WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Dune: Prophecy episode 3.
The ending ofDune: Prophecyepisode 3 “Sisterhood Above All” raises several questions about the past and future of Tula Harkonnen.Dune: Prophecyis a six-part series based on the 2012 novelSisterhood of Dune, which was written by originalDuneauthor Frank Herbert’s son, Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson. The story takes place more than10,000 years before the rise of Paul Atreidies, which is chronicled inDenis Villenueve’sDune(2020) andDune: Part Two(2024).Dune: Prophecyreveals theorigins of the powerful shadow sisterhood known as the Bene Gesseritand how they manipulated the fate of humankind.
Dune: Prophecyepisode 1 “The Hidden Hand"introduced Emily Watson’s Valya Harkonnen, a fierce and calculated leader, and her biological sister, Tula Harkonnen.Dune: Prophecyepisode 2 revealswhat happened to Lila and her grandmother, Reverend Mother Dorotea, after Tula and Valya Harkoennen encouraged her to prematurely endure a life-threatening ritual known as The Agony. InDune: Prophecyepisode 3, Tula takes Lila’s life into her own hands aftershe had apparently died during The Agony ritualandtries to resurrect her through the use of forbidden Thinking Machines concealed by Valyaand the Bene Gesserit.
New episodes ofDune: Prophecyrelease every Sunday at 9 PM on HBO & MAX.
What Happened To Griffin Harkonnen
He died after facing Vorian Atreides on Salusa Secundus
Dune: Prophecyepisode 3 introduces Valya and Tula’s only brother, Griffin Harkonnen. Back on their home planet of Lankiveil, House Harkonnen has been shunned by the Imperium as a result of theirancestor’s alleged cowardice during the Battle of Corrin by Vorian Atredies. While the Harkonnen people have become reduced to harvesting whale fur, a bold and defiant Valya refuses to allow her family name to be discarded by the Imperium.
Griffin explains to his family that he is heading out toZimia, which is the main city of the Corrino home planet of Salusa Secundus, because Landsraad, or the body that represented all the Great Houses, accepted his petition to secure a better whale fur trade deal. While he’s in Zimia, Griffin sets out to track down and face Vorian Atreides, who Valya blames for dishonoring House Harkonnen. It’s implied that Griffin did face Vorian like Valya wanted him to and died for doing so.
Why Tula Harkonnen Killed Orry Atreides
Valya ordered Tula to fool him into love and kill him
Valya and Tula Harkonnen dedicated their lives to avenging their family name and their brother Griffin’s death, which further fueled their hatred for House Atreides. While Valya went off to train with the Sisterhood, Tula concealed her true identity and “fell in love” with Orry Atreides on the Atriedes' home planet of Caladan. Orry and Tula had met at a market where Orry sparked up a conversation and asked Tula to marry him only months later. Tula seems to accept Orry’s marriage proposal but reveals herself to be a Harkonnen, which devastates Orry. He steps outside to see many members of his family dead beforeTula kills him to avenge Griffin’s death based on Valya’s orders.
The Bull Meaning In House Harkonnen Explained
Harkonnen means “ox-like person” in Finnish
Tula kills Orry with a relatively painless and swift poison after poisoning and killing more than two dozen Atreides members. After Tula kills Orry, she spares a young Atreides boy who could very well be Keiran. She looks up to the top of a cliff and sees a mythical black bull. Although it’s never stated inDune: Prophecyepisode 3, it appears that the bull its symbolic of Tula’s family name. The bull is a symbol of House Harkonnen since the name Harkonnen is based on the Finnish name Härkönen which means “Oxy” or “Ox-like person.”Tula killed all the Atreides via poison, including Orry.The mythical bull arrives to bear witness and remind Tula of her family name, which she is avenging.
What Raquella Showed Valya In The Tunnels
She reveals how the genetic index is computed
Dune: Prophecyepisode 3 reveals how Mother Reverend Superior Raquella took a special interest in a struggling pupil named Valya Harkonnen. Raquella took Valya under her wing and started to let her in on her grand vision for the Bene Gesserit, which was to establish a massive genetic index in order to breed ideal rulers for the Imperium. Raquella is impressed by Valya’s ability with The Voice and entrusts her with carrying on her vision of the Bene Gesserit instead of her more puritanical daughter, Dorotea. Rather than learning from Dorotea, Valya is given a special mentorship byRaquella, who shows her how she assembles her genetic breeding index in the tunnelsusing forbidden Thinking Machine technology.
What Happened To Valya During The Agony
She discovered her ancestral purpose
It’s not exactly clear what Valya saw during her self-administered Agony ritual, which she underwent by herself in Lankiveil. She enters the same sinister spiritual realm with all of her Harkonnen female ancestors as Lila did with her foremothers inDune: Prophecyepisode 2. Valya is able to return to reality after surviving The Agony and reunites with Tula with a new vision for the future. Dissatisfied with her life on Lankiveil and detested by her parents, Valya vows at this moment to commit her entire life to her newfound family – the Sisterhood. She willreturn to Mother Reverend Superior Raquella to complete her Sisterhood vow.
Who Did Valya Visit At The End Of Episode 3?
Her nephew Harrow Harkonnen & her aging uncle Evengy
Back in the present timeline inDune: Propechy, Valya makes a surprise visit toher nephew, Harrow Harkonnen, and her aging uncle, Evengy Harkonnen. She says in the elevator on the way up to Evengy’s home, “Sacrifices must be made. Sisterhood above all.” The scene cuts out and the episode concludes before anything else can occur. In the context of the present-day timeline in the series, Valya is anxiously trying to figure out what to do after she unsuccessfully tried to use the Voice on Desmond Hart to kill him and was banned from Salusa Secundus. It’s possible that she may offer up her uncle and/or her nephew as some type of peacemaking or power-affirming maneuver.
How Tula Plans To Bring Lila Back To Life
Tula uses Valya’s secret Thinking Machine computers
Tula uses Raquella and Valya’s genetic indexing computers in the final scene ofDune: Prophecyepisode 3 ina last-ditch attempt to bring Lila back to life with a carefully regulated dose of spice. Tula clearly has a bigger heart than Valya and will go to great lengths to bring her back from a wrongful premature death in the name of the Sisterhood. Even though Tula is not Lila’s mother, she raised her as such after her mother died during childbirth – or at least that’s what Tula claims to have happened. The computer technology that Tula uses at the end ofDune: Prophecywill try to bring Lila back to life and pull her out of the realm where she encountered Raquella and Dorotea.
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.
