Denis Villeneuve’s cinematic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune has raked in applause and positive reviews worldwide. Starring Zendaya and Timothee Chalamet, Dune is said to be as close to the source material as possible, bringing notice to the many eerie similarities between it and another epic blockbuster, Game of Thrones.
Dune and Game of Thrones are epic series with complex lore to explore and many complicated stories to fit into a limited number of shows or movies. Now that Dune 2 has finally been greenlit after the first iteration performed well, let’s discuss the similarities that are apparent in these mega-stories.
As Herbert’s Dune was released way before George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones (Dune in 1965 and GoT in 1996), some arcs are eerily similar in both epics.
Wars of the Great Houses
It’s as if there’s a rule set in stone—to be an epic, one needs major Houses at war with each other. We have House Stark and House Lannister at each other’s throats in GoT, and House Atreides and House Harkonnen in Dune. Another rule: one has to be humble, honorable, and forgiving (which always lands them in trouble), and the other has to not mind getting their hands dirty. We all know who’s who.
Influential Religious Cults Shaping History
Like the Red Priestesses or the Sparrows in GoT, we have the Bene Gesserit group in Dune. The Bene Gesserit cult influences the people and shapes politics with their pseudo-religiousness, having people bend to them at their own will. Even the birth of Paul, aka the Kwisatz Hederach/messiah/The Chosen One, was all but a strategic manipulation. Much like people believing in Jon Snow or Daenerys being Azor Ahai. In the Dune books, Paul, the prophesied messiah, also ends up with the same fate as of the Chosen One in GoT—the precursor of millions of deaths.
The Noble Leader Who Always Dies
Only if you’re a Chosen One are you exempt from death in great stories. Ned Stark and Leto Atreides are quite similar. Both are called for duty by their “friends” the King and the Emperor. The ones who never betray others end up getting betrayed at the cost of losing their families.
The Fremen = The Free Folk
What are kingdoms without someone’s property being overtaken and them trying to liberate themselves from the injustice? GoT’s Free Folk were heavily inspired by the Fremen, the oppressed group in Dune whose desserts (and lives) are nothing but a spice mine for the superiors. In both stories, at least one female member gets into a romantic relationship with the “messiah” (Paul and Chani, Ygritte and Jon Snow). They teach them their ways, honing them into a better leader.
While it does seem like the basic plot of GoT is heavily inspired by Dune, these are also certain tropes or archetypes that are majorly seen almost everywhere. The good vs the bad, the dictator and the oppressed, the free people and the imprisoned ones.
Be as it may, one thing everyone can agree on is that both Game of Thrones and Dune are cinematic masterpieces.
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About Dune
Dune (also known as Dune: Part One) is an American sci-fi film based on Frank Herbert’s novel of the same name, directed by Denis Villeneuve.
Part One introduced the planet of Dune/Arrakis, the only place where the enhancer drug “Melange” is found and sought out by many. The Atreides House is sent to the planet as the ruling Duke, as part of their adversaries’ trap. However, the Atreides are aware of the same and aim to defend Dune and their house.
The ensemble cast is made up of Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem.
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