Anyone who’s read any of the Dune books, or seen any of the Dune movies, or, heck, talked to anyone who’s done any of these things will tell you: the world of Dune is complicated. This is a grand sci-fi universe built on a few millennia of royal politics, power games, manipulation and violence.
So that’s no surprise Dune: Prophecy has a lot of people to cover. It’s certainly the same universe, and is loosely adapted from Brian Herbert’s Great Schools of Dune, a prequel trilogy to his father’s series. But Prophecy It takes place some 10,000 years and changes before Paul Atreides lands on Arrakis, so there’s a whole host of new characters and traditions to establish here. The family names will almost certainly be ones you know, but the conditions of the houses will not be.
In light of that, we’ve put together a primer on who we can know from Dune: Prophecy and how they correlate with other characters in Dune.
(Ed. remark: The rest of this post contains spoilers for Dune: Prophecy season 1.)
The Bene Gesserit Sisterhood
In the pilot of Prophecy we see the Sisterhood at a few different times: Early on, we see Valya Harkonnen (then played as Jessica Barden) as a sister, called to the bedside of the dying Mother Superior Raquella. In an effort to maintain the Bene Gesserit breeding program, which is just getting started, Valya uses the Voice on fellow sister Dorotea (Camilla Marie Beeput) and makes her stick her own knife in her neck .
Flash-forward to 30 years later, when the Sisterhood is flourishing, and with Mother Superior Valya (now played by Emily Watson) still determined to do whatever it takes to preserve the Bene Gesserit vision of the universe. At her side are Reverend Mother Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams as the eldest, Emma Canning as young Tula) and Reverend Mother Kasha (Jihae), who currently serves as Emperor Corrino’s highly trusted truth-teller.
There is a group of young sisters currently studying with the Bene Gesserit, but we don’t know much about them yet. Some were raised by the Bene Gesserit, and others came when they were a little older (as Princess Ynez will); The most important thing about them right now is that Tula and Valya each have their favorites – and maybe even a plan for each of them.
You may not know the name, but you certainly know the house: Corrino is still the ruling family during the period of Dune. So the full name of Christopher Walken’s Emperor character Dune 2 is Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV. But here, 10,000 years before, Corrino’s empire is in a very different place.
It is led by Emperor Javicco (Mark Strong), who at this point is mainly concerned about how weak his position is (or could be perceived as such) and who is about to marry off his daughter. He is also quite dependent on his personal truth teller, Reverend Mother Kasha, much to the chagrin of his wife, Empress Natalya Arat (Jodhi May). She worries about the growing rift between herself and her husband (she says the empire was more stable when they were more united), and warns her daughter not to drink too much of the Bene Gesserit Kool-Aid.
But things are going well with the children: Constantine Corrino (Josh Heuston), Javicco’s illegitimate son, does not aspire to the throne and is happy to arrange some affairs on behalf of the family. Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) does everything she can to prepare herself to become an effective empress: taking sword training, enlisting in the Bene Gesserit and marrying a 9-year-old so she can have 10 years to herself .
Of course, her marriage didn’t quite work out (child dies, more on that below), and no one knows exactly where that House of Corrino or Princess Ynez remains. What Javicco constantly worries about is that his position feels vulnerable and the houses around him seem to be fighting for power. (Not to mention he’s constantly reminded of the size of his fleet, relatively speaking.) So teaming up with a major power player seems key right now…
Although Dune: Prophecy‘s pilot doesn’t go into details, we know this is a difficult time for the Harkonnens. After being labeled traitors by the Atreides during the Butlerian Jihad (the books tell us this is because the Atreides wanted to push through an attack at the expense of human prisoners, while the Harkonnens wanted to hold back, and about a hundred years later everyone can imagine anything remember that the Harkonnens are abandoned), the family has fallen out of favor. When we pick them up, the Harkonnens have been banished to a remote, icy planet.
Naturally, two Harkonnens go quite far in the Bene Gesserit. But otherwise the most important Harkonnen player is… Harrow Harkonnen (Edward Davis). He doesn’t make much of an impression at the princess’s wedding parties! Most of his personality can be reduced for now to: “the boring emperor talking about the benefits of whale farming” and “a Harkonnen with hair.”
There wasn’t much talk about House Atreides in the first episode of Prophecy. They more or less limit themselves to Valya’s voiceover, that ‘history says it was an Atreides who ‘led people to victory over the thinking machines. She claims this was a history ‘made of lies’. But this opinion of hers clearly ensures that the feud between Atreides and Harkonnen is still ongoing 10,000 years later.
But there’s already an Atreides among our cast of characters, though his house is certainly downplayed: Kieran Atreides (Chris Mason), the Princess’ sword master.
At least for now, Desmond Hart is very clear about his loyalty to House Corrino, saying in his interrogation that he “serves the Imperium, and only the Empire.” He openly admits that he killed both a child and Reverend Mother Kasha because he believed it was in the Emperor’s best interests.
While it certainly seems like there is more to know about this stranger and his powers, he now offers only vague glimpses into how he came to be: you (Valya and the Sisterhood) cannot.” When the Empress asks him if he is a prophet, he cries wistfully, “I don’t know.” There are things I can do. Beautiful… terrible things.”
According to Kasha’s and now Valya’s assessment of him, he seems to be holding something back; tell the truth as he believes it, but lie some way. So what are his true loyalties and what game is he playing? One thing seems certain: boy, oh boy, does he hate the Sisterhood.