Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Dune: Prophecy Season 1.
Dune: Prophecy‘s Valya Harkonnen engages in some pretty dubious behavior in Season 1 – so much so that even the actor who portrays the Mother Superior’s younger self doesn’t defend her actions.
Jessica Barden, who plays Valya in Dune: Prophecy‘s flashback sequences, acknowledged Valya’s not-so-nice nature in a recent interview with The Mary Sue. “[Valya’s] not a good person,” Barden said. “It’s not great [chuckles]. She’s fully ‘We Need to Talk About Valya.'” The English actor also observed that Valya “doesn’t understand why she’s kind’ve lonely,” despite the way she treats those around her in both of Dune: Prophecy Season 1’s timelines.
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At the same time, Barden was quick to highlight the role Valya’s tough upbringing played in making her so ruthless. “It’s kind’ve the constant conversation that everybody has about [Valya],” she said. “Like, is she actually evil? What is it? Is it nature over nurture? It’s the constant conversation you have about Harkonnens. Are they actually these crazy, power-hungry people for just generations […] If they’re just f—king bad guys, what is the reason for it?”
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“Valya’s misunderstood,” Barden continued. “But you can kind’ve see a way into how she is because her family don’t understand her, don’t want to understand her. The one person who tries to see her is, for want of a better word, the head teacher of her school, so it just creates a competitive environment for her. She just is missed, all the time. And then you end up with a very icy, hard person, which is a story we see a million times.”
Dune fans – especially those unfamiliar with the Great Schools of Dune trilogy that inspired Prophecy – will be eager to see how this particular story ends. As of Season 1’s penultimate episode, Valya has started to turn the tide in her favor. But we’ll have to wait until the season finale drops to find out whether she’s done enough to secure outright victory!
Dune: Prophecy is currently airing on HBO and Max. Season 1’s sixth and final episode premieres on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024.
Published: Dec 16, 2024 11:25 am