The season finale of Dune: Prophecy delivers everything we’ve come to expect from the series: high-stakes drama, shocking deaths, and revelations that reshape the narrative landscape. Episode 6, aptly titled “The High-Handed Enemy,” ties up key plot threads while leaving enough unresolved to propel us into the eagerly anticipated second season.
Let’s start with Lila, a vessel for the Foremothers, whose portrayal by Chloe Lea deserves high praise. Lea’s nuanced performance masterfully conveys the distinct personalities of these “other memory” visitors. This time, it’s not Mother Superior Raquella speaking through Lila; instead, it’s Reverend Mother Dorotea, back from the dead with some unsettling truths about the Harkonnens. Through Lila, Dorotea reveals skeletons—both literal and figurative—from the Sisterhood’s past, exposing the bloody consequences of a schism within their order.
We learn that Young Valya, alongside Tula, Francesca, and Kasha, orchestrated a brutal purge of Dorotea’s Butlerian followers. Using The Voice, they compelled Sisters to choose loyalty or death, leading to a devastating massacre. This rift is far from resolved, as Dorotea, with Emiline and Avila’s support, now physically dismantles Anirul’s systems in the Sisterhood’s secret chambers. The ideological battlelines are drawn, and the Order faces an uncertain future.
Meanwhile, Tula embarks on a solo mission to Salusa Secundus to confront her estranged son, Desmond Hart. In a heart-wrenching sequence, we discover that Desmond’s deadly power comes from a micro-level thinking machine implanted against his will. Tula’s anguish is palpable as she declares, “My son was not born a weapon—he was made into one!” The identity of those responsible remains a mystery, but their connection to the Harkonnens and Arrakis looms ominously.
Back at the imperial court, power shifts violently. Natalya consolidates her position, arresting her own daughter, Princess Ynez, for attempting to free Keiran Atreides. In a calculated move, she eliminates Sister Francesca with a cyanide-laced needle originally intended for Emperor Corrino, who takes his own life in a final act of agency. With the emperor dead, Natalya ascends to the throne, her alliance with Desmond Hart and his mind-burning abilities cementing her grip on power.
The chaos in the imperial halls provides an opening for Valya, who has her shapeshifting acolyte assume Ynez’s identity. This subterfuge allows Valya, the real Ynez, and Keiran to escape Salusa Secundus aboard a cargo ship bound for Arrakis. Their escape is punctuated by a pitched battle at the spaceport, with Ynez and Keiran fighting back-to-back and Valya briefly reuniting with Tula.
As the group reaches the windswept sands of Arrakis, a vision reveals to Valya the mechanical beings responsible for Desmond’s transformation. These entities, long observers of the Harkonnens and linked to the spice-producing planet, now emerge as key players in the unfolding saga. Determined to confront them on their terms, Valya declares, “If the shadows are where they want to fight, then that’s where I’ll go.”
The episode concludes with Valya, Ynez, and Keiran standing on Arrakis’ desert expanse, resolved to take the fight to their unseen enemies. With the royal heir secured and her plans for Imperium control recalibrated, Valya’s path forward promises even greater intrigue and conflict.
Season 2 of Dune: Prophecy can’t come soon enough.
What did you think?
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Thank you for making me understand why I thought she had a twin sister (Inez) but in reality, there was a shape shifter.