The season finale of Dune: Prophecy brings a myriad of plots together that feels more like a mid-season episode, than a finale…Let’s break it down!
After six weeks of intrigue and plotting, Dune: Prophecy has reached its finale with “The High-Handed Enemy” directed by Anna Foerster. As expected, we get a bigger showdown with Desmond Hart, as the result of various machinations comes to a head, and even more revelations from the past are uncovered. Even so, there are a number of plots that seem to be just getting started…
As before, I’ll be diving right into major spoilers for the episode, so if you haven’t watched yet, check back in later. In the meantime, take a gander at my previous recaps here: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5.
Current Events
Everyone wants to kill the Emperor. That’s pretty much the basics of all the plans going on within tonight’s finale. Poor Javvico, being manipulated from all sides, finally comes to understand the true depth of how he’s been used. Not just by the Sisterhood, but by his own wife, who now seeks to use Desmond as a way to keep him in line.
It’s tragic, in a lot of ways, as Javvico truly seems to have had no choice in being caught up in the middle of it all. Constantly between a rock and a hard place. Now, facing down being the puppet Emperor for either the Sisterhood or his wife, he chooses the only option that’s truly his…death.
Of course, even this is something the Valya was wanting, as it would allow Princess Ynez to take the throne; if they can get her out of jail that is. Having tried to help Keiran escape, Ynez has been arrested as a traitor, but Valya is determined to rescue her and using Theodosia’s Face Dancer abilities to swap them out (maybe?).
As all this drama is going on at the palace on Salusa, Tula and Nazir have cracked the source of Desmond’s “powers,” linking them to a bioweapon of sorts. The virus remains dormant until activated, and this it literally feeds off the victim’s fear to burn them up inside. When Nazir attempts to use the Bene Gesserit powers of transmutation to craft a cure, things go horribly wrong, as it manages to continually adapt to the Sister’s efforts.
Nazir’s death brings about the revelation the bioweapon is Machine manufactured, making even their powers of transmutation useless. Tragic as it all is, Tula believes she knows the key to negating her son’s powers and sets off from the school (unexpectedly) to confront him…maybe even save him.
Tula arrives just as Valya and Desmond engage one another, following an escape from the dungeon, as Valya hangs back to give Ynez and Keiran ((wild seeing Valya having to help/rely on an Atreides!) more time to escape. Tula’s presence proves invaluable, as she walks Valya through the experience, allowing her to face her fears and thus overcome the virus’ impact.
Haunted by the Past
While Valya and Tula are dealing with Desmond and the Empress’ scheming, another threat to the Sisterhood arises from within. Much like how Mother Raquella took control of Lila’s body (her mind still reeling from her ordeal with the Agony) to give the Sisterhood some more answers, Dorotea has managed to pull the same trick. With her newfound body, Dorotea goes about revealing the truth behind her “suicide” and exacting her revenge on Valya from beyond the grave.
Between her conversations with the other sisters and a series of flashbacks, we get a more complete look at the events surrounding Valya’s takeover. Turns out, her own friends/followers were there to bear witness to Valya’s killing of Dorotea via the Voice. As she manages to convince them to her side, we discover that the handling of Dorotea’s “faithful” were dealt with far more violently than expected.
Rather than being run off, or sent to far away assignments, Valya and her crew confront the acolytes and force them to choose loyalty to the new Mother Superior…or death by their own blades. Sister Avila, who’s been serving alongside Valya and Tula so dutifully, is apparently the only one who managed to survive.
The fact they use the Voice on all of them to compel an immediate (and honest) answer, makes the event all the more shocking. Truly, it’s a pretty horrible way to see how Valya secures her power, even as she’s adamant it’s for the greater good of the Sisterhood. Sisterhood Above All is taking on far more sinister meanings…
Lila/Dorotea uses this dark revelation to rally the remaining Sisters and acolytes to her proverbial banner. With Tula and Valya off planet, there’s no one there to stop Dorotea as she leads the remaining sisters to the hidden Thinking Machine breeding program and begins to destroy it.
In the aftermath, we get to learn more about Tula’s pregnancy with Desmond. It’s kind of wonderful to see how, despite being of Atreides heritage, they both want to keep the child and raise him up. Tula, however, wants a different fate for her child. One that is free from the machinations of the Sisterhood and her sister. Thus, with the help of another acolyte, swaps out her child with that of another, stillborn, one.
She’d truly wished for a better life for him, one filled with love if not prosperity. That he somehow still ended up a pawn within the larger ‘game’ of the Imperium, entangled with the Sisterhood, makes it all the more tragic.
One of the biggest themes featured throughout Dune: Prophecy‘s first season, is the idea of consequences. Cause and effect. That even the smallest decision, regardless of intention can have far-reaching effects. Obviously we see how bad choices come into play, but it’s not just about dealing with the past. It’s about how one can/should use the knowledge gained over the years to (hopefully) make better choices.
Six-Episode Woes
When I sit back and look at “The High-Handed Enemy” as an individual episode…it absolutely rules. It brings some of the best performances we’ve seen all around (in both past and present), genuinely shocking “holy shit” moments, all while offering some great action and a few more key details on the larger story. Just great stuff that had me hooked.
The problem, however, is that this isn’t just an episode of the show, it’s the finale. As a finale, it’s pretty disappointing. With the resolution of whole plots and character fates unknown, there’s just too much uncovered ground. I’ll go into detail on the specific dangling threads shortly.
Honestly, this felt more like watching a really epic mid-season episode where a bunch of important things happen that dramatically take the main story to the next level. Remember The Last of Us episode 5, when Joel and Ellie meet up with Sam and his brother Henry? It’s a powerful episode that features some of the biggest action (the introduction of the Bloater) and hardest character moments. It’s a true turning point in the series, altering the perspectives of the main characters and brings the purpose of their journey into sharper focus.
Now imagine if that had been the season finale. Does that stop it from being an amazing episode of television? No, but it would be damn frustrating nonetheless. That’s pretty much how I’m feeling about this Dune: Prophecy Finale. Especially, thanks to the current production model of these prestige shows, it’ll be at least two years before we see what happens next. That’s an awful lot of things to leave fans hanging on for such a long period of time.
Yes, we know a second season is coming, though at the time of my viewing (and starting this write-up) it hadn’t been announced. Moreso, I’m not entirely sure they knew they’d get another season while putting this one together. These days, nothing seems to be a sure thing as studios have been pretty heavy-handed on cancellations as of late. That means they slapped this story together, purposefully leaving a ridiculous amount of plot threads dangling, without knowing if they’d get the chance to wrap any of it up.
So as much as I enjoyed the episode in general, I can’t help but come away from it more than a little frustrated…
Unfinished Business
…Especially because, for all that happened in the episode, there are a multitude of plot threads unaccounted for (or completely introduced). So let’s look at what we’ll be wondering about for the next couple years.
Tula and Desmond – Tula manages to prevent Valya from killing Desmond, but in the process gets herself captured. While it seems she’s definitely found a way to nullify Desmond’s abilities, the man is still in charge of the Emperor’s elite forces and has the Empress’ ear. There’s no telling where their story goes next, and whether or not it’s possible for the mother and son to reconcile in some way.
Who Takes the Throne – Javvico is dead! Princess Ynez, the heir, is off planet! So who in the hell is going to sit the Golden Lion throne? I guess it could technically fall to Constantine. Considering Natalya’s deep hatred of his mother/heritage, it seems unlikely she’d want to endorse such a thing. Is Natalya herself planning to rule as a “regent” until they figure things out?
There’s a power vacuum here, and as Valya’s primary goal is to get Ynez on the throne, she can’t wait too long to make the next move. Plus, given all the went down between Ynez and her mother, will Natalya even allow her to return and take her father’s place? There’s a whole lot of scheming afoot!
Harrow’s Ambition – Harrow Harkonnen’s return to Salusa reveals the orb Desmond gave him in the last episode is some sort of surveillance device (possibly more machine tech). He’s managed to gather all the evidence Desmond needs to connect the Sisterhood to any number of plots against the Imperium.
I’m curious to see how he plans to use this information. Desmond pretty much already has what he needs to implicate the Sisterhood, along with the capture of Harrow’s Aunt Tula. So is it something he even needs anymore? Could Harrow use it as a way to further try and blackmail Valya and the Sisterhood?
Enemies on Arrakis – The finale ends with Valya, Ynez, and Keiran landing on Arrakis in search of the “true” enemy behind everything. Ostensibly, this is the biggest thing left unresolved for the next season to pick up on. Personally, I’m still very much in the “it’s the Tleilaxu” camp.
Beyond the evidence I’ve mentioned in other recaps, I find it funny—and perhaps not so subtle—that this finale gave us the first ever name-drop of the Tlulaxa (confirming where Theodosia’s Face Dancer abilities come from). They seem like prime culprits in a number of ways, and I’m hoping that reveal isn’t dragged out too much. I would love to see the Tleilaxu properly explored on the screen, rather than being faceless enemies in the dark.
Dorotea’s Takeover – On top of all that, the last we see of the Sisterhood on Wallach IX is Lila-Dorotea is her leading the acolytes to destroy the Anirul computer. There’s no telling what she might do next. Hell, we don’t know how much longer Dorotea can even remain in control of Lila’s body (even Raquella had to give it up at some point).
With the reveal of what Valya did to secure her rule as Mother Superior, it seems unlikely she’ll be able to reclaim her role within the Order. Maybe Lila finds a way to fully recover, keep the Other Memory at bay, and ultimately leads the Sisterhood to the next phase. And how does their breeding program continue? We know it ultimately leads to Paul Atreides, but without the computers, how does it restart?
Like I said, there are a whole lot of questions left to think about over the next couple years.
Easter Eggs
Generally speaking, it seemed Easter Eggs were relatively light in this finale (or things already mentioned). It was neat, however, to see an early version of the Gom Jabbar in the poisoned needle Valya gives Francesca. On top of that, we explicitly see the origins of the Litany Against Fear, with Tula guiding Valya to let it “pass over” her.
Thank goodness Dune: Prophecy has already been renewed for a second season. I’ve very much enjoyed this series and it hits on much of what makes this franchise work so well (for me). “High-Handed Enemy” is a stellar episode, highlighting what this series is capable of…even if it makes for a frustrating “finale.”
