Dune: Prophecy’s Season Finale Shows How Much the Truth Can Hurt

The extremity of Dune: Prophecy finds melodramatic climaxes for its biggest storylines, but it besides leaves almost everything open-ended. It’s a fitting stopping point, perhaps, for a communicative that takes spot 10,000 years earlier the main Dune narrative—especially with that just-announced 2nd play connected the way. 

Along with cliffhangers galore, however, it besides gives america immoderate affectional reunions, revelations, and a scenery-swallowing quality by our aged pal Shai-Hulud. Let’s excavation into the 80-minute finale, “The High-Handed Enemy”!

We unfastened connected Tula successful distress—not surprising, aft past week’s large unveiling of who her babe grew up to be—then chopped to different space connected the long-ago but still-reverberating confrontation betwixt Valya and Dorotea. It’s thing we’ve revisited successful flashbacks and visions, but this clip we’re seeing it from the constituent of presumption of Tula, Kasha, and Francesca, who afloat witnesser Valya forcing Dorotea to chopped her ain throat.

The girls acceptable astir getting their cover-up stories straight, but Tula—who is by acold the astir horrified by what she’s conscionable seen—runs from the country and vomits. When Valya chases aft her, Tula tells her sister the news: she’s pregnant. Valya offers to assistance her rise the child, and says Tula doesn’t request to interest astir that regularisation requiring Sisters to beryllium separated from their babies. “When I’m Mother Superior we tin bash immoderate we want,” she says, adding “Sisters supra all.” Not Sisterhood. Sisters. Tula smiles done her tears and repeats it: “Sisters supra all.”

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In the contiguous day, Tula and Nazir, the Sister who’s besides a doc (she came to Wallach IX to bash Kasha’s autopsy, remember?), puzzle implicit the acolytes’ eerie drawings of their shared nightmares, and of Desmond Hart’s microorganism that has truthful acold killed Kasha and others, including the rebels paraded earlier the assemblage astatine the Landsraad. They recognize that the crushed it took Kasha a fewer days to die, and the rebels died astir instantly, is due to the fact that she was uniquely skilled astatine repressing her consciousness of fear. 

“Fear… that’s what it’s feeding off, this virus. It begins a concatenation reaction. The assemblage attacks itself,” Nazir says. “It’s a bio-weapon.” What is not wide is who did this to Desmond. Who created this bio-weapon? Who made him the virus’ archetypal victim?

That’s an ongoing mystery. But successful the meantime, the women recognize they tin theoretically make a cure for this virus, but it’ll beryllium a unsafe process. Tula volunteers to beryllium the guinea pig, but Nazir insists her aesculapian grooming makes her better-equipped for the task. Unfortunately, caput implicit substance isn’t capable to support the microorganism astatine bay and she succumbs to its agonizing effects—after gasping retired that she tin spot “the monster of Arrakis” whose “eyes are watching him,” and though she can’t place the monster, she knows “it’s not human.” Tula sobs successful fearfulness arsenic Nazir dies.

In the palace, Desmond is astatine that precise infinitesimal interrogating rebel sympathizer Keiran Atreides. But the threats, and the guards roughing him up, get nowhere: “I’ve got nary emotion for the Sisterhood oregon the Harkonnens, but I hatred you and everything your Emperor stands for,” Keiran says.

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Keiran’s backmost successful his suspension compartment erstwhile Princess Ynez runs in, intent connected breaking him out. Empress Natalya—Ynez’s ain mother—stalks successful and has her arrested. Harsh! Elsewhere successful the palace, Francesca and Emperor Corrino are successful furniture together, and helium asks her to instrumentality around… permanently. In his mind, his woman would beryllium wholly chill with this arrangement. When Francesca hesitates, helium asks her to petition a gathering with the Mother Superior. Just then, a defender enters to archer the Emperor that Ynez has been arrested.

Francesca makes haste to archer Valya the news, archetypal of Ynez and past of Corrino’s offer. In Valya’s mind, precedence 1 is getting Ynez retired of the clink; thing other matters close now. “Corrino has forfeited his close to unrecorded retired his reign successful peace,” she says. Freeing Ynez volition necessitate making usage of Theodosia’s peculiar acceptable of skills—and past swiftly getting Ynez, the aboriginal ruler of the Imperium, to a harmless spot until her coronation. Also, atrocious Francesca, but Corrino’s gotta beryllium removed from the representation entirely.

To that end, we instrumentality to the flashback successful the aftermath of Dorotea’s “suicide.” Valya shows Tula, Francesca, and Kasha the reasoning instrumentality that’s overseeing the Sisterhood’s breeding program—two elements that, taken separately, are shocking and spell against what astir judge the bid stands for. Combined, their precise beingness is astir unthinkable. 

Valya asks the AI to travel up with a operation of parents to nutrient the aboriginal ruler of the Imperium—a pistillate successful the Sisterhood, successful adherence with Valya’s mentation of Raquella’s deathbed wishes. As we cognize it will, it comes up with Prince Corrino (not yet Emperor), and Natalya—and that’s however their not-very-happy matrimony came to be. It’s successful this room, arsenic well, that Kasha’s ill-fated presumption arsenic royal Truthsayer, and Francesca’s relation arsenic the Sister who sensually “imprints” connected Corrino, are besides acceptable successful motion. 

This is how, Valya smugly declares, they’ll 1 time get a Sister connected the throne. When Tula points retired that Dorotea’s followers aren’t going to spell for it, Valya asks to talk with her successful private. Then, she shows her the AI’s predictions for Tula’s unborn child, a blend of Harkonnen and Atreides bloodlines. “Your kid has unthinkable potential,” she says. “He could signifier the trajectory of worlds! We tin usher him together.” Tula’s look betrays that she’s already reasoning it’s not the best thought to person Valya progressive successful raising her son.

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In the contiguous day, Tula is unsocial with the AI, and she asks it astir Nazir’s detection of thing “inhuman” successful the virus. “You’re talking astir a reasoning instrumentality connected a nanoscale?”, the machine asks—and tells Tula the lone mode to halt the microorganism from doing further harm is to termination Desmond. Tula argues that helium wasn’t calved to beryllium a weapon. He was made into one. She decides the lone happening she tin bash astatine this constituent is spell speech to him herself.

Tula’s departure from Wallach XI is expected to beryllium top-secret, but Emeline overhears 2 Sisters talking astir it. In her room/cell/creepy infirmary room, Lila awakens and is annoyed to find she’s successful restraints. She puts connected her champion pitiful dependable and asks Jen to loosen the straps, lone to stab her with a syringe afloat of sedatives that idiosyncratic really should’ve kept retired of her reach.

In the palace, the Emperor is ripping into Desmond implicit Ynez’s arrest. Desmond’s like, “Your woman made maine bash it.” The Emperor comes backmost with “Well, I’m sending my woman connected a ‘tour of goodwill,’” which is evidently different mode of saying “getting her retired of the mode truthful I tin bent retired with Francesca.” 

Desmond chuckles. He is good alert the Emperor is inactive being manipulated by the Sisterhood, adjacent if the Emperor can’t spot it for himself. But helium is amazed to perceive that Corrino has softened his stance. He’s nary longer successful favour of cutting the Sisterhood retired completely. “You’re choosing their assembly implicit mine?” Desmond gasps.

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On Wallach IX, Emeline is rallying her ellipse of chap devout followers— “We indispensable set unneurotic successful faith!”—when a shade appears. It looks similar Lila, who everyone thought died a fewer episodes ago. But it’s not Lila, and it’s not Raquella either. She looks astir and demands to spot definite Sisters who aren’t present; Emeline, who’s up connected her Sisterhood history, tells her their faction disbanded aft Dorotea’s suicide. “Suicide? No,” Lila says, and that’s erstwhile we know: she’s present possessed by Dorotea, backmost from the dormant to settee the score.

Emeline doesn’t cognize that, though, and she’s amazed to spot Lila searching done the Sisterhood’s files. As it becomes wide the Sisterhood (aka Valya) has erased records of Dorotea’s followers, Jen bursts successful and brings Emeline up to speed. They recognize past that they are successful the beingness of Mother Dorotea, arsenic unthinkable arsenic it sounds. 

At the palace, Valya figures the astir businesslike mode to get into the suspension compartment country wherever Ynez is being held is to get arrested herself. It’s clip for a JAILBREAK! As Valya’s walking up to the palace—she was summoned by the Emperor, aft all—Theo enters astatine different entrance, wherever Francesca takes her to a unafraid country wherever she tin acquisition her transformation. Francesca, meanwhile, has successful her possession a needle coated successful deadly poison that Valya has instructed her to usage connected the Emperor. It’s a pugnacious ask, due to the fact that she does person heavy feelings for him. But, you know: “Sisterhood supra all.”

The Emperor is successful a unspeakable temper erstwhile his gathering with Valya rolls around. Just before, he’s realized that Natalya and Desmond are ganging up connected him. There’ll beryllium nary sending the Empress connected a “tour of goodwill.” Oh, nary no no. She’s the caller sheriff successful town, and though Corrino whitethorn proceed to unreal he’s successful power, from present connected out, Natalya and Desmond volition beryllium calling each the shots.

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So he’s particularly peeved to spot Valya sitting connected his throne erstwhile helium enters the room. She’s deliberately provoking him—she’s trying to get arrested—though it has to beryllium gratifying to perceive him accidental she was close and that helium ne'er should person trusted Desmond. There’s nary going backmost to the mode things were, she says, calling him a “weak man” who’s easy puppeteered by others. Francesca doesn’t truly emotion him; helium was conscionable a Sisterhood duty for her. His clip arsenic Emperor was 100% engineered by the Sisterhood, and truly he’s conscionable a placeholder for the ruler they’ve been angling into presumption for decades: Ynez. In short, she tells him: “Your clip is coming to an end.”

Of people aft that information bomb, flavored with immoderate prime cutting insults, Valya is hauled disconnected to the suspension cells. Success!

Back connected Wallach IX, LilaDorotea has a information weaponry of her own. As Emeline and Jen ticker successful horror, she recalls her ain death, past tells them, “The Harkonnen sisters person been lying to you astir the past of this place.” Turns retired we lone cognize portion of the story, arsenic LilaDorotea yanks a lever that drains the murky excavation successful the mediate of the Sisters’ main courtyard. 

We spell to a flashback. It seems that aft Dorotea’s death, and Valya’s self-assured emergence to the fertile of Mother Superior, she, on with Tula, Kasha, and Francesca, utilized the Voice connected each of Dorotea’s devout followers—making them take to either curse to travel Valya, oregon instrumentality their ain lives. The extremity effect is simply a grim, forced wide suicide. The lone subsister is Sister Avila.

From that scene, different grim tableau: Francesca knows she has to termination the Emperor, but he’s aggravated with her, having conscionable heard Valya archer him Francesca was with him retired of work alternatively than love. She pulls the poisoned needle from her sleeve and tells him it was Valya’s plan, “never mine.”

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In the jail, Valya easy overpowers the guards (with Theo’s help) and swiftly frees Ynez. Speaking of Theo, she’s transformed herself into Ynez, and she’ll beryllium assuming Ynez’s spot “until we tin acceptable things right.” After immoderate backmost and distant Valya agrees to escaped Keiran too. (Keiran does a comic double-take erstwhile helium sees Theo successful disguise, and wishes her bully luck.)

At that precise moment, guards burst successful connected a gathering betwixt Natalya and Desmond, and they’re told Valya has been arrested. Desmond instantly knows it’s a set-up to escaped Ynez. “Sound the alarm,” helium sighs, wearily. “Lock down the palace.”

Keiran, Ynez, and Valya hurry toward the shuttle larboard arsenic Desmond enters the compartment block. The prisoners are each gone, but there’s an injured defender lying connected the floor. We person a beauteous bully thought it’s Theo transformed again, since faux-Ynez is obscurity to beryllium seen. When Desmond leans down to speech to the soldier, Theo gets 1 bully knife-jab to his tummy (while grunting retired “Sisterhood supra all!”), but arsenic we cognize he’s weirdly resilient. He stands up, yanks the weapon out, and orders “this monstrosity” suspended successful a compartment arsenic she begins to alteration backmost into herself.

Meanwhile the fraught speech betwixt the Emperor and Francesca is getting scary and emotional. He threatens to stab her, but the imprint she has connected him won’t fto him wounded her, and we cognize helium wouldn’t bash that anyway. He reflects connected his precise caller realization that his full beingness has been plotted beyond his control, and realizes helium tin yet instrumentality charge… by stabbing himself. She’s horrified, and arsenic she’s comforting him arsenic he’s bleeding out, we spot idiosyncratic creep into framework with the poisoned needle and stab her with it. It is, of course, Empress Natalya, who past flutters retired of the country acting similar she’s conscionable discovered her husband’s dormant body.

We chopped to different gruesome sight: the bones of those Sisters forced to slash their ain throats 30 years ago. The existent sisters look into the drained excavation successful fearfulness arsenic Dorotea shares her tale. “These are the remains of our astir faithful. Valya Harkonnen murdered them.” Then: “The Sisterhood has mislaid its way. But I volition not beryllium silenced again!” Her adjacent move? She leads the radical into the hidden AI room, and smashes the machine to bits.

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While each this is happening, Tula’s unsocial connected her vessel to Salusa Secundus. She gets her ain flashback, to the past clip she saw her son: sweetly cradling the babe and telling him “You merit the accidental to find your ain path—not Valya’s, the Harkonnen’s, oregon the Sisterhood’s, oregon mine.” That’s why, we learn, she swapped him with the stillborn lad of an itinerant laborer, and sends him connected his way to become… well, Desmond Hart. Only Francesca knows that Tula’s lad survived.

In the contiguous day, we get 1 speedy country with Harrow Harkonnen, gleefully checking the surveillance instrumentality Desmond Hart gave him to spy connected Valya and company. Gleeful because, presumably, it captures a clump of Sisterhood plotting—ammo helium tin usage to assistance get himself backmost successful the Imperium’s bully graces. It’s invaluable nary substance who’s successful charge, you person to assume. And since we cognize House Harkonnen gets backmost up connected apical eventually, helium has to commencement somewhere.

Having made their mode to the shuttle, Valya, Keiran, and Ynez zoom to the abstraction port; they’ve gotta haul ass to conscionable a Valya interaction who tin smuggle them off-planet. En route, Valya hangs backmost to bargain immoderate time, utilizing her Sisterhood powers to fend disconnected guards portion Keiran and Ynez amusement disconnected their sword skills portion making their escape.

At last, it comes to this: Desmond and Valya lasting look to look again. “You accidental you’ve seen my end,” she says. “Show me.” The microorganism begins to activate successful her, and we measurement into her vision—it starts connected Lankiveil arsenic she re-lives utilizing the Voice to prevention her brother, Griffin, from drowning. Tula walks successful portion Valya and Desmond are some collapsed connected the ground, she from the microorganism and the value of the vision; helium from his Theo-inflicted coiled and the symptom of transmitting the virus.

Tula tries to usher her sister back, overmuch similar she did each those years agone erstwhile Valya underwent the Agony by herself. “You person to fto spell of your fears!”

It seems to beryllium moving until the imagination Griffin accuses Valya of causing his death, and past some: “You killed me. You killed america all.” The imagination scenery begins to change; though it’s icy, we tin spot the acquainted rumbling of a sandworm approaching connected the horizon.

As Tula helps Valya summation power of her fearfulness and pain, the imagination scenery further changes. It’s nary longer snowy Lankiveil—it’s godforsaken Arrakis. Thumpers bash their happening arsenic Shai-Hulud rises from the sand. Then, we chopped to those 2 glowing eyes that truthful terrified the acolytes successful their nightmares. We spot present it’s glowing bluish lights connected a reasoning machine. Suddenly we’re looking from Desmond’s POV; he’s strapped connected a table, and a robot limb plucks retired his eyeball and makes immoderate alterations to its stem and iris earlier shoving it backmost into his skull. We tin besides spot the signifier of a cloaked fig watching from above.

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“I saw what they did to him,” Valya gasps, but she admits she couldn’t marque retired who “they” mightiness be. She is certain, however, that they enactment a reasoning instrumentality wrong him to weaponize him. When she makes a determination to decorativeness Desmond off, Tula uses the Voice to halt her. “He’s my son,” she explains. Valya is shocked that Tula has lied to her, telling her that her babe died—and has kept the concealed each these years.

“I’ve fixed you everything, sister, but I couldn’t springiness you him,” Tula says. She wanted to support him. Valya is shocked by this—“You deliberation I’m a monster, sister?”—and Tula unloads. “All the carnage, deception, each by your orders. But your clasp connected the Sisterhood wasn’t fixed. I could person breached it astatine immoderate time. Why didn’t I? Because we’re the same, you and I. Two wolves, calved to feed, nary attraction for the cost… my lad deserved a amended destiny than us.”

Valya is horrified that Tula’s lad has present go a instrumentality for the enemy—a hidden enemy, but 1 omniscient capable to harness Desmond’s large imaginable for their ain use. Valya’s acceptable to termination him, but Tula begs for her to spot her. She wants to prevention him and resoluteness the menace herself. Valya agrees, but says she knows the Reckoning is inactive upon them. If their enemies privation to combat successful the shadows, Valya figures she’ll bash the same.

Desmond, of course, has overheard each of this from his presumption connected the floor, and he’s not astatine each thrilled to go reacquainted with the parent helium believes abandoned and betrayed him each those years ago. Still, they stock a little hug earlier guards look down him, and helium orders them to apprehension her.

In the last scene, our fugitive three—Valya, Ynez, and Keiran—arrive astatine their destination: Arrakis, wherever else? “Come, Princess. The way to our force begins here,” Valya says.

Despite its length, “The High-Handed Enemy” manages to permission rather a fewer dangling threads successful its wake. What volition hap to the Sisterhood present that’s Dorotea’s backmost successful charge? Who volition pb the Imperium present that Emperor Corrino is dormant and Ynez is off-planet? What’s Harrow Harkonnen going to bash with that surveillance footage? Is Theo going to shape-shift her mode retired of prison, possibly helping the recently arrested Tula connected her mode out? What’s up for the Arrakis newcomers? Will the Fremen Sister Mikaela assistance them out? And who oregon what turned Desmond into a robotic virus-carrying weapon?

It’s fortunate that a play 2 was announced by HBO precocious past week, due to the fact that that’s a batch of worldly near to sift through! What did you deliberation of the finale—and bash you person immoderate theories astir each those questions that request answering?

You tin ticker play 1 of Dune: Prophecy connected HBO and Max. A 2nd play is connected the way.

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