Warning! MAJOR spoilers for Dune: Prophecy episode 4 below.Answers are just as important to the fabric of a story as the questions that prompt them. In television, they must be doled out carefully, lest you anger impatient viewers or show your hand too early.Dune: Prophecybegan with many mysteries.Who is Desmond Hart? Why does he hate the Sisterhood? What do the visions of sandworms and electronic eyes, a shared delusion for the young Bene Gesserit women, really mean?
Dune: Prophecy
Cast
Set in the universe of Frank Herbert’s Dune series, Dune: Prophecy, a sci-fi epic, follows the political and spiritual struggles on the desert planet of Arrakis. As factions vie for control of the prized spice melange, a prophesied hero emerges, challenging the balance of power and the fate of the galaxy.
Last week’s episode gave us a glimpse intoValya and Tula Harkonnen’s pasts, illuminating much about who they are and what motivates them. But still, we are left with many mysteries and not enough answers, especially for a six-episode season that is two-thirds of the way complete.Dune: Prophecyepisode 4 is filled with behind-the-scenes politicking, foiled rebel attacks, and a disastrous power play that leaves us right where we began.
Desmond Hart Wins Again - But At What Cost?
By this episode, Desmond has the full trust of the emperor and his wife, going so far as to command some of House Corrino’s guards to root out the rebel plot that has been percolating on the sidelines over these first four episodes. Hart’s intense focus onThinking Machinesis seemingly a ruse, a way to curry favor with the emperor while hiding his true intentions that go way beyond just technology.
Those intentions are laid bare in the episode’s grand setpiece, where the Landsraad meet and where Valya hopes to make her play against Hart and the emperor. Hart, of course, is one step ahead, foiling the rebel plot, blaming severalgreat houses in the Landsraad, and showing the full might of his power to discourage those who would try and challenge him.
The Landsraad meeting is an electrifying sequence but one that doesn’t have the full weight of the series behind it. Why should we care that the emperor’s daughter betrayed him when we hardly know who she is? The rebel plot is foiled and the emperor has further consolidated his power over the great houses, but that puts us right where we started.
Prophecyhas yet to find that balance and, at this point, it doesn’t have a lot of time left to do so.
Valya’s position is still precarious. The dreams that the Sisterhood’s young charges are having remain just as opaque. We are still no closer to understanding who Desmond Hart really is. Just as a series needs to pose thought-provoking and thrilling questions, it needs to know when to give us answers.
Dune: Prophecy Is All Intrigue
It Needs To Deliver On Its Promising Setup Soon
Ultimately,Dune: Prophecyseems to have spread itself too thin, especially given the episode count of its debut season. The world Frank Herbert has created, expanded by his son, is vast, and it’s hard to capture in just six hours. Here, there are glimpses of something greater.
A sinister relationship between the emperor and Desmond Hart is gestured towards. Valya’s rage bubbles just below the surface, coming out as she confronts her uncle towards the end of the episode. The princess seems dedicated to the Sisterhood, but how far will she go to protect the Bene Gesserit? These aren’t things that are explored in any meaningful way.
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It’s all intrigue, no clarity. For some shows, this works. Even forDune: Prophecy, there are moments where it makes sense in the bigger picture. Hell, this tactic works forDenis Villeneuve’s films. Part of why the movies work so well is because the unexplainable is left that way, both horrifying and enthralling.Prophecyhas yet to find that balance and, at this point, it doesn’t have a lot of time left to do so.
Dune: Prophecyepisode 4 is now streaming on Max. The series will air two more episodes, with the finale releasing on December 22.
