Dune: Prophecy finally laid most of its cards on the table in its penultimate episode, ominously titled “In Blood, Truth.” Valya’s blood sample from Desmond Hart made its way to Tula, and now she—as well as the viewers at home—know exactly who this guy really is. Spoiler alert: He’s not just some random guy from Arrakis. Keep reading for a full explanation of everything that went down in Episode 5.
And if you’d like a recap of what’s happened in Season 1 so far, here are our recaps of the first four episodes:
- Episode 1 – “The Hidden Hand”
- Episode 2 – “Two Wolves”
- Episode 3 – “Sisterhood Above All”
- Episode 4 – “Twice Born”
Dune: Prophecy Episode 5, explained in simple terms
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Desmond’s New Gig
Following his impressive performance at the Landsraad’s High Council meeting, Desmond’s been promoted to the rank of Bashar, which makes him the leader of the emperor’s fearsome Sardaukar army. His first order of business is to root out the rebellion, which he believes is somehow connected to the Sisterhood. He’s right about that, but these are rebels—they’re not going to just cough up that information easily.
Desmond approaches newly minted Landsraad member Harrow for help with the investigation, and Harrow offers a hint about where he thinks the rebels might be hanging out. Harrow isn’t actually dumb enough to turn on his aunt Valya, though—we later find out he’s working with her as a double agent.
Still, Desmond acts on the tip, and after a violent battle, Mikaela blows up the entire building in an attempt to hide what evidence she can. Alas, this plan fails, as Desmond survives and discovers her Sisterhood cloak, giving him the proof he needs to link the Sisterhood to the rebellion.
Keiran also realizes that Mikaela is a Sister in disguise, and he’s none too pleased about it. Mikaela, in turn, doesn’t like that Valya offered up the rebel base after all the hard work she put into it, but Valya says that’s the price of doing business as a sister and tells her to go to a safe house on Arrakis.
Related: What Is ‘the Voice’ in ‘Dune: Prophecy’?
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A New Arrival
As Desmond is settling into life as Bashar, there’s a new guest at the emperor’s palace: Sister Francesca, a former lover of Javicco and the mother of Constantine. Francesca believes she’s been summoned by her son, but of course Valya is the one who pulled the strings, faking a message from Constantine so Francesca would come to Salusa Secundus and work her magic on Javicco.
Valya has some clear goals in mind, and with Francesca’s help, she’s going to convince Javicco that they were his ideas all along. First, she wants Constantine to be appointed commander of the emperor’s new space fleet, and then she wants Javicco to let Ynez go to Wallach IX for her Sisterhood training.
Constantine, meanwhile, finally does something useful and starts poking around the combat training area, where he finds the hidden plans Keiran was going to use for his original drone bomb plot. Javicco is so pleased with Constantine’s detective work that he gives him the commander job, never having realized that he was playing right into Valya’s hands.
Related: Dune: Part Three – Cast, Director, Plot
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Lila’s Second Life
Back on Wallach IX, Lila is struggling to adjust to life post-Agony, in part because one of her ancestors keeps wresting control of her consciousness. As it turns out, that ancestor is none other than Raquella, who takes over Lila’s mind long enough to help Tula determine what’s causing all the acolytes (save for Sister Jen) to have the same nightmare.
According to Raquella, the nightmares are a symptom of a virus similar to the Omnius plague launched by the thinking machines during the war. While that virus affected the liver, this one affects the amygdala, i.e. the brain structure that controls fear. It’s still not clear where this virus came from, but at least Tula and the gang are getting some answers.
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Desmond’s True Identity
The other big piece of scientific analysis happening on Wallach IX involves the blood sample from Desmond that Valya sent over from the Landsraad meeting. Tula plugs it into the genetic database, which quickly finds a match: he’s both Atreides and Harkonnen. But that’s not all—the database shows an image of a baby, and Tula seems to recognize him.
As all this is going on, Desmond, over on Salusa Secundus, is talking to the empress about his childhood. He says the woman who gave birth to him was a Sister, and she sent him to live with scavengers. The empress, no fan of the Sisterhood herself, vows that she’ll help him destroy “these witches” forever.
While no one says it outright, it seems pretty clear that Desmond is the illegitimate son of Tula and Orry, her Atreides lover she murdered back in Episode 3 at the behest of Valya. Perhaps this explains why Desmond has so many mystical powers, or at least why he’s resistant to Voice. In any case, it’ll be interesting to find out whether Valya even knew her sister had a baby. You can’t hide much from the Mother Superior, but she was just as stumped about Desmond’s identity as everybody else.
Related: ‘Dune: Prophecy’: Everything to Know About the Sci-Fi Epic’s Complicated Season 1
