If your boyfriend broke up with you to marry another woman, clearly, you’d be pissed. That’s where Dune: Part Two left the unfortunate love triangle of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), Chani (Zendaya), and Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh). Seemingly out of the blue, Paul agrees to marry Irulan to become Emperor of the universe, something that the love of his life, Chani, was not expecting. Now, almost 20 years later (in the movie), that storyline picks up in Dune: Part Three.
The final trailer for the film was just released, and it teases the most unlikely of betrayals. We see Paul using the Bene Gesserit voice power to demand Irulan tell him what she knows. She says there’s a plot for his assassination and that Chani is involved. From there, we see Chani interacting with Scytale (Robert Pattinson), who, from the previous trailer, we know is spearheading this assassination attempt.
So the question we’re left with after watching this new trailer is the same one in our headline: is Chani actually part of Scytale’s assassination attempt against Paul? (Mild spoilers follow for Herbert’s 1969 novel Dune Messiah.)
The answer is yes, but not the way you think. Over the first two films, which adapted Frank Herbert’s first book, we saw Chani and Paul’s relationship blossom. They not only fall in love, but Paul is so inspired and moved by Chani’s people, the Fremen, that he adopts their way of life as his own. Now, clearly, it doesn’t hurt that the Fremen are also incredible warriors who can ride sandworms, nor does the fact that they think Paul is a god, but let’s leave those caveats aside.
Up until the final moment of the second movie, we’d never believe Chani could turn on Paul. She’s too loyal. Too strong. Too principled. And even after he betrays her, we still have too much admiration for Chani to believe it. Paul might have the ability to be that cruel and evil, but certainly not Chani. Which is why the trailer leans into it so much. For the audience, the thought of Chani conspiring to kill Paul is almost unfathomable.
And yet, maybe those morals would make her do just that. All of the marketing so far makes it clear Paul has become almost irredeemable. He’s taken over worlds. He’s killed billions. He’s no longer the wispy-haired prince she met long ago. If Chani hasn’t seen Paul in a number of years, and he’s only become worse from the initial moment of betrayal, maybe killing him is exactly what her people need. She never quite bought into the whole “Lisan al-Gaib” thing, right? Her seeing Paul as a person, not a power, is why it hit so hard when he discarded her in favor of Irulan. Who is to say that, years later, seeing Paul go full Dark Side hasn’t made her turn against him? That she now believes killing him won’t be course correction for the Fremen?
Well, Dune author Frank Herbert. That’s who. While both outcomes could be potentially true, we’re pretty sure we know what happens. Irulan says there’s an assassination plot and that Chani is involved, both of which are accurate. What she doesn’t say, though, is that Chani is willingly a part of it. Without spoiling too much, and using a bit of what we know from Dune Messiah, Scytale is definitely trying to have Paul killed, and that plan does involve Chani, but she isn’t the one driving it, nor is she aware. Scytale just knows that at his core, Paul loves Chani with all his heart, and he never wanted to betray her. The trailer’s final moments make that abundantly clear. Using Chani against Paul, in some truly twisted ways, just becomes the best way to force Paul’s hand, and maybe take his life.
Again, we don’t want to spoil it too much, but unless co-writer and director Denis Villeneuve has radically changed the plot of the original novel, Chani is in fact a part of the assassination attempt against Paul. But not how you think and definitely not willingly. She might be forever unforgiving of what Paul did to her, but that doesn’t mean she’s conspiring to kill him.
Without spoiling all the juicy details, what were your thoughts after watching the trailer?
Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that should be on your radar.
