What Imprinting Is In Dune & How The Sisterhood Used It To Control The Emperor

Dune: Prophecy season 1 uses the term "imprinting," which may raise some questions for TV viewers. The world created by Frank Hebert's Dune books is expansive on its own, but with the lore additions from Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's expanded novels, HBO's prequel series has plenty of material to go off of. Even still, the TV show has expanded on the Dune universe with new characters, powers, and mysteries to be unearthed by long-term book fans and first-timers alike. Dune: Prophecy's season 1 ending resolves some of these mysteries, but there are still stones left unturned.

Audiences have grown far more acquainted with the Sisterhood, an earlier form of the Bene Gesserit, throughout Dune: Prophecy season 1. Valya Harkonnen is the Mother Superior of the Sisterhood, and her main objective is to carry on the wishes of Mother Superior Raquella, creating a manufactured breeding plan that will produce the ideal genetic offspring to become the Imperium's rulers. The idea may seem promising at first glance, but it requires significant intervention and manipulation of political affairs and personal livelihood, with the Sisterhood planning around Princess Ynez at this point in the timeline.

How Imprinting Works In Dune

Imprinting Is A Process Of Obtaining Loyalty Through Intimacy

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Imprinting is a term that was first established in Frank Herbert's Heretics of Dune, the fifth novel in his original series. However, characters with the ability to imprint have been seen before this, including Margot Fenring, who appeared in 2024's Dune: Part Two. Imprinting is a specific ability that can be developed by members of the Bene Gesserit, or in Dune: Prophecy's case, the Sisterhood, to utilize the woman's skills in seduction to establish a stronger control over the target. This is often used on men in positions of substantial political power.

Related Who Becomes Emperor After Javicco Corrino In Dune: Prophecy? Dune lore suggests that House Corrino will maintain its reign over the Imperium long after the tenure of Emprer Javicco Corrino in Dune: Prophecy.

The Bene Gesserit are known for using their heightened abilities to gain influence throughout the Imperium. The Sisterhood in Dune: Prophecy has established control primarily through Truthsayers, aiding noble houses in decision-making and tactics, though all are secretly working toward a common goal. With that in mind, imprinting is suggested in the show as a step to gain further control, and Valya has Francesca use it on Emperor Javicco Corrino, giving her a fallback plan if Sister Kasha's influence were to falter somehow.

Essentially, what this means is that they're being intimate in such a manner that the target's biology is altered to become loyal to the imprinter.

The specifics of imprinting are explained in the episode recap of Dune: Prophecy episode 5 for viewers watching on Max or HBO. Executive Producer Alison Schapker states that imprinting is "where a sister can exert a kind of molecular influence over another person through intimacy." Essentially, what this means is that they're being intimate in such a manner that the target's biology is altered to become loyal to the imprinter. It allows the Sisterhood to exert even more control over them than they'd normally possess.

Can All Members Of The Bene Gesserit Become An Imprinter?

Imprinting Requires Significant Training

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Imprinting isn't an ability that every member of the Bene Gesserit is capable of. In fact, very few of the characters mentioned in the Dune universe are capable of it. Imprinting requires skill and training similar to the Voice or other powers utilized by the organization. It goes beyond just the ability to seduce the target and win them over with sex, instead using a specific scientific process to alter the target's bodily functions to become loyal to them. This is something that would require strenuous training.

While it is not specified that Margot Fenring imprinted on Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Dune: Part Two, she was another member of the Bene Gesserit capable of doing so. Lucilla was also a member of the Bene Gesserit from the books who could imprint, and she's introduced as a character for the final two Frank Herbert books. As for Dune: Prophecy, Sister Francesca is the only character who's shown to be able to imprint, with Emperor Javicco Corrino being the only known target.

How The Sisterhood Dictated Who Would Become The Emperor

The Sisterhood Planned For Princess Ynez To Rule

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In Dune: Prophecy episode 6, Valya Harkonnen explains to Emperor Javicco that his whole existence has been dictated by the Sisterhood. They planned his birth before he was born, planned his marriage with Natalya, and planned his love affair with Sister Francesca. Valya plotted Javicco's life and the lives of his children as part of her genetic breeding plan, and there's a specific reason why. Mother Superior Raquella's plan, which Valya is carrying out, is to create the ideal emperor through a combination of genes, and their target is Princess Ynez.

Related 10 Ways Dune: Prophecy's Finale Sets Up Season 2 Following the events of the Dune: Prophecy season 1 finale, there are several key elements that are already set up to be expanded on in season 2.

Emperor Javicco's Corrino name and bloodline were chosen, along with his marriage to Natalya, to create the ideal heir. The Sisterhood's plot is to have Princess Ynez train with their organization by attending their school before ascending to the throne so their influence would be deeply rooted in the Imperium. Not only would Ynez have been planted as the empress by the Sisterhood, but she'd also be one of their members, giving them complete control over the Known Universe. This is Valya's primary goal in the TV series, as it will carry out the organization's mission and increase her individual power.

Why Valya Needed Francesca To Use Imprint Powers Over Emperor Javicco Corrino

Valya Needed Javicco To Control The Imperium

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Valya has a very specific use for Sister Francesca in Dune: Prophecy, with some of it taking place before the show's events and some during. Francesca imprinted on Javicco before the show started, and together, they conceived Constantine Corrino. Francesca reveals to Constantine in episode 5 that the reason he was born, as all babies birthed by members of the Sisterhood have specific purposes, was to protect Princess Ynez. The Sisterhood created a bodyguard for their prime heir candidate, though this goes awry when Constantine arrests Keiran Atreides, upsetting Ynez.

Valya having Sister Kasha in Emperor Javicco's corner is important, and the emperor clearly trusts his Truthsayer, but his appreciation for Francesca goes even further beyond that. She has a hold on him like no other, and the final two episodes show that she briefly manages to pull his loyalty back to the Sisterhood and away from Desmond Hart despite just recently banishing Valya Harkonnen from the palace. That influence is incredibly powerful. While the plan fell through, Francesca had the capacity to influence the emperor in Dune: Prophecy even when he'd turned his back on the organization.