WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Dune: Prophecy episode 3.
The Sisterhood’s shared nightmare inDune: Prophecyepisode 4 “Twice Born” reveals harrowing truths about the impending Reckoning.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 apparently died during The Agony ritualand tries to resurrect her through the use of forbidden technology. Episode 4 reveals thatLila was resurrected through the Thinking Machine, Anirul, as Tula loses her grip on her pupils.
New episodes ofDune: Prophecyrelease every Sunday at 9 PM on HBO & MAX.
What Happens During The Sisterhood’s Nightmare In Dune: Prophecy Episode 4
The sisters in training grab at their throats as if they are choking – like Dorotea
Dune: Prophecyepisode 4 includes a chilling joint nightmare between several of the Bene Gesserit sisters in training. One of the standout pupils at the Sisterhood,Jen, wakes up to realize that all of her peers are experiencing the same disturbing nightmare, although she did not experience it. Several of the sisters appear to be grabbing at their throats as if they are choking, which is a clear reference to how Dorotea was murdered by Mother Reverend Superior Valya decades before. Valya had used the Bene Gesserit power of Voice to instruct Dorotea to drive a knife into her throat, which cleared the way for Valya’s rise to power.
Thiscommunal nightmare comes about after Valya unsuccessfully tries to use the Voice on Desmond Hartat the end of episode 3. Valya gave Desmond the same instructions to pull out his blade and cut his own throat but Desmond’s newly gifted psychic powers from the giant sandworm Shai-hulud allowed him to thwart Valya’s Voice command. It’s clear by Valya’s reaction that this had never happened to her before and she is up against a far greater threat than she imagined. Interestingly, Valya works to prevent the Reckoning from happening but ends up being a key catalyst in bringing it to life, which comes about in the shared dream between the Sisterhood pupils.
Why All The Sisters Have The Same Nightmare Except Jen
Jen is the most unpredictable and independent of the acolytes
Jen interestingly is the only one who does not share the shared nightmare, which is why she is excluded from the spice-induced drawing exercise that Tula orchestrates later in the episode. ThroughoutDune: Prophecy, Jen is the boldest and most outspoken of the sisters in training who doesn’t need to use “truth-sense” to see things for the way they really are. Jen is also inherently rebellious and works against the Sisterhood while still maintaining her place among her fellow acolytes. BecauseJen is such a natural leader and free thinker, it makes sense that she is less susceptibleto the shared nightmare and may not actually be fit to be a Bene Gesserit “truthsayer”.
Jen is, in a word, unpredictable, which suggests that she is less disciplined and susceptible than her fellow acolytes. Jen is also naturally skeptical and was the only one who spoke up to Tula about how irresponsible it was of her and Valya to put Lila through The Agony without proper training. It’s not exactly clear why Jen didn’t have nightmares like the others, although she did envision one of the other notable acolytes, Sister Emeline, slicing her throat in a dream. Tula also envisions this in a spice-induced hallucination at the end of the episode, although she is the one holding the blade.This suggests that Jen is on to the dark truths that Tula is hiding.
How The Sisterhood’s Nightmare Connects To Fear & The Reckoning
They appear to be channeling the godlike spirit of Shai-hulud
When Tula leads the acolytes through the dream once again,they become consumed by images of Arrakis and Shai-hulud, which they feverishly sketch on paper. They also all draw what appears to be two white eyes which are later demonstrated as two blue orbs inside Shai-hulud, which could allude to the godlike presence within the giant sandworm who is making the Reckoning happen.
Desmond Hart claims to have come out of Shai-hulud when he was reborn, which hints that he is the “twice born” tyrant that was prophesized in the Reckoning. However, with the resurrection of Lila through the Thinking Machine technology inDune: Prophecyepisode 4, there are now two characters who fall into the “twice born” category.
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.
