Praise be to Khulud Shai, Dune: Prophecy It’s getting Dune-er. In the second episode of the HBO show delving into the world of Frank Herbert’s science fiction, the plot thickens and the experience becomes more complex. There are snakes in the garden, skeletons in the closet, and a man with mysterious fire powers. The politics and personalities have become more complex, some Sand dunes The basics came first. I’m here to explain the weirder parts of Weirdness so you can focus on who wants to kill or sleep with whom.
In the premiere, we are introduced to the Imperial House Corrino on the planet Salusa Secundus and the Order of the Bene Gesserit (psychic space nuns) on the planet Wallach IX. Both groups seek to hold a lavish wedding between Princess Jenz (Sarah-Sophie Bousnina) and child groom Pruitt Riches, heiress to a powerful military family. But the plans hit a snag when the mysterious soldier Desmond Hart appears from the planet Arrakis (aka “Dune”! Like the title!) and pledges allegiance to the Emperor, burning the kid’s mind from the inside out.
So the wedding is not entirely successful. Space Rasputin (Hart) also appears to have killed Kasha, the Emperor’s Bene Gesserit advisor, while she was away from the planets, making his telekinetic powers even more puzzling. This is where the second episode begins, as Valia Harkonnen (played by Emily Watson), the Bene Gesserit mother, travels to the Imperial Homeworld to find out what the hell is going on. All the politicians are in the same boat, rushing to find out who killed Pruitt, how and why.
Once again, the events take place in two separate worlds, Salusa Secundus and Wallach IX. At the risk of oversimplification, you can think of the former as politics, and the latter as a science fiction trick. While the events at Salusa Secundus were more complex and action-packed in this episode, the events at Wallach IX were, for Big Dune Guy Bucks, more important, and perhaps even more confusing for the uninitiated in Herbert. Let’s break it down.
The world of the Imperial House revolves around palace intrigues. Immediately, Space Rasputin confesses to Emperor Corrino that he killed the boy Richese, only because the Emperor was giving off the feeling that he did not like the marriage. The Emperor promptly throws him into a “hanging dungeon” (one of the show’s great sci-fi touches), and the show’s power players (Corinus, Valia Harkonnen, Duke Riches) spend the rest of the episode trying to figure that out. What do you do with him? The Riches want justice, the Mother Superior sees Hart’s power as a potential threat and wants to eliminate him, and the Empress wants to harness his power for herself.
