Why Paul Atreides And Chani's Child Is Missing In Dune 2

The two-part "Dune" movie experience is fast-paced and full of action. Its story also plays out within a matter of months, with minimal disruptions in the timeline as you go along. The sands barely shift between parts one and two, and the movie even skips right over a multi-year time jump at one point later in the story.

In author Frank Herbert's original writing, years go by during Paul's initial foray into the arid regions of Arrakis. In that time, along with becoming one of the Fremen brethren, he and Chani fall in love and have a child whom they name Leto II (after Paul's late father). Poor Leto isn't long for this world, though, as the baby is killed in a Saudaukar raid in a heartbreaking book subplot that was cut from "Dune: Part Two." While the omission of baby Leto II is obvious, the reasoning behind his absence was less so — that is, until the movie's co-writer, Jon Spaihts, set the record straight on why they went for the condensed timeline version.

In an interview with Inverse, Spaihts explained that, while Leto II's death is tragic, it's never front and center. Readers never meet Paul and Chani's firstborn son, and his passing takes place elsewhere in the story. Spaihts added:

"[Paul] has grief about it, but has little time for that grief because in the middle of conducting a war. So the arrival and departure of that off-stage baby barely ruffles the waters of the novel itself, and really would've been a peculiar distraction in the film."

Rather than beef up something that even the original author chose to pass over with minimal attention, Spaihts and director Denis Villeneuve chose to focus on the blooming romance between Chani and Paul — doubtless leaving their other children to take center stage in the upcoming sequel "Dune: Messiah," which Villeneuve is very much looking forward to making.

Alia (played briefly by Anya Taylor-Joy in a vision in "Dune: Part Two") is also a youngster whose storyline is mangled by the time-related adjustments in the cinematic adaptation. She remains in utero throughout both movies, and her mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), is shown talking to her after the pair accidentally become Reverend Mothers of the Fremen together.

Along with removing baby Leto II from the script, condensing the timeline made it impossible to progress the story fast enough to even get Alia out of the womb. Unlike the less consequential side story of Leto II, though, Alia's unholy evolution is one of the key elements of the "Dune" story and a major point where the movies deviate from Herbert's books. In the written version, Alia is not just alive but running around in very creepy toddler form by the end of the first book. She's even seen scampering around the battlefield when Paul overthrows the Padishah Emperor and her tiny hand (infused with the experience of countless Reverend Mothers before her) is the one that stabs and poisons Baron Harkonnen — something Paul does personally in the movie version.

While Alia's story is delayed by the timeline crunch, rest assured that she'll show up in full form in "Dune: Messiah." Sadly, her nephew won't have that chance — though his twin younger siblings, Ghanima and Leto Atreides II (yes, a different Leto II) should have a good shot at making the cut this time around.