When Dune: Prophecy drops its massive Season 1 finale, fans of the show, and Dune in general, will almost certainly have a lot of questions. But luckily, any remaining questions or missing details from Dune: Prophecy Season 1 can be addressed in an upcoming second season. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Dune: Prophecy will be renewed for a second season, with showrunner Alison Schapker confirming this fact at a press conference. President of television at Legendary, Jason Clodfelter, said: “This new season will allow us to continue building out the groundbreaking, epic Dune franchise that has captivated audiences worldwide across its installments.”
And by “building out” he also probably means fixing some continuity gaps. Although it's true that Dune: Prophecy has gotten steadily better as it's gone along, there’s still one detail the show hasn’t revealed: Why isn’t the Sisterhood called The Bene Gesserit?
Even if you’re a little lukewarm on Dune: Prophecy, the lore-building in the final two episodes is very impressive. Without spoiling Sunday’s finale outright, let’s just say certain things are explained and you finally see one thing that we’ve been missing in the series all along. But, the absence of the phrase “Bene Gesserit,” is strange. It’s like even though Dune: Prophecy has embraced many wacky aspects of the expanded canon of the various prequel books and spinoffs, the show still seems slightly afraid to depict the Bene Gesserit as the true Bene Gesserit.
In fairness, you could argue that Dune: Prophecy has been all about leading us through the story of how the Sisterhood got there. And so, with Season 2 coming, more dots in the timeline can now be connected. With only six episodes in its first season, Dune: Prophecy has had a bit of a hurry-up-and-wait feeling to some of its bigger revelations. Now with Season 2, it can march forward with confidence, but also very likely reinvent itself in at least one massive way. (When you see the finale, you’ll immediately know what this reinvention will be.)
Because the series takes place 10,000 years before the primary Dune saga, there’s still a lot of ground to cover. Yes, there are other prequel books penned by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert from which the show can draw, but in most ways, the series was at its best when it introduced elements not found in those books. The show’s big mystery box, Desmond Hart, is found nowhere in the pages of prequel books or in Frank Herbert’s original novel.
And so, this is the hope for Dune: Prophecy Season 2: Show us how the Bene Gesserit really became the Bene Gesserit, but also, perhaps, create new storylines found nowhere in the existing texts. Dune is an amazing universe, but the best bits of Prophecy have proved that new blood in the sand is the way to the future.
