TV Review: ‘Dune: Prophecy’ Delivers A Worthy First Season Finale
by Frank Martin
The Sisterhood is a largely political force. Yes, they do have supernatural abilities that they believe makes them the next step of human evolution rather than an animal, which is how they view everyone else. But in Dune: Prophecy, their abilities have been largely passive. The series has showcased how they maneuver politically as well as intellectually by truth saying and using the Voice. But it wasn’t until the finale that the full range of their abilities were put on showcase. From the beginning of the season, Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) and the Sisterhood have been on a collision course. This episode truly highlighted that conflict and let it unfold in dramatic fashion.
A lot of the Valya Harkonnen’s (Emily Watson) plans relied on Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina), but she got herself arrested after trying to free Kieran Atreides (Chris Mason). This forced Valya to also get arrested in order to infiltrate the Imperial Palace. Utilizing Theodosia’s (Jade Anouka) shapeshifting abilities, Valya was able to sneak the princess out, but not before Desmond was able to confront her. After learning that Desmond is the child she abandoned shortly after birth, Tula (Olivia Williams) arrived to diffuse the tension between them. She saved her sister and stopped her from killing Desmond, allowing the trio to escape. But Desmond also arrested his mother, setting up a new conflict for potential second season.
There was so much going on this episode that it was hard to truly recap it all. But the highlight was definitely seeing Valya in action. She completely dominated her infiltration of the palace with little more than her own voice. Unfortunately, Desmond was immune to it, but even their confrontation was still filled with a lot of suspense. Valya had to utilize her Bene Gesserit powers to overcome the fear virus that killed so many of her sisters. Although the show waned at times in production value compared to its theatrical counterpart, it’s still a worthy entry into the universe and deserves a second season.
Dune: Prophecy is now streaming on Max.