Full spoilers ahead for Dune, Part One! If you're wondering whether or not there's a post-credits scene in Dune, we'll tell you right here: No, there is not.
Director Denis Villeneuve’s long-awaited screen adaptation of Dune is finally upon us … but it only tells part of the saga laid out in Frank Herbert’s seminal 1965 sci-if novel.
While a sequel is far from a sure thing, Part One tells a contained story of Paul Atreides wrestling with his responsibilities as the heir to House Atreides, the awakenings of his powers as the son of a Bene Gesserit “witch” and the devastation wrought upon his family when they assume control of the planet Arrakis.
Furthermore, Paul is plagued by visions of his possible future throughout the film, a future that could see him become the messianic leader of a jihad by Arrakis’ indigenous people, the Fremen, against the Galactic Padishah Empire.
But that’s a story for Dune, Part 2 to tell. (Dune did win its opening weekend domestic box office with $40.1 million, while also setting a pandemic record for the studio for the biggest three-day opening since the company started its day-and-date strategy on HBO Max.)
Here’s where this first installment in Denis Villeneuve’s hoped-for two-part adaptation of Dune leaves off …
Does Dune Have a Post Credits Scene?
Nope, there are no post or mid-credits scenes in Dune, Part One. That said, if you're looking for more Dune action once you finish the film, you can always watch the David Lynch 1984 Dune movie, which is streaming on HBO Max right now.
Dune Movie Ending Explained
With House Atreides nearly wiped out by the Harkonnens' sneak attack on Arrakeen, the villains presume both Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), perished in a violent sandstorm while escaping in a ‘Thopter. But the duo actually survives and eventually makes contact with the same community of Fremen that Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa) and Dr. Liet Kynes (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) previously befriended. (Duncan and Dr. Kynes both die at the hands of the Sardaukar later in the film.)
The Atreides’ encounter with the Fremen definitely gets off on the wrong foot. Their leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem) and his fellow warriors, particularly Jamis (Babs Olusanmokun), are not especially welcoming despite Stilgar being reminded he previously met Paul and his father, Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac). Tensions between the Atreides and Fremen quickly escalate. Jamis wants Stilgar to eliminate these outsiders because they need their water but, ultimately, Stilgar perceives value in sparing Paul’s life. Jessica’s life? Not so much. And that’s when things turn violent.
Paul disarms Jamis while Stilgar is overwhelmed by Jessica. Paul takes the high ground and gets the drop on the Fremen, resulting in a standoff. Jamis invokes the Amtal Rule — challenging Stilgar’s leadership of their sietch since he was bested by Jessica — and issues the Tahaddi Challenge. And what’s that exactly? Mortal combat!! Paul will fight Jamis as Jessica’s champion. If Jamis wins then he will become the new chieftain — and Paul will be dead.
To make things even more unnerving for Paul, he has been plagued by visions of Arrakis since the beginning of the movie, visions that have only grown more troubling and expansive after he’s exposed to the spice Melange on Arrakis. In his visions, Paul has often seen an enigmatic young Fremen woman as well as a crysknife, the Fremen’s sacred weapon. But he has also seen Jamis in his visions where he’s not a foe but more of a mentor. Paul has even foreseen his death — stabbed by a crysknife — on Arrakis. And now here he is about to duel a man, Jamis, who also appears in his visions.
But there is another vision Paul had at one point, one perhaps even more troubling for him, where he becomes a messianic figure poised to lead the Fremen in a merciless jihad against the Empire — even attacking his former homeworld, Caladan, under the Atreides flag.
From the high ground, Paul realizes someone has had the drop on him this whole time. He turns around to finally meet the literal girl of his dreams, Chani (Zendaya), who says she would never have allowed him to hurt her friends. Moments later, as Paul preps for his duel with Jamis, Chani offers him her great aunt’s crysknife, which he recognizes as the same weapon from his visions. Chani tells Paul that, unlike other Fremen, she doesn’t believe he is the Lisan al'Gaib, their prophesied messianic figure from off-world. She also has no illusions Paul will survive a fight against a skilled fighter like Jamis but she wants him to at least die with honor by carrying the crysknife of a great warrior.
Jamis is a master of the crysknife, whereas Paul has only been trained in the dueling style befitting the use of defensive energy shields. The Fremen and their stillsuits have no such shields (as the vibration from shields would attract the sandworms and send them into a killing frenzy). While Jamis is indeed a fearsome fighter, Paul soon gains the upper hand and immobilizes Jamis, urging him to yield. But with the Fremen, that is not an option. This is a fight to the death and Paul’s reluctance to slay his opponent is initially perceived as toying with Jamis.
Jessica then reveals to Stilgar that Paul has never killed before. But Paul does what he must now and kills Jamis. With that, the boy has become a man in the eyes of the Fremen, who each give him a pat on the shoulder as a sign that Paul — and his mother — have been accepted among them.
So what of Paul’s previously envisioned death? What was the meaning of that? Paul heard a woman’s voice in those visions who said Paul Atreides had to die in order for the Lisan al'Gaib to rise. Paul’s victory also means his vision of him becoming a warmongering messiah for the Fremen could come true. His fear that this may be his inescapable fate weighs heavily on him throughout the latter part of the novel, although it’s largely left up to Chalamet’s nuanced performance to glean how he feels about his possible future.
In the film, Paul berates Jessica and the Bene Gesserit for making him a “freak” when he has the vision of leading a jihad, and yet at the end when he survives his duel with Jamis and the old woman’s words — in the book, it’s the voice of the Reverend Mother of Sietch Tabr — Paul smiles. Maybe he’s just happy he survived or maybe he’s pleased by the thought that he does indeed have a grand destiny ahead of him on Arrakis.
As the Fremen journey back across the dunes to their home with Jamis’ remains, Paul sees a Fremen riding a sandworm through the desert. Chani turns to Paul and smiles — a sunny image he has often seen in his dreams — and declares: “This is only the beginning.” And that’s how Dune, Part One ends.
Interestingly, Dune, Part One never depicts the portion of Herbert’s novel where Paul takes the name of Paul Muad'Dib — in the books, he is also given a nickname, Usul, that the Fremen will only use among themselves — so it’s possible Part Two will cover that.
But do you think we’ll actually get Dune, Part Two? Let us know in the comments!
And for more on the sci-fi epic, check out our Dune review and this exclusive look at creating the makeup and costumes of the Harkonnens.
October 25, 2021: This story has been updated with the latest information about Dune Part 1 and Dune Part 2.