Dune: Prophecy’s Pieces Are All in Place Ahead of the Finale

With 2 episodes near to go, Dune: Prophecy inactive has a batch of question marks floating done its plot. We cognize wherever things volition basal 10,000 years successful the future—but however is the Sisterhood going to flooded Desmond Hart’s weird magic and reassert its power? And however volition the Harkonnens reconstruct their presumption arsenic a Great House?

Not each is revealed, of course. But this week’s “In Blood, Truth” gives america immoderate large chunks to chomp connected portion we hold to spot however the HBO amusement wraps up each its spicy, sandy scheming.

After a glimpse of the Emperor’s shiny caller fleet circling the planet, we get a look astatine Desmond Hart successful his palace quarters—seemingly recovered from past week’s exhausting, convulsive heroics, and donning a snappy caller uniform. (Still nary haircut though; his grooming screams “rough and ready” and he’s keeping it that way.) 

The caller outfit debuts astatine a ceremonial successful which the Emperor praises Desmond’s loyalty, past announces he’s elevating him to Bashar, successful bid of a caller elite regiment dedicated to rooting retired treason. Everybody’s seen what helium tin do, and helium already makes everyone tense anyway, truthful it feels similar the cleanable promotion. 

Princess Ynez flounces retired of the ceremonial arsenic soon arsenic she’s able, but arsenic we’ll see, this is Constantine’s week to measurement up. Thus acold Ynez’s half-brother has been benignant of successful the background—he’s Corrino’s bastard son, truthful isn’t successful enactment for the throne—and we’ve seen him party, screw around, and suffer his nervus erstwhile Ynez asked him to backmost her successful demanding an probe into Desmond. But “In Blood, Truth” fills successful immoderate of the large blanks, including who his parent is—which successful crook explains a batch astir wherefore Empress Natalya hates the Sisterhood truthful much.

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Corrino practically gasps erstwhile helium sees her: Sister Francesca, stunningly beauteous adjacent successful her Sisterhood robe and veil. (We’ve seen the younger mentation of this quality before; she was successful Valya’s tight-knit radical successful their acolyte epoch on with Tula and Kasha.) Natalya’s face, meanwhile, contorts into jealous disgust. “I americium present to spot my son,” Francesca explains, but we instantly recognize she means our son. It tin lone beryllium Constantine she’s talking about.

Speaking of, he’s astatine that infinitesimal making amends with his sister for leaving her successful the lurch astatine the Landsraad. “I won’t fto you down similar that again,” helium promises.

On Wallach IX, the acolytes are successful the mediate of a acquisition with Sister Avila erstwhile Jen can’t halt herself from speaking out. Though Jen’s possibly the lone 1 not having the shared nightmare, she’s furious that Sisterhood enactment hasn’t taken much action. “Whose eyes ticker from the darkness?,” she demands. “You privation america to discern truth? How is that imaginable erstwhile nary of it exists here?”

Tula enters the schoolroom astatine that infinitesimal and orders Jen to travel with her. But she’s not expelling her, arsenic Jen expects; she’s successful request of assistance that lone idiosyncratic whose caput has been capable to defy the nightmare tin give. It’ll necessitate Tula letting Jen successful connected the information that Lila is a) alive, and b) occasionally being possessed by Mother Raquella. She handles it beauteous well, each things considered; mostly, she’s conscionable thrilled to spot that her beloved friend, who she saw dice earlier her eyes, isn’t really dead.

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Back successful the palace, Constantine and Francesca reunite. He assumes she’s determination due to the fact that of Kasha’s death, but it’s the archetypal she’s proceeding of it.  

Nearby, Baron Harkonnen visits Desmond to apologize for speaking against the Emperor astatine the Landsraad. Both men are polite (Desmond is, arsenic always, successful the “menacingly polite” arena); some men besides person their ain agendas. Harrow blames his Aunt Valya for his mistake successful judgment; Desmond takes that arsenic an opening. “I privation to cognize what the ties are betwixt the Sisterhood and the rebellion,” helium says, offering Harrow a toot of spice. “Give maine grounds and the Imperial location volition reward you.”

After helium indulges, Harrow takes a heavy enactment and tells Desmond helium mightiness person immoderate utile accusation successful manus already. His attempts to halt pirates from disrupting his whale-fur concern led him to observe a ringing of Arrakian smugglers with their hands connected each the contraband successful Zimia, Salusa Secundus’ main metropolis. The rebels indispensable person gone done this underground market, Harrow posits, to merchantability spice to get the wealth to bargain their “thinking machine” weapon.

Desmond looks intrigued. “It’s a start,” helium says. “But to wide your name, I’ll request impervious that your aunt is involved.”

Speaking of Aunt Valya, she’s gathering with Francesca, who’s irritated that she was brought to Salusa Secundus nether mendacious pretenses. But Valya assures her there’s a bully crushed for each the secrecy. “The concern is excessively precarious,” she tells her aged friend. “What happened to Kasha was conscionable the beginning.” After she fills Francesca successful connected what’s happened since Desmond appeared, Francesca instantly recognizes that it’s Raquella’s prophecy, starting to travel true.

Valya tells her she’s got a program to instrumentality retired Desmond; Francesa’s portion is to exploit her peculiar transportation with Corrino to bring the Sisterhood backmost into his bully graces. They request Princess Ynez to survey connected Wallach IX, and there’s thing successful it for Constantine, too: wouldn’t helium marque a fantastic commandant of the Emperor’s caller fleet?

Francesca worries that this transportation won’t onshore if Desmond’s successful the way, but Desmond is present occupied with his caller task, merrily looking for insurgents. (Travis Fimmel’s enactment transportation erstwhile Desmond asks Keiran Arteides “You privation to come?”—complete with eyebrow waggle!—is chef’s kiss.)

Keiran declines and finds a mode to wriggle retired of his sword-fighting acquisition with Constantine, heading consecutive to the nightclub wherever Mikaela—the Fremen undercover Sister who’s some portion of the rebellion and Valya’s main accusation root connected the rebels’ activities—is the other of disquieted astir being recovered out. Instead, she’s gathering explosives to greet Desmond and his soldiers erstwhile they travel a-knocking.

Desmond Hart’s DNA illustration arrives connected Wallach IX arsenic Jen and Lila are sharing a heartfelt moment. Jen’s atrocious she didn’t bash much to support Lila, but Lila forgives her. Suddenly, the young girl’s countenance changes wholly (props to Chloe Lea, whose two-in-one quality show is impressive) erstwhile Jen mentions the nightmare. “The gaping maw of Shai-Hulud… swallowed by acheronian until 2 eyes stared back,” she intones. “It wasn’t a nightmare, it was prescience. I foresaw the reckoning that would thrust the Imperium to tyranny. If he succeeds, humanity volition backslide into self-destruction.”

These are intelligibly the words of Raquella, present controlling Lila’s assemblage and acceptable to work. She bursts into Tula’s laboratory and takes charge, instantly scrutinizing Kasha’s insubstantial samples. (She doesn’t look to cognize Dorotea’s fate, to Tula’s relief.) While a funny Jen takes it each in, LilaQuella makes a startling announcement: “This insubstantial damage… I’ve seen this before, during the war.”

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Back successful the Harkonnen house, Valya asks Harrow “Did the pb I gave you help?”—in lawsuit anyone thought she wasn’t afloat alert of Harrow’s gathering with Desmond. She tells her nephew that the accusation astir the smugglers won’t defrost the narration betwixt Harrow and Desmond, but “we tin usage his distrust to your advantage.” If helium helps the Bashar, it’ll assistance House Harkonnen successful the eyes of the Emperor.

He warns Valya that Desmond is precise funny successful what the Sisterhood is up to—something Harrow himself is besides funny in, though his aunt isn’t astir to fto him successful connected their secrets. “You’ll conscionable person to spot me,” she says, and the smirk they speech arsenic she hands implicit Evgeny’s ringing telegraphs that they’re some gladsome the aged antheral is dead. They person that successful common, astatine least.

After Harrow dutifully departs to bring Evgeny’s corpse to the Harkonnen location planet, Theo steps forward. She’d besides similar to cognize what the Sisterhood is up to, since she’s portion of immoderate it is. Valya explains that Sister Francesca has a peculiar enslaved with the Emperor—”imprinting,” different Sisterhood skill—that forms “an affectional and carnal enslaved that ne'er breaks.” 

We chopped to Francesca leaning into that enslaved by telling the Emperor their feckless lad needs to beryllium fixed much responsibility, oregon other he’ll ne'er larn to beryllium a leader. His absorption to this parenting chat is to buss her, but she pulls away. She’s not determination to wreck his marriage, she says—but it’s so precise wide helium has almighty feelings for her.

Meanwhile, successful Tula’s lab, LilaQuella is telling Tula and Jen what she meant by “I’ve seen this before.” During the war, “machines designed a pathogen that incubated successful the quality body, releasing an enzyme that infected the liver.” The enzyme that killed Kasha is similar, but alternatively of her liver, it concentrated successful her “fear center.” Fear is the caput killer, literally!

Sister Avila shows up past with Desmond’s DNA sample, and she’s understandably shocked to spot Lila up and astir and saying things similar “This is simply a virus: the nightmares, the deaths, they’re connected to a genetically modified airborne RNA retrovirus.” Tula swears her to secrecy.

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Back successful Mikaela’s nightclub, she’s inactive placing her booby traps—with Keiran’s help—when Desmond saunters in, anxious to observe if the spot is, arsenic he’s tortured retired of a source, “a hotbed of insurgent activity.” (Desmond is successful a precise bully temper this week!) She denies it, but soldiers commencement ripping up the spot anyway.

Desmond turns to Mikaela and asks her however she, arsenic a Fremen, has justified what she does for a living: “profiting disconnected the rape of your ain planet, communing with your oppressors.” He close-talks her, asking her “how the Sisterhood is connected to the rebellion.” She’s not intimidated, and watches arsenic Desmond and his pack caput upstairs for further ransacking. Just arsenic Desmond discovers her Sisterhood robe and is fondling it with fascination—and conscionable arsenic Keiran notices Mikaela is carrying 1 of the Sisterhood’s signature blades—the spot explodes. He’s aggravated that she’s secretly been a Sister each this time, and they portion connected atrocious terms.

On Wallach IX, Jen raises a precise bully question with Tula: “Is Lila conscionable being utilized for the Sisterhood’s gain?” The reply is intelligibly yes, but Tula snaps backmost with Valya’s aged “sometimes sacrifices indispensable beryllium made” line. When Jen asks what Tula has sacrificed, her look darkens. “More than you tin ever imagine,” she says.

We chopped backmost to the smoldering ruins of the nightclub to spot not lone did Desmond someway past the explosion, he’s wholly uninjured. Viewers were apt not astatine all amazed by this (were you??), but Valya is disappointed to perceive helium wasn’t among the dead. Then she shrugs it off. “So beryllium it,” she tells Mikaela. “There’s a contingency program for him.”

Mikaela is distressed. Her full operation, years of work, has been wholly destroyed, some successful a literal and a spy-craft sense—all truthful that Francesca could get to the Emperor for 5 minutes and technologist Constantine’s promotion without Desmond leering implicit his shoulder. It gets worse erstwhile Valya tells her to spell to the Sisterhood’s harmless location connected Arrakis, and Mikaela responds by saying she won’t betray her ain people, not similar she did the rebels. Theo steps successful to punctual her “the Sisterhood is your people,” and Mikaela’s disgusted by the unsighted obedience. “Let’s spot however agelong you stay this naive, acolyte,” she mutters arsenic she exits.

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Speaking of, backmost astatine the palace, Francesca finds Constantine successful a petulant mood. He’s having an existential situation on “What was I made for?” lines. She tells him to beryllium patient; the begetter he’s ne'er gotten on with volition soon beryllium giving him a large opportunity. But his purpose, she explains, is to support his sister, the aboriginal person of the Imperium, from “anyone who seeks to bash her harm. Including the ones who assertion to emotion her.”

He’s fixed a accidental to bash conscionable that erstwhile helium discovers Keiran’s carelessly discarded scans of the throne room—intel helium took for the rebels up of their failed weaponry plot. Keiran is swiftly arrested and taken to suspension jail.

Then, we get a tense meal country stuffed with dense hitters: the Emperor and Empress, Francesca, Constantine, and Princess Ynez are each there. The Emperor announces that they’ve nabbed a traitor acknowledgment to Constantine (Ynez’s look drops erstwhile she realizes who helium means). Then, Corrino makes the announcement we each knew was coming: Constantine is the caller fleet commander, soon to beryllium connected the beforehand lines overseeing the spice commercialized connected Arrakis. “I cognize your parent is arsenic arrogant of you arsenic I am,” the Emperor says. Francesca looks pleasantly startled by the shout-out; Natalya, meanwhile, stews successful fury.

After dinner, Ynez visits Keiran successful the jailhouse and uses information consciousness connected him. She wants to cognize if helium was conscionable utilizing her affection for him to assistance the rebels. “I chose you implicit my principles,” helium admits. “But I americium consenting to dice for them anyway.” He genuinely wants to bring astir a amended Imperium, helium says, and helium believes helium tin bash it.

On Wallach IX, Tula takes Desmond’s familial illustration to the supercomputer. To recognize his power, Valya instructs her sister successful voice-over, “We indispensable recognize his bloodlines.”

While that’s happening, we chopped backmost to the palace. Desmond is holding a tiny portion of cloth we saw him with earlier successful the episode. What could it mean? Not definite yet, but it’s intelligibly important, and helium keeps it tucked successful his outfit. “I should person died,” helium tells Natalya, who’s travel to spot him aft ditching the meal party. “You’ve been chosen,” she says. Then she goes disconnected connected however she was besides chosen to assistance pb the Imperium into the future, but the Sisterhood got successful her way. “What did they bash to you?” she asks Desmond.

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We thin forward. Finally, immoderate ungraded connected this guy! On Wallach IX, the machine spits retired “Bloodline… Atreides. Bloodline… Harkonnen. Match… identified.” A representation of a babe appears, and Tula begins to gasp and cry.

Meanwhile, Desmond explains it for us: “The pistillate who gave commencement to maine sent maine distant to unrecorded among scavengers, and near maine warring for scraps conscionable to survive. She was a Sister.” This revelation moves Natalya to works a buss connected Desmond. “Let america escaped the Imperium of these witches forever,” she hisses.

An Atreides-Harkonnen baby? We’ve seen radical from that household hook up (see: occurrence three). Is the mathematics correct, though? What different secrets are Tula and Valya protecting? We’ll find retired adjacent week, presumably, with conscionable 1 occurrence near to go.

The Dune: Prophecy finale arrives Sunday connected HBO and Max.

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