The recent news that a second season of Dune: Prophecy is being produced takes some of the pressure off the shoulders of Episode 6, the season finale. It doesn't technically need to wrap everything up in a neat bow in time for Christmas. That's not necessarily a good thing, as Season 1 ends without much resolution at all. If the show wasn't getting a second season, Episode 6, "The High-Handed Enemy," would have been a frustrating failure. As it stands, it's halfway successful, but still very frustrating, like much of this season. Hopefully Season 2 fares better.
The title gets its name from the Gom Jabbar, the thin needle coated with meta-cyanide that is used by the Bene Gesserit to test people. We saw it in Dune (2021), when the Mother Superior held it to Paul Atreides' neck and tested him (with that whole "hand in the box" trick). The needle has a literal role in Episode 6, but also seems figurative. Many of the major characters in the show are being put into positions they never wanted, but are forced to act as if the needle was right at their throat. They're being tested at the end.
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Dune: Prophecy Episode 6: The High-Handed Enemy 3 /5
The first season finale of 'Dune: Prophecy.'
Episode Number 6 Season Dune: Prophecy - Season 1 Runtime 1h 22m Director(s) Anna Foerster Series Dune: Prophecy Release Date December 22, 2024 Pros Action packed, constantly moving, and full of thrilling sequences. Some great character moments and epic scenes at the end of the season. Cons There are still a lot of loose ends, and some characters deserved better writing and send-offs. Characters make some random decisions that don't feel realistic to them and only serve the plot. Expand
Episode 6 is split, as usual, between the happenings of Valya and her Sisterhood and with the Imperial Palace and Desmond Hart. Both are falling apart in different ways by the end of Season 1. Emperor Javicco Corrino's love for Sister Francesca is only increasing, which is perhaps one reason why he wants to make peace with the Sisterhood and Mother Superior Valya (his decision, like many made in this episode, feels fairly random regardless). He also wants to send his wife on a kind of imperial tour to get her out of the palace and resume his love affair with Sister Francesca.
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Meanwhile, his wife, the Empress, has grown closer to Desmond Hart, forming an opposing faction. Due to their personal and political reasons (explored in Episode 5), they want nothing to do with the Sisterhood. Desmond is enraged that the Emperor would ignore him and seek the Sisterhood's council. Apparently, loyalty only goes so far. On the side, Desmond tortures Swordmaster Keiran Atreides to glean any information about the Sisterhood, to no avail.
When the Game's Over, the King and the Pawn Return to the Same Box Close
Princess Ynez attempts to free Keiran; it's not clear how they would've gotten away or what they would've done, and it seems like yet another thoughtless choice. She's caught by her mother, and the Empress has her arrested, too. Valya decides that this is too much, and devises one of her usual plans. To her, the Sisterhood has worked too hard to get Princess Ynez positioned for the throne, and it's imperative that Ynez be freed. Again, it's all a little hazy, and trying to justify everyone's actions requires some logical backflips. What did Valya think would happen to Ynez? They weren't going to kill her or anything; Corrino was even about to free her before Valya storms into the palace.
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This leads to her bitter monologue from the Emperor's throne. Staring down at Javicco, she tells him that he's just a cog in their machine, that the Sisters have been controlling everything from the shadows, and if it wasn't them in control, it would be somebody else (like Desmond and the Empress), because Javicco is a weak man. It's a cruel takedown, and you feel increasing sympathy for this milquetoast Emperor who has never seemed in control of anything. He has Valya arrested, all according to her plan. What she presumably doesn't realize is that her nephew, Baron Harkonnen, had used the glowing ball (a recording device) that Desmond gave him to record Valya's meeting with Sisters Francesca and Theodosia to discuss the plan.
Goodbye, Emperor. Goodbye, Theodosia. Close
Valya tasked Sister Francesca with killing Javicco Corrino (with the titular needle), so that Princess Ynez would become the Empress (one assumes). Francesca couldn't go through with it, and after hearing how the Sisters had manipulated him, Emperor Corrino looks at her with contempt and fear. He decides to do the one thing that anyone can control, a suicide, but even his death will be controlled and contorted by someone else. That's because the Empress stabs and kills Francesca with the cyanide needle, making it look like either a double suicide or a fight to the death between the Emperor and Francesca.
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We leave them as the Empress yells, "The Emperor has been stabbed!" That's the last we see or hear about those three characters, and it feels like a rushed, disappointing conclusion to the Emperor's story and Mark Strong's consistently impressive performance. The word "ignominious" comes to mind, and these characters (yes, even the newly introduced Francesca) deserved better from the writers.
The season finale leaves another character in an equally undignified and disappointing way, with Sister Theodosia apparently being arrested by Desmond's troops in an unconscious state. She is part of Valya's plan, which has the Mother Superior using the Voice on her guards and releasing Princess Ynez and Keiran Atreides from their floaty prison thing. We're led to believe that Theodosia (who is indeed a shapeshifter bred by the Tleilaxu, as speculated) is going to impersonate Princess Ynez and float on up like her to trick Desmond and the guards. Instead, Theodosia shapeshifts into a dying guard on the ground, whispering for Desmond's attention. When he leans down, Theodosia stabs him with a thick dagger, which he pulls out of his body after knocking Theodosia unconscious.
It all seems rather pointless, considering Desmond just stands up and continues to chase down Valya, Keiran, and Ynez, eventually flying after them in a ship and fighting off and killing the guards who attack him under Valya's Voice control. This makes Theodosia's sacrifice feel meaningless, and is one of many unrealistic aspects of Episode 6. Likewise, Keiran races through the palace, flies a ship, and fights and kills many guards despite the intense torture he had suffered just that day. In poor writing, big injuries don't matter, and small ones can kill you, depending on how important you are to the narrative. You're only as vulnerable as the writers need you to be.
The Disappointing Showdown Between Harkonnen & Hart
Ynez and Keiran continue their escape while Valya "buys them time" by standing back and easily wiping out some Imperial guards using the Voice. That leaves her and Desmond, who isn't susceptible to the Voice but who is also obviously wounded. He attempts to burn her alive, and the pain this causes both of them ends up knocking them out.
While Desmond lies on the ground (suddenly remembering he's been stabbed, one imagines), Valya fights his attack on her, which we've now learned is a sort of viral contagion. It's represented by Valya on a vast, snowy wasteland, attempting to save her brother from drowning and being told that it's all her fault. Of course, Tula shows up exactly at the right place and time, looking for her son, Desmond Hart. Tula guides Valya through the viral episode, giving her the very Zen instructions to accept the suffering and not fight it, as the virus feeds on fear (perhaps this is the origin of the Bene Gesserit phrase, "Fear is the mind killer.").
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As she emerges from her hallucinations, Valya sees the source of the creepy blue eyes that have tormented the Sisters' dreams. It's a thinking machine, and she sees the moment it operated on a dead or dying Desmond Hart, pulling his eyeball out and injecting it with the burning virus. This likely means Hart is indeed a ghola (a clone of a dead person or a resuscitation of them created by the Tleilaxu, who are apparently a very big part of Dune: Prophecy now. Valya goes to kill Desmond (or remove his toxic eyeball), but Tula stops her. He's her son, after all. She embraces him and they hug for a while, and then he has her arrested.
What Does the Season Finale Mean and Add Up To?
"The High-Handed Enemy" is a frankly chaotic episode that leaves much to be desired. There are some thrilling individual sequences and great character moments, but it doesn't add up to much. We're left with Valya, Ynez, and Keiran on Arrakis; Theodosia and Tula imprisoned by the latter's son Desmond, who apparently survives that stabbing; the Empress likely gaining control of the Imperial Palace, or Ynez, or something...
Then there's the Sisterhood itself. Lila, possessed by dead grandma Dorotea, empties the water of the circular pool and reveals the skeletons of many Sisters who were murdered by young Valya, Tula, Francesca, and Kasha when they wouldn't accept Valya as Mother Superior. So it seems like the young acolytes of the Sisterhood will be rebelling against Valya. And maybe they should. At the end of Dune: Prophecy, almost every character is revealed to be either a puppeteering monster or a foolish puppet.
You can watch the first season of Dune: Prophecy on Max through the link below:
Watch Dune: Prophecy
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3.5 /5 Dune: Prophecy TV-MA Sci-FiAdventureFantasyDrama
Set in the universe of Frank Herbert's Dune series, this sci-fi epic follows the political and spiritual struggles on the desert planet of Arrakis. As factions vie for control of the prized spice melange, a prophesied hero emerges, challenging the balance of power and the fate of the galaxy.
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*Availability in US Release Date November 17, 2024 Creator(s) Diane Ademu-John , Alison Schapker Cast Emily Watson , Olivia Williams , Jodhi May , Travis Fimmel , Mark Strong , Jade Anouka , Chris Mason , Sarah-Sofie Boussnina , Shalom Brune-Franklin , Faoileann Cunningham , Aoife Hinds , Chloe Lea , Josh Heuston , Edward Davis , Tabu , Yerin Ha Franchise(s) Dune Writers Diane Ademu-John , Kevin J. Anderson , Brian Herbert , Frank Herbert Streaming Service(s) MAX Directors Anna Foerster Showrunner Alison Schapker Expand