The show’s creator, Alison Schapker, talks about how the series visually shows things like the Agony and the Voice.
After two big Dune movies in the past three years, it’s safe to say most movie fans now know some key facts about the Bene Gesserit. This mysterious group of women can control people with “the Voice,” create plans that span hundreds of years, and use a poison needle called the gom jabbar to test candidates for leadership.
Even though Dune director Denis Villeneuve told Entertainment Weekly that he wanted to focus more on the Bene Gesserit in his films than any other part of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi universe, he still only had a few hours to show this.
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But the Max prequel series Dune: Prophecy has six episodes to explore what the Bene Gesserit can really do. This was clear in Sunday’s episode when young trainee Lila (Chloe Lea) faced a challenge called the “Agony.” In this trial, she had to drink a toxic substance and fight off the poison. By doing this, she could connect to the “Other Memory” of all the Reverend Mothers who came before her.
Read more: ‘Dune: Prophecy’ Series Premiere Scores 1.2 Million Viewers Across Platforms, Par With ‘The Penguin’
This also happened to Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) in Dune: Part Two, but the movie mostly showed how the ritual affected Jessica’s pregnancy (since Bene Gesserit members usually aren’t allowed to be pregnant during the process).
For a young beginner like Lila, the ritual can be a matter of life or death — as we saw in the new episode.
Some of the most fun we had with this series was trying to see behind the veil, so to speak, of how these powers are gained. They appear to us as superpowers, but as evolution has happened and these women have pushed evolution forward, it’s grounded in this more scientific idea while still being mysterious. These powers that they wield — whether it’s their truth sense or the Voice or their incredible ability to control their cells and transmute chemicals within their body — are described in the book, but it takes an artistic discussion to figure out well, what’s that going to look like?
showrunner Alison Schapker tells EW
But it was exactly that teamwork between different members of the filmmaking crew, the same kind that made the first episode’s big sci-fi twist, that Schapker found so exciting about creating Dune: Prophecy.
Those really are some of the best collaborative meetings you could have. When it comes to the Agony that takes place in episode 2, I’m astounded by the creativity of our visual effects team in putting that together. At every level you’re trying to keep it grounded and you’re trying to keep it artistic and you’re trying to keep it restrained, believable, and elegant. It’s all a tightrope, but I hope we pulled it off.
Schapker says
Showing Lila’s experience of the “Other Memory” by having her meet other Reverend Mothers — including her ancestor Dorotea (Camilla Beeput).
He was killed by a younger Valya Harkonnen (Jessica Barden) in a flashback from the first episode — which also makes the “Voice” feel real in a completely new way.
I love getting to tell the story of the Voice, and I love that it comes out of character and out of a trauma. Those are the moments that are just so exciting.
Schapker says
New episodes of Dune: Prophecy come out on Sundays on HBO and Max.
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Source: EW