Now that Warner Bros. is the proud owner of a thriving “Dune” franchise, they have begun the process of expanding the brand through the HBO series “Dune: Prophecy”. Set 10,000 years before the events of Denis Villeneuve’s sensations “Dune” and “Dune: Part Two,” the show takes place sometime after Brian Herbert’s “Great Schools of Dune” novels and deals with the origins of the Bene Brotherhood Gesserit. It has a great cast led by Emily Watson and Olivia Williams, has extremely impressive production and costume design, and is boring as dishwater.
Apologies to those who love prequels and origin stories, but they are by rule abominations of storytelling, and there are a few rare exceptions. Patton Oswalt has some stand-up titled “At Midnight I Will Kill George Lucas with a Shovel” which hilariously explains: profane why that’s true, but basically all prequels are filler efforts that dramatize things we already know. Yes, there are often strange twists and turns in the backstory that we weren’t previously privy to, but these incidents are nothing more than glorified trivia. This approach to pulp storytelling has become so prevalent that it’s only a matter of time before we get an entire movie centered around the jeweler who sold Martha Wayne her pearl necklace.
Harkonnens. You’re here for the Harkonnens and why they look so different in “Dune: Prophecy” than their parents 10,000 years in the future. Would the simple answer “evolution” quench your thirst for knowledge? I guess not. Here’s how the Harkonnens became the doughy, hairless, tedious people they are in Villeneuve’s films.
The Harkonnens of Dune: Prophecy do not come from Giedi Prime
Played by Emily Watson and Olivia Williams in “Dune: Prophecy”, Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen and Reverend Mother Tula Harkonnen are distinguished by their Caucasian skin color and hair. They couldn’t look more like Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), Glossu Raban (Dave Bautista) and Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), very pale and shorn. Why is this?
The Harkonnens of “Dune: Prophecy” originate from the planet Lankiveil, a cold planet far more hospitable than the volcanic and industrialized Giedi Prime, which orbits a black sun. This kind of dark and harsh climate will have an impact on your pigmentation and temperament. As for why House Harkonnen moved from Lenkieveil to Giedi Prime, that might be depicted in “Dune: Prophecy” at some point, but, man, 10,000 years is a long stretch (the series actually describes events further back in time). This seems like the kind of societal displacement that happens over eons and multiple conflicts. So if you enjoy watching a fictional story unfold over (maybe) multiple seasons of television, I have a feeling your cup of tea is slowly going, glacial overflows. The rest of us will calm down and wait for Villeneuve’s third film due (hopefully) in 2026.
