Valya (Emily Watson) is still feeling the sting of being banned from the palace after her tense encounter with Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) as Dune: Prophecy episode 3 kicks off. This forces her to recall the last time her enemies had crossed her and Harkonnen family.
We flashback to Young Valya (Jessica Barden) buying supplies for her family before she and Tula (Emma Canning) joined the Sisterhood. During an uncomfortable dinner, where we get an idea of how much her mother criticizes her, Valya gets word that Vorian Atreides has been spotted, and she encourages her family to take vengeance on him and House Atreides for shaming their family with “a lie.” She goes on a rant about how much more her family deserves, but it falls on deaf ears for all but her brother Griffin, who supports her to the day he dies an untimely death at the hands of Vorian.
Valya gets sent away to the Sisterhood. She encourages Tula to seek a new path away from home. Not long after she does, as Tula makes her way to a forest world on her own, and falls in love with a young man named Orry (Milo Callaghan), who is about to introduce her to his family. On a camping expedition, she and Orry sleep together, while his family enjoys a merry celebration. We discover that Orry is actually an Atreides, and he’s there with the entire Atreides clan.
The next day, Tula tells Orry she is a Harkonnen. He accepts her for who she is. Orry realizes, however, that the entire camp is eerily silent, and comes out of their tent to discover everyone dead — stealthily poisoned by Tula. Tula, despite having sincere feelings for Orry, then injects him with the same poison she used to kill everyone. This is her retaliation for the death of Griffin.
Meanwhile, in her early days in The Sisterhood, Valya first meets Dorotea (Camilla Beeput), who takes an instant disliking to her. Valya is stubborn about prioritizing The Sisterhood above her family. Despite not taking her vows, she meets Mother Raquella (Cathy Tyson), who takes her in, impressed by the strength in Valya’s Voice. Raquella encourages her to stay among the Bene Gesserit. She shares with Valya her philosophy behind genetic engineering to better help The Sisterhood control royal bloodlines for their benefit. They grow close and Valya believes she’ll be made the next Mother Superior someday, but is made a Reverend Mother first.
When Tula writes to Valya and informs her she murdered the Atreides family, Valya returns home. She’s so proud of Tula for carrying out the mission. However, the rest of the family is disgusted with her for the actions she’s taken. Fed up, she almost uses the Voice to make her mother kill herself, before letting go, and leaving home for good, taking the vow to become a Reverend Mother. Tula finds her and agrees to also join The Sisterhood.
In the present day, a spurned Valya tells the Sisters at the Imperium to continue advising their respective nobles, while she attempts to regain control over Javicco (Mark Strong). She’s soon given the news about Lila’s death, and word that despite not surviving The Agony, before passing Mother Raquella spoke through her, informing them that the Reckoning will be caused by one born twice; once in blood and once in spice. Valya surmises Raquella is referring to Hart. She decides to turn to her uncle and nephew for help.
Back at The Sisterhood, Tula (Olivia Williams) is mourning the loss of Lila, refusing to bury or cremate the corpse immediately. The rest of The Sisterhood expresses their anger at testing Lila at such a young age, as she was too young to withstand the effects of The Agony. Tula agrees to finally put the body to rest. However, little does the rest of The Sisterhood know that Tula is plotting to keep the body of Lila so she can attempt to bring her back to life.
New episodes of Dune: Prophecy debut Sundays on HBO/Max.
