Summary
- The state of the Imperium is in turmoil, with major power shifts and character deaths.
- The Sisterhood faces revelations of past crimes and the introduction of a true enemy.
- Desmond Hart is revealed to be Tula's son, infected with a mysterious nanotechnology virus.
Dune: Prophecy wrapped up its first season on December 22, 2024, settling a few ongoing plot threads and leaving plenty more in play for next season. It gave viewers a couple of major character deaths, and the balance of power between its main factions shifted in ways that will likely have far-reaching implications as the series goes forward. Some questions were answered, while also managing to raise further questions in the process. So where do things stand at the end of season one, heading into season two?
The Imperium
Dune: Prophecy's finale had a lot of things to get to, and HBO gave it an extra-long runtime to accommodate that. The state of the Imperium has been in increasing turmoil throughout the season. The ineffectual Emperor Corrino cast out his longtime Truthsayer Valya Harkonnen, and let Desmond Hart's fanaticism, along with his equally fanatical wife Empress Natalya (Jodhi May), run the show. The arrival of Sister Francesca (Tabu), Corrino's former mistress and mother of his son Constantine (Josh Heuston), added another layer of instability to an already tenuous situation.
In the finale, Valya travels to the imperial planet Salusa Secundus after receiving news about Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sophie Boussnina), the Truthsayer in training that the Sisterhood has long been laboring behind the scenes to get on the throne. Ynez has been arrested for trying to free her lover, Keiran Atreides, from prison after his plot against the Imperium was discovered. Valya abandons her plan to get back in Corrino's good graces and instead tries to get herself arrested, openly calling him weak to his face and admitting that his entire reign was manufactured by the Sisterhood.
The plan works, and Valya is taken to the prison where she uses "the voice" to subdue the guards and free Ynez. Ynez refuses to leave without Keiran, and Valya begrudgingly frees him as well. Sister Theodosia (Jade Anouka) uses her shapeshifting powers to buy the three of them enough time to escape off-planet once their subterfuge is discovered.
Meanwhile, Francesca's plan to seduce and influence Corrino has been altered to outright murder, and Valya gives her the gom jabbar to get the job done. The two have a fraught scene together where Corrino questions whether her feelings for him were all a ruse, and Francesca tries to assure him that the plan was Valya's all along, not hers. Corrino takes the killing out of her hands by stabbing himself in the stomach, and the gom jabbar is turned on Francesca when Natalya sneaks up behind and drives it into her neck. The two lovers die in each other's arms.
The Sisterhood
While this is all going down on Salusa Secundus, plenty is happening back at the Sisterhood's home base, Wallach IX. Sister Lila (Chloe Lea), who is now controlled by the spirit of Reverend Mother Dorotea, uses the opportunity to expose the truth about her death 30 years prior.
While the official narrative was that she killed herself out of grief after the loss of her mother, Mother Superior Raquella, a flashback reveals that not only did Valya use "the voice" to kill her, but that Tula, Francesca, and Kasha were complicit in the crime. They covered up the truth and forced the other sisters to either accept Valya's rule or die. Using Lila as the vessel, Dorotea sows discontent among the Sisterhood by revealing the evidence of their crimes.
Perfect timing for Tula to leave her post and go try to get through to Desmond Hart. Another flashback reveals that Desmond was indeed the offspring of Tula and her Atreides lover Orry, and that Tula decided to give the baby away rather than risk subjecting him to whatever long-term plans Valya had for him. She has Francesca swap the baby with a stillborn infant, in the hopes that growing up away from them will allow him the chance to forge his own destiny.
Tula hopes she can help Desmond after discovering that the fear virus he used to kill Kasha and others is actually some kind of thinking machine nanotechnology, and that Desmond is a victim in his own way of some other malicious forces. Tula hopes that she can connect with the son she gave up in order to help cure him, and put an end to the virus once and for all.
Desmond Hart
Everything comes to a head back on Salusa Secundus, where Valya and Desmond come face-to-face for the second time this season. After being stabbed in the stomach by a disguised Theodosia, Desmond catches up to Valya, Ynez, and Keiran and tries to prevent their escape. Valya is infected by the fear virus, sending her into her own mind in an attempt to keep the fear from overwhelming her system. Tula also arrives and tries to help Valya fight the virus by allowing the fear to pass through her, an echo of the Litany Against Fear that gains prominence later in Dune.
Valya survives the ordeal, and also witnesses a flashback from Desmond's perspective, as a mysterious figure uses thinking machines to implant the weapon into Desmond's optic nerve. She attempts to cut out the affected eye, but Tula stops her, revealing that Desmond is in fact her son, and a victim of their true enemy — whoever that might be. Valya flees with Ynez and Keiran in tow, while Tula embraces her injured son, only for him to order his guards to arrest her.
Valya, Ynez, and Keiran are last seen arriving on Arrakis, where Valya claims their journey to discover their true enemy will begin.
This is where Dune: Prophecy season one leaves each of its major players. Corrino is dead, Tula is in Desmond's custody, the Sisterhood is in the hands of the resurrected Dorotea, and Valya is on Arrakis seeking more answers. Viewers will have to wait for season two to see where things go from here, but it seems the balance of power has shifted in ways large and small. The Imperium is currently without a leader, and it's likely that the Harkonnen sisters won't return to a warm welcome from the Sisterhood when they get back from their separate adventures.
- Release Date
- November 17, 2024
- Showrunner
- Alison Schapker
- Directors
- Anna Foerster
- Writers
- Diane Ademu-John, Kevin J. Anderson, Brian Herbert, Frank Herbert
- Franchise(s)
- Dune
Cast
-
Emily WatsonMother Superior Valya Harkonnen -
Olivia WilliamsReverend Mother Tula Harkonnen
WHERE TO WATCH
- Seasons
- 1
- Streaming Service(s)
- MAX
- Creator(s)
- Diane Ademu-John, Alison Schapker
