After Paul Atreides’ rise in Dune: Half Two, the primary TV sequence within the franchise takes us again over ten thousand years, following the inside workings of some of the secretive but highly effective organisations within the universe: the Bene Gesserit.
The driving character of Dune: Prophecy is Mom Superior Valya Harkonnen, who made a terrifying and formidable first look in episode one of many sequence – performed by British appearing royalty, Emily Watson.
If you wish to know extra about who Valya is and the way she connects with the villains of Dune and Dune: Half Two, we now have all the knowledge you want. Word that this piece will probably be specializing in the TV sequence and flicks, relatively than the unique Frank Herbert books, which have barely completely different particulars.
What has Dune: Prophecy revealed about Valya Harkonnen thus far?
The opening scene of Dune: Propechy tells us that Valya’s great-grandfather abandoned the struggle towards the considering machines, and an Atredis led them to victory. Her household have been branded as cowards and banished to a desolate world. Bitter about how her lineage was seen, Valya vows to rewrite her identify.
Valya was chosen by the first-ever Mom Superior, Raquella Berto-Anirul, to steer the Bene Gesserit to their true future: to breed a brand new chief on the throne, the primary Empress, utilizing genetic archives that might be managed by the Sisterhood to make sure the group’s safety.
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Nonetheless, her ambitions have been seen as disruptive and harmful by different members. When Reverend Mom Dorotea tried to destroy the breeding index, Valya used ‘the voice’ to get her to kill herself. This seems to be the primary use of this energy, and it’ll proceed to be pivotal all through the Dune universe.
Years later, Valya and her sister, Reverend Mom Tula Harkonnen, lead the Sisterhood and are near fulfilling the prophecy when a wedding is ready between Princess Ynez Corrino (daughter of the emperor) and the son of Home Richese, nine-year-old Lord Pruitt. They’re additionally coaching the following era of members.
Nonetheless, they don’t account for the mysterious and unsettling soldier Desmond Hart, who burns the kid to dying – placing an enormous roadblock of their plan. Valya is knowledgeable of this because the Reverend Mom Kasha burns together with him, in entrance of her. He’s conscious of their work within the shadows and seeks to cease their manipulation.
Valya’s weaknesses are her stubbornness and her thirst for blind obedience by these in her Sisterhood. She’s additionally pushed by revenge and has fractured relationships together with her household – as indicated by her turning down a go to from the remainder of the Home for a fourth time.
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Watson confirmed these qualities throughout an interview with Display screen Rant:
They’ve had this actually traumatic childhood and he or she’s pushed by a way of being very aggrieved, a vengeance, however she channels all of it into turning into a part of the sisterhood and actually attempting to regulate the destiny of humankind. I imply, that’s her ambition.
Who’re Home Harkonnen in Dune and Dune: Half Two?
It may be laborious to maintain observe of all the varied bits of Dune lore – getting your head round phrases like Muad’Dib and Kwisatz Haderach is already quite a bit – so chances are you’ll not keep in mind precisely who the Harkonnens are by identify.
In brief, that is the household led by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen within the Dune motion pictures – AKA, Stellan Skarsgård, who dons a black cloak, a bald cap and floats round when he’s not having a shower in sickly black goo.
He guidelines a brutal empire that kills its enemies with out regret and can resort to torture once they deem it crucial. Home Harkonnen seeks to regulate the move of spice and can use any measure to get their means – even when it forces others to stay in dire circumstances.
Different members of the Home embrace Glossu ‘Beast’ Rabban Harkonnen (Dave Bautista) and Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler).
By the point of the Dune motion pictures, Home Harkonnen and Home Atreides – of which Paul (Timothée Chalamet) is a part of – have a feud that has spanned for generations and is the reason for a whole lot of the battle throughout the movies. This animosity was fuelled by Valya within the books, and Dune: Prophecy will little doubt discover how her ruthlessness finally results in generations of hatred.