Dune: Prophecy’ Episode 1 Recap

Episode one of ‘Dune: Prophecy’ opens with a lengthy scene of exposition. There has been a recent war against artificial intelligence, which ended with all complex thinking computers being outlawed. Here we are introduced to Valya Harkonnen, who believes her family was wronged by House Atreides who got credit for winning the war, rather than House Harkonnen. 

She joins the Sisterhood, an early iteration of the Bene Gesserit, where their leader Reverend Mother Raquella trains them to be Truthsayers, and spreading them throughout the great houses of the universe, where their skills are in demand, though secretly they wield their influence to control these houses to avoid another devastating war.

Raquella is also working on a genetic index that shows who should be married to who among the great families, so they can create a better future, by controlling these rulers.

As Mother Raquella is dying, she calls for Valya to come to her, telling her there is a great threat coming which could destroy the Sisterhood. Valya believes they must put a sister on the Imperial throne to ensure their safety and survival.

But Dorotea. Raquella’s successor as Mother Superior, is a much more zealous sister, who believes in the order’s original religious roots. She is going to destroy the genetic index as she believes it goes against their principles, so Valya uses the Voice to command her to take her own knife and kill herself.

The episode skips forward thirty years, and now Valya is Mother Superior, and refuses to send a Truthsayer to her own family in House Harkonnen, despite them requesting one four times.

The Sisterhood is visited by Constantine Corrino, brother to Princess Ynez. His sister is going to join the order soon, and he is there to prepare things for her. Valya says there will be no special treatment for Ynez, despite her royal heritage.

The acolytes, the sisters in training, are given a lesson in Truthsaying by Valya’s sister Tula, then they are tested by being placed in front of criminals from the Imperial jails, and have to discern whether what they say is true or not.

On Salusa Secundus, the Imperial homeworld, Ynez is given a lesson in sword fighting by Keiran Atreides, the swordmaster of the house.

In preparation for Ynez’s upcoming wedding to their son, House Richese gifts Emperor Corrino a fleet of fighters, to protect the Spice trade on Arrakis from attacks by the Fremen. Duke Richese also demands a wing in the palace, even though this is an imposition. It shows the Emperor’s weak position, as he is not as powerful as he would like. It also reveals the influence of the Sisterhood, as both Richese’s and Corrino’s Truthsayers collude to get what’s best for them from the deal.

As Ynez prepares for her wedding, her mother Empress Natalya confides that she doesn’t think she should be marrying the duke’s son, as he’s too young, and Ynez should marry who she wants, such as Keiran Atreides. She also doesn’t want her daughter to join the Sisterhood.

A soldier arrives at the palace, a survivor of an attack on Arrakis named Desmond Hart. He’s had an illustrious career, surviving twelve tours on the harsh desert planet, and has come with news for the Emperor. The attack wasn’t carried out by the Fremen, as previously thought, but by the Emperor’s own allies.

Meanwhile, the Emperor’s Truthsayer, Kasha, has a vision involving a sandworm, and has to return to Wallach IX to tell Mother Valya, but she doesn’t want to listen, and insists she won’t change her plans to put Ynez on the throne once she’s a sister, telling Kasha she must return to Salusa Secundus tomorrow.

The princess has her wedding to nine year old Prewit Richese, though things are almost ruined by the young boy. He’s been hiding something from Ynez, and when she asks to see it, he reveals a small robot toy, which escapes and begins causing panic in the court, until it’s destroyed by Desmond Hart. Such machines are banned, but Duke Richese thinks they are harmless, and desperate to keep the marriage agreement going, Corrino says to pass over this indiscretion for the time being.

Ynez and her brother go to a bar in the city, where she meets Kieran and they have sex, as she’ll soon be going away to join the Sisterhood.

Hart and Javicco talk for a while, and the Emperor mentions how he wants the wedding stopped. Later that night, he goes to check the footage from Arrakis, and finds that Desmond was swallowed by a sandworm, yet somehow he survived, and hasn’t mentioned this event.

Desmond talks to Prewit, and kills him using a power he’s acquired somehow during his time on Arrakis, which seems to burn people alive. He does the same to Kasha, even though she is on another planet.

It ends with Valya looking down at Kasha’s body, and saying “I see, Mother” to Raquella.