Dune: 10 Things Only Book Readers Know About Gurney Halleck

Gurney Halleck is one of the most popular characters in the Dune novel and movie, in the latter of which he is played by Josh Brolin in one of his most likable roles.Though he only appears in a few scenes in Denis Villeneuve’s movie adaptation, he plays a much larger role in both the original book and its sequels.

In the books, he is not only a loyal servant to the Atreides but also a fascinating character with his own backstory and his own set of skills that allow him to survive the downfall and eventual resurrection of the family he serves. However, not every detail from the original novels made it into the movie.

10 He Has A Scar From The Harkonnens

One of the most notable things about the Gurney Halleck of the movie version is that he lacks a physical feature that was very prominent in the novels: a scar from an inkvine whip. As the books reveal, particularly in the prequels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, he was actually a slave on the Harkonnen home world of Giedi Prime, and he was given that scar by none other than Rabban Harkonnen, the Baron’s villainous and brutal nephew. This helps to explain why, in the movie, he remains an inveterate and avowed enemy of the Harkonnens and why he remains so steadfastly loyal to the Atreides, even when they are on the brink of defeat.

9 He’s A Very Talented Musician

The movie version of the book also downplays another important element of Gurney’s character, i.e. his ability to play the bassinet. Indeed, his ability to create beautiful music is considered by some of the other characters, including and especially Duncan Idaho (played by the likable Jason Momoa in the movie version) to be as important as his skills with the sword. This detail in the book helps to humanize Gurney, showing that there is more to him than just bloodshed and violence, and so it’s especially remarkable that it is largely absent in the movie version. Even if the movie Gurney doesn’t sing, he’s still one of Josh Brolin’s most likable characters.

8 He Eventually Becomes A Spice Smuggler

After the fall of House Atreides at the hands of the Harkonnens, Gurney emerges as one of the few to survive relatively unscathed. As readers know, he wasn’t the type of person to just sit around and wait for things to happen, and so he fled into the desert and became a spice smuggler.

Eventually, he would come into contact with Paul again and would become as faithful a servant to him as he was to his father. Though this hasn’t appeared in the first movie, now that a sequel has been officially announced it will hopefully appear, so that viewers will fully appreciate just how much of a survivalist Gurney remains even after the Atreides defeat and exile.

7 He Initially Believes Jessica Betrayed Leto

The death of Leto at the hands of the Baron Harkonnen (one of the movie’s most powerful characters) was a cataclysmic event, and not just because it destroyed one of the Imperium’s most respected figures. It also created cracks and dissension to arise in the ranks of the House itself, and Gurney, with his suspicious mind and his ability to see the big picture, long assumed that it was the Lady Jessica who was responsible for the betrayal that cost his lord his life. So great was his assumption of her guilt that he almost murdered her. This is another aspect of the story that will hopefully appear in the sequel, as it helps to establish not only Gurney’s loyalty to his master, even after his death, but also sets the stage for his eventual romance with Jessica.

6 He Returns At The End Of The Series As A Ghola

As the Dune series goes on, the original characters largely pass away and are replaced by new ones. However, many of them are later returned in the form of gholas, which are essentially clones created by the group known as the Tleilaxu. In certain circumstances, these clones can also have their memories from their past lives restored. Unfortunately, in the sequels written by Herbert’s son and his coauthor, the ghola of Gurney is destroyed before it can be reborn. His ghola’s destruction is another of those moments where the reader is left wondering just how things might have turned out differently if one of history’s greatest warriors had managed to be resurrected to aid in the final conflict between humans and thinking machines.

5 He Later Returns To Caladan And Giedi Prime

After Paul succeeds in taking over the Imperium with his legions of Fremen, he dispatches Gurney back to the home world of Caladan, which was originally ruled by the Atreides before they were sent to Arrakis to take over the production of the spice. He was, unsurprisingly (given that he’s one of Dune‘s most powerful characters), an effective ruler, as was also demonstrated by the fact that he was given control over Giedi Prime, the Harkonnen homeworld, which he rejuvenated after years of misrule and brutal oppression by his predecessors. This detail, which may appear in a potential third movie, gains special resonance, as it shows that a part of Gurney was always determined to return to his home world and undo the tremendous damage inflicted by generations of Harkonnens.

4 He Becomes An Ally Of Stilgar

A key part of Paul’s heroic journey is becoming the ruler of the Imperium but, as the leader of a movement that spreads out across the Known Universe, he knows that he needs to rely upon a team of allies, and that’s where Stilgar and Gurney become invaluable. Gurney becomes one of Stilgar’s chief allies as the Fremen becomes key to the cult of personality and religion that adheres around Paul after his victory.

He also plays a role in the rule of Paul’s son, Leto II (book readers know that Paul has two children with Chani). This demonstrates not only that he knows how to form alliances with those who will be advantageous, but also that his loyalty to the Atreides family line remains durable even after most of the original members of the family have died or disappeared.

3 He Might Have Become Lovers With Jessica

One of the most surprising aspects of Gurney’s subsequent actions in the series concerns his relationship with the Lady Jessica. Despite the fact that he once thought that she might have been the one that betrayed Leto to the Harkonnens, the two of them become lovers.

However, this is never explicitly stated but rather heavily implied, which is in keeping with the fact that the two of them preferred to keep their relationship secret from the world (hardly surprising, considering that Jessica was one of the most important people in the Imperium). As of now, there hasn’t been much interaction between these two characters in the movies, but if the sequels decide to emphasize this, it will help to show the powerful bond that the two of them shared, united as they were in their love and loyalty to Leto.

2 He Learned To Ride Sandworms

More than anything else, Gurney Halleck was known for being a survivor and an incredibly brave character in Dune. No matter what life (or the Harkonnens) threw at him, he managed to emerge victorious. Among his many skills was the ability to adapt to new circumstances, and that included him adopting the practices of the Fremen.

Given that the Fremen’s ability to ride the enormous sandworms was one of their key skills, Gurney eventually learned how to do that as well, demonstrating once again just how adept he was at whatever he decided to try. Hopefully, viewers will get to see more of the sandworms and their riders in the sequel movie, which would give this character a chance to show off his formidable skills.

1 He Wasn’t Considered Attractive

Given that he’s played by Josh Brolin in the new movie version of the movie, viewers might think that the character was considered handsome in the books. However, the original novel goes into a great deal of detail describing Gurney’s physical appearance, and it’s clear that he wasn’t considered handsome. In fact, he was actually rather ugly, and his appeal, to both Jessica and others, stemmed more from the power and magnetism of his personality and his formidable fighting skills. This is an especially notable change, since Brolin’s traditional movie star handsomeness allows the character to be more straightforwardly appealing than his novel counterpart.

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