Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Dune: Prophecy episode 5!WhileDune: Prophecyepisode 5’s biggest revelation is thatDesmond Hart is the son of Tula Harkonnenand Orry Atreides, he is not the only character who turns out to have another identity. Fremen rebel Mikaela (Shalom Brune-Franklin) has been warily working with Keiran Atreides until the majority of their team was wiped out in Selusa Secunda, but this week’s episode exposes her double life as a member of the Bene Gesserit. While Keiran is captured by Constantine Corrino, Mikaela has her own confrontation with Valya Harkonnen that suggests she may not be as on board with the Sisterhood’s plan as the latter would like.
Mikaela also has a run-in with Desmond inDune: Prophecyepisode 5 with reveals more of her backstory on Arrakis, highlighting the cognitive dissonance that is required when one pledges to the Bene Gesserit. The motto is “Sisterhood Above All,” but several Sisters are shown to be conflicted about their duties — not least of which was Valya herself in her youth. Tula hid her son from her fellow Sisters (and from her blood-related sister) all this time, Francesca’s loyalty to her son may pose an issue for Valya in the finale, and Mikaela’s growing disdain for her Mother Superior echoes herDunemovie counterpart Chani’squestioning of authority.
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ScreenRantinterviewed Brune-Franklin aboutDune: Prophecyepisode 5’srevelation that Mikaela is part of the Sisterhood, and her burgeoning conflict with Valya. The actor also addressed her character’s remaining loyalty to Arrakis as a Fremen woman, as well as her confrontation with Desmond.
“We’re all trying to guess who’s related to who, whose love child is that, and what is this?”
ScreenRant: When you got this role, did you know Mikaela’s backstory as a Sister?
Shalom Brune-Franklin: No, that’s something I just had to ask Alison [Schapker] about, and she’s literally the Oracle on set, as I’m sure everybody has said. Everybody just runs to Alison for all the questions, and she was good at being pretty open too, which I guess you have to be as a showrunner because there are so many different options of where things can go.
You don’t want to say one thing and then it changes, so there wasn’t too much that she could let me know, but we had this conversation about how most people come to the Sisterhood under desperate circumstances, and it’s pretty odd that a Fremen woman is off-planet anyway. I don’t how she feels about heading back to Arrakis, let’s just say that much.
ScreenRant: How often are you all reading the scripts and being like, “I wonder what they mean?” Are you all caught up in the mystery as we are as viewers?
Shalom Brune-Franklin: Oh, for sure. Especially when you first get the scripts. I think you’re going, “Wait, what?” When you haven’t got the rest of them yet, you’re kind of going, “Where’s this going to go?” And then we’re all trying to guess who’s related to who, whose love child is that, and what is this? We’re all calling each other.
Sarah-Sofie [Boussnina] had so many good guesses early on as well. I remember some of our phone calls, and she was saying stuff that was going to happen later on. She was like, “I’m convinced it’s this,” and she was pretty right for a lot of it.
Shalom Brune-Franklin Breaks Down Mikaela’s Complicated Relationships In Dune: Prophecy Episode 5
“She’s somebody who started to believe in something outside of the Sisterhood, which is not what you’re supposed to do.”
ScreenRant: I know we got glimpses of Mikaela’s dynamic with Horace. Did you get a backstory from them beyond what you learned on the page?
Shalom Brune-Franklin: Yeah, that was really important because I really wanted to know how I got — I keep saying the word radicalized, but I think that’s probably a bit too strong. But how sympathetic she had become to the cause and to Horace specifically because he is trying to essentially uplift her very own people. I think, naturally, you would start to be a little sympathetic to the cause and go, “These guys are just trying to do a good thing.” Of course, she’s going to be biased and think that Horace is a great guy, and if blowing all these people up is for the good of the people on Arrakis, what are you going to do?
It was really important to understand how deep that connection is when we start the show because when he dies, she’s affected by it, and it’s a turning point for her as well. When he dies, it changes the relationship between Kieran and her and basically makes the rebellion and its implosion a lot more emotional than it should have been. And I think that tells you everything you need to know; she’s somebody who started to believe in something outside of the Sisterhood, which is not what you’re supposed to do.
ScreenRant: Mikaela knew that Kieran would spell trouble for their plan given his feelings for Ynez, but how would you describe their dynamic outside of that?
Shalom Brune-Franklin: I think she’s just constantly trying to manage him, and I think he’s a huge headache for her. She’s like, “Can you just keep it in your pants? How long has it taken to execute this? How long has it taken to infiltrate this house? You are so embedded in there, and you’re going to let it all go because you happen to have fallen for the Princess. Come on, mate.”
She doesn’t want it to blow up because then she has to turn to Valya, and no one wants to deal with the wrath of Valya ever. It’s her job, and it’s resting on her shoulders, so it’s a lot of pressure to keep it all intact. I think she’s constantly manipulating Kieran, and it comes out when he finally confronts her and figures out who she is. It’s just a lot of manipulation, and it can seem a little savage as well because she gives him up early on.
I’m going to say she gives him up early on, before she sees that he really cares about the cause and about her. But, yeah, it’s a difficult dynamic — or it’s a complex dynamic, I should say.
How Mikaela’s Confrontation Affects Her Relationship With The Bene Gesserit In Dune: Prophecy
“Something’s about to happen. Can Mikaela use the Voice? Is she about to try and use it?”
ScreenRant: Your scene with Desmond gives us a little more insight into your history on Arrakis. How much of a read would you say he actually has on Mikaela, and how does that affect her?
Shalom Brune-Franklin: Yeah, it’s interesting because Desmond is the character that we know that has recently spent the most time on Arrakis, so there’s some familiarity that he probably feels when he sees Mikaela.
When you have a friend who has been wronged by this one person, the minute you meet them, you’re like, “This is just going to be the biggest piece of s–t in the world. Let’s go. I’m ready. Everything they do is going to annoy me.” So, I don’t think she expected to be rattled by him so much when he starts questioning her allegiance to the Sisterhood and saying, “How are you stood here profiting off the rape of your own planet? What’s wrong with you?” I don’t think she expected him to come so hard at her, I don’t think she expected the attacks to be so personal, and I don’t think she expected him to be so cruel.
I genuinely think she thought, “This is just going to be easy. As a bit of a guise, maybe give him a bit of spice. Tell him there’s no rebels hiding here. Bam, blow him up.” She didn’t expect this intense, incredibly intimidating standoff with him, which was really fun to shoot. Travis and I had so much fun doing that scene because there were so many different intimidation tactics going on.
ScreenRant: Kieran asks if you would be willing to let Arrakis burn for the greater good. Do you think that Mikaela had already decided she wouldn’t betray her people in that moment, or did she come to that conclusion this episode?
Shalom Brune-Franklin: I think it’s probably something that has been inside of her the entire time since being at the Sisterhood, but it’s sort of that thing in your life where you go, “Ahh, don’t think about that thought that’s come up. Let’s focus on all the other things that are going on. Focus on your breath, focus on the tree over there…” And then eventually it goes away.
It’s that reoccurring thought that makes you really uncomfortable, so you wish you didn’t have it. You’re like, “Why can’t I just shut that up?” I think, because she is embedded in the rebellion and is literally confronting that thought and that side of herself every single day while listening to these people, she has come to the conclusion that she will never do what she has done to these people to her own. There’s just no way that can happen, which is a huge conflict of interest for the life she’s chosen.
ScreenRant: Valya basically tells Mikaela her role was to buy Francesca time. Does Mikaela feel used then, or was her resentment towards Valya already well-formed?
Shalom Brune-Franklin: Watching that all over again, I was like, “I feel so bad for her.” When I read it, I remember going, “Wait, what? This is just a backup plan?” Can you imagine how much time it takes to do what Mikaela has done for it to then all just sort of be a fun plan B?
And I don’t think it was probably always meant to be a plan B. This is something that she’s been really proud of, especially because she wanted to be like Kasha. She wanted to become a Sister and wanted the glory of being a Sister, and instead she has to hide who she is. It must’ve felt really cool seeing the raids happen and going, “Yeah, I did that. That was all me.”
Then knowing that it all imploded for not really anything at all because he got away? The fact that Val had already accommodated for it failing feels like a huge slap in the face for her. I think we see that fury straight away — you think she’s going to hit her. You’re like, “Something’s about to happen. Can Mikaela use the Voice? Is she about to try and use it?”
ScreenRant: You alluded to this earlier, but we learn who Desmond’s mom is in this episode, which is such a big reveal. Is that something Mikaela knew, or do you think it would’ve affected her decisions if she did know?
Shalom Brune-Franklin: I don’t think Mikaela would’ve known. No, I don’t think anybody but Tula knows before that moment. I really don’t.
ScreenRant: Without spoiling anything in the sixth episode, if there’s a season 2, how much would you like to return? Is there anything you would like to see in a second season?
Shalom Brune-Franklin: I would love to see the version of it that we could do. I think that would be really cool. It’s something that so many people are already so familiar with, so that would be awesome. But also just to see where her allegiances end up and what happens between Valya and her. Does she stay true, or does she become a double agent? Who knows?
It’s interesting to think of more deceit coming up. Wouldn’t it be fun to keep playing deceit? It’s so fun playing a liar. It’s great.
More About Dune: Prophecy Season 1
From the expansive universe of Dune, created by acclaimed author Frank Herbert, and 10,000 years before the ascension of Paul Atreides, DUNE: PROPHECY follows two Harkonnen sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect that will become known as the Bene Gesserit. DUNE: PROPHECY is inspired by the novel SISTERHOOD OF DUNE, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.
