The first season of “Dune: Prophecy” came to an end on Sunday with some jaw-dropping revelations and many more questions. The HBO prequel series, set 10,000 years before the events of Denis Villeneuve's films “Dune” and “Dune: Part Two,” wove a complex web of stories over six episodes, culminating in a long finale that reunited sisters Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) and Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams).
In the tumultuous episode, flashbacks reveal that Tula gave birth to a secret son, who turns out to be literal firestarter Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel). We also learn that Valya gained leadership of the Brotherhood, the ancestors of the Bene Gesserit, through mass murder.
“You want to feel like enough answers were given,” showrunner Alison Schapker explains of the finale's goals. “That you were on a journey in season 1 and you learned things. Then, at the end, everything has changed and you understand who these characters are, what is between them, what is at stake and what the truth is in a new way.”
The finale concludes on Arrakis, where Valya escaped with Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) and Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason) after the death of Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong). It has become clear that Desmond's powers do not come from the sandworms, as he claimed, but from another mysterious force.
“It seemed very appropriate that, after being chased by Arrakis, Valya returned to the place where it all began,” Schapker says. “It'll be really interesting to see what he's going to dig up now as he looks for a hidden hand.”
Alison Schapker, showrunner of HBO's “Dune: Prophecy.”
(Lucas Fontana)
Schapker, who joined the prequel series in 2022, drew on her extensive career working on shows like “Alias,” “Fringe,” “The Flash” and “Westworld” as she and the writers sculpted the episodes. She admits to feeling some pressure in adapting and expanding the beloved material from Frank Herbert's “Dune” novels, but is proud of how the cast and crew have brought the universe to the small screen.
“It's a big world to be in,” Schapker says. “People's expectations were rightly specific and committed, and I'm very pleased to be able to tell this story.”
Here, in a conversation edited for clarity and length, Schapker discusses the details of the “Dune: Prophecy” ending, as well as his hopes for what's to come after HBO announced Thursday that it would renew the show for another season.
What is your reaction to having a second season? Is there anything you can get ahead of?
I am delighted that “Dune: Prophecy” has been a huge success and that we can continue to tell the story of Valya and Tula Harkonnen and the rise of the Bene Gesserit. The opportunity to delve deeper into these characters and their corner of the “Dune” universe is something I treasure. I thank everyone who watched and invested in our series and made this second season possible. Our writers room is now up and running and I couldn't be more excited for what's coming next.
Did your team have access to the designs from the “Dune” movies, for example, for the sandworm we see in the finale?
No. But Denis was very generous. One thing we felt, and that Legendary and HBO agreed on, was that we wanted to be in the universe of the movies. So with the worms, who are such ancient gods of Arrakis and these ancient creatures, we wanted to use the worm concept that we saw in the movies. And Denis was very supportive of that decision. But it's not that we take your files and use them. We had to do it ourselves. We really wanted to be ambitious about the look of the show, and that took a tremendous effort. It's hard on TV budgets and programming, no matter how generous and supportive the studio, to do that.
What was the most important thing for you to do thematically in the finale?
We knew we wanted to bring Valya and Tula together. They've anchored the story on two separate planets for the season. But it was very important that we bring them together in an explosive way, and I knew the three-act structure in which we wanted to do it.
Did you always plan for Desmond to be Tula's son?
Yes, absolutely.
In the tumultuous season finale, flashbacks reveal that Tula gave birth to a secret son, who turns out to be the initiator Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel).
(HBO)
How does Tula know where her son is and what his name is?
She knows he is in Salusa Secundus. She lands at the spaceport and hears whispers from her ancestors telling her that Valya is nearby and that he happens to be there. I don't think she knew when she landed at the spaceport or thought, “I'll meet him at the spaceport.” It was a collision course. He sees Valya with him and I think he understands.
Desmond is not in the books. What did you want to achieve with that story?
It's very powerful in the “Dune” universe when a Harkonnen and an Atreides connect, and that's really part of the larger story we want to tell. I don't want to talk too much. But you will see Valya say: “This child has a lot of potential. “It could change worlds.” He has that charismatic potential that makes him a really powerful figure. Valya wants to take advantage of it and Tula begins to feel that nothing good will come of them shaping her life. The question is: if they're not the only ones who understand that about him, who else saw that and how and why he was weaponized? That gives us more questions to guide us in the future.
Did you always plan to include flashbacks throughout the season?
Yes, and it's difficult with six. [episodes]. The prologue was a flashback and I almost wanted to come full circle. I was excited to start the ending the same way the prologue started, but then add a new layer to it and continue the story so you really understood the past. It felt important to understand the circumstances of Desmond's conception and what he was born from, so Episode 3 was a deep dive with the younger period to set that table for the finale to hopefully land. You also needed to understand that there has been a secret among the Brotherhood this entire time.
It is very shocking to discover that young Valya and her followers killed so many members of the Brotherhood to rise to power.
There is blood on his hands. The things Desmond said to Valya all season long turn out to be very true. He came to power violently. Valya would explain why it was necessary and I empathize with her decisions. The heart of the program is to discuss how far we would go in the present if we truly believed we were protecting the future. I don't think Valya killed them for pleasure. I think Dorotea and her followers pushed her against the wall.
Valya (Emily Watson) “rose to power violently,” Schapker says.
(HBO)
Why do you think the acolytes follow Dorotea so quickly when she reappears in Lila?
It's a horrifying revelation that there is a mass grave at the heart of the Brotherhood, and they have no context to understand it right now other than what Dorotea is telling them. You see Jen struggling a little. [with] how to process this. I don't think it's all over, far from it, but Dorotea continues where she left off. And she was a fan. “Dune” is a really big world. It has a lot of players and there are characters that I feel like I have big plans for and that just had a table set in season 1. Like all those acolytes. We focus on them for a reason, right? The journey they take is very essential to the story.
In general, how much did you get from books and how much did you invent?
The characters and settings are in the books, so we were definitely inspired by the books and in some places we adapted and extrapolated them differently, but we tried to keep the spirit of what is established in the books. A lot of the Tula, Desmond and Valya stuff in the present is stuff we've been developing alongside the Herbert property. I'm very proud of the story between Valya and Tula and where it's going. I was very moved by what we got to do with them and I think there are many possibilities to continue.
How was Herbert's estate involved?
They read the scripts. We could ask them questions. They could ask us questions. They were connected to what we were doing. We always appreciate your contributions. It was a supportive working relationship. What I loved was that it didn't stop us from creating. I felt like we could do the work of adaptation and translate the story into a medium in a way that excited us, but always from a place of deep respect. The most daunting, but also the most exciting, part of the concert was being in the “Dune” sandbox, so to speak.
Has Denis seen the show?
I don't know. I think Denis is very focused on what he does for the movies. But I know you intend to do it and I hope to have a conversation about it at some point.
You've worked on many shows in the world of science fiction and fantasy. What do you like about that type of storytelling?
I love your imagination. I love how the world is built. I love having to think about all those details. There's so much room for creativity, wonder, and scope if you can make the human story work, which is the most important thing to me.
Before “Dune: Prophecy,” you worked on the final season of “Westworld.” Were there plans for more episodes if it hadn't been cancelled?
I definitely feel like Jonathan. [Nolan] and smooth [Joy] have an ending to the story that has yet to be told. The world works in mysterious ways and if I could one day see that end, I would be very excited. For me, working on “Westworld” was another formative experience and a story that I think is becoming more and more understandable and present.
You also worked on “Alias,” another show with strong women at the forefront and powerful in scope.
What a gift that was at the beginning of my career. I'm always grateful that we came into the network era because you really have to live on the shows for an extended period of time. I spent three years in “Alias”. It was very fun. I also loved the story. J.J. [Abrams] It had a very dynamic and creative room. It was a show that tried to do more with the small screen than had been done, and JJ didn't really limit us.
Do you see anything in common in all the shows you've worked on?
Something I absolutely strive for is finding a way to ground things in the character so that emotionally you feel like you've seen something that makes sense to you on a human level, but at the same time, I like to go to work and think. about things that are complex and interesting. I find that working in science fiction has allowed me to not only think about people, which I love doing, but also to think about some of these more abstract ideas, like what will creating artificial intelligence achieve? That has been really rewarding in many of the projects I have done.
