How Dune: Prophecy Helps Lay The Groundwork For Denis Villeneuve’s Dune 3

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for the Dune: Prophecy season 1 finale.

Dune: Prophecy lays the groundwork for Dune 3 in several intriguing ways. Dune: Prophecy is a six-part series based on the 2012 novel Sisterhood of Dune, which was written by original Dune author Frank Herbert’s son, Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson. The story takes place more than 10,000 years before the rise of Paul Atreidies, which is chronicled in Denis Villenueve’s Dune (2020) and Dune: Part Two (2024). Dune: Prophecy reveals the origins of the powerful shadow sisterhood known as the Bene Gesserit and how they manipulated the fate of humankind.

Dune: Prophecy episode 1 “The Hidden Hand” introduced Valya Harkonnen, a fierce and calculated leader, and her biological sister, Tula Harkonnen. Dune: Prophecy episode 2 reveals what happened to Lila and her grandmother, Reverend Mother Dorotea, after Tula and Valya encouraged her to endure The Agony. In Dune: Prophecy episode 3, Tula takes Lila’s life into her own hands after she apparently died during The Agony ritual and tries to resurrect her through the use of forbidden technology. Episode 4 reveals that Lila was resurrected through the Thinking Machine, Anirul. Episode 5 showcases Desmond Hart’s rise to power, while episode 6 sees Tula reconnect with her abandoned half-Atreides child, Desmond Hart.

Dune: Prophecy Introduces Even Weirder Elements Before Dune 3

It’s a good precursor before the “weirdness” of Dune 3

One of the best aspects of Dune: Prophecy season 1 is that it introduces new elements, and some even weirder elements, than the recent film series. For example, the Bene Gesserit power of Voice is one of the most compelling aspects of the Sisterhood and the original Dune films. It is undoubtedly one of the most powerful skills in the Dune universe and is accessible only to the Bene Gesserit. While Lady Jessica and others use the Voice throughout the Dune films towards intriguing ends, Dune: Prophecy season 1 makes the Voice even more dangerous by introducing its origin and the lack of moral restraint from its creator.

Furthermore, some of the more strange elements of the Dune universe that are introduced in Dune: Prophecy include Thinking Machine technology and the various ways in which it is used within the Bene Gesserit and beyond. This opens up plenty of opportunities for the Dune universe, especially Dune 3 and other eventual movies and television series, to dig deeper into these “weirder” areas of Dune lore. Based on the source material written by Frank Herbert, Dune: Messiah should be a big step up in weirdness from the first two Dune movies.

Dune: Prophecy Lays The Groundwork For Gholas In Dune: Messiah

It helps set up Duncan Idaho’s return in Dune: Messiah

Dune: Prophecy successfully lays the groundwork for further types of species in future Dune installments, such as Face Dancers and Gholas. The character Theo from Dune: Prophecy is one example of introducing higher concepts that go beyond what we’ve seen so far and showing there’s more to this universe than what’s already been shown. According to Dune Wiki, “Face Dancers were a sterile race of metamorphic transhumans engineered by the Bene Tleilax.” The Bene Tleilax, or the Tleilaxu, are “a group of secretive, genetically altered humans who inhabited Tleilax, the sole planet of the star Thalim” (via Dune Wiki).

Another interesting type of Dune species is a ghola. According to Dune Wiki, “a ghola was an artificially created human, who was replicated from a dead individual.” This would explain the return of a fallen Dune character in the first 2021 film, Duncan Idaho. Duncan Idaho returns in the Dune: Messiah book and should do so in the Dune: Messiah movie as well. With lots of focus on Thinking Machines in Dune: Prophecy, including one being put inside Desmond Hart, it’s better positioned to pull that key character element off in Dune: Prophecy.

Dune: Prophecy Explains More About The Bene Gesserit Ahead Of Their Dune 3 Role

The Bene Gesserit are mostly unknown and inaccessible in the Dune movies

The shadowy mechanics of the Bene Gesserit in Dune: Prophecy set up what’s to come in future Dune installments, including the eventual third Dune movie Dune: Messiah, which will be directed by Denis Villeneuve. Without giving away any spoilers in the upcoming Dune: Messiah movie, the Bene Gesserit scheming and plans to overthrow Paul in Messiah fit with what we see from them in Prophecy.

While the Bene Gesserit are mostly an unknown and inaccessible force in the Dune movies, they will become more of an integral part of Paul’s affairs as Emperor in Dune: Messiah and remain one of the most interesting aspects of the Dune universe altogether, which is likely why HBO has already greenlit a second season on Dune: Prophecy.