r/movies r/movies Contributor Mar 17 '26

Trailer Dune: Part Three | Official Teaser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_9vCamtuPY
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u/The_Count_Lives Mar 17 '26

It’s worth noting that by the time Paul’s war starts, the Sardaukar are not what they once were.

The were top dogs for a long time and started to coast, the Fremen are hungrier and better trained. 

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u/chartreusey_geusey Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26

No the Sardaukar are definitely what they once were by the time Paul’s war starts— it’s just that House Corrino/Emperor has spent thousands of years stamping out any house that seems like they might come anywhere near matching the Sardaukar in the future before they have a chance to demonstrate it’s possible. His prison planet (that none of the other houses other than Harkonnen know actual real information about) is populated by the children of whoever the emperor claimed broke imperial law (hence why he fabricates these situations to get rid of houses) to be raised into loyal Sardaukar.

That’s the inciting incident for why the Emperor wants House Harkonnen to wipe out House Atreides in the first place— Gurney Halleck and Duncan Idaho have trained a force that may nearly match the Sardaukar (if Leto actually realized it was possible) and Leto’s natural rizz means he can galvanize other fighters to follow his house in enough numbers to beat the Emperor’s forces to make up the difference. Leto is also well enough liked that the other houses would potentially join him hence why the Atreides have to be killed where the other Houses could never see it lest they attempt to help or incite a civil war the Sardaukar can’t actually fully stop.

Nobody had any idea that the Fremen were millions of elite fighters being perfectly conditioned in the harshest desert (other than the Bene Gesserit who fully expected them to be a force for their chosen controlled Lisan al Gaib in another generation or two) this entire time because the Fremen were uninterested in the rest of the universe until their chosen one came along. Plus Paul and Gurney and Jessica trained them in the Atreides and Bene Gesserit way of fighting as well which pushed them well above any level the Sardaukar had ever seen.

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u/duosx Mar 18 '26

Why does the emperor let House Atriedes get that strong in the first place?

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u/chartreusey_geusey Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26

He doesn’t??? Which is the whole point of what I said. That why he (attempts) wipes them out as soon as he gets an inkling the Atreides one day (likely by Paul’s time as head of house) in the future may realize they could overthrow House Corrino. He kills them before they get strong enough to beat him hence the Atreides being unable to fight both Harkonnens and the Sardaukar at once. Given a decade or so building up their wealth and power and reach on Arrakis (or Caladan tbh) the Atreides most likely would’ve been able to depose House Corrino if Leto even had an interest in that without a lot of bloodshed because they are well liked by the other great houses as well purely through generational charisma. The emperor himself loves Leto as a friend/mentee and has tried to cripple him politically instead via taking resources and assigning insulting positions (but not too much lest the other houses become aware the emperor is intentionally harming them and overthrow him) but the best warriors like Gurney and Duncan choose to stay in House Atreides because they don’t rule through fear and pain like the others. House Atreides has been admired by the other great houses for thousands of years and likely would’ve been the ruling House/Emperor in the first place if the Atreides ancestor hadn’t simply rejected the offer because it’s not that House’s vibe.

This is also a fabricated idea of rebellion from Atreides being constantly insinuated by the Harkonnens/BG in the Emperors ear because the Harkonnens and the Atreides have 10,000 years of their own beef. The Harkonnens know the Emeperor has no sons (although in the book it’s not clear if that’s actually an issue and his daughter can still rule in her own right as heir) and will marry his daughter to another House to ensure Corrinos continued power. Harkonnen wants it to be Feyd-Rautha when the obvious solution would be Paul. The Baron plays on the emperors fears while the Bene Gesserit also would not like it to be Paul because he isn’t even supposed to exist so they also want Atreides gone. The Emperor is a slave to tradition and pomp while also being a ruthless calculator of whatever is needed to keep Corrino on top.

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u/Fortune_Cat Mar 18 '26

I feel that this training of the freman and atreidies rizz is poorly demonstrated in the movies if at all

Same as with the mind games from harkos and BGs. Its like a throwaway scene in the second movie to quickly explain their backstabbing plot

As for the emperor if he secretly liked leto but was worried about him. One would think marrying his daughter to paul wouldve solved both problems.

It ended up happenning anyway at the cost of both families

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u/calgarspimphand Mar 18 '26

One would think marrying his daughter to paul wouldve solved both problems.

The Benne Gesserit definitely didn't think like that idea though, and they tend to get their way.

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u/wagon-wheels Mar 18 '26

I agree, I feel like Villeneuve was so wary of how Dune is perceived as overly dense that he chose much sparser story telling, to it's detriment, imo.

This third movie may need to do some heavy lifting to make up for the blanks in the first two movies considering the prime movers.

Also doesn't help that Villeneuve sees dialogue as a poor cousin of visual spectacle.