‘Dune: Season 1’s prophetic twist ending, explained

Throughout its first season, Dune: Prophecy hit us with a powerful combination of space politics and sci-fi weirdness, and all from prophetic visions and good worms on the table. In its Season 1 finale, Dune: Prophecy brings it all together for a revelatory finale, answering some of our biggest questions of the season, while suggesting others to explore in Season 2.

From the Omnius Plague reveal to the game-changing flashback, let’s break down Dune: ProphecySeason 1 Finale, “The Enemy With the Upper Hand.”

Flashbacks reveal that Tula is Demond Hart’s mother – and why she betrayed him.

Episode 5 Dune: Prophecy reveals the true reason for Desmond Hart’s (Travis Fimmel) hatred for the Sisterhood. His mother was his sister, but she gave him away. It turns out that her mother was none other than Tula Harkonenn (played by Olivia Williams in the present and Emma Canning in the past). That means his late father Orry Atreides (Milo Callaghan), who was killed by Tula’s hand.

Suddenly, Tula reveals her pregnancy to her sister Valya (played by Emily Watson in the present and Jessica Barden in the past), who supports her decision to keep the baby. You are equal More support after a trip to Mother Superior Raquella’s (Cathy Tyson) breeding guide, who shows that a cross between the Atreides and Harkonnen lines can lead to a child with extraordinary powers. (Paul Atreides says hello to the next 10,000 years.)

However, Tula has some doubts about Valya’s desire to shape and mold her son into a powerful figure from birth. Without Valya’s knowledge, she swaps her newborn baby with the dead child of a worker on Wallach IX. She hopes that by removing her son from the Sisterhood, he can make his own way. But how could he have predicted that that path would lead him back to the Sisterhood with vengeance in his heart?

Further flashbacks show Valya’s bloody rise to power, leading to chaos in present-day Wallach IX.

“The Enemy With the Highest Hand” is always in the past for other big things to happen. After Valya kills Sister Dorotea (Camilla Beeput), she, Tula, Kasha (Yerin Ha), and Francesca (Charithra Chandran) confront Dorotea’s students to take complete control of the Busisterhood. They give themselves a choice: Follow Dorotea’s path to death, or follow Valya into the future of the order. When the Sisters don’t choose right away, Valya, Kasha, Francesca, and Tula, who is nervous, use the Voice to force them. Most have cut their own throats. Only Sister Avila (Barbara Marten) is with Valya.

This incident would have disappeared from history, if it wasn’t for Sister Lila (Chloe Lea) right now. After facing Agony in episode 2, Lila became unstable, with her ancestors occupying her body for hours at a time. In episode 5, that grandmother was Raquella. Thanks to him, Tula was able to understand that the cause of death of today’s Kasha (Jihae) was the same thing as the Omnius Plague, a weapon used by the mind machines in the Butlerian Jihad that was thought to be extinct for a long time.

But in episode 6, the new grandfather catches Lila. Sister Dorotea takes over and uncovers the mass grave of her old followers, proving to the current acolytes that Busisterhood is all built on blood. Dorotea-as-Lila then leads the acolytes to Raquella’s thinking machine Anirul. He destroys it, maybe taking the breeding cue with it.

It is there Dune: Prophecy leaving things to Wallach IX, with the acolytes dejected and ready to destroy everything Valya and Tula had built. But since those two are off the planet, they will have to wait until Season 2 to learn about the consequences of their actions.

Salusa Secundus falls into chaos.

Wallach IX is not the only planet in the Imperium where all hell breaks loose. On Salusa Secundus, Empress Natalya (Jodhi May) imprisons her daughter Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) for trying to break Kieran Atreides (Chris Mason) out of his cell. Since Ynez has Valya’s strong hopes of having Sister on the throne, she decides to intervene, only to be deliberately arrested in order to free Ynez. With the help of the Voice and Dade Theodosia’s (Jade Anouka) shape-shifting abilities – acquired thanks to genetic testing by the Tleilaxu – Valya, Ynez, and Kieran escape. Theodosia stays behind disguised as a wounded soldier. He nearly kills Desmond by surprise, but injures him and plans to be arrested. Next season, expect to learn more about her role as Face Dancer, and the mysterious Tleilaxu who made her this way.

Things continue to fall apart for Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong). He learns that the Sisterhood has been controlling his life since the beginning, sending Sister Francesca (currently played by Tabu) to focus on his youth and stop his game with Natalya. Now that she is no longer useful to the Sisterhood, Valya sends Francesca to kill her with a poisoned gom jabbar needle. But Javicco chooses to hold on to what little is left of him and dies by suicide. As Francesca cries, Natalya uses gom jabbar to kill her.

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With Javicco gone and any trace of the Sisterhood council removed from the palace, the Imperium likely falls to Natalya. But remember, Javicco made his and Francesca’s son Constantine (Josh Heuston) the commander of his fleet in episode 5, which means Season 2 could see him fighting Natalya for control.

The cure for the Omnius Plague is basically Litany Against Fear.

At the very beginning of “A Heavy-Handed Enemy,” Tula and Sister Nazir (Karima McAdams) investigate a mysterious weapon that kills Kasha, Pruwet Richese (Charlie Hodson-Prior), and members of the Landsraad. How could Kasha resist the virus for so long, while Pruwet and those in the Landsraad died after a brief exposure to Desmond?

As it turned out, Kasha had a “unique ability to live in the face of fear,” and that kept the virus at bay for a while. Nazir and Tula realize that the virus feeds on fear, explaining the nightmares of sand and those glowing blue eyes he’s been having. Nazir tries to make an antiviral by transferring the virus inside himself – the same way the sisters change the poison when they face Agony – but fails.

However, when Valya is exposed to the virus in her confrontation with Desmond at the end of the episode, she is able to succeed thanks to Tula’s help. “You have to release your fear,” Tula tells her as Valya struggles with the idea of ​​her brother Griffin’s death.

He continues: “All fear. All pain. You can’t run away from it. You can’t fight it. You have to let it go through you.”

Sound familiar? The emphasis on resisting fear here brings to mind the Litany Against Fear in Frank Herbert’s first book. A mound novels, Lady Jessica and Paul both ask to focus on difficult times.

“I needn’t be afraid,” Litaniya said. “Fear is the killer of the mind. Fear is a small death that brings complete destruction. I will face my fear. I will let it pass me and pass me. And when it passes, I will open the inner eye. to see its way.

Tula’s words to Valya sound like a prelude to the Litany, something we’ll no doubt see happen in Season 2 Dune: Prophecy. But in Season 1, they work the same. In her vision, Valya stands still and lets the fear wash over her. She sees the nightmare of the palm tree that scared so many of her sisters, but she also sees beyond it, learning what those blue eyes have been all this time.

Were there blue eyes? Dune: Prophecy?

As Valya sees, the nightmare that haunts her sisters isn’t just a nightmare: It’s what Desmond Hart experienced after the sandworm attack on Arrakis. When he woke up, he came upon a large machine, the green lights of which were the eyes of a nightmare.

In a painful sequence from Desmond’s point of view, we watch as a machine pulls one of Desmond’s eyes out of its socket and inserts his sensor into what must be the nanobots that transmitted the virus. A mysterious figure watches the process from a nearby window filled with golden light, suggesting that whoever did the work was stationed on Arrakis.

With that information in mind, it’s off to Arrakis for Valya, Ynez, and Kieran, who hope to discover the truth behind their hidden enemy. Meanwhile, Tula stays behind in hopes of saving Desmond from the pain caused by the machines. But after a quiet meeting, Desmond asks for Tula’s arrest. At least he’ll have Theodosia to keep him company.

So after that packed finale, the big question remains: Who is the hidden enemy that unites Desmond against the Imperium and the Sisterhood?

Anyone will have access to thinking machines, and there is no doubt about using them. There are several possibilities since A mound novels we could watch. First is the Richese family, who played an important role Dune: Prophecythe first episodes. Like the makers of long-standing thinking machines, they are more reluctant to own and use them, even though they are illegal. However, why did the Riches use Desmond to kill and bend their family members? Are we looking at a different group within the family?

Another possibility is the Ixians, the inhabitants of the planet Ix who continue to produce thinking machines. dune’The “Name of the Imperium” section describes Ix as having “escaped the harshest effects of the Butlerian Jihad” alongside House Richese. Now, “it is very high in machine culture.” With that in mind, it is very possible Dune: Prophecy may set up Ix as the next major enemy the Sisterhood and the Imperium will face. After all, it’s another important team from Herbert’s universe, so why not bring it on board for Season 2?

Season 1 of Dune: Prophecy now streaming on Max.