Tula Harkonnen: the Harkonnen who wed and slew an Atreides
Tula Harkonnen was an early member of House Harkonnen and a sister of the Bene Gesserit. On the orders of her elder sister, Valya Harkonnen, she married Orry Atreides and murdered him on their wedding night to avenge their slain brother.
Tula Harkonnen was an early member of House Harkonnen and a sister of the Bene Gesserit, born of the Harkonnen line exiled to the cold world of Lankiveil. A younger sister of Valya Harkonnen, she became the instrument of her sister's long vendetta against House Atreides: she married Orry Atreides and killed him on their wedding night, one of several Atreides deaths she carried out in revenge for the killing of their brother Griffin Harkonnen. (Mentats of Dune; Navigators of Dune)
Origins and the Bene Gesserit#
Tula belonged to House Harkonnen during the era when the family held no high station, its fortunes bound to the harsh world of Lankiveil. She was a sister of Valya and Griffin Harkonnen. Like her elder sister Valya, Tula entered the Bene Gesserit and was raised in the disciplines of the Sisterhood, training that made her a capable and unsuspected agent in the wider quarrels of the noble Houses. HBO's Dune: Prophecy adds an uncle, Evgeny Harkonnen, to the family. (Mentats of Dune; Dune: Prophecy)
The murder of Orry Atreides#
The Harkonnens carried a bitter feud with House Atreides, sharpened by the death of Griffin Harkonnen, and Valya set herself to avenge him. Tula became the means of that revenge. She drew close to the Atreides on Caladan, in the years before that family had risen to the rank of a Great House, and married Orry Atreides. On their wedding night she killed him at her sister's command. She did not stop with her husband, killing others of the line as well, among them Shander Atreides, who died on Caladan by her hand. That wedding night also left her carrying a secret son, and his return years later drives the plot of Dune: Prophecy. (Mentats of Dune; Dune: Prophecy)
In time the Tula Fjord on Lankiveil was named after her, fixing her name to the homeworld of her House. (Navigators of Dune)
Frequently asked questions
- Who was Tula Harkonnen?
- Tula Harkonnen was an early member of House Harkonnen and a sister of the Bene Gesserit. She was a younger sister of Valya Harkonnen, later Mother Superior, and married Orry Atreides only to murder him on their wedding night at Valya's command.
- Why did Tula Harkonnen kill Orry Atreides?
- She killed Orry Atreides on the orders of her elder sister, Valya Harkonnen, as part of the Harkonnen vendetta against House Atreides waged in revenge for the death of their brother Griffin Harkonnen.
Sources
- BookMentats of Dune, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, 2014 (expanded universe)
- BookNavigators of Dune, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, 2016 (expanded universe)
- VideoDune: Prophecy, HBO series, season 1, 2024
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Valya Harkonnen
Valya Harkonnen of Lankiveil rose from a promising student of Raquella Berto-Anirul to become the second Reverend Mother Superior of the order she renamed the Bene Gesserit. Consumed by a vendetta against House Atreides, she developed the technique of Voice and used it to seize sole leadership.
Evgeny Harkonnen: patriarch of a disgraced House
Evgeny Harkonnen was the uncle of Griffin, Valya and Tula Harkonnen and the aging head of a family living in exile and disgrace. He never forgave Valya for the deaths her ambitions brought upon the House, and his final argument with her ended when she withheld the treatment that kept him breathing.
Dune: Prophecy Explained: Season 1 Plot Summary and Ending
The full story of HBO's Bene Gesserit series Dune: Prophecy, episode by episode, from Raquella's death to the escape to Arrakis. With the ending explained: who Desmond Hart really is, what Valya saw inside him, and where season one leaves the Sisterhood.
Bene Gesserit
The Bene Gesserit were an ancient order of women who wielded power from the shadows of the Imperium through a millennia-long breeding program, mastery of body and mind, and the religious engineering of the Missionaria Protectiva. Their goal was the Kwisatz Haderach, and through him the guidance of humanity.
House Harkonnen: the Baron's Giedi Prime
Seated on industrial Giedi Prime and ruled by a Siridar-Baron, the Harkonnens had hated House Atreides since Corrin. Arrakeen finished them off.
Lankiveil
Lankiveil was a cold maritime world of the Corrino Empire whose chief export was whale fur. Held by House Harkonnen, it was governed for a time by Abulurd, who renounced the Harkonnen name in favour of his wife's family name, Rabban.
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