Timothee Chalamet
Denis Villeneuve proved that Frank Herbert’s “unadaptable” Dune was indeed adaptable, and his film duology of the first novel was both a critical and commercial success. Despite this success, it’s still hard to imagine that the wildly weird fourth novel in the sci-fi series, God Emperor of Dune, would ever get a big-screen adaptation. Fortunately for fans of that story, there’s already an adaptation of the book told through a very unexpected medium: an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.

Mandy The Merciless

Most kids did not have the faintest idea of what God Emperor of Dune was when The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy aired its homage episode, titled “Mandy the Merciless.” The episode kicks off with Billy, Mandy, Grim, and Irwin looking into the future to see what it would be like. It turns out that the future would look a lot like the world of Frank Herbert’s Dune, with Mandy ruling the Earth as an immortal half-worm and half-human.

God Emperor Of Dune

That sounds strange at first glance, but those who have read God Emperor of Dune will immediately make the connection, as Mandy’s half-human half-worm form is a parody of Leto II, a descendant of Paul Atreides who becomes immortal and rules Arrakis for thousands of years after transforming into a half sandworm-human hybrid. So yeah, the episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy is honestly somehow less weird than the books. And if Mandy’s Leto II character didn’t make the connection obvious enough, her power is derived from cinnamon.

Cinammon Spice

Of course, you don’t have to read all the way to God Emperor of Dune to get the joke there, with cinnamon being an obvious stand-in for the spice melange. Mandy’s character isn’t the only direct character reference in this episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, as Billy plays a clone character who is a parody of Duncan Idaho. In the books, Duncan Idaho becomes a much more important figure and is continually brought back to life through cloning.

A Subtle Nod To Star Wars

Outside of the plethora of references to God Emperor of Dune, this episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy even squeezes in a Star Wars nod, a franchise that also owes a lot to Dune. Billy’s shirt frequently changes numbers throughout the episode to indicate the number of clone he is, and the first number we see is 2187, which is the cell number for Princess Leia’s cell on the Death Star in A New Hope.

Watch The Unexpected Parody Yourself

Other references include Grim playing the dual role of Moneo and Siona from God Emperor of Dune, Mandy being able to predict the future like Leto II, Billy joining the rebel forces that seek to overthrow Mandy like Duncan does to Leto II, and Mandy having a weakness to frogs. Well, that last one is a bit more of a stretch, as Leto II is actually weak to water, but that’s where frogs mostly live, so it works. Overall, this episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy is a solid parody of one of the weirdest sci-books out there and is definitely worth checking out on HBO Max if you’re so inclined.