium, but Mohiam instructs her to sow seeds of discontent and hints at even pushing a potential incestuous union between Paul and Alia to preserve the Atreides bloodline.

Eventually, Mohiam is called into a meeting with Paul and he reveals an offer to her: leave Chani alone, stop plotting for Irulan to bear his heirs, and accept the gift of his sperm.

Mohiam promises to write to the Sisterhood on the offer but knows that artificial insemination is against the laws of her order - Paul has trapped her.

Emperor Paul-Muad'Dib is blinded

Paul is lured out by a messenger from one of his loyal Fedaykin commandos, Otheym, in the form of his daughter Lichnia. This Fremen girl is Scythe in disguise and this is a trap.

Paul, aware of Scytale’s plotting and the trap, goes into the desert to meet with Otheym who reveals a Fremen conspiracy against Paul.

Otheym gives Paul another gift of Tleilaxu origin, a dwarf named Bijaz, who possesses a perfect memory for recording everything that happens.

When Paul’s troops attack the Fremen conspirators against him that Otheym led him to, a group of Fremen rebels set off an atomic weapon known as a stone burner which blinds Paul.

The Fremen believe that a blind man must walk into the desert alone but due to his powerful psychic abilities, Paul is still able to see events as they happen - only further increasing his religious standing.

Chani gives birth to twins - and dies

After an accelerated pregnancy that weakened her body, Chani gives birth to not just one child that Paul foresaw but two: a son and a daughter, both with the prescient abilities of a Kwisatz Haderach.

Despite this surprise, what Paul dreaded most happens: Chani dies in childbirth.

Paul is shattered with grief for his true love.

Hayt’s true purpose is revealed

Bijaz’s true purpose as Scytale’s servant is revealed and to deliver a secret command to Hayt which appears to be to kill Paul when a certain code phrase is revealed.

Chani’s death prompts Paul to experience profound grief and this triggers Hayt - only to revive the latent memories of Duncan Idaho and he refuses to kill Paul.

This reveals that Hayt’s true purpose was to show the powers of the Bene Tleilax and Scytale then offers to revive Chani for Paul as a ghoul.

Paul fears what the Bene Tleilax may force Chani to do and that they will plot to influence the Imperium for their ends, so he refuses.

Scytale then threatens to kill Paul’s children in exchange for Paul’s shares in the Imperium’s conglomerate CHOAM to let them live.

Then, through his son’s oracular abilities, Paul can see the dangers and aims a dagger at Scytale and kills him.

After slaying this enemy, Bijaz then repeats the Bene Tleilax offers to Paul. In response, Paul has Duncan execute the Tleilaxu agent.

A new status quo comes to the Imperium

After the killing of Scytale through his son, Paul has lost his prescient abilities and is now totally blind and decides to embrace Fremen tradition and goes into self-imposed exile in the desert.

Naming his twin children his heirs with the names Leto II and Ghanima, Paul leaves them in the care of Alia who is named Holy Imperial Regent and he asks her to spare all of the other conspirators against him.

Once Paul has departed, a ruthless Alia orders Stilgar to execute the treacherous Korba who plotted to blind her brother to increase his own religious power, along with an imprisoned Edric and Reverend Mother Mohiam. Stilgar complies.

Irulan is spared as after being so moved by the loss of Paul and Chani, she has renounced any further devotion to the Bene Gesserit and House Corrino and devotes herself to helping to raise Paul and Chani heirs.

Finally, an emotional Alia and the restored Duncan enter into a new and romantic stage of their relationship.

What is the meaning behind Dune Messiah?

While Frank Herbert's Dune was a coming-of-age novel and the rise of the anti-hero Paul Ateides to power, Dune Messiah is a darker psychological tale about Paul's downfall and loss of everything he holds dear.

All of the darker themes and fears about the dangers of messiahs present in the first book are realised and Paul himself feels trapped and resigned to his destiny in Dune Messiah.

While Dune is an epic novel with a huge ensemble, Dune Messiah is much more intimate and concentrated on political conspiracies and palace intrigues, all while underlining the central message of the first book: beware your heroes and beware how religious fervour can be used by governments to maintain control.

In an essay by Frank Herbert titled Dune Genesis, the author wrote: "How did it evolve? I conceived of a long novel, the whole trilogy as one book about the messianic convulsions that periodically overtake us. Demagogues, fanatics, con-game artists, the innocent and the not-so-innocent bystanders - all were to have a part in the drama. This grows from my theory that superheroes are disastrous for humankind. Even if we find a real hero (whatever-or whoever-that may be), eventually fallible mortals take over the power structure that always comes into being around such a leader."

Herbert finished this tale with his third novel Children of Dune, which continues the story of Paul's children, Leto and Ghanima.

Read more:

• 13 Dune Part Two scenes we all won’t be forgetting in a hurry
• Dune: Part Two review – A spectacular return to Arrakis
• Who is Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Dune: Part Two? Austin Butler character explained
• What happened in Dune: Part One? Recap for the first Denis Villeneuve film in franchise
• How is Dune: Part Two different from the book? Book changes explained
• Which characters are missing in Dune: Part Two?
• Stellan Skarsgård says reading Dune was “useless” for his Baron Harkonnen portrayal
• Dune director on casting Austin Butler: ‘I needed a playboy – a rockstar’
• Dune: Part Two cast – Full list of actors and characters in sequel
• What is the age rating for Dune: Part Two? Age suitability explained
• How to watch Dune: Part One on DVD, Blu-ray and streaming

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