The planet Caladan features strongly at the beginning of Denis Villeneuve's Dune, but what happens to the planet after the Atreides leave it?
Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Dune and Dune 2
Despite playing a prominent role in the early part of the movie, it's unclear what happens to Caladan in Dune after House Atreides leaves for Arrakis. The lush, oceanic home-world of the Atreides at first seems like it might be of significance in the story. A large chunk of the movie's initial character development and exposition takes place there, and the planet includes a number of potentially important settings like Castle Caladan and the graveyard of all the deceased Atreides Dukes, but the characters never return in part one of the Dune movie. However, while the narrative focus shifts to Arrakis, Caladan is still crucial to the wider Dune saga.
In fact, the only time Caladan is pictured again in the film is in one of Paul's visions shortly after his father dies. He foresees a genocide in his father's name sweeping across the universe, and the images show armies of armor-clad soldiers with the Atreides banner saluting Paul and Chani as they look down from an aircraft above Caladan. While this image is only prophetic, it still hints at Caladan's significance. However, according to the books, Caladan continues to play a part in the story after the Atreides leave.
The fate of Caladan is actually revealed in the 1965 Dune novel by Frank Herbert as well as in the expanded literature of the Dune universe. After the Atreides are ordered to vacate their ancestral home, control of the planet is handed to Count Hasimir Fenring – a character yet to be introduced in Denis Villeneuve's adaptation. Later on in the story, however, Caladan comes back into play when Lady Jessica returns there, and the books actually clash with Paul's vision in the movie.
After Duke Leto is killed in the Dune books, the Padishah Emperor appoints Count Fenring as siridar-absentia of Caladan, a sort of temporary governor who runs the planet until its long-term fate is decided. Fenring is a well-known assassin, Mentat, and political advisor to the emperor, but his rule on Caladan is relatively short. After Paul orchestrates his rise to the Golden Lion Throne, Lady Jessica and Gurney Halleck return to Caladan, and Fenring is banished along with the former emperor to Salusa Secundus.
In later years of Paul's theistic reign, the planet becomes important again due to its religious value for Paul's followers. The desire to make a pilgrimage to the birthplace of Muad'Dib reestablishes Caladan as a key planet in Dune, but under Jessica's orders, none of the jihadis are ever allowed to set foot on the planet because she doesn't want it marred by their holy war. This means that either Villeneuve plans to go in a different direction with the ultimate fate of Caladan during the jihad, or that Paul's vision was simply more symbolic than literal, like many others in the film. This is the more likely option, in fact, with Caladan serving to represent the destruction of everything Paul's father stood for at the hands of his followers.
Although Caladan only ends up playing a fairly small role in Denis Villeneuve's Dune, the planet could easily come back later in the series with significant implications. Although the books outline one fate for Caladan, it doesn't have any massive effect on the main storyline, leaving Villeneuve room to tweak what happens to the planet if he chooses. It's unlikely that Caladan will even appear in part two of Dune since the story still focuses on Arrakis at that point, but later installments could show the fate of the Atreides' home.
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