Was This Week’s ‘Dune: Prophecy’ A Glimpse of ‘Dune 3’?

Dune: Prophecy got weirder and wilder this weekend. After a flashback episode dedicated to the Harkonnen sisters, we get back to the action at the Imperial capital Salusa Secundus, where political pressure is rising and everyone is making moves. This was arguably the spiciest, Dune-iest bit of Dune: Prophecy yet, replete with nods to the main films and deep cuts in the lore. And, if you’ll hit the copium and follow along, there’s a big twist that just might lay some groundwork for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune 3. It’s a stretch, but stick with me.

First, though, it’s time for vocabulary! HBO gave us a lot of little Dune easter eggs this week. We saw “thumpers” (the thing the Fremen stick in the sand in the movies) and “hunter-seekers” (the little floating dart things that Timothee catches in the first film). We got space nuns drawing sandworms and talking about “mentats” (the super-smart human computers, like the one played by Stephen McKinley Henderson in the first Villeneuve film). And we got a little foreshadowing of the fat, floating monsters with breathing issues the Harkonnens will become in 10,000 years.

The word of the week, though, is “Landsraad.” The Landsraad is the governing body of Frank Herbert’s universe, composed of the major noble houses of the galaxy. It’s also the center of this week’s episode, where all the characters are aiming to make a splash at the end of a big congressional session in space.

The great houses want to make a play against the emperor, calling him out for killing “the Richese boy.” Princess Nez wants to call him out, too, more for moral authority than political capital. Harrow Harkonnen, new head of his House—played with utter guilelessness by Edward Davis, whose performance is a rare spot of humor in a show that’s more than a tad self-serious—just wants a seat at the table. His aunt, Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen, wants to help him get it so she can get back into the political center herself. The Empress Natalya wants to make a show of imperial strength, while the Emperor himself just wants to get through the day. And then there’s Keiran Atreides and his band of rebels, whose plan is to literally blow the whole thing up.

Valya’s plan is to thwart the rebels’ assassination attempt to reestablish her political influence, but Space Rasputin (Desmond Hart, played by Travis Fimmel) is a step ahead of her once again. He’s already caught the rebels, and he takes the wind out of the Landsraad sails by staring back at them and basically saying, “Hell yes I killed the Richese boy.” Then he makes a show of his mysterious powers, causing the rebels (minus Keiran Atreides) and a few uppity barons to self-immolate. Still no word on how or why he is able to do this. There is no Herbert canon referent—we are in uncharted waters.

What does this psychic showdown and political hullabaloo amount to? On the surface, not much. There’s no great rebellion, Emperor Corrino is still in charge, and Valya Harkonnen and the Truthsayers are still on the outs. A few moments stand out as noteworthy or suspicious, though. First off, we (and Valya) learn that Space Rasputin’s fire powers make him bleed profusely. That will be sure to come back.

Second, things seem to be heating up between Princess Corrino and Keiran—their budding romance is causing both of them to reconsider their political positions. (An aside—what is this club on Salusa Secundus where the Emperor’s kids and terrorists all go to party and huff spice? Do they play Grimes there?)

And third, what is up with Constantine Corrino, the emperor’s illegitimate son? After planning to make a grand entrance with his sister at the Landsraad, he says hi to his dad then ghosts the whole affair. Is he just a hot failson who doesn’t want to risk his limited political capital? Or did he know there was a plot to kill everyone there?

This was primarily a political episode, but there was plenty of action with the space nuns on Wallach IX, too. Over with the Truthsayers, something is seriously bugging the acolytes. They’re having violent nightmares, and a guided vision ceremony reveals that they’re all seeing Shai Hulud (reminder: Fremen word for sandworm) and a mysterious darkness. They’re also getting back into the teachings of Dorotea, the Truthsayer Valya murdered to solidify her place in the order. And most importantly, Tula successfully revives Lila with her AI-driven spice experiment—and kills Sister Emmaline to keep the secret.

But as your Big Dune Guy guide, I would advise not worrying about any of this right now. Are there precedents in the books for exposing a person to crazy amounts of spice? Plenty. Maybe Lila is going to become a Navigator, or maybe she really is the subject of the prophecy. Whatever Lila is, you don’t need to know the lore to guess that she’s going to develop some strange powers in the next couple episodes. Don’t sweat it.

Instead, I would advise you to think about the last few minutes of the show—that’s where the real spice is. After reuniting with her family, Valya has no problem watching her uncle Evgeny Harkonnen die in front of her—when her dead brother Griffin walks out? Except it’s not Griffin, it’s Sister Theodosia. A minor Truthsayer character so far, we’ve heard whispers of her mysterious “talent.” Turns out our girl is a shapeshifter.

This is very interesting, for reasons that go beyond Dune: Prophecy. For now it’s unclear why the Truthsayers want Theodosia to use her powers. But remember how I said there is no canon referent for Desmond Hart and his bizarre fire powers? That’s not the case here. There are shapeshifters—they’re called Face Dancers, and they’re associated with a group known as the Bene Tleilax. The Bene Tleilax (last vocabulary term, I promise) are genetic engineers, a major antagonist in Dune Messiah. And Dune Messiah would be the source material for the third Dune film, which Villeneuve says he is currently writing.

Now is not the time to get into Dune Messiah, which is somehow even weirder and more political than the original novel. But it is worth noting that Dune: Prophecy seems to be teasing the groups that would feature in another Chalamet-starring film. The show may be set 10,000 years after our time and 10,000 years before the events in the movies, but it can set the audience up today for a movie in 2027.