Spoilers are ahead for Dune: Part Two.
Dune: Part Two delves deeper into the Fremen’s relationship with sandworms and how they manage to ride them, but how they mount and dismount the autotrophic animal is still a little confusing. In the first installment of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, the sandworms barely showed up on screen for a minute and a half, which was surprising given their significance in the franchise’s overarching lore. However, by limiting their screen time in the first film, Villeneuve effectively raised viewers’ excitement about their appearance in Dune: Part Two.
Unlike the first film, Dune: Part Two does not hold back from giving audiences a better look at the sandworms and how the Fremen interact with them. It also explores the intricate methods the Fremen use to ride and control the Arrakis animals. However, despite the film’s best efforts to show and not tell how the Freemen maintain a symbiotic relationship with them, some aspects surrounding how the two Arrakis forces work in tandem remain unclear.
Why Paul’s War On The Houses Is A Holy War
Dune: Part Two sees Paul Atreides and his Fremen followers launching a holy war against the Great Houses. But what exactly makes it a holy war?
How Fremen Get On (& Ride) Sandworms
What the Dune books and movies reveal
Riding the sandworms is a skill that all Fremen have to master before the age of 12. Therefore, to prove that he is one of the Fremen, Paul Arteides also hones his worm-riding skills under Stilgar’s guidance and puts his newfound learnings to the test by attempting to ride a full-fledged worm without assistance. As shown in Dune 2, Paul Arteides first lures a sandworm using a thumper that sends rhythmic vibrations into the ground. Once a worm reaches the desired location for mounting, Paul jumps on its back using “marker hooks.”
These hooks dig into the sandworms’ scales, and when pulled back, they expose the sensitive flesh underneath the scales to the sand. Once sand enters the sandworms’ scales, they move their pulled scale further up and avoid going underground to prevent more sand from entering. They also do not twist and turn when the scale is exposed to avoid getting irritated by more sand. This not only helps the Fremen stay on top of the sandworms without toppling off but also allows them to control the direction in which the sandworms are moving by carefully manipulating the degree of exposition in the scales.
How Does Someone Get Off A Sandworm?
Dune 3 will answer the mystery
Dune: Part Two gives a glimpse of how the Fremen mount the sandworms and use them to travel long distances. However, it does not reveal how they get off them. In a recent interview (via Indiewire), Denis Villeneuve hinted that he has figured out a way to portray how they dismount the desert beings but did not find it necessary to reveal how it is done in Dune: Part Two. While the director may eventually traverse his ideas to the screen, Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune already provides some answers. In the novel, a Fremen waits for the worm to get tired.
Once the sandworms get exhausted from zooming through the sands, they dig deep and sulk underground. However, before they do that, they slow down and sometimes even stop, allowing the riding Fremen to repel down from the side or walk down the worm’s tail. In most cases, however, the Fremen avoid using the tail route to get off because the worms let out extremely hot exhausts from their tails.
Dune 2’s 12 Biggest Unanswered Questions Explained
Although Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two pays off the first film’s plot, Dune 2 left some of its biggest questions unanswered, making Dune 3 a must.
Why Sandworms Are So Important To The Fremen
They have a deep history in Arrakis
Apart from being used for moving from one place to another, the sandworms have immense cultural significance for the Fremen. While several details of their origins are unknown, many groups in the Dune universe, including the Fremen, heavily depend on the spice melange produced by them. The weather conditions in Arrakis heavily contribute to the production of the spice. However, the pre-spice mass required for the final spice melange is created when the fungal excretions of larval sandworms mix with Arrakis’ groundwater. When this pre-spice gets exposed to the planet’s extreme heat and high-pressure winds, it forms the final spice.
The sandworms are also perceived as spiritual symbols by the Fremen. According to the Zensunni religious belief system, the sandworms embody the One God, explaining why they are also referred to as The Maker or Shai-Hulud (roughly translates to “Old Man of the Desert” or “Old Father Eternity”). Considering the depth of the lore surrounding the sandworms, the Dune live-action franchise could easily have a complete spin-off that explores everything from their origins to the first Fremen, Selim Wormride, who mastered the art of riding them.
Dune: Part Two
Dune: Part Two is the sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 film that covers the novel’s events by Frank Herbert. The movie continues the quest of Paul Atreides on a journey of revenge against those who slew his family. With insight into the future, Atreides may be forced to choose between his one true love and the universe’s fate.
- Director
- Denis Villeneuve
- Release Date
- March 1, 2024
- Studio(s)
- Legendary Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Writers
- Denis Villeneuve , Jon Spaihts
- Cast
- Timothee Chalamet , Zendaya , Florence Pugh , Austin Butler , Rebecca Ferguson
- Franchise(s)
- Dune
- Sequel(s)
- Dune: Part Three
- prequel(s)
- Dune
- Budget
- $122 Million
