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After production completed on the first miniseries (and before its broadcast), the Sci Fi Channel contracted writer/director
Harrison to write a sequel. Harrison's idea for the next installment was to combine Frank Herbert's subsequent novels, Dune
Messiah and Children of Dune. He has said in interviews that he believed both novels to be two parts of the same
story, which essentially concludes the story of House Atreides. Also, Dune Messiah is a fairly short book, roughly
a third the length of either Dune or Children of Dune. Thus, the name of the miniseries is somewhat of a misnomer,
as the first part dramatizes Messiah and the second and third parts portray the events from Children.
Just as the first chapter in this miniseries was generally considered more faithful to the novels than the 1984 David Lynch
film that preceded it, Children of Dune worked to correct the mistakes of its own predecessor. Some fans had complaints
about the color of the eyes of the Fremen, as they appeared to be almost fluorescent in the first Sci Fi miniseries, not the
"blue within blue" described by Herbert. The eye color was toned down in the sequel to a more accurately representative deep
but vibrant blue. This miniseries is also noted for its highly successful soundtrack, composed by Brian Tyler. It
was clearly established by Herbert and later in the Prelude to Dune prequels that Irulan is the eldest of the Corrino
sisters. However, the casting of Susan Sarandon as Wensicia suggests that her character is older than Irulan, whose portrayer
Julie Cox is a generation younger than Sarandon. The age difference does not, however, have any impact on the plot.
The miniseries involves Wensicia in Scytale's plot with the Duncan Idaho ghola; she did not appear in the novel Dune Messiah
in which that story unfolded. In the novel Dune Messiah, the Duncan ghola (therein named Hayt) is shown to be
aware of his own purpose from the beginning - one of the first things he tells Paul is that he has been created and trained
to destroy him, and he suggests that Paul should send him away. He also later tells Paul of the compulsion that he suspects
Bijaz has awakened in him, and that he believes it will lead to violence. In the miniseries however, Duncan (without any other
name) shows no knowledge of why he was created, and after the compulsion is awakened through a hypnotic and paralytic trance,
he remains unaware until it is triggered during the episode's climax. Additionally, the novel has Duncan trained as a Zensunni
philosopher as well a mentat, which gives his character a unique perspective. In the series, he is simply a mentat.
The miniseries ages Leto II and Ghanima to young adults, whereas in the book they were only nine years old when they become
actively involved in the intrigues on Arrakis. John Harrison defended this by explaining that there would have been a small
child actor pool to choose from if they kept them the same age as in the books, but if they were young adults they could cast
more talented actors. In the novel, the transformation of Leto II begins when a large number of sandtrout detect him
as a mass of water and fuse together to form a seal around his body. Leto finds that by moving his body within this new skin,
the sandtrout augment his actions, giving him enormous strength. In the series, this happens in somewhat the opposite way
- a small amount of sandtrout appear to be absorbed into his body, and the changes manifest themselves almost like an infection,
with altered skin slowly spreading across much of his upper body, and his physical abilities magnified from within rather
than externally. In the novel, a large part of Leto II's contribution to the Golden Path is the destruction of sietches'
water supplies, forcing the Fremen to return to their old ways. He also installs himself as Emperor, giving him further control
over this (his long reign is chronicled in the subsequent novel, God Emperor of Dune). In the series, it is not made
clear how the Fremen will be encouraged to change their way of life, and Leto makes no mention of becoming any kind of authority
figure. The practical details of the Golden Path are in fact left rather vague. Other minor changes include Alia's suicide
by stabbing herself; in the novel, she jumps to her death from a high window. Various other characters' deaths are similarly
altered as well, though only aesthetically. Harrison has stated in interviews that Krige was his first choice to play
Jessica in the original miniseries, but she was unavailable and Saskia Reeves won the role. Krige played the role in the sequel
when Reeves was unavailable due to pregnancy. This miniseries and its predecessor were two of the three highest-rated
programs ever to be broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel.
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