‘Dune: Prophecy’ Episode 2 Review: A Sister Sacrificed, a Mother Challenged, and a New Prophecy

“Dune: Prophecy” is picking up the pace in Episode 2 — and gradually revealing more about the show’s villain (and antihero).

After expositional duty and climactic finale to Episode 1, “Two Wolves” is distinctly more focused, written by Kor Adana and directed by John Cameron. All the key characters on Wallach IX and Salusa Secundus are wrapped up in the aftermath of Pruwet (Charlie Hodson-Prior) and Kasha’s (Jihae) sudden, horrific deaths — and already using others’ grief to manipulate them and steal power.

Valya heads to Salusa Secundus to speak directly with Emperor Javicco (Mark Strong), bringing Sister Theodosia (Jade Anouka) with her to maintain the Sisterhood’s influence on Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina). Ynez’s fighting instructor and lover, Keiran Atreides, uses the collective shock as a distraction to steal the palace blueprints, because every good space adventure needs stolen blueprints. He gives his own expository soliloquy to Mikaela (Shalom Brune-Franklin) about the state of the universe and his role in rebellion; “The great houses are hoarding spice, forcing the people to turn to violence to get what they need to survive.” That’s right folks, the smallfolk are suffering, just like on that other HBO show! This rebellion feels fairly two-dimensional at the moment, but hopefully will build out in the coming episodes, just as this one increasingly fleshed out the Sisterhood.

Ah, the sisters. What can’t they do? Yikes — sorry. Before departing Wallach IX, Valya asks Tula (Olivia Williams) to convince Lila (Chloe Lea) to engage in a ritual called The Agony. Wonder why they call it that?? If executed successfully, The Agony will allow Lila, granddaughter of Mother Raquella (Cathy Tyson), to access her ancestors’ memories and potentially seek clarity on what Raquella saw, and what the Sisterhood should do next. But executing it successfully is the hard part; Lea does a great job expressing the fear and intimidation Lila feels at having to take on a task so daunting, when she has only a fraction of the required training. There’s fear for her life, yes, but also a sense that she isn’t qualified — and a tinge of indignation that she’s only being asked to do this because of her lineage.

The Agony itself falls a little short of the hype. Poison in the eye is an apt sci-fi/horror catalyst to the whole process, and then Lila ostensibly feels immense physical pain while her body tries to transmute the toxins and awaken the voices of the dead (as you do). The POV switches from her body experiencing pain in the physical world to communing with spirits in a dark, quiet, and empty space like an old temple. The foremothers are perfectly creepy, shadowy figures with obscured faces and smoke tendrils trailing off them. It’s hardly the setting for a family reunion, which reveals another layer of the Agony’s insidious nature.

Olivia Williams in ‘Dune: Prophecy‘HBO

With her last words, Lila channels Reverend Mother Dorotea, after witnessing the betrayal in which Valya used the Voice and took Dorotea’s life 30 years ago. “You stole my future, now I’m taking your hope,” she says to Tula. And then she collapses, lifeless, on the table. The Sisterhood mourns again, but this time with a prophecy (!) to contend with:

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.

Before we sign off for the week, I can’t go another episode without acknowledging the nefarious work of Travis Fimmel as Desmond Hart, the Very Blue Eyed villain who killed poor Pruwet and seemingly can’t stop himself from burning people with his mind. You must stop! Javicco does not seem sufficiently perturbed by this tendency, in my opinion. But it turns out that’s not even his scariest superpower; in the episode’s final scene, Valya uses the Voice to tell him to drive his knife into his throat (again: you must stop doing this), and it doesn’t work. He looks terrified, then triumphant. Something in him has proved stronger than her strongest power.

This is Valya’s greatest fear, as summarized by Desmond: “Not that someone won’t hear you; it’s that they’ll hear you and just won’t care.” I’m not a big fan of characters explicitly stating themes like that (see above re: Keiran pontificating about his purpose) — but I am a fan of the wording in this instance, and hats off to Fimmel and Watson for really selling the moment. “Dune: Prophecy” exists in a world that has been bending to Valya’s vision for decades, but finally pushing back against her.

Grains of Sand

• Space sex! And more space coke. And HBO’s quota (I assume) for nudity. Congrats?
• Sister Jen (Faoileann Cunningham) points out to Lila that their credo is “Sisterhood above all” — not “sisters,” because they are supposed to behave not as individuals, but part of a whole.
• I will just point out that Mikaela’s eyes are Too Blue and I previously cautioned against people with this specific unnatural genre series eye color. Sure enough, she outs Keiran to the Mother Superior.
• The Agony reminded me a lot of “Black Panther,” in which the heart-shaped herb causes intense physical discomfort before the drinker communes with the dead and then emerges with powers. Not all of that happened here :(
• Desmond refers to Shai-Hulud, which is what the Fremen call the sandworm. After disappearing into the sand and emerging alive, he now believes in the spiritual power of the worm — in direct contrast with the power of the Sisterhood.
• Interesting visuals for the molecular stuff and a nice reminder that “Dune” is futuristic sci-fi, not historical fantasy!
• Just want to share that in my notes I referred to Desmond as “my brother in spice”
• Is Indian superstar Tabu in this episode? No, but we get a Francesca name drop. She’s still in the game, baby!

Grade: B-

“Dune: Prophecy” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. E.T. on HBO.