Schlop and I have been working all week (with some help from Lee and DJ) to put together this epic research project that dives deep into the Pillows of Dune!
Research questions we set out to answer:
* Who has the fluffiest pillow?
* Do you get better pillows when you become Duke?
* Did the Atreides family bring their pillows from Caladan to Arrakis? Or did they get Harkonnen leftover pillows?
* Did Dr Yueh stash any pillows in that backpack?
Let our adventure begin!
The movie opens with a blank screen and this sentence which is clearly a hint that pillows and sleep are the most important aspects of the film we are about to watch:
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/aejFfIU.png)
Then after the title screen, we immediately cut to this important view of Paul and his pillow on Caladan.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/TqbAJ5L.png)
As you can see his pillow looks pretty soft and comfy. He is sleeping on it in an unconventional way, as Schlop noticed immediately. Most people use pillows only for their heads, but he is also resting his torso on it too. Must be a big pillow!
Here's another angle. Looks pretty soft!
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/ceOlOMR.png)
In this next shot we see that Paul is actually hugging his pillow like a stuffie friend, hoo hoo.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/ouBWxS2.png)
As Paul gets up, you can see that the pillow has good squishability. You can also see that the top texture is kind of couch-like and not very satiny which will be relevant later.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/DmUBXdf.png)
Paul finishes sitting up and the pillow floofs back to its full size, so you can see it looks quite comfy. (A film buff might also note how the color has changed in the shot as Paul leaves his dream-state and enters his conscious-state.)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/juKMiba.png)
Now the movie talks about non-pillow things for a while but returns a half hour later to show Paul having another night of sleep.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/6SLuxpL.png)
His Mom wakes him up for the gom jabbar test, but here you can see he is again hugging the pillow like a stuffie. Note the pleated sides of the pillow, that will also be important later.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/EQmfGw0.png)
Now our heroes move to Arrakis!
Arrakis is a land of few objects and mostly sand, so it's important for us to pay particular attention to any soft and cozy items that might be found in their new home.
Paul gets a pretty sweet upgrade to a room with a projector! He also appears to have some giant pillows now that are not quite bean bags but much bigger than ordinary pillows. You can see them on his right from two different angles.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/GowVHiS.png)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/FfGYvXc.png)
Schlop could sure see sleeping on those! What a real pile of giant pillows that is. Paul definitely got a pillow upgrade in this move to a new planet. These are most likely leftover Harkonnen pillows since those Harkonnen are much bigger and need bigger pillows! Here are some more shots of them as he leaps away and you can see them resting on their own.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/5Y70GOu.png)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/IoJwuO1.png)
Then we have a moment where Shadout Mapes bring a new giant fuzzy blanket to Paul. Wow, what a great new life Paul has here on Arrakis! Schlop can't wait to nap on those giant pillows with that soft blanket!
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/HnBlk2C.png)
Later on Paul is resting after being too active. We've had some debate about whose room this is but notice that pristine soft pillow on the end of that bed... Schlop could see sleeping on that! Let us know if you Dune-savvy bears have ideas about whose room this is.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/nQQ2nPY.png)
Ok enough with Paul's pillows, let's take a look at what Duke Leto gets to sleep on. We didn't get to see Leto's pillows on Caladan, but let's see what he has here on Arrakis. In this opening shot, we can tell his pillow looks pretty shiny right off the bat.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/wukYH59.png)
You can't see much from this angle, but we are including it for completeness.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/CEqu0yd.png)
Here we get our first great look at Leto's pillow. It definitely has similar pleated sides to the one Paul had on Caladan. But it has a much shinier satiny top compared to Paul's.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/udmpQnv.png)
One might argue that Paul and Leto have the same pillows and Paul just had his flipped over to the cooler side that Duddles always prefers, but I think that Leto definitely has an upgraded fancier satin version of Paul's pillow. It certainly makes us think they brought this pillow from Caladan though!
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/Uq9iJbG.png)
Meanwhile, it's a bit tragic that Lady Jessica sleeps without any blankets! Schlop thinks she should ask Shadout Mapes to bring her a fuzzy one. Schlop of course needs 10-15 blankets or he can't sleep at all!
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/9FWe2iB.png)
Later we get an empty shot of Leto and Jessica's bed and you can better appreciate how gigantic these pillows are, which again points to them being the same pillows from Caladan. Schlop still wishes they had more blankets on their bed though!
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/OAZmsAh.png)
Meanwhile here is a shot of Paul sleeping on his real pile of bean bag pillows.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/hOoV6MK.png)
Here it is from another angle where you can't quite tell how soft the pillows are, but again, including for completeness.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/P4s83eK.png)
Paul and his Mom get abducted which they tell us about by giving us an empty shot of his bed. Here we can definitely see these giant bean bag pillows are totally different from the Caladan ones and definitely a major upgrade.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/85aOued.png)
Now our heroes have left home!
The rest of the movie does not take place in any house with beds, but there are still some important pillow questions as our heroes traverse the dunes of Dune.
The first stop is a secret underground base and it begs the question if there are any beds here. In this shot we see Dr Kynes touching a soft blanket which we at first thought was a bed of some sort. But on further reflection, we think this was just thrown over the plant laboratory area to keep it hidden. Still it's important to note that there are soft blankets in this hideout and a bed might be able to be constructed with them!
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/7jD1mo2.png)
Paul and his Mom flee into the desert and use a secret backpack that Dr Yueh left them. Inside is a special tent that keeps them safe in the dunes. Schlop and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if this all-inclusive survival-kit contained any pillows. Here we have a shot of Lady Jessica sleeping on what looks like a potential pillow inside the tent.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/Bcvfjpz.png)
Upon further inspection we think that our heroes actually are just sleeping on sand, perhaps with a light layer of fabric over that sand. But Jessica sure has created a smooth pillow-like place to sleep on the sand. Good thing she is using her Bene Gesserit powers to smooth out the sand for maximum sleep comfort!
Alright, this concludes our exhaustive research project on the Pillows of Dune.
There was a lot to look into, so we are open to any and all counter-arguments, edge-cases, side-points or corrections! This was only our first attempt at solving the mysteries of soft things on Arrakis.
The answers:
* Who has the fluffiest pillow?
Paul on Arrakis!
* Do you get better pillows when you become Duke?
Yes! They are satin-lined.
* Did the Atreides family bring their pillows from Caladan to Arrakis? Or did they get Harkonnen leftover pillows?
Both! Paul got new ones, Leto kept the old ones.
* Did Dr Yueh stash any pillows in that backpack?
No!
We hear from Shnoodles that the sequel will mostly involve desert caves and more sand so we are not optimistic there will be more pillow news in the second half, but we will remain ever vigilant just in case!