‘Dune 2’ — Who Is Anya Taylor-Joy’s Alia Atreides

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Dune: Part Two and the books Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.

The Big Picture

• Anya Taylor-Joy plays Alia Atreides, Paul’s unborn sister in
  Dune: Part Two
  .
• Alia’s larger role in the novel involves significant storylines and powers.
• Alia’s powers make her dangerous and lead to tragic consequences.

With Dune: Part Two hitting the big screen this weekend, we finally have the answer to the question: who is Anya Taylor-Joy playing? She has been present at the premieres for the new Denis Villeneuve movie over the past weeks, and only then did news of her casting come out. This created an aura of mystery around her part, but now we finally know she plays an adult version of Alia Atreides, younger sister to Timothée Chalamet‘s protagonist Paul. Alia is present only as an unborn fetus in Part Two, making her presence known by speaking to her mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), which makes for some simultaneously weird and funny moments. In the original Frank Herbert novel, however, Alia has a crucial role in the story, as well as in the future of Arrakis.

Alia Atreides Is Paul’s Unborn Younger Sister

Alia’s extremely reduced storyline is one of the main differences between the original novel and the Denis Villeneuve adaptations but, given how different the timeline is in the movie, it works. When it begins, Lady Jessica has barely found out about her pregnancy, and around seven months pass throughout the movie, so there is no space for Alia, unfortunately. However, the story of how she gets her powers is still the same in both versions.

After the Battle of Arrakeen at the end of the first movie, Stilgar (Javier Bardem) takes Paul and Lady Jessica to Sietch Tabr, the biggest Fremen city in the north of Arrakis. Paul goes on to join the Fedaykin and fight with the Fremen, while Lady Jessica, as a Bene Gesserit, is compelled to become the Fremen’s new Reverend Mother. To do so, she has to drink the Water of Life, which consists of the bile of a dead sandworm. Everything happens too fast, so the Fremen only realize Lady Jessica is pregnant after she has already drunk the Water and, consequently, her unborn baby is exposed to it. From then on, not only is Alia conscious in the womb, but she also has visions and communicates with her mother.

When we do see her as an actual person, it is through a vision. As an adult, she tells Paul that he isn’t “ready for what’s about to come,” talking about the jihad the Fremen will spread around the galaxy in Paul’s name, which will result in the deaths of more than 61 billion people. Although it’s left open, that could have been Alia herself communicating with Paul, not just a vision. Due to her exposure to the Water of Life, she has prescience levels equivalent to that of a Reverend Mother and could be reaching out to her big brother.

Alia Plays a Much Larger Role in the Novel

In the novel, there is a larger time jump of around two years between the two parts of the story. When Paul effectively becomes a threat to the Empire as the Fremen leader Muad’Dib, Alia is actually two years old already. The exposure to the Water of Life while still in the womb means she is “pre-born,” according to the Fremen, and has turned her into what the Bene Gesserit call an abomination — someone who is already born with conscience and a genetic memory of previous generations called Other Memory. Because of this, she is already born as a Reverend Mother, just like her mother.

When the second Battle of Arrakeen takes place at the end of the book, it’s Alia who does many things that, in Part Two, we see Paul doing. It’s Alia who kills Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) in the Emperor’s tent, revealing that she is his granddaughter and stabbing him with a poisoned Gom Jabbar needle. She then proceeds to playfully stab every Harkonnen soldier she finds dying on the ground, which earned her the nickname “St. Alia of the Knife” among the Fremen and Atreides loyalists. Later, when the Emperor (Christopher Walken) and his court are taken to the palace to witness Paul’s duel against Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), Alia enters the mind of Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling) and pesters the Bene Gesserit leader to the point where she can’t stand it. That’s when Alia is called an abomination, because she shouldn’t have this power, but does. Finally, after all that, she reveals to Paul her power of entering people’s minds, which is a possible explanation for his vision of her in Part Two.

As powerful as she is, though, Alia is still barely a child at her age. As such, she has a complicated time processing her emotions and feelings, as people so young shouldn’t have the awareness she has. The fact that she carries the memory of thousands of generations of Bene Gesserit Reverend Mothers is too much for such a young and still-developing mind, which is why she knows everything there is to know about pretty much everything, but can’t understand why her behavior may sometimes seem problematic.

Alia’s Powers Mean She Can Also Be Dangerous

With great powers come great responsibilities, but, as we’ve seen, Alia may not be able to carry those just yet. Being such a unique person, she isn’t really a child, but isn’t a proper adult, either. In Dune Messiah, for example, she has trouble dealing with her emotions, even as a fully grown person, and she has an on-and-off relationship with the Ghola of Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa). Once Paul vanishes into the desert, she becomes the Empire’s regent, while his children, Leto II and Ghanima Atreides, are still young. She ruthlessly deals with their enemies by having everyone executed.

Alia’s status as a pre-born also means she gets access to her ancestors’ genetic memories, and, in Children of Dune, it becomes a huge problem when the memory of Baron Harkonnen possesses her, since she is more susceptible to these things. This sets her on a slow descent into darkness, which is catalyzed by her struggle to reconcile her own identity with the overwhelming legacy of her ancestors. As she grapples with the pressures of leadership and the machinations of those around her, Alia’s powers become increasingly unpredictable, leading to tragic consequences for herself and those around her. Her journey serves as a poignant exploration of the consequences of wielding immense power without the necessary stability and self-awareness. Hopefully, we get to see it on the big screen, too.

Dune: Part Two is in theaters now.

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