Warning: spoilers for Dune: Prophecy - Episode 2 - “Two Wolves” are in play. If you’re not keeping up with the Harkonnens and Atreides drama, then you’ve been warned.
While I don’t think there are any private detectives in the world of Dune: Prophecy, I must admit the 2024 TV schedule offering has brought me the closest I’ll probably ever be to experiencing such a concept. In both watching the series and conducting interviews with the cast, I’ve pulled on some threads that have inspired some fun answers that dance around what’s to come in the six-episode Max subscription driver.
Admittedly, what we know about Dune: Prophecy is unfolding at a steady clip. That’s partially thanks to actors like Aoife Hinds, Faoileann Cunningham, and Shalom Brune-Franklin all being really good at keeping secrets when it comes to what's next. But even in their teases, the clues about what to look for feel pretty clear. And there’s one tease in particular that has me intrigued for what remains to be seen.
Mikaela’s Potential Handling Of Desmond Hart’s Existence Could Mean Trouble For The Sisterhood
Oh Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmell). Is there no end to the trouble you could cause The Sisterhood? We’ve already seen this telepathically gifted player on the Prophecy board wheedle his way into the halls of the Corrino family palace. And thanks to “Two Wolves,” we’ve seen that he’s actually able to withstand “The Voice” that Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) wields over all of her foes.
But what could this mean for recently revealed sister/Fremen revolutionary Mikaela (Shalom Brune-Franklin)? Acting as the inside woman within the brewing uprising that includes Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason), Dune: Prophecy’s secret Sister swims in some of the same circles that Desmond does. Or more fittingly, she rides among the same sands.
So, when I asked Ms. Brune-Franklin how she thought Desmond Hart’s place on the board would affect Mikaela’s future actions, she shared the following with CinemaBlend:
Do you know what I think? I think in all the time that McKayla has known Valya, she has never actually seen her come up against a force like this. And so, Valya’s reasoning, and all the decisions that she has made prior to Desmond coming along have probably been really right, and fantastic, and really well made, and really thought out. And I think as soon as Desmond comes in and sort of turns everything on its head. You start to see her sweating really, and that's a scary thing when the person that you are supposed to trust, you start to see them freak out. It's like when you're a kid, and you see your parent cry or something. It's like, ‘Whoa, you are not supposed to do that. You’re supposed to have everything together.’ So I think there's definitely a real shift in the dynamic, between Mikayla and her.
Shalom Brune-Frankin’s response above actually leads me to one of two quotes that convince me that the extra features for Dune: Prophecy on Max are required viewing. With each episode being accompanied by the traditional closer look into the production and story of what you’ve just watched, “Two Wolves” had a lot to chew over in its supplemental materials.
Consider the following as proof, thanks to Ms. Brune-Franklin’s remarks about Desmond Hart, and what he means to this overall story:
The Sisterhood is like having the perfect person next to you, playing chess with them. They can give you all the answers, but you don’t realize that they’re the person you’re playing chess against. When Desmond comes along, he kind of like flips the board over. He’s like ‘New game.’
As we’re inching closer to the truth about The Prophecy of Tiran-Arafel, it appears that Travis Fimmell’s Rasputin-like character is “the reckoning” that will challenge the Sisterhood. It could quite possibly topple the entire institution. So, it feels like a really good time to discuss what Aoife Hinds and Faoileann Cunningham had to say about where “Two Wolves” puts Sisters Emeline and Jen.
After Lila’s Death, ‘Survival Of The Sisterhood’ Is Going To Be Key
While we’ve been reminded that no one is ever truly gone in the Dune universe, even in death, the departure of Sister Lila (Chloe Lea) seemed to linger on in those who witnessed her violent end. Two of the characters primed to be integral to whatever comes next for the Sisterhood are Sisters Jen (Faoileann Cunningham) and Emeline (Aoife Hinds).
This death in particular seemed to hit both women really hard in the final moments of Dune: Prophecy’s second episode, and I was able to talk about it with Cunningham and Hinds during a press day focused on the fallout of “Two Wolves.” I asked both of them for their own prophecies; here’s what Hinds and Cunningham had to share with CinemaBlend:
Aoife Hinds: So much! … I think it's the survival of the Sisterhood. I'm going to say that.
Faoileann Cunningham: I would say, I love the line that Emily has in the first episode where she says, ‘Sisterhood bonds are forged in fire,’ and stuff is on fire! So we're going to see that.
Remember how I was extolling the virtues of Dune: Prophecy’s supplemental features earlier?
The following comment is a really good example of why I think those who want to figure out the riddles executive producers Alison Schapker and Jordan Goldberg are putting into the world will want to pay closer attention. Here now is what I feel is a very telling hint about the future of Sister Emeline from Inside Dune: Prophecy -Episode Two.
Emeline and Jen butt heads a lot. They really come from opposing views of the world. … Emeline sees a lot of potential in Lila, and through Lila she might get access to Dorotea, Emeline’s icon. So she has a little bit of an agenda of her own.
Knowing that Emeline’s “icon” is Dorotea, the sister slain by young Valya Harkonnen (Jessica Barden) in the name of controlling the Sisterhood, is massive in my view. To merely see martyrdom as a virtue is one thing, and at face value her argument for Lila to even think about taking on the Spice Agony seems in line with the faithful.
To think of the potentially deadly ritual as a conduit to a figure of faith? That’s the sort of thinking you’d expect from Dune: Prophecy's movie fueled influences. In a universe where everyone tends to have an angle, and hidden truths can have massive consequences, Sister Emeline’s motivations are only the latest proof of that being the truth. And that quest could lead to "The Reckoning" the Harkonnens have long feared.
Why The Sisterhood Seems Primed To Crumble In Dune: Prophecy
Let’s ignore the fact that the Bene Gesserit order basically replaces The Sisterhood. That viewpoint is looking at the events of this series through the lens of Prophecy. For now though, let’s use the lens of History and see where Dune: Prophecy could be going. Which, in my opinion, is straight towards a crisis of faith so shattering, it could lead to another war. And I don’t think Tula (Olivia Williams) and Valya Harkonnen will be the only ones who fight it.
Sisters Jen and Emeline are already on opposing sides, with Emeline seeming to fall into line with Tula and Jen being a tenacious person along the lines of Valya. Since Aoife Hinds character idolizes Sister Dorotea, and her school of faith is totally against that of Valya’s running of The Sisterhood, if she gets her wish and learns the truth about how her icon was killed, it’s practically game over.
Since Tula’s already weakened from the loss of Lila, she might be persuaded to side against her own sister - who pretty much pushed her to convince Lila to undergo the Spice Agony.
That sort of questioning of one’s code could mean that she’ll continue to foster a faction that rejects the genetic library, and its aim to create the supposedly ultimate ruling class. This only makes Jen’s path down the line even more uncertain, as she’s bound to butt heads with Emeline. Her more skeptical nature would fit in well with Valya’s take charge attitude, as she’s not going to merely submit to faith.
And that is how you potentially get a holy war, with Desmond Hart (and potentially Mikaela) sitting in the middle of it all, watching the Sisterhood crumble as he so desires. But of course, that’s all speculation fueled by the gracious remarks from the Dune: Prophecy cast above.
With threads like this to unravel as time goes on, I don’t think it’s hard to see why I’ve gone from my cautious optimism with the first Dune: Prophecy trailer to becoming a fan of this series. And the best part is, the series gets to takes us back to the world of the Sisterhood, as well as the Harokonnen and the Atreides family drama, every Sunday at 9 PM ET on HBO.
Episodes can be also be streamed through the Max platform, at the same time those stories unfold through traditional broadcast. So keep that in mind when you’re trying to figure out how to watch Dune: Prophecy, especially in preparation for this weekend’s episode, “Sisterhood Above All.”
