The third episode “Sisterhood Above All” of Dune: Prophecy, goes into more detail about the complicated history of House Harkonnen. This installment, which is expertly split between the past and the present, shows where Valya and Tula Harkonnen came from and what drives them. Their friendship and shared past fuels both their ambition and their devotion to the Sisterhood. With the threat to their order looming, this episode puts the sisters’ loyalty to their family to the test in ways that set the stage for the fight between family loyalty and the desire for power.
Dune: Prophecy Season 1 Episode 3 Recap
The episode starts after the tense events of Episode 2, in which Desmond Hart kicked Valya (Emily Watson) and Sister Theodosia (Jade Anouka) out of court. They are angry and determined, so the next day they meet the other Sisters at the harbor. Valya’s determination is clear when she tells the Sisters to keep their power over the noble houses they have been given at all costs. “I will take back control of House Corrino,” she says with a voice full of unwavering resolve. Valya’s goals are clearly more selfish than just being loyal to the Sisterhood. She wants power and revenge for herself.
Sister Mikaela (Shalom Brune-Franklin) comes in with news from Wallach IX, which breaks up the meeting. It is told about Sister Lila’s sad death in the Agony, but she did send Mother Superior Raquella Berto-Anirul a secret message: “The key to the reckoning is one born twice; once in blood, once in spice.” It dawns on Valya that something is wrong. The vague words point to Desmond Hart, so Valya decides she has to go back to Lankiveil right away. Valya and Theodosia get to a fancy apartment in Salusa Secundus by the end of the episode. The scene is tense as Valya chants “Sisterhood above all” to calm herself down before Baron Harrow Harkonnen and his old uncle Evgeny greet them. Evgeny is shocked to see Valya again.
In the first flashback of the episode, we are taken to Lankiveil’s cold landscape many years before now. Jessica Barden plays Valya, a young girl who comes home from running errands to find her parents, Sonia and Vergyl, arguing. Griffin and young Tula, her siblings, help her feel better. Uncle Evgeny talks about Vorian Atreides’s sudden return, which makes Valya remember something. She thinks about how the Atreides’ betrayal brought down House Harkonnen and decides to find Vorian to clear her family’s name.
Valya’s drive and ambition are clear as she tells Griffin about the time she saved Griffin from drowning by telling him to swim—an event that showed her hidden Voice power. Griffin is willing to help her find Vorian because he believes in her mission. In the next scene—Griffin’s dead body is brought back to Lankiveil, where Vorian killed him. Valya is very angry about the loss, and she vows to get revenge. You can feel her sadness, but you can also feel her determination. She wants to join the Sisterhood on Wallach IX, even though her parents don’t want her to, and she tells Tula to find a way to get away from Lankiveil.
The relationship between Valya and Sister Dorotea is the main focus of Wallach IX. Their rivalry starts when Dorotea asks Valya about telling lies and telling the truth when working for noble houses. Dorotea thinks that a Sister’s job is to lead people to the better nature of people but Valya sees truth as a tool for making plans. Their relationship is complicated because their ideas are so different from each other. Dorotea’s challenge ends with a tough test: the Sisters have to meditate in the pouring rain. This test is meant to make them give up their personal relationships. Valya stays strong during the storm until Mother Superior Raquella steps in. Valya’s use of the Voice at this point shows how strong she is and suggests that she might be able to lead.
As Valya’s training goes on, she learns the Sisterhood’s biggest secret: the genetic matrix, which lists the DNAs of all the Great Houses but not computers, which is against the rules. This new information makes Valya even more sure that she will become a leader one day. At the same time, Dorotea, a devoted Butlerian, is angry that Raquella and Valya broke the Sisterhood’s holy rules. Their rivalry and jealousy make things worse between them.
In the flashback’s climax, Raquella’s choice to put both Valya and Dorotea through the Agony, an ordeal that tests a Sister’s readiness to become a Reverend Mother, is shown. When the time comes, Valya hesitates because she can’t take the pain, but Raquella gives her a vial of Rossak poison and tells her to come back as a Reverend Mother or not at all.
The story then moves on to Tula’s own journey. When Tula is in another flashback, she is on a forest world with her boyfriend Orry’s family. They have a short time of love and normalcy. But her past stays with her like a shadow that she can’t escape. When Orry asks Tula to marry him, she feels scared and rejected when she says she is a Harkonnen. The fact that she knows an Atreides killed her brother Griffin makes her decision to turn down Orry’s offer to spend the rest of their lives together even stronger. When Orry’s family is found dead, Tula’s sadness turns into anger and she kills him, leaving only young Albert alive.
When the sisters meet again at Griffin’s tomb, it’s bittersweet. Valya is proud of how determined Tula is, but Tula isn’t sure if she’s been good to their family. At the end of the scene, Valya confronts her parents, who blame her for what happened and how hard things are for the family. The Sisterhood or the blood that binds them is the ultimate test of loyalty, and things are at their worst.
Dune: Prophecy Episode 3 tells a story of ambition, sacrifice and the strong bonds of blood through its two timelines. The episode has a strong mix of mystery and drama, showing how the Harkonnen sisters’ lives are connected to the past and tied together by a destiny they can only begin to understand.
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