WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Dune: Prophecy episode 1.
The master swordsman in Dune: Prophecy is a distant ancestor of Paul Atriedies and has a great chance of disrupting Valya Harkonnen’s plans to control the Empire. Dune: Prophecy is a six-part series based on the 2012 novel Dune Brotherhoodwhich was written by the original Dune son of author Frank Herbert, Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson. The story takes place more than 10,000 years before the rise of Paul Atreidies, narrated in the book by Denis Villenueve. Dune (2020) and Dune: Part Two (2024). Dune: Prophecy reveals the origins of the powerful shadow brotherhood known as the Bene Gesserit and how they manipulated the destiny of humanity.
The Great Houses once fought together against the Thinking Machines, which placed House Harkonenn and House Atredies on the same team. As seen in the Dune films, there is a lot of bad blood and conflict in the story between House Harkonnen and House Atreides, as the former attempts to destroy the latter completely, setting them up for failure and death on the spice planet Arrakis. As revealed in Dune: Prophecythis rivalry began long before the rise of Paul Atreides with the determination of the Mother Reverend Superior, Valya Harkonnen, who intends to marry a Bene Gesserit in training, Princess Ynez Corrino, to a young prince named Pruwet Richese.
Keiran, the master swordsman, is from House Atreides in Dune: Prophecy
He lives on House Corrino’s home planet of Salusa Secundus.
Keiran Atredies, the master swordsman, is introduced in Dune: Prophecy much like Josh Brolin’s Gurney Halleck was featured in the recent Dune film. Keiran trains Princess Ynez in hand-to-hand combat techniques and sword fighting as she proves herself to be a competitive warrior. There’s also undeniable romantic tension between Keiran and Ynez which is later played out in a club scene that involves drug use and sexual intimacy. Although it is presented in the first moments of the Dune: Prophecyhe does not play a major role in the pilot episode, which may hint at his eventual impact on the course of the series.
The arranged marriage between Princess Ynez and Prince Richese was orchestrated as part of a deal between Emperor Javicco Corrino and Duke Ferdinand Richese in exchange for a fleet of spice excavators to improve cultivation on Arrakis. At the end of Dune: Prophecy In episode 1, however, Desmond Hart of Arrakis took matters into his own hands and mysteriously killed the young prince, as well as one of the Bene Gesserit sisters, through powerful dark magic. House Atredies has no connection to Arrakis during Dune: Prophecy and resides in Salusa Secundas with the Corrino Imperial House.
Status of House Atreides in Dune: Prophecy Explained
House Atreides is considered one of the noble Great Houses in the series
Valya Harkoennen is determined to regain the honor of the Harkoennen family name after they were exiled following the Battle of Corrin in 88 BG. This involves enacting revenge against House Atreides, who she believes is directly responsible for the fall of House Harkonnen. According to Dune Wiki“There was no one in the Known Universe that Valya hated more than Vorian Atreides, who caused the downfall of her family during the Battle of Corrin. His hatred for Vorian led to his desire to eliminate all Atreides, repeatedly placing this plan above his loyalty to the Brotherhood due to his anger towards him..”
Valya blames Vorian Atreides for the shame brought to House Harkoenn that occurred before the events of Dune: Prophecy. Vorian accused Valya’s great-grandfather, Bashar Abdulurd Harkonnen, of cowardice after the Battle of Corrin.which occurred before the war against the Thinking Machines known as the Butlerian Jihad. Dune: Prophecy states that an Atreides showed great valor during the Butlerian Jihad, while Valya’s great-grandfather showed cowardice, which is why she hates House Atreides. The series leaves out the Battle of Corrin entirely, which is what really caused the rivalry between the two houses for the next 10,000 years.
How Keiran’s relationship with Princess Ynez could cause conflict in Dune: Prophecy
Valya will almost certainly put a target on her back
Valya and her sister Tula Harkoennen disapprove of the romance between Princess Ynez and Keiran Atreides, which they eventually discover in Dune: Prophecy. THE Dune books reveal that Tula is more supportive of House Atreides as she is the less emotionally charged of the two sisters. This probably won’t be enough to stop Valya from setting a target on Keiran’s back, especially considering how important Princess Ynez is to the Bene Gesserit’s plans, particularly preventing the Reckoning from occurring. Valya is expected to make a strong effort to defeat Keiran Atredies in Dune: Prophecy as he will likely become the greatest threat to their vision and control of the Empire.