Dune: Prophecy Season 1 Finale Recap: “The High-Handed Enemy”

It turns out that the majority of the six-episode first season of HBO’s Dune: Prophecy have been set up for future stories to tell in this world created by Frank Herbert. It’s a problem. One of the things people loved The penguin was how much it stood on its own. It was a drama that worked even if you hadn’t seen Matt Reeves Batman and was worth watching even if there wasn’t another season. The fatal flaw knows Dune: Prophecy is how much it is tied to the past and the future, and relies heavily on this world’s love throughout the books and movies, using much of its final episode to set the stage for future ones. Still, the inherent stakes of a season finale finally allow some emotional weight in the performances from this strong ensemble, even as it becomes harder and harder to care about what happens to the characters they play.

“The High-Handed Enemy” largely consists of setting in motion a plan Valya Harkonnen has enacted for generations, using Emperor Corrino as a puppet to bring a sister to power. While Valya has moved the pieces on her side of the chessboard, a rebellion rises back against the Sisterhood, led by the reincarnated soul of Dorotea, the sister Valya murdered so many years ago. The episode ends with Tula Harkonnen bonding with the evil Desmond Hart after realizing he is the son she gave up so many years ago.

At a running time of 81 minutes, the pacing of “The High-Handed Enemy” can be inconsistent. At times it feels like a truncated season led to too much being crammed into this finale, but it’s also bloated and repetitive in other places, as if the writers have been tasked with stretching things out to get the last episode to feel more important. It’s a largely unsatisfying episode, even though it features some of the show’s best work from Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Chloe Lea, and Travis Fimmel.

It starts with the revelation that young Valya was not alone when she used her voice on Dorotea. Young Tula, Kasha, and Francesca all saw the crime and witnessed the fallout, which included the same violent act inflicted on all the sisters who would have sided with Dorotea, leaving only Sister Avila and the core four standing. They all set a plan in motion using Anirul – the device that allows them to plan bloodlines that will put them in power – to get Javicco and Natalya together. It’s an interesting idea that’s only thinly explored: the concept of politicians being manipulated in ways they can’t even imagine, influenced and shaped by forces beyond their control. Even Javicco’s love Francesca and truth teller Kasha were part of this multi-year plan. He hasn’t done anything in his entire pathetic life that wasn’t influenced by the Sisterhood.

Of course, the episode also reveals what we all expected after the conclusion of the last one: Desmond Hart is the son of Tula Harkonnen and Orry Atreides, sent out for adoption so many years ago, but now carrying the two important bloodlines into a violent future. It is also revealed that Desmond was altered by a “thinking machine” on Arrakis, given the power he now has in a procedure that someone oversaw. But who? That’s one of the main questions for season two.

The stakes in “The High-Handed Enemy” revolve around eliminating Javicco Corrino from power, but it turns out that Valya isn’t his only enemy. Empress Natalya has also decided that she no longer needs her husband, especially now that he is trying to resume his relationship with Francesca. It’s almost a race to kill Corrino as Valya brings a drug-laced needle to Salusa, ready to take out her doll now that he’s served his purpose. Arguably the best scene of the season comes when Valya brings down the curtain on poor Javicco. “You’ve only been a chore,” she tells him, revealing that every aspect of his life has been orchestrated by the Sisterhood and that it’s time for Ynez to lead. And that’s after the poor guy is told by his wife that she plans to use him as a puppet herself, running the universe behind the scenes with Desmond.

Javicco tries to regain an ounce of control by kicking Francesca out, but even that gets him nowhere. He realizes that the only way he can take any agency is to take his life and stab himself in the stomach in a really sad scene. When Francesca moves to save her child’s father, the Empress stabs her in the neck with a needle, killing her instantly and stopping any resuscitation attempts on her husband. She watches her truly pathetic husband die. Dune: Prophecy going to miss the gravitas given to the show by Mark Strong and Tabu. In season two, let’s hope they find actors of the same caliber to replace them.

Before I get to the climactic scenes, I need to talk about Lila/Dorotea. It starts when she convinces Emeline to loosen her restraints and drugs her for the service. She joins the rest of the sisters and looks for Valya and her allies, only to find that everyone on her side was killed shortly after her. As the episode progresses, Lila/Dorotea seems to become more powerful and brings the sisters in as allies to her cause. “I will lead us back to our righteous path,” she says. Valya and Tula have a brutal homecoming.

The season builds to the final scenes of “The High-Handed Enemy.” After escaping Salusa, Valya, Nez and Keiran land on another planet, pursued by Desmond and his soldiers. She uses her voice to dispatch them quickly, setting off a showdown. “You say you’ve seen my end,” she says. “Show me.” And then things get weird. There are gasps, wide eyes and images of Arrakis. They both pass out, and suddenly Valya is in a snowy, icy landscape that cuts between the Watson and Jessica Barden versions of the character. She hears Griffin calling for help. In reality, Tula is trying to rescue Valya from the mental prison she’s in, and the show finally gets a little creative in its visual language, incorporating natural elements like wind, snow, sand, and ice into a menacing montage. Dreamscape Valya faces what’s coming and the scene shifts to one of her most Dune-esque images: a sandworm coming straight at the camera.

After recovering, it is revealed that Valya and her allies will go into the shadows, presumably to try to regain power from Natalya/Desmond in season two. Tula hugs Desmond, giving both performers a good bit of dialogue-free, emotional acting, but Hart has his men arrest his mother. And then the trio Valya, Nez and Keiran land on Arrakis. “The road to our enemy begins here,” she says. It’s always nervous to end a season with the words “begins here.” Let’s hope the creators know where to go next.

Stray Observations

• • It is worth noting that this episode was written by two women and directed by a third. Despite its many weaknesses, it is a show with a strong female POV. Think of Javicco’s worthlessness and how even Keiran feels like a passenger on this journey. The strongest characters—Valya, Tula, Lila/Dorotea, Nez, and even Natalya in this episode—are given extra resonance by handing over duties that are still too male-dominated in this industry to female creators.
• • Give Emeline more to do in season two. Seeing her break her hands to get out of Lila’s restraints is a highlight of the episode. She’s kind of a villain.
• • Do we ever need 81-minute episodes of television? Just throwing it out there.
• • So who is the Season 1 MVP? Probably Watson or Fimmel, although I was more intrigued by the unknown performers, especially Chloe Lea as Lila and Sarah-Sofie Boussnina as Ynez. If the show improves, they are the ones to watch for breakout potential.
• • Thanks for reading this season! See you next time.