TV Review: "Dune: Prophecy--In Blood, Truth" (S1, Ep. 5)
As the first season of the sprawling series nears its close, the various characters find themselves at perilous crossroads as the history of the Imperium and the Sisterhood hang in the balance.
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Warning: Full spoilers for the episode ahead.
Well, it’s here. The penultimate episode of this first season of Dune: Prophecy. Things are certainly becoming more dangerous and deadly for everyone, both Bene Gesserit and Imperial, as the series hurtles toward what promises to be an exciting conclusion. Given just how many plot threads have yet to be resolved, it’s hard to see how the finale could ever hope to be a satisfying conclusion to this season (or the series as a whole, in the event that it doesn’t get renewed), but one can always hope. Say what you will about this series, but it has certainly taken some big swings when it comes to its storytelling and the scope of its tale.
A lot happens in this episode. Desmond brings about a brutal crackdown on all restive elements on Salusa Secundus, bringing about the destruction of Mikaela’s establishment (and very nearly himself). Constantine Corrino manages to get back in his father’s good graces, though doing so requires betraying Keiran Atreides. And Tula gets an unexpected assist in her efforts to get to the bottom of the visions haunting her acolytes.
Valya takes a bit of a backseat this episode, preferring instead to work mostly from the shadows in the aftermath of Demond’s act of terror at the Landsraad. As she shows in her conversation with Mikaela, however, she’s not someone who is overly sentimental when it comes to the sacrifices that others have to make for the cause. We’ve seen time and again that she is someone who will always put the long-term benefits of the Sisterhood (and, arguably, of House Harkonnen) above any individual’s needs or wants. What’s more, she tends to view everyone, including herself, as a tool in a larger game. Given just how uncertain life remains in the Imperium, one can hardly blame her for such an attitude.
Speaking of House Harkonnen. It seems that her nephew is also playing a game of his own, or at least so we’re led to surmise from his surreptitious meeting with Desmond Hart. It seems to me that we still don’t know much about Harrow. He doesn’t seem like much on the surface but, as we’ve learned time and again throughout this first season, you can never really judge a book by its cover when it comes to members of the nobility. Everyone has their own motivations, and it remains to be seen whether he will stay loyal to his aunt and be her puppet or whether he’ll try to strike his own deal with Desmond as he tries to restore the tarnished fortunes of House Harkonnen.
Nor is he the only one who wants to get his hooks into this enigmatic figure at the Imperial court. No less a person than the Empress herself decides to pay a visit to Desmond in the aftermath of the return of Javicco’s former lover Francesca (more on her in a moment). There’s been a lot of erotic tension between these characters, and it’s clear that Natalya has just been waiting for her chance to sink her claws into her husband’s adviser. For Natalya, as for so many of the women of the Imperium, desire and power go hand-in-hand and, just as Valya intends to use her nephew as the tip of the spear when it comes to regaining her former influence, so Natalya seeks to use Desmond to get her revenge on the Sisterhood that’s taken so much from her. I continue to find Jodhi May absolutely captivating, even as I find her character reprehensible and woefully short-sighted. In short, she’s the perfect Dune character.
Arguably the highlight of the episode was the moment on Wallach IX where young Lila is inhabited by the spirit of her ancestor Raquella. Credit goes to Chloe Lea, who continues to give a dynamite performance, not only as her actual self but also as her possessed alter-ego. Olivia Williams is likewise extraordinary as Tula–as she has been all season–and I loved seeing her lock horns with Sister Avila. These two women are both forces of nature, and neither is going to back down lightly. The enigma of how Desmond has managed to kill sisters at far remove is very close to being solved, and the consequences will be as devastating and consequential as anything else this season.
As I’ve written before, though, I still find myself struggling to really connect with or care about the younger characters and their plight. Even so, there are some notable highlights. Constantine finally gets to do something more interesting and compelling than to just sit around looking sad and hurt all the time, and it was actually quite refreshing to see him take the initiative and arrest Keiran (I’m not particularly invested in Keiran, so this betrayal wasn’t quite as wrenching as it might be). I’ll admit that I’m also a bit curious as to what Princess Ynez is going to do, now that her younger half-brother seems to have usurped her place as the apple of her father’s eye.
I also enjoyed getting to meet Constantine’s mother, Francesca, a formidable woman who is not only a member of the Sisterhood but is also infamous for having carried on an affair with (and apparently stolen the heart of) Javicco. It certainly helps that this powerful woman is played by none other than Bollywood legend Sabu, who manages to be not only exquisitely beautiful but also remarkably charismatic. One can easily see why she would be able to steal the heart of one of the most powerful men in the entirety of the Known Universe. As with so many other characters, though, it’s clear that she has many competing motivations.
Arguably the most intriguing part of the entire episode was the much-anticipated revelation about Desmond Hart’s true origins. As Tula discovers when she feeds his DNA into the vast apparatus housed on Wallach IX, his bloodline is a commingling of Harkonnen and Atreides. Now, I’m not a detective, but it sure does seem as if this enigmatic zealot is, in fact, the product of Tula’s ill-fated union with Orry Atreides, presumably left on Arrakis at Valya’s behest. Is he perhaps a misbegotten predecessor to the Kwisatz Hadearch, as some have theorized? Is he something else, something even more terrifying? Hopefully we’ll find out soon!
Though there is much that I continue to enjoy about this series, I do think that the decision to only give it six episodes–as opposed to, say, ten, or even the eight that HBO gave the second season of House of the Dragon–is going to be seen as one of the worst creative blunders of this year. There’s simply no way that a series with this sprawling and intricate of a story can possibly be satisfying with such a shortened run time. Subplots end up feeling underdeveloped, characters don’t get the time they deserve, and the audience is left wanting more (and not in a good way). It’s my sincere hope that, if the series is lucky enough to get a second season, that it gets the larger episode order it surely deserves.