The universe ofDuneis filled with crafty schemers, but none do it better than the members of House Harkonnen. The clever and manipulativeBaron Vladimir Harkonnenserves as the series' first and most memorable antagonist; other Harkonnens such as his nephew Feyd-Rautha would later follow in his footsteps.
Dune: Prophecy,set ten thousand years before the first novel, introduces viewers to Harrow Harkonnen, who effectively establishes the house’s reputation as ambitious schemers. Harrow’s role inDune: Prophecycleverly foreshadows the direction House Harkonnen will go in the following centuries and millennia.
Harrow Takes the First Steps to Restore House Harkonnen to Power
At the beginning ofDune: Prophecy,House Harkonnen is not in a good place. They have been exiled tothe remote planet Lankiveilfor cowardice in the war against the Thinking Machines, charismatic would-be heir Griffin has been murdered by a member of House Atreides, and sisters Valya and Tula have left their family to join the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. Few Harkonnens remain: the de facto leader is the aged, bitter Evgeny, portrayed by Mark Addy.
But into that gap steps Harrow. Young, fairly weak, and unfavorably compared to the late Griffin his entire life, Harrow becomes a schemer almost out of necessity. He sees that simply remaining on Lankiveil and being satisfied with the status quo will never change anything. Teaming up with Valya once the Bene Gesserit lose the Emperor’s trust, Harrow embarks on a plan to usea rebel attack on the Landsraadto put both House Harkonnen and the Bene Gesserit in a beneficial political position once more.
Harrow’s Ambition and Schemes Foreshadow House Harkonnen’s Eventual Fate
Although this plan does not succeed, primarily due to the efforts of the mysterious and powerful soldier Desmond Hart, Harrow Harkonnen does not give up. His actions and ambition foreshadow that House Harkonnen will ultimately rise again; in theDuneprequel novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, the Harkonnens sneakily manipulate Lankiveil’s whale-fur trade to gain wealth and power. By the time ofDune,they are again one of the greatest of the Great Houses, in charge of the valuable Arrakis and perfectly poised to take down their rivals, the Atreides.
Edward Davis described Harrow’s ambition and tendency to scheme as an inevitableside effect of constant comparisons to Griffin. “There’s a giant portrait of Griffin in his house,” Davis pointed out. Harrow knows that “he’s not…noble, honorable Griffin,” as Evgeny has never let him forget it, so he uses what skills he does have, namely his underhanded scheming, to get ahead. Describing the character in a Game Rant interview, Davis said.
“I think his ambition is emotional for him. It’s not just like: “How much can I get?” It’s not a sort of capitalist ambition. It means so much to him to not just elevate House Harkonnen to its former glory, but also to be the one who has done that. Yeah, he’s the weakest element of a family that is weak, and that can only go in one direction. He can’t go any lower, so he has to fight his way to the top mark.”
It is easy, when looking at the roleHarrow Harkonnen plays inDune: Prophecy’sfirst season, to see how he is the ancestor of Baron Vladimir, a man so conniving that his schemes and manipulations extended past his own death. House Harkonnen will always be known as a house filled to the brim with the Imperium’s greatest schemers, and Harrow Harkonnen (along with his aunt Valya) is the first and perhaps even the cleverest of the lot.
