Prophecy Recreates a Key Moment for House Atreides and Harkonnen

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 21, 2024 3 Views 6 Min Read
Prophecy Recreates a Key Moment for House Atreides and Harkonnen

The HBO series Dune: Prophecy blends telling an original story while adapting material from Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson’s Great Schools of Dune novel trilogy. One key event retained from the novels sees House Harkonnen enact bloody revenge on House Atreides after the latter was responsible for the former’s exile and shame.

Dune: Prophecy makes the wise choice to give greater depth to this moment, which has a more minor focus in the novels, to develop the character of Tula Harkonnen and a snap decision that haunts her throughout her life. Game Rant spoke with young Tula Harkonnen actress Emma Canning about this moment, among other things.

Paul Atreides Javicco Corrino and Princess Ynez Valya Harkonnen the Dune Universe.

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The Fate Of Tula Harkonnen And Orry Atreides

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In the novel Mentats of Dune, Tula Harkonnen, the sister of powerful Bene Gesserit Valya Harkonnen, marries the young Orry Atreides and kills him on their wedding night. She is said to be operating on Valya’s orders and her motive is revenge for the killing of her elder brother, Griffin Harkonnen, by an Atreides.

The event is not described in detail and is primarily told through the eyes of Griffin’s killer, Vorian Atreides, who finds out about it after the fact, He attempts, but fails, to kill Tula in retaliation.

Dune: Prophecy makes Tula’s decision to pursue Orry her own choice, rather than something solely forced on her by Valya. The events also become focused on her, rather than Vorian. “Sisterhood Above All,” the third episode of Season 1, devotes time to Tula and Orry’s developing relationship, showing genuine romantic feelings developing between the pair. Tula even chooses to reveal her true last name to Orry, who accepts her despite the enmity between their families. She considers abandoning her name and staying with him, but ultimately goes through with the murder, killing not only Orry but many other members of his family, sparing only a young boy she had befriended.

Tula And Orry’s Love Story Felt Like “A Short Film” To Emma Canning

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Canning loved shooting her scenes with Orry, played by Milo Callahan, and the pair developed a genuine bond. Canning fondly described the process of filming with Callahan and Richard J. Lewis, who directed the episode:

“We did two weeks together of horse training…Through that, I developed a really easy friendship with [Milo] and got to talk about that section of plot. Because it is its own little bubble, we were saying, “This feels like we’re making a short film with Richard. It felt very small. Intimate. Milo kept saying – “Is this really Dune?””

The inclusion of the scenes showing Tula and Orry’s romance developing, rather than focusing on events from an outside perspective after the fact, is a powerful choice. Viewers really get to see the two falling in love and are devastated when Tula goes through with the killing. Canning described Tula’s choice to do this as a “snap decision” and explained that she portrayed Tula as changing her mind several times throughout the scene. “It’s very feelings-led,” said Canning of Tula’s actions. “Primal. Survival mode.”

Ultimately, this series of scenes between Tula and Orry has a massive impact on Dune: Prophecy’s plot, even beyond Tula’s lingering guilt and conflicted emotions. The consequences of their actions go on to threaten the entire Empire, as well as the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood to which Valya and Tula both belong. A series of gentle, emotional, powerful scenes that effectively portray a doomed romance ultimately go on to become so crucial to everything about Dune: Prophecy. Emma Canning feels that Tula made a “snap decision” – and that single snap decision changed everything.

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