“Dune: Part Two” opens in its opening minutes with an image of Alia Atreides’ embryo, who later in the film communicates with her mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) from the womb and Paul (Timothée Chalamet) later in a vision as a youngster adults (surprise cameo: Anya Taylor-Joy) appears. The use of the character in Denis Villeneuve’s science fiction epic deviates sharply from Frank Herbert’s novel ‘The Desert Planet’ and already leaves a lot of room for speculation about Alia’s return in the possible third part ‘Dune: Messiah’.
We explain the main differences between Alia in the book and the film, and why Denis Villeneuve decided to make this big change. We’ll also tell you how important the character in “Dune 3” could become to Paul and the universe and how the surprise casting of Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”) fits into that.
Embryo instead of toddler
In the first part of “Dune” we learn that Lady Jessica is carrying an unborn child. When she finally drinks the Water of Life to become the Venerable Mother of the Fremen in “Dune: Part Two”, Alia also comes into contact with the powerful poison in her mother’s womb. In this way, not only Jessica, but also Alia acquires the Venerable Mother’s abilities to look into the past of all her female ancestors.as if she had experienced it herself. In the film, Alia, as an embryo, has not only complete but also expanded consciousness and can communicate with Jessica from the womb. She remains there until the end of the film and only appears in a vision to Paul as a born human when he drinks the water of life himself.
However, in Frank Herbert’s novel, Alia is born during the course of the story and can communicate with her mother and Paul as a toddler, while she is more mentally mature. She is eventually captured during a Harkonnen raid and meets Emperor Shaddam IV and the Venerable Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, who describe her as an oddity. She plays a central role in the final battle against the hated House Harkonnen by being responsible for the death of Baron Vladimir by the poisonous needle Gom Jabbar.
In Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two,” Paul is instead tasked with killing Baron Vladimir (Stellan Skarsgard), which comes with his burning desire to avenge his father’s death. In his vision, as he drinks the water of life, he meets the adult Alia, who explains to him that he now knows the past and future of his house. Paul later reveals to his mother that he saw that they are descended from the House of Harkonnen and that Jessica is the Baron’s daughter. Alia was part of this revelation in his vision, which indirectly links Paul’s murder of the baron. In Frank Herbert’s novel, Paul has this revelation much earlier, without Alias’ intervention, when he first comes into extensive contact with the Spice on Arrakis.
Therefore, Alia remains unborn in the film
In an interview with Denis Villeneuve explained the decision to change Alia’s character unlike the original novel and spoke about still respecting the spirit of the original:
Alia will be so important in ‘Dune 3’
In Frank Herbert’s novel “Dune Messiah”, which will probably serve as the basis for Denis Villeneuve’s third “Dune” film, Alia plays a very central role. After a time jump of about twelve years, she helps Paul resist the conspiracy against the House of Atreides, as she struck up a romance with Duncan Idaho — who was played by “Aquaman” star Jason Momoa in “Dune.” The Bene Tleilax, a group of genetically modified humans from the planet Tleilax, bring the deceased soldier back to life to oppose Paul’s rule. Alia would initially be an important ally for Paul as he progressed – until his fate increasingly takes him in a different direction…
The casting of Anya Taylor-Joy as Alia Atreides suggests that this further development of the character in the book series will also be seen in the potential “Dune 3” film. Since the stars of “Queen’s Gambit” and “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” probably wouldn’t have agreed to such a small role in “Dune: Part Two,” if she hadn’t been promised a more expansive future in the franchise. So we can expect Taylor-Joy to appear as Alia again in Dune 3: Messiah, should Villeneuve ultimately get the greenlight for the film.