Alia Atreides
Dune character
Daniela Amavia in theChildren of Dune miniseries (2003)
First appearance	Dune (1963–65)
Last appearance	Dune: Part Two (2024)
Created by	Frank Herbert
Portrayed by	Alicia Witt (1984 film) Laura Burton (2000 series) Daniela Amavia (2003 series) Anya Taylor-Joy (2024 film)
In-universe information
Title	ImperialRegent
Occupation	Reverend Mother
Affiliation	Bene Gesserit Fremen
Family	House Atreides
Spouse	Hayt (Duncan Idaho)
Relatives	Leto I Atreides (father) Lady Jessica (mother) Paul Atreides (brother) Leto (nephew; died as infant) Leto II Atreides (nephew) Ghanima Atreides (niece) Vladimir Harkonnen (grandfather) Tanidia Nerus (grandmother) Prequels: Paulus Atreides (grandfather) Helena Richese (grandmother)

Alia Atreides (/əˈliːəəˈtreɪɪdiːz/)^[1][2] is a fictional character in theDune universe created byFrank Herbert. She was introduced in the first novel of the series, 1965'sDune, and was originally killed in Herbert's first version of the manuscript.^[3] At the suggestion ofAnalog magazine editor John Campbell, Herbert kept her alive in the final draft.^[3] Alia would next appear as a main character in bothDune Messiah (1969) andChildren of Dune (1976). The character is brought back as aghola in theBrian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson conclusion to the original series,Sandworms of Dune (2007).

In the novels, Alia is the daughter of DukeLeto Atreides ofCaladan and hisBene Gesseritconcubine,Lady Jessica, and the younger sister toPaul Atreides. Born on the planetArrakis eight months after her father's death, she possesses the full powers of an adult Bene GesseritReverend Mother. Later known to her followers as St. Alia of the Knife, Alia is considered anAbomination by the Bene Gesserit because of the unique nature of her birth. As an adult, she becomes a devoted ally to Paul, and later regent for his children. She marries thegholaDuncan Idaho, but becomes possessed by the persona of her deceased maternal grandfather, BaronVladimir Harkonnen.

Alia is portrayed byAlicia Witt inDavid Lynch's1984 film adaptation, by Laura Burton in the 2000miniseriesFrank Herbert's Dune, byDaniela Amavia in its 2003 sequel,Frank Herbert's Children of Dune, and byAnya Taylor-Joy in acameo appearance inDenis Villeneuve's 2024 filmDune: Part Two.

The daughter of Duke Leto Atreides of Caladan and his Bene Gesserit concubine, Lady Jessica, Alia is the younger sister to Paul Atreides.^[4] During the events ofDune, Alia is born on the planetArrakis in the year 10,191 A.G., eight months after her father's death.^[5] Because of the unique nature of her birth she possesses the consciousness of an adult Reverend Mother; thus she is considered an Abomination by the Bene Gesserit.^[4] TheFremen womanHarah notices that four-year-old Alia "only pretends to be a little girl, that she has never been a little girl."^[4] She seeks to explain Alia's unique nature to the superstitious and wary Fremen.^[4] In the later years of her regency, Alia's enemies and victims among the Fremen call herCoan-Teen, "the female death spirit who walks without feet."^[6] An adult Alia is described by Herbert inDune Messiah:

Her features lay exposed—blue-in-blue "spice eyes," her mother's oval face beneath a cap of bronze hair, small nose, mouth wide and generous.^[7]

NovelistBrian Herbert, Frank Herbert's son and biographer, describes Alia as a "virgin witch" archetype.^[8] William Touponce explains, "Alia is the archetypal virgin-harlot, a Reverend Mother without motherhood, virgin priestess, witch, and object of fearful veneration for the superstitious masses".^[9]

InDune (1965), Alia is born a fullReverend Mother when she is exposed to theWater of Life (the bile of a drowned sandworm) in the womb as Lady Jessica undergoes thespice agony. Children born this way, called Abominations, are killed by the Bene Gesserit whenever possible because they have little defense against the personalities contained inOther Memory, the Bene Gesserit ability to access ancestral egos and memories. Without the existence of a strong personal identity, a child awakened to consciousnessin utero is highly susceptible to becoming possessed by one of her ancestors. Jessica, despite her awareness of this likelihood, brings her baby to term, and Alia slowly learns to control the powers she has been granted as Reverend Mother and sister of theKwisatz Haderach.^[4]

Alia is raised in a community ofFremen, led by her brother in an effort to control the planet and its production ofmelange. Alia is captured and the infant Leto killed in aSardaukar raid on the sietch; she is presented to thePadishah EmperorShaddam IV, who notes that she had been "in command of one of the attacking groups" of Fremen rebels ("mostly of women, children, and old men") that nearly decimated his raiding party. Mature far beyond her four years, Alia escapes during the final battle ofArrakeen, but not before pricking her grandfather, Baron Harkonnen, with a deadly, poisonedgom jabbar, also revealing her direct lineage to him in the process. Afterwards, she wanders the battlefield of Arrakeen killing fallen Sardaukar and Harkonnen soldiers with acrysknife, earning her the holy epithet "St. Alia of the Knife."^[4]

Alia uses her limitedprescience in a unique way,projecting thoughts and images into the mind of the horrified ImperialTruthsayer,Gaius Helen Mohiam. Bene Gesserit Mohiam tells the Emperor that it is "Not telepathy. She's in my mind. She's like the ones before me, the ones who gave me their memories. She stands in my mind! She cannot be there, but she is!" Alia further explains that she cannot do this with everyone: "Unless I'm born as you, I cannot think as you."^[10] Alia soon communicates with Paul the same way:

Of all the uses of time-vision, this was the strangest. "I have breasted the future to place my words where only you can hear them," Alia had said. "Even you cannot do that, my brother. I find it an interesting play. And ... oh, yes—I've killed our grandfather, the demented old Baron. He had very little pain."^[4]

Touponce suggests that Herbert's depiction of larvalsandworms (orsandtrout), which hold back water in the desert to maintain the arid conditions their sandworm vector requires to thrive, is "an analogy for a stage of consciousness Alia can feel. Some of the ancestral voices within her mind hold back dangerous forces that could destroy her."^[11]

InDune Messiah (1969), teenaged Alia is worshipped as a saint, and the avatar of Paul's religion.^[4] A 22-meter tall statue of her stands in the Grand Reception Hall of Paul's immense Grand Palace in Arrakeen, and he has built a template dedicated to her, known asAlia's Fane.^[12] Alia is further explored in the novel through her relationship with thegholaHayt, who is Paul's teacher,Duncan Idaho, brought back from the dead by Tleilaxu means. Throughout the novel, there are hints of sexual tension between them as they work together to unravel the conspiracy against theAtreides. Hayt even steals a kiss from Alia, which upsets her; he responds by saying that he took nothing more than what was offered. Alia eventually agrees. When a blinded Paul departs into the desert, as is the Fremen custom for the blind, Alia is namedRegent and the guardian of Paul's children: the heir,Leto II, and his sister,Ghanima. Shortly after, Alia marries Hayt, who has regained his full memory and is completely restored as Duncan.^[7] Alia gives the order to Fremen leaderStilgar to execute the Reverend Mother Mohiam andSpacing GuildNavigatorEdric after the failure of theirconspiracy (with theTleilaxuFace DancerScytale and thePrincess Irulan ofHouse Corrino) to seize the throne from Paul.^[7]

Touponce notes that "Alia will come to sexual maturity in [Dune Messiah] and discover an ascendant desire for a mate and political power."^[9] Hayt has been programmed by the Tleilaxu with three functions to be used against the Atreides, one of which is the seduction of Alia.^[13]

InChildren of Dune (1976), Alia becomes progressively more devious and power-hungry as she slowly succumbs to Abomination. Falling under the influence of the persona of her deceased grandfather, the Baron Harkonnen, Alia abuses her powers as Regent and becomes a ruthless tyrant. She allows the Baron access to her senses in exchange for his help fighting off the other personalities within her, but his sexual proclivities soon control her, compelling her to engage in sexual acts with one of her aides. During the exercise of hisMentat powers, Duncan comes to the realization that Alia has fallen into Abomination, and helps Jessica escape Alia's murderous plot.^[6]

The Preacher, actually Paul Atreides, returns once more to the steps of the temple and exposes Alia's conversion to Abomination to the Fremen. Her priests soon murder him, as Alia's nephew Leto II returns from hiding, his sister Ghanima in tow. The twins offer Alia their help conquering her inner lives, as they had. Alia then loses all control over the other personalities within her and they all fight for dominance over her. Leto realizes that the Baron's hold over her is too strong, and provides two options: a Trial of Possession, an ancient ritual that would guarantee the Baron's undoing; and the open window, high above the temple steps. As a helpless Jessica looks on, Alia regains control of her body long enough to leap out the window to her death.^[6]

In theBrian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson novelHunters of Dune (2006), the Face DancerKhrone manages to restore the memories of the Baron Vladimir Harkonnenghola. The Baron is displeased to note that Alia's voice haunts him in his head, somehow in a reversal of the influence he had over her while she was in the throes of Abomination inChildren of Dune. Although not possessing the body of the Baron, Alia taunts him mercilessly.^[14]

InSandworms of Dune (2007), the voice of Alia continues to irk the Baron, driving him to frequent outbursts that confuse those around him. Alia is recreated as a ghola on theno-shipIthaca; in an attempt to grow Alia exactly as she had been in life, theaxlotl tank is flooded with a near-lethal dose of the spice melange. Although the Alia ghola shows a great deal more maturity than would be expected for her age, she does not display any Other Memory or signs of Abomination. The reincarnated Baron Harkonnen murders the four-year-old Alia ghola on theIthaca, but is soon murdered himself by theWellington Yueh ghola.^[15]

Alia is portrayed byAlicia Witt inDavid Lynch's1984 film adaptation,^[16][17] by Laura Burton in the 2000miniseriesFrank Herbert's Dune^[18] and byDaniela Amavia in its 2003sequel,Frank Herbert's Children of Dune.^[19][20]

Alia appears briefly as an infant in one of Paul's visions of the future in the 2021 filmDune, which covers the first part of the book.^[21] The casting ofAnya Taylor-Joy inDune: Part Two as an adult Alia in acameo appearance was kept secret until the February 2024 film premiere in London.^[22][23]

Laura Fries ofVariety wrote in 2003, regarding the miniseries adaption of Alia, "Amavia and[Julie] Cox as the tortured Alia and the put-upon Irulan offer layered performances".^[24] Emmet Asher-Perrin ofTor.com called Amavia's portrayal of Alia a "highlight" of the miniseries, and praised the attention paid to Alia's character development.^[25] Asher-Perrin praised the miniseries' departure from the novel in regard to Alia's fate:

And rather than have Alia throw herself out a window to end her possession once and for all, the miniseries does something devastating—Alia stabs herself, and as she lies on the floor dying, Jessica takes her into her arms. In a moment of exact parallel between her child self in theDune miniseries, Alia reaches up to touch her mother's tears, tastes them, then whispers, "I want my brother," before joining him in death. It is one of those rare moments that makes the book seem clumsy and frail by comparison.^[25]

In the scripting of 2024'sDune: Part Two, directorDenis Villeneuve opted to compress the timeline of events in order to keep Jessica pregnant throughout the film, explaining that he considered it "really fresh and original to have a character who is pregnant and still a powerful woman, a central figure of the story."^[26] As a result of the change, the adaptation assigns aspects of Alia's role in the book's climax to Paul. Instead, Jessica communicates with the sentient fetus throughout the film, while an adult Alia (played by Taylor-Joy) appears in one of Paul's visions of the future.^[27] Villeneuve acknowledged "it's a strong curve that we took, but I felt that it was very close to the spirit of the book."^[26]

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