10 Crazy Things About Paul Atreides You Don’t Know

Ever since the release of Dune Part 2, many people have taken to social media to hail the incredible performance of Timothée Chalamet, who starred as Paul Atreides. However, there are many secrets about Paul’s character only a few know. Today, we will dive into the mysterious life of Paul Muad’dib Atreides.

Warning: Potential Spoilers Ahead!!!

Paul Atreides Was to Be a Woman

The Bene Gesserit were the most powerful political organization in the “Dune” universe. Not many people know their power was so great that they designed the lineage of great lords and kings.

When the Bene Gesserit started their campaign to create the Kwisatz Haderach, they ensured that each bloodline was perfect so the super being they wanted to make would come after Paul Atreides. Lady Jessica, Paul’s mother, was ordered to ensure that her child with Leto was a girl so she could be married to Fyeu Rautha and create a great one with clairvoyance across space and time.

However, Jessica, out of love for Leto, disobeyed the commands of her order; this led to Paul’s birth and the destruction of the Bene Gesserit’s plans to be the ones who could control the Kwisatz Haderach.

Paul Atreides Had No Friends His Age

At the start of “Dune,” Frank Herbert introduced Paul’s character to readers. However, something felt off, there were no 15-year-old boys close to him; this was intentional as he never had friends his age.

As the heir to Caladan, Leto Atreides prevented his son from mingling with boys his age; this was due to fear of an assassination attempt. Some believe the lack of friends in his age group was part of why Paul Atreides was always so solemn.

He Was Super Evil

After Dune 2’s release, many went online to say how awesome Paul Atreides was. However, people fail to realize how evil Paul was in the books.

When the Muad’Dib gained clairvoyance across space and time, he saw something only a person with that power could have known. He saw that humanity’s future was in grave danger from foes earlier thought to be defeated.

Before humans left Earth, the Thinking Machines gained control over everything, and it took a great battle called the Butlerian Jihad to end their reign. Paul saw that these foes were not destroyed and knew he had to gain total control over the Padishah Empire to save humanity.

With domination in his mind, he sent out the Fremen to lead a jihad on the entire universe; this resulted in the death of 62 billion people in just 12 years. With the jihad, Paul gained total control over Spice Melange production.

He Was A Supercomputer

Many people who watched the second installation of Dune and have not read the novels have very little knowledge of its universe. Because there are no computers or machines in “Dune,” humans have to perform advanced calculations. Those who do this are called Mentats.

Besides having clairvoyance across space and time, Paul Atreides was also a mentat. His ability to perform incredible calculations at the same speed as supercomputers gave him superior intellect on the battlefield.

The Tragic Story of Paul Atreides’s Sister, Alia Atreides

Alia Atreides was the second child of Duke Leto II Atreides and Lady Jessica. She was still in Jessica’s womb when she took the Water of Life and became a reverend mother. Her mother’s ingestion of spice caused her to have powers before being born.

Alia had a tragic life that was the result of her mother’s decisions. She fell into one of the worst tortures, called The Abomination; this made the egos of her ancestors, particularly Vladimir Harkonnen, torment her.

Though Alia suffered, she still ruled in place of her brother, who walked into the desert after losing his powers. She eventually killed herself by jumping from a high building.

Frank Herbert Hated Paul Atreides

It’s not every day you learn an author hates his main character with so much vigor.

After Frank Herbert released “Dune,” many people fell in love with Paul Atreides; this irked Frank Herbert so much because he wanted to write a story about the vile nature of humanity’s struggle for limited resources.

Frank decided to do a 180 flip on Paul’s character, as in the next novel, “Dune Messiah,” he showed just how evil Paul became. Frank held no strings back and destroyed Paul. Eventually, the great-proclaimed messiah became a blind man who died on the streets alone.

Paul Was 15 At the Start of Dune Novel

One thing movie adaptations do is that they increase their characters’ age due to acting limitations.

In the novels, Paul Atreides was 15 years old when everything started. For all the people he killed and the world he conquered, he did not reach age 50, as he died at 43.

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Paul’s Son, Leto II Atreides, Was Way Worse

You must be wondering, what more could someone possibly do to be worse than a man who ended the lives of over 60 billion people? Well, one could do way worse as Paul Atreides’s son did.

Leto II Atreides was one of two children born to Paul and Chani. He and his sister, Ghanima Atreides, were infants when their father became blind and walked into the desert.

With Paul gone, his wife, House Corrino, began scheming to end Leto II and Ghanima so they could return to the throne.

However, Leto and his sister, who were clairvoyant, planned to save themselves and House Atreides as Paul’s sister, Alia, had already been possessed by the ego memory of her grandfather, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.

Leto II eventually left his sister and entered the desert, where he gained the sandworms’ powers; this effectively made him immortal.

Upon returning and claiming the throne, Leto married his sister, Ghanima, and began ruling the universe. Because he saw and realized the true golden path, Leto knew he had to be a tyrant, and so for the next 3,500 years, his reign was so brutal that some compared Paul’s jihad to a picnic.

By the time Leto had successfully put humanity on the golden path, he planned for himself to die; this resulted in the Great Scattering, where humanity dispersed into the crevasses of space.

Paul Was Never The Kwisatz Haderach

Throughout “Dune,” the Bene Gesserit thought Paul was the Kwisatz Haderach as he gained clairvoyance. However, they did not know that none of the Atreides were the Kwisatz Haderach.

After the Thinking Machines’ destruction, it was revealed that Duncan Idaho was the true Kwisatz Haderach.

Many people argue the premise of Duncan’s legitimacy as the Kwisatz Haderach because it was not in Frank Herbert’s works. For people who do not see Brian Herbert’s work as conical, Leto II Atreides was the true Kwisatz Haderach; this is very legitimate as he was the one who put humanity on the true golden path.

How Paul Muad’dib Atreides Died

Paul Atreides died in “Children of Dune.” After getting blinded in an assassination attempt, he walked into the desert, leaving the empire in the hands of his sister, Alia Atreides.

When his son, Leto II Atreides, entered the desert, they reunited and headed to Arrakeen, where Paul preached against Alia and her fanatical followers. Under the influence of an ego memory that possessed her, Alia ordered her priests to kill Paul, and he got stabbed to death.

Conclusion

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