In the penultimate episode 5 of HBO’s science fiction series Dune: Prophecy, we are finally given a hint about the real identity of the main antagonist, Desmond Hart, and his motivations in trying to stop the Sisterhood are also explained. The episode also introduces a new character in the present timeline, although her childhood self was seen earlier, as Francesca comes to Emperor Corrino’s castle and eventually helps out the Sisterhood. More from Wallach IX is also revealed, as Lila finally comes back to life, although she is not her normal self just yet.
Spoiler Alert
How does Francesca turn the tides of power?
Dune: Prophecy episode 5 begins at Emperor Javicco Corrino’s castle on Salusa Secundus, after his return from the Landsraad, where he had triumphantly displayed his growing power and influence with the help of Desmond Hart. As his friendship with, and also reliance upon, Desmond grows stronger, Javicco announces the formation of a new tactical regiment as part of his army, aimed at eradicating further terrorist plots and efforts by insurgents to overthrow his rule. He names Desmond as the Bashar of this regiment, which means the leader, and clearly bestows a lot of formal power on him. Just as this is being celebrated by Desmond and the emperor’s family, a new guest arrives at the palace, and it is clear from her attire that she is a Truthsayer. Although the Sisterhood has technically been technically banned from the place, with Emperor Corrino having refused to have a Truthsayer by his side anymore, the new visitor is welcomed with great honor.
It is Francesca who now comes to the palace, and the last time she was shown in the series was in the flashbacks of Valya settling in at the Sisterhood. Along with being a powerful and well-known Truthsayer, Francesca also happened to be Javicco Corrino’s former lover, and it is because of this that there are no restrictions on her entry. The emperor is evidently very pleased to see her again, although Empress Natalya is not impressed, and quite understandably so. Francesca states that she has come after receiving a message from her biological son, Constantine, who has been raised as part of the Corrino family, although he claims not to have sent any such message. Rather, Constantine says that he thought his mother was visiting to investigate the mysterious death of Sister Kasha, which Francesca actually has no information about.
Ultimately, it is revealed that Valya had brought Francesca, her ally from their very childhood days, to Salusa Secundus by forging a message. She could not send word of Kasha’s death, despite the three of them having been very close friends, because of the threat that the Sisterhood suddenly faced from the Imperium, and instead has to give Francesca the terrible news when they meet again at present. But this is obviously not the only reason for Valya to have summoned Francesca, as she believes that her longtime friend will be instrumental in helping the Sisterhood reestablish good relations with the Emperor. When Francesca points out that this will be a very difficult task considering how Desmond Hart is now so close to Javicco, Valya reveals that she has a different plan to keep the antagonist distracted.
Therefore, a well-prepared plan is put into motion, and Desmond is distracted away from the Imperial Palace, which is discussed in the next section, while Francesca moves in closer to the two men central to her own plan. The first is her son, Constantine, who expresses displeasure at the fact that his mother had left him all alone with his father, despite knowing that Javicco would never love him. It is indeed very clear that Constantine yearns for the love and attention of his father the most, and any little show of affection means a lot to him. This is also the reason why he ultimately did not join his stepsister, Ynez, at the Landsraad in Dune: Prophecy episode 4, when she tried to expose her family’s evil side to the public. Constantine reveals that Javicco showed faith and pride in him in a personal conversation right before the meeting, and this overwhelmed him so much that he could not even think of betraying him. At present, Francesca convinces Constantine that she and the Sisterhood had indeed placed him at the Imperial castle for a very particular reason, for he must protect Ynez at all costs since she would be the perfect successor to the throne. She ensures that Constantine will be ready for any role or responsibility that he will be awarded with and prepares for her masterstroke.
Francesca then goes to her old lover, Javicco Corrino, and talks about how he ought to look after the needs of Constantine better, as he is their son, after all. Although Javicco was clearly still in love with Francesca and had wanted to get intimate with her as soon as he got to be in private with her, she had refused his advances, most possibly to play hard to get, or because she is genuinely not interested in him anymore. But that very night, she has to get close to the emperor and make love to him, as per the requirements of her plan, so that she can make him change his mind about things and exert soft control over his decisions. Thus, by the end of the episode, she is able to convince Javicco to grant some serious responsibilities to Constantine. The Emperor announces his illegitimate son as the new leader of his fleet to Arrakis, and based on his conversation with his mother earlier, Constantine gladly accepts this role.
However, this new development is not taken well by Empress Natalya at all, as she never liked Constantine’s presence at the palace. Like most stepmothers in such works of fiction, she did not want her husband’s illegitimate son to be a part of the family or essentially have any claim on the throne. It was most likely because of Natalya’s influence that Javicco had kept his son away from any serious duty or responsibility, but this entire balance shifted with the emergence of Francesca. As soon as Javicco announces the new role for Constantine, Natalya is enraged and wants to protect her daughter Ynez’s claim to the throne at all costs. As she was already seemingly enamored by the great powers of Desmond Hart, Natalya goes and gets intimate with him, establishing a divide between herself and her husband. This development now confirms that there is a massive split in the Corrino family, with Natalya and Ynez siding with Desmond Hart. If Javicco acts against Desmond for this betrayal, then the Sisterhood stands ready to swoop in and provide their support to the Emperor and reestablish themselves as the most powerful faction in the Imperium.
What happens to Keiran Atreides?
The distraction that Mother Superior Valya plans to keep Desmond Hart away from the palace has to do with the failed terrorist attack, as she provides extra information regarding it to Desmond through her nephew, Harrow. Upon his aunt’s orders, Harrow goes to Desmond and suggests that he conducts thorough searches at the bars on Salusa Secundus to track down unlawful shipments of spice, which was used to fund the terrorist attack. Desmond is evidently very impressed by this suggestion, and he indeed goes out to investigate the matter further, eventually reaching the bar run by Mikaela, the secret Truthsayer from Arrakis. Before making this visit, Desmond goes to Keiran Atreides as well, and this spooks the latter, making him rush to the bar to warn Mikaela. But the woman is ready with a plan, as she boobytraps her entire bar with explosives, intending to blow up Desmond and his soldiers when they arrive. Later in the episode, it is revealed that Valya herself had given Mikaela this idea, and it was technically the Mother Superior’s plan to assassinate her biggest political rival in this manner.
Keiran stays back at the bar and helps Mikaela set the place up for the visitors before Desmond and his troops finally arrive. They go through the entire place in search of any connection to the failed terrorist attack, when Keiran takes down a few of the soldiers and then helps Mikaela escape the place. Before this timely escape, though, they have to fight off a few more soldiers, and Mikaela has no choice but to pull out her knife in order to defend herself. Keiran immediately identifies the knife as the ones carried only by members of the Sisterhood and thus realizes that his friend and ally is actually a member of the Sisterhood, a faction he vehemently hates. Keiran cuts off all ties with Mikaela, suggesting that she has been his enemy all along, and she loses a dear friend. More importantly, Mikaela loses all her life’s work and money as her bar is completely destroyed, and she is all the more frustrated by the fact that she is unable to kill Desmond Hart.
At the very last minute, Desmond realized that the whole place was rigged to explode, and he protected himself by some magical force activated through his rings. To make matters even worse, Desmond also found the piece of cloth worn from a Truthsayer’s garb at the bar, which exposed Mikaela’s secret identity as a member of the Sisterhood to him. This means that Mikaela is now further in trouble, and she refuses to be associated with Valya any more after realizing that the Sisterhood only cares for its own benefits. On the other side, Constantine Corrino goes through the personal belongings of Keiran Atreides back at the palace and finds stolen designs of the palace, which tie the swordmaster directly to the terrorist plan. As an ultimate act of support for his father, Constantine hands off these plans to Javicco and ensures that Keiran is exposed as a traitor and locked up. This act further convinces the Emperor to promote Constantine to the post of the fleet leader later.
Why does Desmond Hart want to destroy the Sisterhood?
On the other side of the Imperium, on Wallach IX, Reverend Mother Tula chooses Jen for a special mission, as she learns that Jen is still the only acolyte who has not yet dreamt of the sandworm, meaning that she is immune to the nightmare somehow. Tula takes Jen to her lab, where she reveals that Lila is still alive, much to Jen’s surprise. The young sister is given the responsibility of keeping Lila safely locked up in the room, as the young woman has been acting quite erratically. Jen follows the order quite well, until she makes another shocking discovery—that Lila is currently possessed by the spirit of one of her foremothers, Raquella Berto-Anirul. Raquella, through Lila’s body, then takes control of the situation, and it is her expertise that makes Tula realize that Kasha had been killed using very old technology, dating back to the great war between man and machines.
Towards the end of the episode, Valya sends a box containing DNA samples of Desmond Hart to the Sisterhood, asking Tula to run it by the genetic archive at the compound and find out who exactly the villain is. Thus, at the end of the Dune: Prophecy episode 5, Tula runs the necessary tests and finds out that Desmond has a very unique genetic combination, which is probably the secret behind his immense powers. After all, he has both Harkonnen and Atreides blood running in his veins, meaning that his biological parents had belonged to the two strongest, but rival, families in the Imperium. While there might have been others in the family to have romanced with their rivals, we had been made witness to Tula’s ploy in her younger days, when she faked love for Orry Atreides and even got intimate with him. Although it did not seem like she was pregnant following that night of lovemaking and then mass murder, it is highly likely that Desmond Hart is Tula’s son. At this very same time, Desmond also reveals his real intentions behind trying to destroy the Sisterhood, as he states that his mother had abandoned him to join the Sisterhood. This almost confirms that his mother is indeed Tula, who had left her young child to join the Sisterhood. Thus, this twist brings in a familial element in the plot, although most significant matters will be put away for a second season, as only one episode remains this year.
