If you’ve glanced through any Dune book, caught a movie, or chatted with a fan, you know one thing: Dune’s universe is anything but simple. It spans over thousands of years filled with royal schemes, power struggles, manipulations, and battles. That’s exactly the kind of intricate narrative you’ll find in Dune: Prophecy. While it shares the Dune universe, Prophecy takes a creative cue from Brian Herbert’s prequel series, the Great Schools of Dune. It rockets us about 10,000 years into the future from when Paul Atreides first steps onto Arrakis, introducing a slew of fresh characters and emerging traditions. Familiar family names might ring a bell, but their roles and the state of their houses bring new tales to explore.
Understanding the character web in Dune: Prophecy might feel a little daunting at first, so we’ve put together a handy guide for you to navigate who’s who and their connections to the broader Dune saga.
[Spoiler Alert: This guide dives into details from Dune: Prophecy Season 1.]
The Bene Gesserit Sisterhood
We first encounter the Sisterhood in the pilot, depicted across different time frames. Early on, Valya Harkonnen (then portrayed by Jessica Barden) is a sister attending to the dying Mother Superior Raquella. In a bid to secure the fledgling Bene Gesserit breeding program, Valya employs the powerful Voice to command sister Dorotea (played by Camilla Marie Beeput) to fatally turn her blade on herself.
Fast-forward three decades, and Valya (now portrayed by Emily Watson) has ascended to Mother Superior. Her commitment to the Sisterhood’s vision remains unshaken. Flanking her are Reverend Mother Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams in the present, with Emma Canning playing young Tula) and Reverend Mother Kasha (Jihae), trusted confidant and truthsayer to Emperor Corrino.
The Bene Gesserit also harbors young apprentices, though details about them remain scarce. Some have been reared within the Sisterhood’s folds, while others, like Princess Ynez, arrived later. Valya and Tula harbor favorites among them, hinting at future plans for each.
Moving on to the Corrino family, even if you’re unfamiliar with the name, the house reigns supreme in the period of Dune. You may recall Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV in Dune 2, played by Christopher Walken, but in Prophecy, we step back 10,000 years to a very different empire.
Spearheading the empire is Emperor Javicco (played by Mark Strong), who’s burdened with concerns about perceived weaknesses and is eager to marry off his daughter. His reliance on his truthsayer, Reverend Mother Kasha, irks his wife, Empress Natalya Arat (Jodhi May), who longs for the unity they once shared, which she believed stabilized their rule. She warns her daughter against getting too immersed in the Bene Gesserit’s influence.
The younger Corrinos, however, seem to be carving their paths deftly. Constantine Corrino (Josh Heuston), Javicco’s illegitimate son, is not vying for the throne, content to manage other family duties. As for Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina), she trains for her role as empress with swordsmanship, Bene Gesserit guidance, and a marriage of convenience for some personal time.
Then there’s her ill-fated marriage (the young spouse passes away), casting uncertainty on Princess Ynez and House Corrino’s position. Emperor Javicco’s fear of vulnerability looms large, compounded by power struggles among the houses. He is reminded time and again of his fleet’s size relative to others, emphasizing the need to ally with a key power player.
Although Prophecy’s first episodes sidestep detailed discussions, the Harkonnen house faces turbulent times. Branded as traitors by the Atreides during the Butlerian Jihad (allegedly over meant-to-be sacrificial attacks), they have been relegated to a distant, icy planet. Among them is the quietly significant character, Harrow Harkonnen (Edward Davis), whose otherwise mundane presence marks him as “that Harkonnen with hair, talking about whale farming.”
The Atreides house remains relatively low-key in the pilot. Valya alludes to an Atreides leading the human victory over machines—a narrative she claims is built on falsehoods—setting the stage for the enduring Atreides-Harkonnen rivalry centuries down the line.
However, an Atreides already plays a role: Kieran Atreides (Chris Mason), who serves as the princess’s swordmaster.
Currently, Desmond Hart makes no bones about his devotion to House Corrino, declaring during his interrogation that he serves “the Imperium, and only the Imperium.” He openly admits to killing both a child and Reverend Mother Kasha, viewing them as necessary actions for the emperor’s welfare.
Hints of deeper secrets surface around Hart, but for now, he’s justifying his actions with a mysterious narrative: “Shai-hulud took my eye, and granted me the gift to see what even you [Valya and the Sisterhood] cannot.” When probed about being a prophet, he muses: “I don’t know. There are things that I can do. Beautiful… terrible things.”
Perceptions of Hart from Kasha and now Valya suggest he’s concealing something; truth mixed with deception. His true allegiances and motives remain enigmatically entwined with his evident disdain for the Sisterhood.
