Dune: Prophecy’s Big Revelation, Explained

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 22, 2024 3 Views 8 Min Read
Dune: Prophecy's Big Revelation, Explained

Summary

  • Episode 5 of Dune: Prophecy reveals Desmond’s mixed Harkonnen and Atreides lineage, adding depth to his character.
  • Desmond’s parentage could lead to a significant shift in the ongoing conflicts between the factions.
  • Valya and Tula’s focus on their respective goals may not be altered by the revelation of Desmond’s lineage.

Throughout its first season, Dune: Prophecy has been stacking up mysteries, taking its time to pay them off despite only having six episodes. At the end of episode five, “In Blood, Truth,” the series finally revealed some major information about one of its most mysterious characters, Desmond Hart.

Hart has been the principal antagonist of the Sisterhood, which is led by Valya and Tula Harkonnen, all season. His powers represent the greatest threat to their continued existence. He’s only shared one scene with Valya so far, but it’s clear that he’s got a big axe to grind with the Truthsayers. Episode five finally revealed why.

The sisters draw their nightmares in Dune: Prophecy (2024)

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Episode Five’s Big Reveal

Desmond Hart reading the Truthsayer's book in Dune: Prophecy
HBO

The end of episode five follows two different tracks. Tula runs Desmond’s DNA through the Sisterhood’s genetic archive to find out more about his past. Meanwhile, back on Salusa Secundus, Desmond cozies up to Empress Natalya (Jodhi May) and explains that he was abandoned by his Sister mother as a baby, giving some context to his desire to destroy the Sisterhood. Desmond and Natalya kiss, consummating the flirtation they’ve had all season. Meanwhile, Tula gets a hit on her genetic search: the sample has both Harkonnen and Atreides DNA.

This is a huge revelation about Desmond as a character: he’s the offspring of the two feuding families. The episode doesn’t specifically reveal who Desmond’s parents are, but the most likely answer can be found back in episode three’s flashback to Tula and Valya’s younger years. After their brother Griffin (Earl Cave) was killed by an Atreides, the sisters decided to seek their final revenge on the family. For Tula, that came in the form of romancing a young Atreides named Orry (Milo Callaghan), in order to gain his family’s trust and wipe them all out in one go. Orry proposes to Tula, she accepts, and the two consummate their relationship. It’s possible that that encounter may have had unintended consequences; specifically, the birth of a half-Harkonnen, half-Atreides child.

Episode three showed that Tula was unable to fully go through with her mission, sparing the life of a young Atreides named Albert (Archie Barnes) who wasn’t killed during the initial slaughter. It’s not unlikely that when faced with the possibility of killing her own offspring to eradicate the remaining Atreides blood, Tula wouldn’t be able to go through with it.

What Episode 5’s Reveal Might Mean Going Forward

Empress Natalya (Jodhi May) in Dune: Prophecy
HBO

If Tula did become pregnant by Orry, it’s likely she would have chosen to give the baby up rather than take its life, and hope the situation wouldn’t come back to haunt her. Obviously, she’d have no way of knowing that her child would grow up to join Emperor Corrino’s army, go to Arrakis, get swallowed by a Sandworm, and somehow survive and end up with terrifying magical powers that he would attempt to wield against the Sisterhood that abandoned him. To be fair, that’s not a scenario a mother can really plan for.

Much like sparing Albert’s life back in episode three, Tula’s compassion had unintended consequences. Hers and Valya’s goal was to wipe out the Atreides bloodline, but allowing Albert to live meant that that goal went unfulfilled, and the Atreides weren’t wiped out completely. By giving her baby away, Tula may have hoped that the child would never find out about his lineage and would live his life in obscurity. It’s likely that Valya isn’t aware of this development, as she no doubt would have encouraged her sister to show no mercy to her accidental progeny.

Whale Harvesting on Lankiveil in Dune: Prophecy

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It’s not yet known whether the newfound knowledge of Desmond’s lineage will change anything about either his or the Sisterhood’s endgame. At least as far as Desmond is concerned, it probably won’t. He already knows his mother is a Sister, so the idea of coming face to face with her likely won’t soften his anger. Tula might change her mind knowing that Desmond could be her son, but Valya would likely still view him as too much of a threat to halt her plans to neutralize him.

Valya’s main focus is preserving the Sisterhood. She’s already shown that nothing will get in her way, including her own family. She’s currently in the process of using her nephew Harrow (Edward Davis) to try to get back in the Emperor’s good graces, and she allowed her great uncle Evgeny (Mark Addy) to die rather than let him compromise her plans. Given the animosity between her and Desmond, the fact that he might be her nephew isn’t likely to matter much. It seems that the various factions of Dune: Prophecy are on a collision course one way or another, too wrapped up in their own interests to see anything else. Audiences will get to see how it all shakes out very soon, at least until the newly announced season two premieres.

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