The first season of “Dune: Prophecy” ended on Sunday with some breathtaking reveals and plenty of questions. HBO’s prequel series is set 10,000 years before the events of Denis Villeneuve’s films Dune and Dune Part 2, and weaves a complex storyline across six episodes, starring Valja Harkonnen ( The film culminates in a long finale that reunites the sisters (Emily Watson) and Valja Harkonnen (Emily Watson). Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams).
In this eventful episode, flashbacks reveal that Tula has given birth to a secret son, who turns out to be literal firestarter Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel). We also learn that Valia gained leadership of the Sisterhood, the precursor to the Bene Gesserit, through mass murder.
“We want to feel like we’ve been given enough answers,” showrunner Alison Schapker explains of her goal for the final episode. “In Season 1, you travel and you learn a lot, and by the end everything changes and you realize who these characters are, what’s between them, what the stakes are. , and understand what the truth is in a new way.”
The finale ends in Arrakis, where Varya has fled with Princess Ines (Sarah-Sophie Bussunina) and Cailan Atreides (Chris Mason) after the death of Emperor Javiko Corino (Mark Strong). It is revealed that Desmond’s powers do not come from the Sandworm as he had claimed, but from another mystical force.
“After being possessed by Arrakis, it felt very fitting for Varya to go back to where she started,” says Shapker. “It’s going to be very interesting to see what she unearths now that she’s chasing the hidden hand.”
Allison Schapker, showrunner of HBO’s “Dune: Prophecy.”
(Luke Fontana)
Schapker, who joined the prequel series in 2022, drew on her extensive career working on shows such as “Alias,” “Fringe,” “The Flash” and “Westworld” as she and the writers crafted the episodes. She admits that she feels some pressure to adapt and expand on the beloved subject matter of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune, but she’s also impressed by how the cast and crew brought this world to the small screen. I’m proud of what I brought to the table.
“The world is a big place to stand up for,” Schapker said. “People’s expectations for this work were understandably specific and compelling, and we’re thrilled to be able to tell this story.”
Here, in a conversation edited for clarity and length, Schapker shares details about the “Dune: Prophecy” finale and what’s next after HBO announced Thursday it would renew the show for another season. Talk about hope.
What do you think about Season 2 airing? Have you teased it?
We’re thrilled that Dune: Prophecy has gained so much attention and that we can continue to tell the story of Varya and Tula Harkonnen, and the rise of the Bene Gesserit. I treasure the opportunity to delve deeper into these characters and this corner of the Dune universe. Thank you to everyone who watches and invests in our series, and everyone who makes Season 2 possible. Our writers’ room is already up and running, and we couldn’t be more excited about what’s coming next.
Did your team have access to designs from the Dune movie, for example the sandworms that appear in the finale?
No, but Dennis was very generous. One of the things that we felt, and that Legendary and HBO agreed on, was that we wanted to get into the world of film. So I wanted to use the worm concept that I saw in the movie about the old gods of Arrakis, the worms and the ancient creatures. And Dennis was very supportive of that decision. But we didn’t take his file and use it. We had to make it ourselves. We wanted the look of the show to be ambitious, and it took a lot of effort. No matter how generous and cooperative the studios are, it’s difficult to do that when you factor in TV budgets and TV schedules.
What is the most important thing for a finale to do thematically?
We wanted to connect Valya and Tula. They anchored the storyline on two separate planets for the season. But it was very important to us to reunite them in an explosive way, so we knew the three-act structure that we wanted to achieve that.
Was it always the plan for Desmond to be Tula’s child?
Yes, absolutely.
In the tumultuous season finale, flashbacks reveal that Tula has given birth to a secret son, who turns out to be firestarter Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel).
(HBO)
How does Tula know her son’s whereabouts and name?
She knows he is in Salusa Secundus. She lands at the spaceport and hears whispers from her ancestors that Valia is nearby and that’s where he happens to be. She didn’t know when she landed at the spaceport, and I don’t think she was thinking, “I’ll meet you at the spaceport.” It was a bit of a collision course. She sees Valya with him and thinks she understands.
Desmond is not in the book. What did you want to accomplish with that storyline?
When Harkonnen and Atreides connect, it’s very powerful in the world of Dune, and it’s really part of the long story we want to tell. I don’t really want to talk about it. But I can see Varya saying this. “This kid has great potential. He can change the world.” He has charismatic potential that makes him a really powerful person. Valya wants to take advantage of it, but Tula begins to feel that nothing good will come of them shaping her life. The question is, if they aren’t the only ones who understand him, who else witnessed it and how and why was he weaponized? This will give you further questions to guide you in the future.
Were you planning on running flashbacks throughout the season?
Well, it would be difficult if there were only 6 episodes. I wanted the prologue to be a flashback, almost coming full circle. I was excited to start the finale the way the prologue started, but add new layers to it to continue the story and really help us understand the past. We felt it was important to understand the circumstances of Desmond’s conception and what he came from, so Episode 3 takes a deep dive into his younger years to hopefully set the table for the finale to land. I did. I also had to understand that there had always been secrets between the Sisterhood.
It is very shocking to learn that young Varia and her followers murdered so many Sisterhood members in order to seize power.
There is blood on her hands. What Desmond has been saying to Varya all season turns out to be very true. She came to power through violent means. Valya will explain why this is necessary, and I sympathize with her decision. At the heart of the show is a discussion of how much more we would do in the present if we truly believed we were protecting the future. I don’t think Valia killed them for pleasure. I think she felt pushed against the wall by Dorothea and her followers.
Varya (Emily Watson) “seized power in a violent way,” Schapker says.
(HBO)
Why do you think the acolytes immediately pursue Dorothea when she reappears in Lila?
Having a mass grave at the heart of the Sisterhood is a horrifying revelation, and they currently have no context to understand it other than Dorothea’s story. I can see Jen struggling a bit with how to handle this. I don’t think it’s all over by any means, but Dorothea picks up where she left off. And she was a fanatic. Dune is a really big world. There are a lot of players, and there are characters who just got the table set in Season 1 that feel like they have big plans. Like all those acolytes. There’s a reason we’re focused on them, right? Their journey is so important to the story.
Overall, how much did you end up drawing from the book and how much did you invent?
The characters and scenarios are in the book, so we definitely took inspiration from the book and we adapted or extrapolated in different ways depending on the location, but we kept the spirit of what was written in the book. I tried to do so. Much of the current Tula, Desmond and Vallia work is what we have been developing with Herbert’s Estate. I’m really proud of Valya and Tula’s story and where it’s headed. I’m really impressed with how far we’ve come with them, and I think there’s a lot of potential for it to continue.
How was Herbert’s estate involved?
They read the script. We were able to ask them questions. They may ask us questions. They dialed in to what we were doing. We always appreciate their input. It was a collaborative working relationship. What I liked is that it doesn’t inhibit our creativity. We felt we were able to work on the adaptation and translate the story into the medium the way we wanted to do it, but always with deep respect. The hardest, but also the most thrilling part of the gig was getting into the sandbox of “Dune” so to speak.
Did Dennis watch the show?
I don’t know. I think Dennis is very focused on what he’s doing for the movie. But I know he’s up for it, and I hope we can talk about it at some point.
You’ve worked on many shows in the science fiction and fantasy world. What do you like about that kind of storytelling?
I love that imagination. I love that world building. I love thinking about such details. If you can make human stories work, there’s a lot of room for creativity and wonder and scope. That’s the most important thing to me.
Before “Dune: Prophecy,” you worked on the final season of “Westworld.” Had it not been canceled, would there have been any plans for more episodes?
I feel like Jonathan (Nolan) and Lisa (Joy) have an end to their story that hasn’t been told yet. The world works in mysterious ways and I would be very excited if I could see the end of it one day. For me, working on “Westworld” was another formative experience, and I think the story is becoming more and more understood and more present.
You also worked on “Alias,” another show with a huge scope that had strong women at the forefront.
It was a great gift from early on in my career. I am always grateful to have arrived in the network era. Because I was able to be on the show for a really long time. “Alias” took three years. It was a lot of fun. I loved that story too. JJ (Abrams)’s room was a very dynamic and creative room. It’s a show that was trying to do more than ever before on the small screen, and J.J. really didn’t limit us.
Is there a common thread between all the shows you’ve worked on?
What I absolutely strive for is finding ways to ground things in the characters so that emotionally they can feel like they’ve seen something meaningful on a human level, but at the same time I like to go to work and think. About something complex and interesting. Working in science fiction has allowed me to think not only about humans, which I love, but also to think about more abstract ideas, such as what might happen with the creation of artificial intelligence. That’s been a real pleasure in many of the projects I’ve worked on.
