Dune: Prophecy’s Insane ‘Game of Thrones’ Connection Will Turn Every OG Fan into an Iconic Leonardo DiCaprio Meme

The HBO series Dune: Prophecy is the newest addition to the Dune cinematic universe, the foundations of which were successfully laid by Denis Villeneuve in 2021 when the first movie was released. Villeneuve’s is the first adaptation of Frank Herbert’s eponymous novels that has been able to achieve this kind of popularity, and a prequel series about the all too powerful Bene Gesserit makes complete sense.

Dune: Prophecy stars some of the best actors in Hollywood and the excitement for each new episode manifolds. The preview for the third episode has recently dropped and it was hard to miss the connection between the show and another of HBO’s greatest creations, Game of Thrones.

This Game of Thrones Star Has a Role in Dune: Prophecy

The Dune movies gave the audience an idea of the kind of power that the Bene Gesserit possess. So, curiosity about the origins of this social, religious and political force has been there for a while. Thankfully, this new show is everything a fan could possibly ask for to find out how the Sisterhood came to be the way it is in the movies.

So far, two episodes of the show have been released, and the response has been pretty good from both critics and fans of the novels. Recently, Max dropped a preview of the third episode (via YouTube), and 15 seconds into it, fans can spot a connection between Game of Thrones and this show. This connection has been established by the addition of actor Mark Addy to the cast.

Mark Addy played the role of King Robert Baratheon in the screen adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s eponymous novel. Robert was a main character at the beginning of the show. However, frequently engaging in infidelity along with drinking and fighting eventually led to his death in season 1 after a hunting incident with a wild boar.

In Dune: Prophecy, Addy stars as Evgeny Harkonnen, Sisters Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula’s (Olivia Williams) uncle. Evgeny was once a powerful member of the fallen House of Harkonnen. Ever since the house lost its position of superiority in the universe, his looks have drastically deteriorated which explains the baldness and paleness of the members of the Harkonnen family in the movies. That said, Addy’s appearance in this new show will definitely have fans reacting like the all-too-popular Leonardo DiCaprio meme (you know which one).

Denis Villeneuve Blessed Dune: Prophecy in a Key Way

Denis Villeneuve was briefly involved with the making of this show in its very early development days but had to shift his focus to Dune: Part Two and Dune: Messiah eventually. Despite this, the series has received his blessing in a creative way.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, creator Alison Schapker revealed how Villeneuve kindly let them use the same kind of sandworms as in the movies.

When we go to Arrakis, the sandworms have a similar design, so Denis was kind enough to bless that overlap. But we also wanted to go to our own corners of the Dune universe, and that’s why we explicitly did not set the majority of our action on Arrakis.

Additionally, Pierre Gill, Villeneuve’s longtime collaborator, worked as the Director of Photography for the cinematography department for half of the first season. Instead of Arrakis, a majority of the runtime of the show is set on the planet of Wallach IX where the Bene Gesserit’s headquarters and schools were founded so the sandworms most probably did not need to be used much.

Dune: Prophecy is available for streaming on Max.