So Paul has that black cloak that he wears for the end of the movie, right? We all know the one.
The first time he has it on is after he wakes up from drinking the Water of Life, in the "we're Harkonnens" conversation with Jessica. He wears it for the rest of the movie.
I never particularly questioned how this cloak showed up on the scene cause like, we get it. It came from the Symbolism Closet. Black is associated with the Harkonnens, sure, but it's also the color of the Atreides formal dress Paul wears in Part One and the color the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother wears. Black is the color of power.
But then I was looking at this production photo from the Part Two art book:
and now I'm obsessed with the idea of the cloak being one of the layers of Jessica's costume--either the dark layer that we can see under the white/gray and brownish fabric, or the layer under that.
Just imagine her wrapping him up in it at some point, as he's recovering from being mostly dead. It's motherly and intimate and it might seem like comfort. But also she's claiming him, because she won. Giving him one layer of the many many layers of fabric that she's wearing by the end, isolating her from everyone else. Literally putting the mantle of power on his shoulders and making it look like love.
peer reviewed tag @fuckyeahisawthat