Prophecy Episode 2's big death isn't as tragic as it seems

Key points

• Bodies are piling up in Dune: Prophecy, hinting at a future war between the Great Houses.
• Lila dies in a tragic sacrifice, increasing the strength of the Bene Gesserit.
• Lila's death raises questions about her mysterious mother and potential return in the future.

Diane Ademu-John and Alison Schapker Dune: Prophecy It's only week two, but already the bodies are piling up. The Great Houses aren't fully at war yet, but with a rebel insurrection on Arrakis and the Bene Gesserit already showing fractures, things are heading in that direction in Dune: Prophecy season 1.

Set 10,148 years before the birth of Paul Atreides, the Dune the prequel traces the rise of the Bene Gesserit under the stoic Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson). Although the Bene Gesserit plan to place one of their own on the throne, their ranks lost another in the November 24 episode, “Two Wolves.” It was appropriately tragic, but fear not. The sacrifice only makes the Bene Gesserit stronger.

Who dies in Dune Prophecy episode 2?

It was a short but sweet time Dune: Prophecy for Chloe Lea Lilac. Although Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams) envisioned her as the future Reverend Mother, Lila perished in the Sisterhood's attempt to save themselves. While Valya was away dealing with the deaths of Lord Pruwet Richese (Charlie Hodson-Prior) and Reverend Mother Kasha (Jihae Kim) in the first episode, she left her sister in charge of the school and asked her to subject Lila to the “Spice”. Agony.”

Tula is seen preparing Rossak's poison, which is a nod to the ritual tied to her discovery about Rossak in the books. 2004 Dune: The Battle of Corrin by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson spiced up the ritual when he confirmed that Raquella Berto-Anirul (Cathy Tyson) was poisoned by the Rossak Witch Ticia Cenva and managed to successfully convert the drug into a harmless substance. One of the side effects of the substance is the ability to visit the combined ego and memories of someone's ancestors. However, as Lila's death shows, they are not always happy to receive visitors.

The Agony is already familiar to fans of Frank Herbert's original books and films. Both Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) and Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) have been subjected to it. Most famously, Paul undertook the Agony Duna: second part and emerged on the other side as the legendary Kwisatz Haderach/Lisan al Gaib. The Agony of the Spices involves aspiring Reverend Mothers ingesting the blue substance, but as terrible as it is for them, it's worse for men. As noted by Reverend Mother Helen Mohiam in Duneall men who have attempted to transmute the Water of Life have died.

After being inflicted with a deadly poison, Lila metabolized the toxin and successfully brought her consciousness to meet her ancestors in the Other Memory. She met Raquella, who was not only the first leader of the Bene Gesserit, but also Lila's great-great-grandmother. Although Raquella appeared to be there to help her relative, things were interrupted by the spirit of Sister Dorothea. 30 years before the main events of the series, Valya first used “the Voice” and forced Dorothea to kill herself.

As a vengeful Dorothea warned Tula, Valya has taken her future, so now she will take her “hope.” Since Lila is a sort of adopted daughter of Tula, Dorothea delivered a heartbreaking punch to the gut by killing Lila on Wallach IX and thus killing her physical form. Considering that Lila seemed like an underrated character full of promise without the ego of some of the other girls, it was a shock to see her leave so soon, especially considering her bond with Raquella and the fact that Dorothea was her grandmother.

Lila's death makes perfect sense

There are already theories swirling that Lila may not be gone forever. Herbert's Children of Dune shows Paul's sister Alia (played briefly by Anya Taylor-Joy in Duna: second part), possessed by the spirit of Baron Harkonnen, his biological grandfather. Dorothea was out for revenge, and if she managed to possess Lila while tricking Tula into believing she was still alive, there could be serious trouble at school.

More importantly, Lila's death allowed Raquella to warn her sisters of the impending Tiran-Arafel, telling the young acolyte:

The key to the showdown is those who are born twice. Once in the blood. Once spiced. A scarred revenant. A weapon born of war, on a path too short.

The first episode foretold a great reckoning to come at the hands of a tyrant, with ominous imagery portending the destruction of the Bene Gesserit temple on Wallach IX. While this seemed to foreshadow Leto Atreides II as the God Emperor of Dune, the fact that Demond Hart (Travis Fimmel) “died” on Arrakis and was reborn amid the war is another potential player as the legendary Tiran-Arafel .

It also threw another mystery into the mix, with fans asking what happened to Lila's mother. Girls are separated from their biological mothers at birth to prevent them from bonding, and although Tula told Lila that her mother died in childbirth, it appears that this was another lie from the Harkonnens. A hopeful Lila suggested that she might see her mother in the Other Memory, but when Dorothea emerged from the shadows, she told Lila that her mysterious mother was not there. Instead, he suggested that the Bene Gesserit use him as a tool to convince Lila to go there.

It is clear that Lila's mother did not die in childbirth. Since she is not present in the Other Memory, there could be major consequences if she is still alive. Whether she's a character already introduced or someone yet to debut, Raquella's great-granddaughter could be a powerful ally or a powerful enemy. There's a reason Valya and Tula keep her fate a secret, but with Lila now dead, the past may catch up with the Harkonnen sisters. After all, Desmond Hart has already proven to Valya that he is not as powerful as he thinks.

Even if Lila left in physical form, she may appear later. As Sister Emeline (Aoefie Hinds) said to Lila before the Agony:

The Reverend Mothers know better than anyone that the dead are not gone.

There is an element of tragedy in the fact that Lila made the decision to undergo the Agony herself. But while the Raquella lineage has lost another, it seems that the Harkonnen line's continued errors will come back to bite Valya and Tula. The show's opening said it was about correcting the inaccuracies of House Harkonnen's history, but Mother Superior may be heading towards her own version of the Duniverse. Macbeth.