‘Dune: Prophecy’ Showrunner Promises Much More Arrakis in Season 2

Note: This story contains spoilers from “Dune: Prophecy” Episode 6.

“Dune: Prophecy” finally took some characters to the fabled planet Arrakis in the finale of Season 1, but much more of the locale is to come in the second season.

The first season of the sci-fi prequel – which explored the rise of the Bene Gesserit 10,000 years before the birth of Paul Atreides – ended with Valya (Emily Watson) escaping to the desert planet with Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussina) and Keiran (Chris Mason) as Desmond (Travis Fimmel) took more control of Salusa Secundus.

Showrunner Alison Shapker admitted at a recent press conference that Arrakis has been “exerting its pull from afar” after a season of keeping its distance — “whether that’s in the economics of spice trade or the psychological aspects and nightmares that are sort of imagery of Arrakis and Desmond’s past seeping into everyone’s consciousness.” She emphasized the satisfaction of actually going and putting “boots on the ground at this incredibly over-determined and sort of almost mythic ‘Dune’ space that we know very well.”

“I think it’s very significant that Valya is back there. I also think she’s back kind of at the origin point of Desmond, where he emerged from,” she continued. “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 regimen was killed.'”

She added: “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 back where Desmond sort of emerged as an adversary. It’ll be interesting to see what she finds out there.”

Desmond acted as a thorn in Valya’s side for much of the season, but that annoyance turned more deadly upon the revelation that he was actually her sister Tula’s (Olivia Williams) son. A son that the younger sister promised she “took care of” shortly after it was born. According to Watson, that complicates the issue for Valya but also drives her to figure out who is pulling her nephew’s strings in Season 2.

“I think there’s a conflict there because she knows that he’s Tula’s son and the betrayal of that is very painful,” she said. “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. I want to find out who that is.'”

For Tula, despite finally being caught in her lie to Valya about her son being alive, Williams said the two are feeling stronger than ever – at least from the younger sister’s perspective. Tula travels to Salusa Secundus and find Valya struggling after Desmond attacked her with his machine virus. The younger sister helps the eldest through the worst of it before asking Valya to trust her talking to her son. It’s Valya’s trust that Williams said bolstered Tula – even if it ended with Desmond arresting her.

“I think a huge thing for Tula is the moment when I say, ‘Please don’t kill my son, trust me, I’ve got this,'” Williams said. The fact that she does trust me and go –little known that shortly afterwards my son has me arrested – but that moment between the sisters where finally Tula is entrusted with something when all these years she’s known that she is highly capable and highly effective and has been treated as the lesser sister. Yeah, it’s an interesting thing that goes on. Sometimes people of that character like to stay in the shadows and it will be interesting to see what happens if she is pushed further to the front and whether she can handle it.”

“Dune: Prophecy” was just renewed for a second season by HBO.

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