If you’re not watching Dune: Prophecy on HBO, I honestly think you’re missing out on one of the best dramas the 2024 TV schedule has to offer. As it further fleshes out the history that took place 10,148 years prior to Paul Atreides’ birth, viewers are starting to see the universe of Frank Herbert, as well as his son Brian Herbert and co-author Kevin J. Anderson truly take shape. The second installment keeps the energy going and presents a major death that CinemaBlend spoke to the cast about.
After this week’s shocking death in Episode 2, “Two Wolves,” I’m even more hooked on this fantastic drama. That sentiment certainly rang true after I chatted with cast members Aoife Hinds, Faoileann Cunningham and Shalom Brune-Franklin about the tragedy that unfolded. And, as you’re about to read, this untimely death is something that could change everything about what we know about Dune: Prophecy, especially when it comes to The Sisterhood.
Sister Lila’s Death Could Cause A Crisis In Faith, And Friendship, For Sisters Emeline And Jen
Through the first two episodes of Dune: Prophecy, fans have seen a small cluster of Sisters working out their own views on faith within the Harkonnen-run Sisterhood. In particular, Sisters Emeline (Aoife Hinds), Jen (Faoileann Cunningham), Theodosia (Jade Anouka) and Lila (Chloe Lea). These young women could be crucial to the road ahead, especially since the unfortunate death of Lila, who attempted to survive the Spice Agony and failed.
The sad part is, Lila’s fate was partially due to her own choice. And, in order to make that decision, she consults with her fellow sisters. When Sister Emeline consults with Sister Lila, the former’s family history of martyrs sort of colors her almost rosy portrayal of death in the name of the Sisterhood.
Of course, now that both Emeline and Jen have witnessed the harrowing death of Lila, their views of the faith could change in a pretty big way. When speaking with Aoife Hinds about how Emeline sees this event, she shared the following viewpoint with CinemaBlend:
I think it's extremely interesting for Emeline, because she comes from these very, very strong values and belief that she's been educated through and she truly believes in them. And that's why she shares this idea of no greater honor than to sacrifice yourself for a greater cause to Lila. And I think the moment it happens, there's something, there's a pull of, ‘Oh gosh, you’ve kind of given her this direction.’ But when it happens, something even like the catastrophe, as you say it happening in front of your eyes, I think there was something.
Aoife Hinds, CinemaBlend
When you’re someone as devout as a member of The Sisterhood, it has to be quite a nightmare to think you’re part of someone’s demise. Unless of course, you frame it with the right sort of mindset, much like young Valya Harkonnen (Jessica Barden) in the first episode of Prophecy, “The Hidden Hand.”
At the same time, Faoileann Cunningham’s character, Sister Jen, isn’t quite at that point. Though we have seen her provide Lila with a blunt counter to Sister Emeline’s viewpoint of the potential drawbacks. “It’s hard to have a mission when you’re dead” is a pretty firm rebuke of what these sisters were taught. Sharing further insight into Jen’s thoughts on The Sisterhood, Ms. Cunningham told CinemaBlend the following:
I think the thing that's interesting is that we don't know what the training we're going to receive at the sisterhood is, right? So like you kind of have to like to give up your life beforehand. You preliminarily pledge allegiance to the Sisterhood, and it's interesting, because I think like Aoife says, we've heard about The Agony. We understand what it is, but watch it is terrifying. … It's quite a fun thing to watch as an actor, seeing yourself and another actor in actual shock, and genuinely just rolling through.
Faoileann Cunningham, CinemaBlend
Knowing about a ritual and seeing it performed are two completely different things. One could say the same about reading such an event on the page and then having to act it out in real time. That reality was hammered home a little harder with both Aoife Hinds and Faoileann Cunningham, as they further explained when discussing the day on set where Chloe Lea’s tragic departure was filmed.
Filming Two Wolves’ Big Death Scene Was As Hard As You’d Imagine
Getting into character for a series like Dune: Prophecy can likely unlock a lot of feelings, as well as some deeper meaning to the text at hand. Both Aoife Hinds and Faoileann Cunningham felt that first hand when filming “Two Wolves’” shocking death scene, and they shared as much in further discussion of how that unfortunate moment was brought to life.
For Ms. Cunningham, her seemingly skeptical character of Sister Jen sees this moment in a very harrowing light. And as the actress shared with CinemaBlend, that viewpoint found its way into her performance thusly:
That day was very hard. We had to watch Chloe go through that a lot. We also didn't know what it was going to look like when we walked into that room. Like it's set up very clinically. And I think that's the beautiful thing about the way the show was written, as we will fully see the fallout of experiencing that afterwards too. I think like in anything, like they're just in a lot of shock. It's like the stages of grief. I felt like that filming it, all I wanted to do was jump off that balcony, and get down there and pull [Chloe] off the table, and tell them to just get away from her, because that's what I come into that room with right in my belly, because I'm going, ‘You shouldn't be doing this.’ But we were in shock, and we were also aware that you're within the hierarchy of The Sisterhood, so that all of this was like genuinely happening in that room that, you know, you, you're at a distance from it. So I don't know, let's see what happens to them.
Faoileann Cunningham, CinemaBlend
Even without the far-out visuals that show the influence of the Dune movies over Prophecy, just watching Chloe Lea being in that much pain is enough to get the point across. This great suffering is connecting the audience, and the characters in this world, with something mysterious and horrific.
That can shake the faith of anyone, even for a martyr-friendly personality like Sister Emeline. Aoife Hinds confirmed that very feeling below, as she explained her own views on the moment at hand:
What came up for me during the day of filming, that I didn't realize was going to happen, is these feelings of guilt that Emmeline might kind of come up to the surface. And just how that is then going to shape how she holds on to I think her because she will, because what she has to fall back on is going to be her beliefs and, and, and you know, this religious, the spiritualness that she has. So I think it is going to be very interesting. But I think as anything, you know, when you're thrown into a situation that is completely unexpected and you have no control over it, it can rattle your cage.
Aoife Hinds, CinemaBlend
For as much as we’ve focused on Sisters Jen and Emeline, we actually have a new player on the board that we need to keep a closer watch on. While Mikaela (Shalom Brune-Franklin) has been shown as a random bartender and a revolutionary looking to shake things up in the universe of Dune: Prophecy, it's now apparent that she has one important role above all of those titles: a member of the Sisterhood, and trusted spy to Valya Harkonnen.
Another Sister Has Entered The Chat, Thanks To The Revelation Of Sister Mikaela
While she hasn’t been seen on The Sisterhood’s homeworld of Wallach IX, Mikaela has clearly been busy. A Fremen woman who feels like she’d be more in line with the cause of Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmell) and Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason), she’s outed as a seemingly loyal acolyte to Valya Harkonnen.
At the same time, while she hasn’t seen Sister Lila’s death in the flesh, Mikaela’s own degree of loyalty in this faith is up for debate as well. Speaking with CinemaBlend in another interview for Prophecy, Shalom Brune-Franklin offered this insight:
It's so interesting because without giving too much away, we definitely see that inner battle going on with Mikayla in terms of the fact that she is a Fremen woman, but is also a part of the sisterhood and has decided to take this oath [of] ‘sisterhood above all.’ But with the rebellion and everything that's going on, and as the plot unfolds, the choices that Valya makes. I said this before, I said it's funny, we keep saying ‘sisterhood’ above all, but [it’s] really ‘Valya’ above all. And it's trusting values, opinions, and perspective on everything, and putting all of your faith in one person.
Shalom Brune-Franklin, CinemaBlend
A predecessor to the sect of characters we’ll eventually see led by Stilgar (Javier Bardem) in the Dune movies, Mikaela is also pretty willing to off an Atreides at a moment’s notice. Which is quite the change from seeing that future Great House aligned with the people of Arrakis. That’s just human nature, I suppose; and Brune-Franklin understands that very clearly, as seen in her continued remarks:
People can get it wrong, and she can too. She's not this oracle. She's not God. And so I think there is that great line episode when we're playing God, and it is that thing of starting to look sideways a little bit and go, ‘Really? You want me to do that? Oh, I'm not sure about that, but okay, I'll go ahead and do it.’ You're kind of just trying to support and you're like, ‘Okay, I'm here for you, but this seems like a bad choice.’ And when things start to unfold, I think it's interesting to see how Mikaela reacts to that later on and how, how that plays out is interesting. For sure.
Shalom Brune-Franklin, CinemaBlend
There are already a lot of moving pieces to keep track of on Dune: Prophecy’s would-be chess board. And that’s just with our focus staying solely on The Sisterhood. Which brings me to one last discussion we should have about this week’s episode, as we have more potential details on the prophecy known as Tiran-Arafel.
Lila’s Death Through The Spice Agony Could Endanger The Sisterhood
Tula knew that The Agony could reveal the events of the past, particularly that moment seen in Episode 1, “The Hidden Hand,” in which we see young Valya Harkonnen kill Sister Dorothea (Camilla Beeput) to take control of the Sisterhood. And, before poor Lila left this mortal coil, she seemed to indicate that Mother Superior Raquella Berto-Anirul (Cathy Tyson) is signaling through the genetic memory of her supposed great great granddaughter that she was none too happy about that moment.
And what would Dune: Prophecy be without a little bit of truth-telling for the future? Speaking through Lila, the late Raquella also dropped this juicy riddle about The Prophecy of Tiran-Arafel:
The key to the Reckoning is one born twice: once in blood, once in spice. A revenant full of scars. A weapon born of war on a path too short.
Mother Superior Raquella Berto-Anirul , Dune: Prophecy S1 E2 - "Two Wolves"
Now, I’m not saying that this is a 100% lock as further text elaborating on the mystery of Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmell), but that sounds a lot like our charming yet deadly telepath. Of course, anyone who’s read Dune or Shakespeare knows that the meaning of a prophecy really depends on who’s reading it. Though I’d trust the fact that no matter who carries out this reckoning, it will indeed be damaging to The Sisterhood.
This also doesn’t change the fact that poor Lila is no longer with us. The young trusting sister, whose past we know very little about, was taken too early by the Spice Agony. Which really has to make you think about that second half of the prophecy above, doesn’t it? Especially when you throw back to when Sister Emeline shared this bit of wisdom with Lila before her death:
Reverend mothers know better than anyone that the dead aren’t gone.
Sister Emeline (Aoife Hinds), Dune: Prophecy S1 E2 - "Two Wolves"
Could Lila be the reckoning that would tear apart The Sisterhood? Where will Jen, Emeline, Mikaela’s own personal struggles with this passing lead them on their future paths? And is there anything that could tear Tula and Valya Harkonnen apart in their mission to create the ultimate ruling class? We'll just have to wait and see, but what I can say now is that this tangled web of intrigue will keep me further engaged as this show's run continues!
Be aware that there are two ways to watch Dune: Prophecy. Maintain your Max subscription and/or your HBO access active to continue watching episodes, as we’ll be back next week to discuss Episode 3 - “Sisterhood Above All,” after it airs on Sunday, December 1 at 9 PM ET.
