WARNING: Spoilers Off applies to all Moments pages. There will be unmarked spoilers below.
- Stilgar's group's arrival at Sietch Tabr for the first time is a bit saddening. Especially the Death Wail of a few Fremen as they saw the body bag containing Jamis' corpse passing them. If you are familiar with the books, Jamis had a wife and a kid. Both were Adapted Out, but you can feel their grief.
- The funeral. It's no burial, but we're given a display of the rather unique process of Jamis' water being removed from his body before poured into a well. 38 million decaliters, and they had thousands of wells just like it. Each one containing waters collected from the dead. Stilgar said that the well would be filled until they had enough water. And they will know the water is enough, when the Lisan al-Gaib finally appears to turn Arrakis into a Green Paradise, and they have waited for centuries... How many have died or killed waiting for the prophecy to be fulfilled? The implication drove Jessica to shed a Single Tear.Jessica: So many souls...
- As much of a sadistic and brutal bastard and fully deserving of such a fate that he is, there's something sad about the gradual downfall of Rabban, particularly when he's forced to kiss Feyd-Rautha's foot, which Dave Bautista's acting manages to render poignant. Even his death at the hands of an enraged Gurney feels rather poignant and anti-climactic at the same time.
- One gets the sense that Rabban's cruelty and brutality is fuelled, in part, by a desire to please his uncle and his brother. Sadly for him, Feyd-Rautha and the Baron are complete sociopaths who are incapable of feeling love for anyone, leaving all of Rabban's efforts for naught. While none of this justifies Rabban's actions, it does recontextualise them and affords him a least a modicum of sympathy.
- The bombardment of Sietch Tabr and the injuries that result (particularly on children), including Stilgar - who pleads with Paul to travel south.
- The devastation is echoed in the shots of the destruction of Fremen architecture, from Harkonnen artillery pulverizing the beautiful intricately-carved interiors of the sietch to ground troops annihilating a colony of birds by blasting their nesting alcoves with flamethrowers. It painfully evokes real-life atrocities and the environmental devastation of war.
- Chani's reaction to Paul's acceptance of Irulan's hand at marriage in the effort to spare The Emperor's life is one of pain and anger, storming out and presumably riding off on a sand worm.
- One of the saddest parts is that even after Paul casually tosses off how he'll take Irulan's hand in marriage in front of everybody (and Chani's look of hurt and betrayal), he still looks at her to give himself strength during the battle and it's Feyd-Rautha's threat to give her "special attention" that gets him back on his feet for a Heroic Second Wind. And even though he's just broken her heart, she's still visibly anxious about Paul during the fight and positioned as on his side the whole time. They're still just as in love as they were before... but it doesn't matter in the end.
- Another of the saddest parts is Irulan watching this all play out, and even exchanging looks with Chani. She doesn't seem angry or contemptuous with Chani, or Paul, but you can see the realization that she (Irulan) will truly be nothing but a political pawn to the latter.
- Right after Paul defeats Feyd-Rautha, Chani gives him a desperate look, as if she's giving him one last chance to stop his plan.
- And the look on her face before the Smash to Black, as worm she called approaches. The look on her face tells a lot about the pain in her heart. And the only thing driving her not to shed tears for the loss of her people, her home, and the man she loved... is the Fremen's one rule...Stilgar: Never give your water away, not even for the dead.
- After taking the Water of Life, Paul is shown some of what his mother saw when she drank it: her earliest memory. To wit, her father the Baron looking at her with confusion and then contempt at what a bright and happy child she was, paired with baby Jessica's innocent smile faltering as if she realizes that the man at her bedside will never love her, much less keep her around.
- Overall, Paul's destiny. He tries to find ways to get around being Lisan Al Gaib, but in the end he sees no alternative, travels south, takes the water of life and leads the Fremen into war. He berated his mother (and by extension his unborn sister) regarding destiny; and Gurney regarding reinforcements, only to accept it in the end. It ended up costing him.
- For that matter, the holy war he has seen in his visions and he worked so hard to avert is nonetheless happening. He may have gotten his revenge on the Harkonnens, having killed both the Baron and Feyd-Rautha (who turn out to be his grandfather and cousin respectively), but seeing that the rest of the Great Houses refuse to acknowledge his ascension to the throne, he has no choice but to fully commit himself to his role as the Kwisatz Haderach with the full knowledge that in doing so, he has doomed millions upon millions of lives across the galaxy. The subtle reluctance in his voice when he orders Stilgar and the rest of the Fremen to "lead [the Great Houses] to paradise", and subsequent shots of them marching towards the ships and into battle, serve as a harsh reminder of what's coming.
- Oddly, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's death manages to evoke some pity. He's undeniably a monster, but throughout both films he's a dignified, proud figure and a highly intelligent schemer. However, in the film's climax, he's left crippled and helpless on the ground, all his plans foiled through no fault of his own. For as much as he brought it on himself, watching him vainly trying to crawl up the stairs leading to the Emperor's throne still tugs on the heartstrings.
