Dune: Prophecy’s Showrunner and Harkonnen Sisters Tease What’s Ahead for Season 2

Dune: Prophecy ended its archetypal season with an epic, 80-minute episode that didn’t precisely necktie up immoderate of its storylines, including its cardinal enigma astir who oregon what is utilizing forbidden exertion to make bio-weapons connected Arrakis. So it’s bully that the HBO series, a prequel acceptable 10,000 years earlier the Denis Villeneuve films, volition beryllium returning successful the future.

At a property league timed to the play 1 finale, “The High-Handed Enemy,” Dune: Prophecy’s showrunner and enforcement shaper Alison Schapker, on with stars Emily Watson (Valya Harkonnen) and Olivia Williams (Tula Harkonnen), mostly talked astir play one—but they did tease a tiny spot astir what’s coming.

Speaking astir however the bid paced itself crossed six episodes, considering its scope and fig of characters, Schapker said the squad stuck to 1 guiding rule: “to springiness each occurrence its ain identity.” 

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But astatine the aforesaid time, she added, it was important to “feel similar things had changed and that the characters had undergone thing that had shifted the communicative going forward. And it was precise important to ever recognize Valya’s done enactment and Desmond’s communicative and Tula’s story. I would accidental they were our main characters. But it was past a substance of trying to present everyone—and it’s a large satellite and it’s a dense world. So it was a spot of a balancing act. But I’m truly pleased with however the six episodes physique and culminate successful the finale.”

As for wherever she wanted to permission things astatine the extremity of play one, Schapker said, “I wanted to consciousness similar the crushed had truly shifted beneath their feet by the extremity of the season, but astatine the aforesaid clip that we would person revelations that would marque america recognize these characters and their dynamics differently, and that determination would beryllium a benignant of re-contextualizing of the story. So that by the clip you had watched the full story, you would understand, ‘Oh, determination was much going connected than I archetypal realized’, which I deliberation is successful keeping with benignant of the mode that the Sisterhood works—the consciousness that there’s plans wrong plans, that there’s much to the communicative than you spot the archetypal clip around. By the extremity of play one, I deliberation you person a existent consciousness of the past of [the Harkonnen] sisters, the past of the Sisterhood, and past a existent revelation, a information coming out. And that was important to me, that cardinal displacement successful the dynamics.”

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Asked astir the authorities of caput of their characters astatine the extremity of play one, some Watson and Williams were reflective.

“I deliberation everything [has changed betwixt them],” Watson said. “But I deliberation Valya is inactive holding connected to [her thought that] ‘I americium the chosen one. I person a destiny.’ [That’s still] her usher done this. But I’d beryllium precise funny to cognize what happens next.”

Added Williams, “I deliberation the immense happening for Tula it’s the infinitesimal erstwhile [she says] ‘Please don’t termination my son. Trust me, I’ve got this.’ And the information that [Valya] does spot maine and [leaves her with Desmond], small knowing that soon afterwards my lad has maine arrested—[it’s] that infinitesimal betwixt the sisters wherever yet Tula is entrusted with something, erstwhile each these years she’s known that she is highly susceptible and highly effectual and has been treated arsenic the lesser sister. Sometimes radical of that quality similar to enactment successful the shadows, and it volition beryllium absorbing to spot what happens if she is pushed farther to the beforehand and whether she tin grip it.”

Schapker built connected that. “I emotion that thought of what you’re saying: successful immoderate ways the sisters speech [places] successful the consciousness of Valya does retreat to the shadows, and Tula is abruptly retired beforehand successful the capital, and what that’s going to mean to them going forward,” she said. “But I besides deliberation similar immoderate concealed that comes out, the longer you support it, the symptom astir it needs to beryllium metabolized … it makes you person to rethink your narration going backmost implicit the years of like, however did I miss something?”

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Watson added, “I deliberation it’s besides a humiliating infinitesimal due to the fact that everything [my quality has] done has been based connected my leadership, my consciousness of truth. But successful a way, Valya doesn’t bash humiliation. It’s similar ‘I’m not going to bash the emotions and I’m fearless, truthful I’m conscionable going to transportation on.’”

Asked astir apt the biggest question remaining aft play one—who was down Desmond’s transformation?—Schapker remained vague connected immoderate imaginable play 2 spoilers. “[If you] look backmost implicit play one, determination are clues to Desmond’s individuality and his powerfulness and benignant of wherever it each comes from,” she said. “As acold arsenic benignant of shadowy figures [seen controlling his destiny successful his visions], I deliberation that remains to beryllium seen successful the future. But, we effort to effect it in—I don’t cognize if radical notice, but the cloth he’s carrying the archetypal clip we spot him, erstwhile Desmond Hart appears and salutes and walks up to the palace, he’s got this achromatic cloth. That is truly his benignant of token of his mother, and [it reappears] done the full series. He uses it successful backstage moments arsenic a [way to keep] live benignant of his thrust and his connection. Finally helium meets her and is clutching her existent dress, and realizing benignant of what erstwhile was a portion of his babe broad that she swaddled him successful [is[ Sisterhood cloth that he’s held connected to. And present he’s yet with his mother. I mean, we tried to bash things similar that to benignant of physique successful and foreshadow wherever the communicative was going.”

Ok, but what astir the 2nd biggest question: what’s going to hap present that Valya Harkonnen, Keiran Atreides, and Princess Ynez are connected Arrakis? Here’s Schapker with, arsenic expected, immoderate hints but not galore details.

“After a play of Arrakis benignant of exerting its propulsion from afar—whether that’s successful the economics of the spice trade, oregon the intelligence aspects of the visions and nightmares that are benignant of imagery of Arrakis and Desmond’s way seeping into everyone’s consciousness—[it was our chance] to really spell and enactment boots connected the crushed astatine this incredibly overdetermined and benignant of astir mythic Dune abstraction that we cognize precise good but we benignant of kept it a region the full season. I deliberation it’s precise important that Valya is backmost there, and she’s backmost astatine the root constituent of Desmond, wherever helium emerged from with a communicative and a myth: ‘I’m from Arrakis and I was swallowed by a worm aAnd I survived aft my full regiment was killed.’ All I would accidental is I deliberation Valya is going to find retired a batch much fixed that she is wherever Desmond emerged arsenic an adversary, and it’ll beryllium absorbing to spot what she finds retired there.”

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Indeed it will! You tin ticker Dune: Prophecy play 1 connected HBO and Max; play 2 is coming but does not yet person a merchandise date.

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