Dune: Prophecy, the HBO prequel series set ten thousand years before Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies, premiered its first episode and already left viewers with plenty of mysteries to consider. Led by Emily Watson and Olivia Williams (who play Valya and Tula Harkonnen respectively), the show follows the origins of the Bene Gesserit and how their rise intermingles with House Corrino’s rule of the Imperium. Episode 1 revealed how Valya wrested control of the Sisterhood (which will eventually become the Bene Gesserit) in flashbacks while her fellow Reverend Mother Kasha (Jihae) foretells the destruction of her carefully laid plans in the present.

Kasha serves as Emperor Javicco Corrino’s Truthsayer in Dune: Prophecy episode 1, where she is trusted to offer advice and help lead Princess Ynez to the Sisterhood and her eventual role as Empress (meant to ward off a terrible event the show calls the “Tiran-Arafel”). But the arrival of Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) seems to throw a wrench in that destiny, and Kasha suffers from a foreboding nightmare that suggests Ynez’s crowning will be the Sisterhood’s undoing. No sooner has her warning been dismissed by Valya that Demond uses the powers he gained from a recent encounter with a Sandworm to burn both Ynez’s intended, the young Pruwet Richese, and Kasha herself alive.

ScreenRant interviewed Jihae to discuss the events of Dune: Prophecy episode 1, “The Hidden Hand,” including her character’s untimely demise courtesy of Desmond Hart. The actor shared her interpretation of Mother Kasha’s vision, as well as how the Reverend Mother functions both within Emperor Javicco Corrino’s court and inside the walls of the Sisterhood.

The Sisterhood’s Bonds Run Deep In Dune: Prophecy

Valyra, Tula & Kasha are “similar to the Jungian archetype of the Triple Goddess: the young Maiden who goes to the underworld, the Mother, and the wise Crone.”

Screen Rant: We get to see Kasha using the Sisterhood’s hand gestures up close to communicate. How did you learn them on set, and was there an alphabet to draw from so to speak, or were you just given a few specific ones?

Jihae: There’s a whole sign language that was created, which we rehearsed before we shot that scene. There was quite extensive prep work for all the sisters going in, and we really bonded that way. It was really wonderful, actually.

Screen Rant: Speaking of that Sisterhood bond, we see how Valya shocks them upon Mother Raquella’s passing in the flashbacks. Do you think Kasha agrees with Valya’s vision, or did she think Dorotea had the right idea in maintaining the original principles?

Jihae: I think Kasha ended up aligning with the two sisters. I know that Frank Herbert was really into the Jungian archetypes, and the way I saw the three senior Sisters, or the three Reverend Mothers, was similar to the Jungian archetype of the Triple Goddess: the young Maiden who goes to the underworld, the Mother, and the wise Crone.

I think I personally believe that she hesitated and wondered, but all those young sisters at that time and at that age were just learning to have these supernatural powers. They were learning from the original Reverend Mother, and that was her dying wish, so I think she definitely sided with that and ended up aligning with that vision and that purpose.

Jihae Unravels Kasha’s Dark Vision In Dune: Prophecy Episode 1

“With her gifts, she’s having these dreams and her ancestors are speaking to her, but her sisters will not hear her.”

Screen Rant: There is a very sweet moment between Kasha and Ynez, in which she says goodbye and emphasizes how important Ynez is in the grand scheme of things. But how important is she personally to Kasha?

Jihae: There was a backstory that the showrunner came up with of how Kasha discovered Inez as a little girl in captivity who had been held, and they discussed that, but I think there’s also a mother-to-daughter type of bond between them that is deeper than what Inez has with her own mother.

I think when Kasha first has that nightmare, her initial instinct was to make sure that Inez was okay. Leaving her post, which she’s not supposed to do, and going in a rush overnight to speak to the Mother Superior was out of her maternal instinct to make sure that Ynez was going to be okay. She didn’t actually interpret it as her being the prophecy itself.

Screen Rant: What would you say was Kasha’s interpretation of the nightmare she has? How was it explained to you, and what do you think she is seeing?

Jihae: She definitely sees a darkness coming for the Sisterhood, and she worries that it is going to be directly caused by the plan of putting Ynez on the throne. Because Ynez was in her nightmare, she probably believes that this is what’s going to happen.

The original Mother Superior many years ago said, “This is the sign, this is the burning truth, and you will see it.” Kasha is a Truthsayer, and she is the most gifted of all the Truthsayers that exist in the Sisterhood. That’s why she’s the right hand of the Emperor of the known universe. But back home, she is a prophet who’s not heard. With her gifts, she’s having these dreams and her ancestors are speaking to her, but her sisters will not hear her.

I think she interpreted the dream as something that’s definitely going to happen, and that’s detrimental to the Sisterhood. There’s going to be some carnage, and she suspects it’s going to be Ynez. But, as you find out later, it’s not.

Screen Rant: What do you think makes the Emperor so willing to turn on the Bene Gesserit given that he once had such a close relationship with Kasha?

Jihae: I think the Emperor is clearly someone that can be molded. Kasha is the puppet master through Mother Superior, and I think the way I saw that character was that he is someone who could be easily manipulated. He is someone who is in fear of losing his place, and so he is swayed.

I mean, he does put deep trust in the Sisterhood and in Kasha, and that’s why he has made all his decisions a certain way. But when she’s not there, the evil comes in and sways him away.

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.