Afterlast week ’s genial clashbetweenMother Superior Valya Harkonnenand sandworm - blessed Arrakis soldier Desmond Hart — a struggle that ended with Valya meeting a rare defeat — this week’sDune : Prophecyepisode , “ Sisterhood Above All , ” pivots by from castle intrigue for a flashback - heavy episode . It does a lot to excuse the need of both Harkonnen sister , both the ruthless Valya and her seemingly kinder sister , Tula .
First , though , we see Valya and Sister Theodosia being kick out of the palace . Thanks to Desmond ’s fresh maintain influence over Emperor Corrino , they ’re no longer welcome there . “ This is not the first time an adversary has sought to polish off me , ” Valya tells Theodosia crisply . Desmond will learn his lesson , she ’s sure — just like the others in her past have .
And address of that past … we cut to harsh , snowy Lankiveil , home of House Harkonnen . The Harkonnens are a far cry from the alarmingly powerful kinship group we know from theDunemovies ; disgraced after the Machine War thanks to an Atreides - spawn rumour regarding Harkonnen cowardliness , the family is presently scraping by amid the local whale - pelt swap . All that ’s left is Valya , Tula , and their comrade Griffin ; their female parent and Father-God ; and their grumbly uncleEvgeny(played by Mark Addy , advance thoseGame of Thronesvibes ) .
Emma Canning as young Tula. © Attila Szvacsek/HBO
It ’s here that we see the origin of the carved tusk that Tula give to Lila last hebdomad , calling it her most prized possession ; Griffin crafted it for his beloved baby . He ’s also the only family member who has a good relationship with the prickly Valya ; after she move off on a rant proclaim that the long - wanting Vorian Atreides — source of that nasty tale about the Harkonnens — demand to “ correct the record ” or else , Griffin check , though he does n’t quite share her obsession with restoring the family ’s position .
He does owe his sister a big favor though ; as we learn , she saved him from drowning when they were kids , using the Voice ( her first clock time using it , apparently ) to compel him to swim his mode out of peril . But confront House Atreides is a perilous chore , and it does n’t cease well for the young valet de chambre . sand dune : Prophecydoesn’t make us waitress long ; Griffin returns to Lankiviel a corpse .
Valya is quick to double up down on revenge—“I require the Atreides to stand as we have”—but she ’d agreed to go train with the Sisterhood before Griffin ’s death ; the original intent was for her to become his Truthsayer , presumptively after House Harkonnen was capable to ramp up itself back up . Now , she does n’t want to go , but her parents 100 % do not want their least - favorite child string up around , so it ’s off to Wallach IX for the angry untested char .
Earl Cave and Jessica Barden as Griffin and young Valya Harkonnen. © Attila Szvacsek/HBO
In the present - dayProphecystoryline , Mother Superior Valya learns that Lila did not endure the Agony , but that she was able to convey Raquella ’s message from beyond the tomb . Valya at once recognise what the “ assume twice , once in rake , once in spiciness ” conundrum regarding the Sisterhood ’s newest , biggest problem refers to : it ’s Desmond Hart . Of course it is !
Dune : Prophecyhas been so Valya - centric that it ’s both refreshing and surprising when the focus shift to Tula . She ’s very much grieving Lila ’s death , keeping the girl on the Sisterhood combining weight of life documentation , to the degree that one of the other Reverend Mothers is starting to nag her about it . As Tula contemplatively sips some spice teatime , we get another flashback : Tula as a young adult female , not long after her brother ’s death , accompanying her new boyfriend , Orry , and what seems to be his entire sept on a hunt stumble .
Dune : Prophecyis not precisely a pernicious show — evidenced mostly so far in dialogue that ’s meant to be exposition , but feels abysmally heavy - handed . For case , last week we had the show ’s main theme literally distil into “ We are all just pieces on the card to be played in pursuance of superpower … spice . ” Wehadfigured that out , but OK !
Earl Cave and Jessica Barden as Griffin and young Valya Harkonnen. © Attila Szvacsek/HBO
Anyway , this week we get not one but two demonstrations of Tula — a get laid poison expert , after we saw her creating the Agony liquidness for Lila — handling a toxicant carefullyextracted from an animate being used for prey in the hunt . Poison ! We sire poison!Deadlypoison , you say ? How might that come back into play ?
First , though , a jaunt back to Wallach IX to see what Valya ’s up to : as a student in the Sisterhood , she ’s already abut head with her teacher , Dorotea . Yep , Mother Superior Raquella ’s granddaughter , who Valya murdered ( using the Voice ) in the first episode . Their philosophical clashes and the direction they understandably dislike each other on a personal level helps contextualize , in retrospect , that vehemence we ’ve already witnessed .
On the precipice of taking her vows — in a dramatic test of wills that demand standing outside for hr in the showery dark — Valya feel that she can not force herself to declare “ Sisterhood above all , ” because she ’s still fixated on her fellowship issue . Mother Superior Raquella confronts this unusual new student to find out what ’s confine her back , and Valya uses the Voice on her so she ’ll keep her distance .
© Attila Szvacsek/HBO
The Mother Superior is , putting it mildly , very impressed with this gift . And from this meeting , where Raquella advises Valya that “ sometimes , our misfortunes are the sails that take us to the shoring we were mean to be on ” ( obvious dialog alert ! ) , a bond between them start to form .
Except , well … Griffin . He literally just fail , right ?
“ Why is it so smooth ? ” Orry wonders . Oh boy . The couple stairs outside their cabin and Orry realize that not only is every unmarried man on the hunting trip dead ( it ’s implied Tula poisoned their drinks ) , she ’s got a syringe loaded with fatal juice quick to plunge into his own frame . She seems a little sorry to do it , but she does n’t really pause . Payback ! There ’s just one survivor , a unseasoned teen who garners Tula ’s mercy — could this be future palace undercover agent Keiran Atreides ?
© Attila Szvacsek/HBO
On Wallach IX , Raquella and Valya are now so chummy that Raquella has revealed the Sisterhood ’s deep secret : the genetic library and the fact that it “ bank on prevent engineering , ” something we just figure Doroteaspecificallypreaching against . Armed with this closely guarded information , Valya is excitedly severalise her besties ( let in the young Kasha , RIP ) she ’s now a curl to be the Mother Superior ’s successor . Then , she depict off the Voice and — despite forcing one ally to slap another — they’re delighted and ask to get a line how to do it .
But it ’s not a smooth journey into the Sisterhood ’s top place . Raquella cite both Dorotea and Valya into the “ operating field ” way — where Lila pop off last hebdomad — and assure them they are the two strong candidates to lead after she ’s gone . She perpetrate out the vial of blue liquidity we know very well entail “ the Agony , ” but Valya refuses to participate . ( “ Coward , ” someone whoosh at her , and youknowthat had to flimflam . )
Tula conveys the news of the Atreides massacre to Valya via a coded letter the Mother Superior intercepts and immediately see through ; “ You have bare business with your menage , ” she correctly deduces . She has n’t given up on her prized educatee , but she also knows she ca n’t name a replacement who ’s not fully practice to the reason . Valya takes a misstep back to the Harkonnen domicile existence clutching one of the fear patrician vials ; Raquella tells her “ Return a Reverend Mother or not at all . ”
© Attila Szvacsek/HBO
On Lankiviel , Tula and Valya have a tearful reunion ; “ Griffin would be majestic , ” Valya enunciate , but Tula ’s not so sure . And though it was Tula who ’s now a mass murderer , the older Harkonnen genesis fault Valya , who clearly had a hired man in manipulating her younger baby ’s military action . A tense moment in the family home ( Valyaalmostmakes her mother shot herself using the Voice , to which Valya ’s uncle call up her “ sorceress , ” his voice dripping with disgust ) result to Valya heading out of doors and undergoing the Agony alone on a snow-white hillside . It ’s all the more impressive considering what we saw Lila go through , in a much more controlled surround , last week .
That said , we do n’t see what she experiences or what cognition Harkonnen women of the past share with her , but we do see her wake up when Tula frantically plead with her to recall . “ I lost Griffin , I wo n’t lose you too , ” she articulate , and we learn that ’s why Tula decided to join the Sisterhood too . “ A fresh start … we have a new use now , ” the sisters agree .
We cut back to Valya and Theodosia pull out up to a sleek edifice : “ the last place anyone would expect me to be , ” Valya explains , before gnarl , “ Sacrifices must be made . Sisterhood above all . ” When they go into , they bump a smarmy young serviceman — this is Baron Harkonnen , who we first encounter in episode one at that ( ill - fated ) royal employment company , trying to get the Emperor excited about whale fur .
He greet the Mother Superior as “ Aunt Valya ” ( he also inquire after “ Aunt Tula”—though might this be Tula ’s son , after that carefully identify sex conniption earlier ? ) . There ’s also an sometime , crustier Uncle Evgeny in a hover - wheelchair who says he ’s surprised to see his niece , but there ’s a guard look on his face that suggests maybe he ’s not all that surprised after all . ( After all , as we see before , House Harkonnen has been asking for a Truthsayer over and over , and Mother Superior Valya has continually abnegate the request . )
How the Harkonnens advance from slurping stew on an ice satellite to a place of what looks like renewed , rising power is n’t explicate — butDune : Prophecyis will that for another episode . We ’ve got one more disgraceful nugget back on Wallach IX , and that ’s the reveal that not only is Tula keep Lila “ live ” in suspended stasis within the genetic library , the undertaking involves the use of … an passing forbidden computer .
New sequence ofDune : Prophecyarrive Sundays on HBO and Max .
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