“Dune: Prophecy” premiered at 2.1 million views and amassed over double that with next day views. It is easy to see why. The captivating prequel to the Dune universe as we know it is rich with political intrigue and action. This week’s episode gave us more insight into the Harkonnen house. It allowed us to see Valya reunite with her remaining family. The family consists of her uncle Evgeny (Mark Addy) and nephew Harrow (Edward Davis).

Evgeny Harkonnen (Mark Addy) is Valya and Tula’s great uncle, one of the family members that she ran from. He always seemed content being fully separate from the great houses. His nephew, Harrow (Edward Davis), actually seems to share more traits with Valya then he does with his uncle. 

Mark Addy and Edward Davis discussed the roles that their characters play in the “Dune: Prophecy.” Also, they talked with us about how their characters navigate these seemingly complicated family dynamics.

Stepping Into the World

Now, Mark Addy has been in the fantasy space for quite a long time. His biggest claim to fame is perhaps his role as Robert Baratheon in “Game of Thrones.” Also, he has graced the screen in “Atlantis,” “The Time Machine,” and “The Order.” He talked about what was different about stepping into a project like Dune. 

Mark Addy says:

I think the scale of it, it’s fairly epic. You know, I think it’s on par with any big movie set that I’ve been on, the amount of attention to detail, the care that’s gone into the sets, the costume, everything, you know, really, really impressed me. It’s made by people who care about the world and the Dune world and that shows.

Harrow and Evgeny seem to have very different ideals that they hold dear and different ideas of what will bring prosperity to their house. This could be a source of tension. Mark and Edward talk about how they navigate their relationship.

Edward Davis says:

I think Harrow’s helped by the fact that he’s not in the midst of the sort of trauma of Griffin’s death. So he doesn’t have the kind of blinding hatred or the sort of blame game that Evgeny is doing with Valya. He will have had tales of Valya given to him by Evgeny and he will, he won’t see her with kind eyes, but he also has the ability to see her for himself. And he’s also,  He’s not a great one, but he is a politician and he can be prepared to be more diplomatic about it, which is funny because that’s exactly what Evgeny wanted Griffin to do. That’s the tact he wanted Griffin to take. And Valya caused Griffin to take a more sort of confrontational tone and it didn’t end well. So I think Harrow’s doing what he’s doing, what he’s been told. It’s only when Valya turns up that,  that he starts to get a taste, a real taste for the,  for what power could bring.

Evgeny dies in this episode, due to Valya letting him. This leaves Harrow with only Valya and Tula left. Edward talks about how this event might taint his and Valya’s relationship.

I think it’s interesting to consider how he grieves for his great uncle. I won’t give you any more on that, but yeah having Valya is kind of the closest thing to family that he’s got. You might expect him to cling to her, but of course he’s very suspect of her and of everyone, really. It’s not simple, the route he’s going to have to chart is not going to be a simple one. And, but one, one great benefit is that he’s essentially left to his own devices and he’s left alone. So he will probably use that to his advantage, I’d say.

The Rise of House Harkonnen

We know the Harkonnens as purely evil and vindictive, but it’s clear that they didn’t start that way. In “Dune: Prophecy,” it starts off as ambition. Mark and Edward discuss how that image of their house evolved and what their image of their own house is. 

Mark Addy says:

I think Harkonnens they see themselves as being wronged. They’ve been lied to. By the Atreides and they, there’s an injustice that’s been done. They’ve been banished to this icy, barren planet with whale fur as their only Kind of prospect of making any money where spice is, where is where they need to be. That’s where the money is. And they are, uh, they’re hurt. They feel wronged. They feel a sense of injustice. And, it’s, it ultimately it’s the Atreides that, that are the villains. As far as the Harkonnens are concerned.

Edward Davis adds:

Yeah, I think it’s great to see this show after having got used to the Harkonnens as these inhuman, purely evil characters, because I think what you’re seeing there is how injustice can be taken into the DNA of a family tree and it can be distorted and it can turn into what we perceive to be pure evil, as you say, but it’s because it’s so distant that the original wrong is so distant that’s enough to it can be abstract and it serves a purpose to fuel hatred, but it isn’t you’re no longer fighting for the thing that it was the original sin or whatever. I think that’s a really interesting comment on the world actually.

At the beginning of this series, the Harkonnens are not considered one of the great houses. This seems to be specifically by Valya’s design. Edward gives us some insight as to what role Harrow played in the rise of house Harkonnen. 

I think he epitomizes Harkonnen-ness in that he is ultimately entirely selfish. And I think it’s the kind of, it’s almost the sort of incel vibe of him. The fact that he’s an outsider and he’s not got any marital prospects. He’s, so all these things that we see as detrimental, are, if you want to become a Harkonnen that’s in the movies, are fuel to the fire. They’re, they are exactly what make a sort of heartless, um, conniving creature. And I think you’ll start to see him  learning that himself and learning who he can be in this world because the world is not as fair as he’s been led to believe.

Episode 4 of “Dune: Prophecy” lets the audience see the vastly different personality types of house Harkonnen. We get to start to see the rise of one of the great houses and how their image starts to turn. The first 4 episodes are currently streaming on Max. We are currently 2 episodes from the finale and are on the edge of our seats for the conclusion of this show.