‘Dune: Prophecy’ Finally Gets Going In Episode 5, But It Might Be Too Little Too Late

It’s fair to say that Dune: Prophecy hasn’t exactly resonated with viewers the way HBO probably wanted. It’s a bit too esoteric and talky for non-Dune fans, but it’s dissimilar enough from Denis Villeneuve’s movies to not feel like a part of the on-screen Duniverse. Fans of the books have received the occasional nod to the wider lore, but it has felt tokenistic in the midst of a story without clear stakes, an identifiable protagonist, and exciting action. Episode 5, “In Blood, Truth”, rectifies some of these issues, but is it too little too late?

I hope not. Despite my own complaints I can’t help but feel like there’s a legitimately compelling underside to the whole thing that I’d like to see explored more, especially after an episode like this which juggles and interweaves the plotlines on both Wallach IX and Salusa Secundus better than ever. It also introduces a new character, provides a key answer about Desmond Hart, and feels, for want of a better term, like the penultimate episode in a series that has one or two more in the bank.

Let’s talk about it.

Welcome, Sister Francesca

Of particular note here is the arrival of Sister Francesca, another member of the Sisterhood who is of particular importance since she’s a) the mother of Constantine and b) the muse of Emperor Javicco. Thanks to an elite-level Sisterhood power called imprinting – like cats, I guess – Javicco is still hopelessly infatuated with Francesca, which isn’t great news for Empress Natalya given her burgeoning desire to go behind her husband’s back – especially if it’s with Desmond.

Francesca isn’t here by accident. She has been summoned by Valya – under the guise of a message from Constantine – to manipulate Javicco into allowing Princess Ynez to study on Wallach IX and installing Constantine as the head of the Imperial fleet. This is easier said than done since Constantine is a bit of a useless layabout, but needs must.

But Valya gets her wish. It requires Constantine selling out Keiran, but he is indeed named the fleet’s new commander. The dinner table scene during which this is announced is hilarious because Natalya and Ynez are both palpably fuming, but it’ll have pretty severe and unforeseen consequences. Ynez learns from using truthsense on the captive Keiran that he was always honest with her and really does believe his rebellion is for the betterment of the Imperium, and Natalya, obviously, gets off with Desmond.

So, let’s talk about Desmond.

Desmond’s Hard Day At Work

Desmond has a new job in Dune: Prophecy Episode 5, which is the command of an unit of black-clad royal guardsmen whose job is to tear out scheming at court root and stem. So, Desmond spends almost the entire runtime tossing establishments, kidnapping and – it’s strongly implied – torturing people to find the rebels.

His search takes him directly to Mikaela, which forces Keiran to move to protect her. In the ensuing fight, Mikaela is forced to defend herself and inadvertently reveals she belongs to the Sisterhood, which Keiran is predictably unhappy to discover. I don’t think this is the season’s first proper action scene, but it might be. If it is, that only proves my point at the top of this recap.

Chris Mason in Dune: Prophecy | Image via WarnerMedia

Anyway, just as it seems like Keiran and Mikaela have gotten away with it by detonating the explosives and fleeing, Constantine finds the palace blueprints in Keiran’s locker, revealing his complicity and leading to his aforementioned arrest. Mikaela, meanwhile, goes to Valya and Sister Theodosia, where she’s unhappy to learn that she was mostly just being used to keep Desmond occupied while Francesca manipulated Javicco. A Sisterhood safehouse on Arrakis is small consolation since it comes with the implication that she might at some stage be asked to betray the Fremen in the same manner as the rebels – which she isn’t willing to do.

It took Desmond just one afternoon to cause all this carnage. Admittedly he was helped along by a scheming Baron Harrow Harkonnen, who gave him an important tip to root out the rebellion in exchange for a thinking machine surveillance device to eavesdrop on Valya. This scene reveals Desmond’s true intentions to wipe out the Sisterhood, but it isn’t until his conversation with Natalya later – spliced with some revelations on Wallach IX – that we find out what his real problem is.

So THAT’S Who Desmond Is

Most of the drama on Wallach IX in Dune: Prophecy Episode 5 revolves around Lila, or more accurately Mother Raquella, since it quickly becomes obvious to Tula and Sister Jen, whom Tula invites into the scheme, that Lila’s body is being used to channel the former Reverend Mother after the Agony that claimed her life.

Raquella is determined to find answers that will help the Sisterhood avert the upcoming reckoning. She’s so determined that she doesn’t bother to respect Tula’s very careful attempts at secrecy, so she openly reveals herself to Sister Avila, who describes her as an abomination. She’s undeterred by this, however, and keeps digging into samples of Kasha’s brain, which reveal she was killed by a viral version of the enzyme used by the thinking machines during the Butlerian Jihad.

This, then, is what Desmond is able to control. But his powers are of less concern than his heritage. If you recall, Valya sent Tula a sample of Desmond’s blood, and analysis of that sample reveals he is of both Atreides and Harkonnen stock. Given the generations of animosity between the bloodlines, there’s only one reasonable point when the genetics could have overlapped – when Tula was shacking up with Orry Atreides.

Yes, this means that Tula is Desmond’s mother. She also killed his father and all of his family on his father’s side, and subsequently abandoned him. This is why Desmond is so determined to wipe out the Sisterhood in its entirety, since he knows his birth mother was a Sister. Yikes.