By accepting the role of messiah to the Fremen, he has unleashed a jihad which has conquered most of the known universe, but is powerless to stop the lethal excesses of the religious juggernaut he has created.

Motivated by this knowledge, Paul hopes to set humanity on a course that will not inevitably lead to stagnation and destruction, while at the same time acting as ruler of the empire and focal point of the Fremen religion.

Mohiam enlists Princess Irulan, daughter of the deposed Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, who is wed to Paul for political purposes.

Paul has refused to father a child with Irulan, but he and his Fremen concubine Chani have also failed to produce an heir, causing tension within his monarchy.

Desperate both to secure her place in the Atreides dynasty and to preserve the bloodline for the Bene Gesserit breeding program, Irulan has secretly been giving contraceptives to Chani.

Chani, taking matters into her own hands, switches to a traditional Fremen fertility diet, preventing Irulan from tampering with her food, and soon becomes pregnant.

As Paul's soldiers target the conspirators, an atomic weapon sourced from the Tleilaxu called a stone burner destroys the area.

Scytale offers to revive Chani as a ghola, revealing the full purpose behind Hayt's presence and the restoration of his memories.

By successfully escaping the oracular trap and setting the universe on a new path, Paul has been rendered completely blind, yet he is able to kill Scytale with a dagger to the eye due to a psychic vision from his son's perspective.

Paul leaves his sister Alia, herself worshipped by the Fremen and now romantically involved with Duncan, as regent for the twins, whom he has named Leto and Ghanima.

Duncan notes the irony that Chani's death and Paul's nullification have enabled them to triumph against their enemies: the Spacing Guild and the Bene Tleilaxu have been discredited, Irulan's defection from the Bene Gesserit removes the sisterhood's last lever against the Atreides, and Paul has escaped deification by walking into the desert as a man, while guaranteeing Fremen support for the Atreides line.

[11][12] Screenwriter Jon Spaihts confirmed in March 2022 that Villeneuve still planned on a third film, and TV series spin-offs to continue the Dune saga.

[14] In February 2024, Villeneuve said the script was "almost finished" but also wanted to take time to ensure his satisfaction, citing Hollywood's tendency of focusing on release dates over a film's overall quality.