Dune: Prophecy Timeline embraces the franchise’s most confusing element

And neither do the Harkonnens Dune: Prophecy be the all-powerful family that rules the desert planet Arrakis. “When we meet Valya Harkonnen, she is a girl whose family has experienced a huge fall in power and lost its noble status,” Schapker explains. “She dreams of restoring what she believes is rightfully theirs. How she goes from someone obsessed with rebuilding her noble house to someone especially devoted to the Sisterhood is a big part of the story. It is not so much a coming-of-age story as a woman, but the rise of a woman to power from a Harkonnen perspective.”

The sisterhood in question is the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, the religious order whose centuries of planning and manipulation lead to the arrival of Paul Atreides, the Kwisatz Haderach. Dune: Prophecy will show how the Bene Gesserit breaks away from a collection of sorceresses and begins to claim its place as a political force.

And yet Schapker emphasizes that Dune: Prophecy will not move in a simple manner. In fact, the timelines will be mixed together. “A characteristic of Dune is that time is not just linear,” Schapker reminded readers, which touches on one of the most confusing aspects of the franchise.

By drinking sandworm bile, called the Water of Life, those who survive have access to genetic memories, the ability to remember the lives of people (usually women) in their past. Viewers of Villenueve’s Dune: part two saw a glimpse of genetic memories in the form of Paul’s sister Alia, who has the ability while still in the womb. Villeneuve illustrates genetic memory through Jessica’s conversation with her unborn child and in a conversation between Paul and the adult Alia, seen as a vision.

In Herbert’s later books, genetic memories become a bit more complex, as deceased characters such as Baron Harkonnen attempt to take control of their descendants and assert themselves when that descendant gains access to the genetic memory.

For Schapker, genetic memory adds depth to the clues Dune: Prophecy. “Some of them actively communicate with their female ancestors at all times. There are hidden histories and secrets to discover in the past that have deeply influenced the present, as our characters design the future. We wanted to create a series that brings history to life, and that meant spending some of our time in the past.”