Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Dune: Prophecy it ended its first season it’s epic, 80 minute episode which did not exactly match his stories, including his great secret about who or what he was using the forbidden technology to create bio-weapons on Arrakis. So it’s good that the HBO series, a prequel set 10,000 years ago to the films of Denis Villeneuve, will return in the future.
At the press conference leading up to the season one finale, “The High-Handed Enemy,” Dune: Prophecy‘s showrunner and executive producer Alison Schapker, along with stars Emily Watson (Valya Harkonnen) and Olivia Williams (Tula Harkonnen), mostly talked about season one—but they teased a little about what’s to come.
Speaking about how the series ran for six episodes, considering its size and the number of characters, Schapker said that the team followed one rule: “Give each episode its own identity.”
But at the same time, he added that it was important to “feel like things have changed and that the characters have experienced something that changed the story going forward. And it was very important that we always understood Valya through the line and Desmond’s story and Tula’s story. I would say that they were our people.” adults. But it was a matter of trying to inform everyone – and it was a bit of a chore. But I’m very happy with the way the six episodes ended.”
Regarding where he wants to leave things at the end of the first season, Schapker said, “I wanted to feel like the ground has moved at the end of the season, but at the same time we will have revelations that will make us understand these people and their behavior differently, and that there will be a kind of renewal of the story. That by the time you watched the whole story, you realize, ‘Oh, there was more going on than I realized at first’, which I think is related to how Sisterhood works – the idea that there are plans within plans, that there is more to the story than the way you see it for the first time. By the end of the first season, you have a real sense of the (Harkonnen) sisters’ history, and then a real revelation, the truth coming out. And that was an important change for me.”
When asked about their thoughts on the characters at the end of the first season, Watson and Williams were enlightening.
“I think everything (has changed between them),” Watson said. But I think Valya is still using (her idea of) ‘I am the chosen one. I have my future.’ (He is still) his guide in this. But I will be curious to know what happens next. “
Williams added, “I think the biggest thing for Tula is when (she says) ‘Please don’t kill my son. Trust me, I got this.’ And the fact that (Valya) trusts me and (leaves her with Desmond), knowing that soon my son will arrest me – (is) that time between the sisters when Tula is given something, where all these years she is known to be very capable and very effective and she’s treated like a little sister. Sometimes these people like to stay in the shadows, and it’s interesting to see what happens when they’re pushed forward.”
Schapker built on that. “I like the idea of what you’re saying: in some ways the sisters exchange (places) in the sense that Valya goes back to the shadows, and Tula is suddenly in front of the capital, and what will this mean for them. going forward,” he said. “But I also think if every secret that comes out, the longer you keep it, the surrounding pain needs to be replaced…
Watson added, “I think it’s an embarrassing moment because everything (that I do) depends on my leadership, my awareness of the truth. But in a way, Valya is not shy. It’s like ‘I don’t do emotions and I’m not afraid, so I’ll just keep going.’
He was asked perhaps the biggest question that remains after the first season—who helped Desmond’s transformation?—Schapker has yet to be identified for any threats that could cost him two seasons. “(If you look back in the first season, there are clues about Desmond and his powers and where they came from,” he said. “In terms of the kind of imagery (the visuals controlling his future in his vision), I think that will be seen in the future. But, we try to put it in—I don’t know if people notice, but the cloth that he’s carrying when we first see him, when Desmond Hart shows up and salutes and goes to the palace, he has this black cloth. This is his symbol of his mother, and (reappears) throughout the series. He uses it in a secret moment as (a means of keeping) his vehicle and his connection. He finally meets her and holds her real garment, and realizes what used to be a piece of her child’s blanket wrapped around her. It is the cloth of sisterhood that she is holding on to. And now she is with her mother.
Okay, but what about the second big question: what will happen to Valya Harkonnen, Keiran Atreides, and Princess Ynez while they are on Arrakis? Here is Schapker and, as expected, some tips but not much.
“After the season of Arrakis that was dragged away – whether it was the economy of the spice trade, or the emotional thoughts and nightmares that are like a foreshadowing of the path of Arrakis and Desmond that enters everyone’s consciousness – (it was our chance) to go and put the boots on the ground at this strange excess is almost a fantasy Dune a place we know well but kept at a distance all season. I think it’s very important that Valya is back there, and she’s back where she came from Desmond, where she came from with stories and legends: “I’m from Arrakis and I was swallowed by a worm. The whole army was killed.’ All I can say is that I think Valya will know more because that’s where Desmond appeared as an enemy, and it will be interesting to see what she finds there.”
It will! You can check Dune: Prophecy one season on HBO and Max; Season two is coming but has no release date.
Want more io9 news? See when to expect new updates Amazing, Star Warsand Star Trek release, result of DC Universe on film and TVand everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
