The gripping conclusion of “Sisterhood Above All” in episode three of Dune: Prophecy leaves viewers questioning Tula Harkonnen’s mysterious past and uncertain future. Based on the 2012 novel Sisterhood of Dune by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert, son of the legendary Frank Herbert, this six-part series delves deep into the origins of the powerful Bene Gesserit sisterhood.
Set over 10,000 years before the rise of Paul Atreides, famously depicted in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2020) and its sequel, Dune: Part Two (2024), Dune: Prophecy explores the secretive manipulation of humanity’s destiny by this enigmatic group.
In Dune: Prophecy, Emily Watson delivers a powerful portrayal as Valya Harkonnen, a ruthless and calculating commander, alongside her sister Tula Harkonnen. First introduced in Episode 1, “The Hidden Hand,” the Harkonnen sisters’ complex dynamics set the tone for the series.
Episode 2 dives deeper into the story, revealing the tragic fate of Lila and her grandmother, Reverend Mother Dorotea, after Tula and Valya pressure Lila into undergoing The Agony—a dangerous and often fatal rite—prematurely. By Episode 3, the narrative takes a darker turn as Tula, unwilling to accept Lila’s apparent death, resorts to forbidden Thinking Machines hidden by Valya and the Bene Gesserit in a desperate attempt to bring Lila back to life.
Dune: Prophecy – What Happened to Griffin Harkonnen?
Griffin Harkonnen, the only brother of Valya and Tula Harkonnen, makes a compelling introduction in Episode 3 of Dune: Prophecy. Once a powerful house, the Harkonnen family has been shunned by the Imperium and relegated to their home planet of Lankiveil, where they survive by harvesting whale fur.
This fall from grace stems from an infamous act of supposed cowardice by their ancestor during the Battle of Corrin, blamed on Vorian Atreides, igniting a bitter legacy of shame. Despite these setbacks, Valya Harkonnen emerges as a fearless and defiant leader, fiercely determined to reclaim the family’s honor.
Refusing to let the Imperium tarnish their name further, Valya takes bold steps to restore House Harkonnen’s reputation, setting the stage for intense conflict and power struggles in the series.
Griffin tells his family that he is traveling to Zimia, the capital of Salusa Secundus, the Corrino home planet because his plea to obtain a better whale fur trading contract was accepted by Landsraad. This organization represented all of the Great Houses.
Griffin decides to find and confront Vorian Atreides while he is in Zimia since Valya believes he has dishonored House Harkonnen. It is implied that Griffin did confront Vorian as Valya had requested and perished as a result.
Dune: Prophecy – Why Did Tula Harkonnen Kill Orry Atreides?
The deep-seated hatred of House Atreides fueled Valya and Tula Harkonnen’s quest for vengeance, driven by the loss of their brother Griffin and the tarnished reputation of their family. While Valya pursued rigorous training with the Sisterhood, Tula infiltrated Caladan, the home planet of the Atreides, concealing her true identity.
During her time there, she seemingly fell in love with Orry Atreides. The two met at a local market, and within months, Orry proposed marriage, believing Tula to be sincere. However, Orry was devastated when Tula revealed her true identity as a Harkonnen.
His heartbreak deepened as he discovered several members of his family slain. Following Valya’s orders, Tula completes her revenge by killing Orry, avenging Griffin’s death, and escalating the feud between the Harkonnens and the Atreides.
What Does the Bull Symbolize in House Harkonnen?
Tula uses a quick and rather painless poison to kill Orry, although it’s unclear how more than two dozen Atreides members perished. A fabled black bull appears when Tula looks up to the top of a cliff after killing Orry but sparing a young Atreides boy who might very well be Keiran.
Dune: Prophecy episode 3 never mentions it, but it seems that the bull killed every Atreide in the camp. Since the name Harkonnen is derived from the Finnish name Härkönen, which means “Oxy” or “Ox-like person,” the bull represents House Harkonnen.
The mythological bull that Tula sees after murdering Orry is most likely the culprit because she could not have slain all those Atreides by herself.
What Did Raquella Reveal to Valya in the Tunnels?
In Dune: Prophecy Episode 3, Mother Reverend Superior Raquella takes a special interest in Valya Harkonnen, a struggling pupil, and begins mentoring her in a way that sets her apart from the other Bene Gesserit trainees. Raquella reveals her grand vision for the Bene Gesserit: creating a massive genetic index to breed the ideal rulers for the Imperium.
Impressed by Valya’s skill with The Voice, Raquella entrusts her with carrying forward this vision, bypassing her puritanical daughter, Dorotea. Instead of learning from Dorotea, Valya receives a unique mentorship from Raquella, who shows her how to assemble the genetic breeding index in secret tunnels using forbidden Thinking Machine technology. This act could reshape the future of the Bene Gesserit and the galaxy itself.
What Happened to Valya Harkonnen During The Agony?
The details of Valya’s self-administered Agony ritual, which she performed alone in Lankiveil, are unclear. In Dune: Prophecy episode 2, she and all of her Harkonnen female ancestors enter the same dark spiritual realm that Lila did with her foremothers.
After surviving The Agony, Valya can bounce back to reality and rejoin Tula with a fresh outlook on the future. Valya, loathed by her parents and unhappy with her existence on Lankiveil, makes a lifelong commitment to her new family, the Sisterhood. She will fulfill her Sisterhood commitment by returning to Mother Reverend Superior Raquella.
Who Did Valya Harkonnen Visit at the End of Episode 3?
During Dune: Propechy, back in the present, Valya pays her elderly father, Evengy Harkonnen, and her nephew, Harrow Harkonnen, an unexpected visit. On the way up to Evengy’s house, she remarks in the elevator, “You have to make sacrifices.
Sisterhood is paramount. Before anything else can happen, the program ends, and the scene cuts out. In the series’ present-day reality, Valya is frantically attempting to decide what to do after being barred from Salusa Secundus for her failed attempt to use the Voice to assassinate Desmond Hart. She might offer up her father and her nephew to make peace or assert her authority.
How Does Tula Harkonnen Plan to Bring Lila Back to Life?
In the concluding scene of Dune: Prophecy episode 3, Tula resorts to using Raquella and Valya’s genetic indexing computers to revive Lila with a carefully calibrated amount of spice.
In the name of the Sisterhood, Tula will stop at nothing to save Valya from an unjustified and untimely death, demonstrating that she has a larger heart than Valya. Despite not being Lila’s biological mother, Tula raised her as such after her mother passed away after childbirth, or at least that is what Tula says happened.
About Dune: Prophecy
Dune: Prophecy is an upcoming American science fiction television series set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert, for the streaming service Max. Focusing on the origins of the Bene Gesserit, an exclusive and powerful sisterhood who undergo intense physical training and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman abilities, it takes place approximately 10,000 years before the events of Herbert’s novel Dune (1965) and serves as a prequel to Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2021). The series is produced by Legendary Television, with Alison Schapker serving as showrunner, writer, and executive producer.
During Legendary Entertainment’s 2016 acquisition of television and film rights for the Dune franchise, they began development of a two-part film adaptation with Villeneuve serving as director by 2017. Legendary Television ordered the series in 2019, being a spin-off project from Villeneuve’s films.
Plot: Set 10,000 years before the events of Dune, the series “follows sisters Valya and Tula Harkonnen as they combat forces that threaten the future of humanity, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit.”
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