Dune Prophecy

“Born twice, once in agony, once in spice” this is the piece of the prophecy that we have heard for 3 episodes now. It refers to the key to what we have been calling “the reckoning”. Valya thinks the prophecy is talking about Desmond, but I (and Tula) think it's Lila. Now it being Desmond would imply that he is the one that starts the reckoning whereas it being Lila implies that she would be the one to stop it. So that is one question that needs to be answered before the end of the series. Let’s jump into episode 4.

I love that we are getting more of Emmeline and Jen. All of the acolytes seem to be having nightmares. Jen is the only one that wakes up, just in time to save Emmeline.

Valya went to visit the only remaining Harkonnens, finally going to grant them a truth-sayer. Not only that she is appointing herself. She is using her nephew's insecurities to get what she wants. She is giving them status just by being by Harrow’s side.

Now at the beginning of this the princess was supposed to go train with the sisterhood. She still wants to go but of course her family isn't going to allow her to go. The prince does not have his sister's fire, he is still very much under the control of his father.

Jen is the only acolyte that didn’t have the nightmare, as it seems they were all having the same one.

We are seeing a lot more of Desmond and his influence over the emperor. He seems to have a hold on the emperor whether that is a magical hold like Valya uses or simply using his insecurity against him is relatively unclear, but Desmond seems to want to use the emperor's power for himself.

The sisterhood is setting up the emperor so that Valya can save him publicly. Using Atreides to take the fall. It’s a solid plan. She is also planting the seeds to get Harrow on the high council.

I'm starting to think that the high council and the great houses don't know that Valya is a Harkonnen.

Harrow’s so awkward, young and ambitious but perhaps a little bit weak. Perfectly shaped by Valya’s will.

The acolytes are all led through a spice induced meditation so that Tula can see what they saw in their collective nightmare. The girls are so possessed by this nightmare that when Tula tries to call them back they can't get ahold of themselves.

We've been hearing about “the reckoning” the whole show thus far but this collective nightmare seems to be a sign that it's finally here.

Atreides is back in this rebel club where the princess comes and finds him and he is clearly skittish about her being there, she could find out what he's doing. She is clearly against her father and she is feeling the inspiration to join the rebellion that will fade but not until it's too late. He is going to convince her to help their cause. Yeah I can see how this is gonna go.

Tula tries to sift through the sister drawings of their dreams, Valya and Tula really haven't communicated since she went off world, earlier Valya was going to send her sister a message but destroyed it instead. Tula is keeping things from her sister, not only does Valya not know about how she is trying to keep Lila alive but she also doesn't seem to have any intention of telling her about the acolytes collective dream.

Princess tries to convince her brother to fight with her but that means betraying their father which we have established that he really doesn't have the stomach for. I do like the sibling dynamics that seem to be happening, Valya and Tula, Constantine and Ynez. There is one sibling that has strong moral convictions one way or the other and the other sibling is softer, with strong familial ties but also wants to desperately please their sibling.

We end the episode with Ynez accusing her own father of murder with the support of Harkonnen. Atreides is trying to set up this assassination attempt, but Desmond seems to be 10 steps ahead. He once again ruins Valya’s plans, and unfortunately this only ingratiates Desmond to the emperor further. And he seems to have gained some control over the high council as well, if out of nothing but fear. Desmond demonstrates his weird powers in front of the entire high council, and against some of its members. Desmond also seems to be getting stronger. He murdered a few people at once this time though it did seem to cause some physical damage.

Valya seems to think that there are some answers in Desmond's blood.

The younger acolytes gather, without Jen, and Lila wakes up.

The casting is really well done, young Valya definitely looks like Emily Watson. Her family still blames her for Griffins' death, and the corruption of Tula. She kills her uncle, and she hallucinates her brother…she's losing it. Some kind of shape shifting just happened and now I am both confused and creeped out. This episode furthered the plot along quite well. This series is doing a great job of packing a lot into these episodes without making them feel rushed. Of course, time will tell. We can’t really be sure nothing was rushed until the end of the series but it's doing a really great job so far.