Over a month into its run, it’s clear thatDune: Part Twois a smash hit. Within a week, it surpassed the entire domestic gross of its predecessor, remains the highest-grossing film of the year so far, and is already being considered one of the greatest sci-fi films ever made. Director Denis Villeneuve had already proved the naysayers wrong withPart One, but he surpassed himself in every way possible this time around, expertly condensing a novel once thought impossible to adapt and making it accessible to mass audiences. Expectations for therecently confirmedDune Messiahare officially through the roof.
And yet, as faithful as Villeneuve was to Frank Herbert’s beloved novel, he inevitably had to simplify plot lines and compress character arcs, even with the freedom of two whole movies. One of those plot lines that never saw the light of day might be a surprising one to fans – roughly midway through the first novel, Herbert hints at a budding romance between Fremen leader Stilgar and Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica.
The Jessica/Stilgar Subplot in Dune
Dune: Part Two
Read Our Review
In Frank Herbert’s novelDune,Lady Jessica and Stilgar’sfirst meeting plays out much like their meeting in the film. As Jessica and Paul travel across the Arrakis desert to find safety in the wake of Baron Harkonnen’s attack, they eventually encounter a small Fremen tribe led by Stilgar. While Stilgar is willing to accept Paul as one of their own, believing he could be Lisan al-Gaib, he believes that Jessica is too old to join them and tries to kill her.
However, Jessica quickly bests him in combat, and as Stilgar realizes that she’s a trained Bene Gesserit, he agrees to let her join once Paul emerges victorious from his duel. The novel starts to slightly diverge at this point, and in Herbert’s version of the story, when the tribe arrives back at their camp, Stilgar hits it off with Jessica, clearly impressed by her battle prowess. Most tellingly, he specifically notes that several of his men are jealous of the fact that she bested him in combat.
Almost immediately, Jessica realizes that he might need a wife to secure his place as a proper leader within his tribe and that he wants her to fill that role. She finds herself seriously considering the offer, as she believes an alliance between a Fremen tribeand House Atreidescould benefit everybody when striking back at the Harkonnens. However, Stilgar quickly dismisses the idea, asserting that being the best kind of leader to his men matters most to him, and he doesn’t want his people to believe that he’s too “concerned with pleasures of the flesh.”
This plot development emphasizes a couple ofDune’s key themes, specifically the idea of what makes a good leader. Stilgar’s brief temptation towards love over duty provides an interesting counterpoint toPaul’s borderline-villainous character arc, which sees him fully embrace the latter even at the cost of the former. Additionally,Dunefunctions most effectively as a deconstruction of the “white savior” narrative, and Jessica’s belief that Stilgar might need a wife to lead effectively highlights her cultural ignorance and falsely held assumptions about the Fremen’s cultural values.
Why Dune: Part Two Cuts the Brief Romance
On the one hand, it can’t help but feel like a missed opportunity for Denis Villeneuve not to explore this dynamic inDune: Part Two. Even with their handful of minutes shared inPart One, Javier Bardem and Rebecca Ferguson shared undeniable screen chemistry, and there was potential for the follow-up to go even further with it, sinceDune 2covered much less ground than the first one. Alas, Ferguson and Bardem only shared a handful of scenes inDune 2, and there is no hint of a deeper relationship.
That said, even with just the final third of a novel,Dune: Part Twohad a lot of ground to cover, given the density of Frank Herbert’s story and most of the changes Denis Villeneuve made, likeremoving key characters from the novels, came about in order to simplify the narrative. Paul’s journey from a reluctant hero into the leader of a galaxy-wide jihad was Villeneuve’s key focus for the story. Thus the primary role Stilgar plays in the film is as Paul’s earliest and most fervent believer.
In the novel, Stilgar’s dynamic with Jessica furthered another one ofDune’s key themes – the inherently flawed notion of a savior and the dangers of putting blind trust in imperfect individuals. Through their conversations, Stilgar admits part of the reason he wishes to forgo marriage to Lady Jessica is that he feels that’s the only way to focus his attention on leading his people and, more importantly, encouraging them to think for themselves without falling victim to groupthink. This adds dramatic irony to the story, as when Paul fulfills his destiny as the Kwisatz Haderach, that’s exactly what both Stilgar and his tribe do.
OG Dune Star Kyle MacLachlan Has No Interest in Returning for Dune 3: ‘I’ve Done My Dune Work’
Kyle MacLachlan portrayed Paul Atreides in David Lynch’s 1984 Dune adaptation, but the actor has no desire to revisit that cinematic universe.
So, on both a story-driven and thematically-driven level, excising this subplot was the right call on Villeneuve’s end. There’s simply too much happening in the plot for a possible romantic subplot to distractfrom Paul’s journey, and more importantly, his arc already effectively illustrates the story’s theme about the difficulties of being a leader. This conflict manifesting with Stilgar would be frankly redundant, and the same goes for another angle exploring the theme of blind faith. Stilgar is already devoted to Paul without question, so there was no need for Villeneuve to emphasize that further.
Dune Is an Adaptation Done Right
The excising of this subplot further illustrates the fact that Denis Villeneuve approachedDune: Part Twothe way one ideally should approach any kind of adaptation. He zeroed in on the novel’s themes, stayed true to the characters and emotions, expanded where necessary, andcut out anythingthat could’ve proven redundant.
While it may have been slightly disappointing to see Jessica’s dynamic with Stilgar remain mostly stagnant inDune: Part Two, it’s clear that it was ultimately what was best for the story, as evidenced by massive critical acclaim and box office success that shows no sign of slowing.Dune: Part Twois still in theaters and will be available to rent and purchase on digital starting Apr. 16, and will release on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on May 14. In addition, the film will see an extended IMAX run in select theaters on Apr. 19.
