Alison Schapker talks about the plot twist that left everyone speechless (and how it will influence the entire development of the series)
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| Image Credit: HBO |
With the first episode (now available exclusively on Sky and Now TV) we have officially entered the new universe of Dune: Prophecy, the prequel series set 10,000 years before the reboot film Dune by Dennis Villeneuve and focused on the origins of the Bene Gesserit: the esoteric sisterhood of powerful witches that we have already learned to know in the first two chapters of the saga starring Timothée Chalamet. The new show is based on the 2012 science fiction novel Sisterhood of Dune and stars Valya Harkonnen (Second Mother Superior of the Bene Gesserit and Director of the Mother School) and her sister Tula (who teaches the Art of manipulation and combat at the School).
The first episode has already recorded record numbers and seems to have struck everyone with its terrifying, disturbing ending. And here's how creator and showrunner Alison Schapker helps us understand the meaning of that moment (and how it is destined to influence the entire development of the first season). (Warning! The article contains SPOILERS on the beginning of Dune: Prophecy) Among the most proud and fearsome antagonists of the Harkonnen sisters (played as adults by Emily Watson and Olivia Williams and in flashbacks by Jessica Barden and Emma Canning), we immediately discover the figure of Desmond Hart, alias Travis Fimmel (already unforgettable in the role of Ragnar in Vikings).
He is a soldier who mysteriously survived a difficult mission on the planet Arrakis, now determined to ingratiate himself at all costs with Emperor Javicco Corrino, played by Mark Strong. And it is precisely through the figure of Desmond that we begin to delve into the complex web of intrigues and political plots of Dune: Prophecy. The Emperor has in fact decided to strengthen his position on Arrakis through a marriage union, which in particular inextricably links his interests with those of House Richese. The character played by Travis Fimmel in the meantime begins to insinuate himself into Corrino's good graces with deception and manipulation, obviously at the expense of the Bene Gesserit.
The union would have involved Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) and the very young heir to the Richese throne (played by Charlie Hodson-Prior). But when the Emperor begins to doubt the opportunity of this marriage, Desmond Hart takes on the mission of definitively ruining the plan. To do so, he uses his terrifying power, acquired right on Arrakis when he is crushed by one of the infamous, ferocious, and gigantic Sandworms. How he got out of it and how this gave him a new horrifying ability, in the first episode has not yet been revealed or explained in detail. But of course, we will see him burn the skin and thus slowly and painfully kill little Richese with the power of his mind alone, while the child begs him to stop.
For fans, the terrifying sequence could easily be one of the most shocking ever. Perhaps, Dune: Prophecy is already a candidate to compete with Game of Thrones and its most legendary and brutal episodes, such as the Red Wedding. But in the meantime, it is the showrunner herself who explains this horrifying plot twist. «Valya Harkonnen, our Second Mother Superior, is very close to realizing the final part of her plan, and at the end of the first episode, this same plan is completely overturned. I think it was a conscious decision on our part to say:
“Okay, let's see now how she will be able to respond to her antagonist”. With a strong tonal upheaval, something comes from her and in an instant destroys everything she had so carefully built over decades. We were eager to set off a new series of events, and this inciting moment is one of the cruxes of the series,” said Alison Schapker, creator of the show with Diane Ademu-John. And soon, we’ll also find out how the child’s death will affect the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, and how they will choose to respond to the attack to reassert their influence in the Dune universe.
Source: Slashfilm
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