Dune: Prophecy stars Emily Watson (who plays Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen) and Olivia Williams (who plays Reverend Mother Tula Harkonnen), along with showrunner and executive producer Alison Schapker, have opened up about the season’s shocking finale and what it might mean going forward for the show.

ComingSoon Senior Editor Brandon Schreur attended a press conference on Thursday, December 19, 2024, celebrating the season finale of Dune: Prophecy. As the press conference wrapped, it was announced that the series had been officially renewed for a second season.

Watson, Williams, and Schapker dived into spoilers as they discussed their experiences making the first season of the sci-fi series, which is set before the events of Denis Villeneuve’s movies, and gave fans a little tease as to what they can expect from Dune: Prophecy Season 2.

All six episodes of Dune: Prophecy Season 1 are now streaming on Max.

Where does the Sisterhood stand following the events of Dune: Prophecy Season 1?

Schapker was asked where the Sisterhood now stands following the destruction of the breeding index and the implosion of the royal family.

“I mean, that’s a really good question,” Schapker answered. That’s exactly the question you should be asking, and I think that’s something that remains to be seen. Like, that too has changed and sort of to what degree. Is that irrevocable for Valya or not? Is it something what role is Tula going to play going forward and how is the Sisterhood going to survive is very much a question of season two.

Watson added, “Yeah. It’s sort of [when] we started out, we had everything just how we wanted it at the beginning. And it’s been sort of descent from there.”

What does Valya hope to accomplish on Arrakis?

Schapker also discussed what Vayla hopes to accomplish on Arrakis and how arriving on the planet will give her the opportunity to “find out a lot more” as the series moves forward.

“After a season of Arrakis kind of exerting its pull from afar, and whether that’s in the economics of spice, trade or the psychological aspects of these visions and nightmares that are sort of imagery of Arrakis and Desmond’s past seeping into everyone’s consciousness. To actually go and put boots on the ground at this incredibly overdetermined and sort of almost mythic Dune space that we know very well, but we sort of kept it at a distance the whole season. 

“So, I think it’s very significant that Valya’s back there, and I also think she’s back kind of at the origin point of Desmond, where he emerged from. Like, he emerged with a story and a myth, and it was I’m from Arrakis, and I was swallowed by a worm and I survived after my whole regiment was killed. All I would say is, I think Valya is there. I think Valya is going to find out a lot more, given that she is sort of back where Desmond sort of emerged as an adversary. And [it will] be interesting to see what she finds out there.”

Will Mark Strong’s Javicco character be back for Dune: Prophecy Season 2?

Schapker confirmed that Mark Strong’s character, Javicco Corrino, is “truly” dead following the events of Dune: Prophecy Season 1.

“We love him, and we’re very sad about it. Mark Strong was a joy to work with, just a tremendous actor and a tremendous human being. I think his characterization of this particular emperor was brilliant, and it was such a pleasure to watch him trace his arc across the season. think it’s okay to say that he’s dead but he will be missed. And he leaves a big power vacuum.”

Emily Watson and Olivia Williams on Jessica Barden and Emma Canning playing younger versions of their characters

ComingSoon asked about Watson and Williams’ experiences working with Jessica Barden and Emma Canning, as Barden and Canning play younger versions of Valya and Tula in several flashback scenes throughout the series.

“First of all, how lucky are we to have these two incredible actresses? We talked quite a lot, but we had already started filming when they came,” Watson answered. “So, it was really on them to have to try and find ways to imitate us, I guess. What I love about what they’ve done is they found versions of what we do that are kind of raw and unformed, which is a very smart and lovely way to do it, I think.”

Williams added, “Yeah, it was a much to do with mannerisms, or emotional mannerisms. It was a very clever study, if they did study, or maybe it was instinctive, I don’t know, but they were both astonishing. And I learned a lot about my character from watching what Emma did, really.”

Conflict is now brewing between Valya and Desmond

When asked what Valya now thinks of Desmond after learning that he’s her nephew, Watson said, “I think there’s a conflict there because she knows that he’s Tula’s son and the betrayal of that is very painful. But the part of Valya that is in a way the strongest is already going: ‘I saw his memory, and I saw that somebody is using him, and I want to find out who that is.’ That’s what I want to know.”

Schapker also said about Desmond’s true identity, “I don’t know if people noticed, but the cloth he’s carrying the first time we see him, when Desmond Hart appears in Salusa and walks up to the palace, he’s got this black cloth, and that is really his token of his mother. And it’s through the whole series [that] he uses it in private moments [to keep] his drive and his connection, until finally he meets her and is clutching her actual dress. Realizing that what once was a piece of his baby blanket that she swaddled him in sisterhood cloth is what he’s held onto. Now he’s finally with his mother. We tried to do things like that to build in and foreshadow where the story was going.”

Source: HBO