Important takeaways
- Bodies pile up in Dune: Prophecy, hinting at future war between the Great Houses.
- Lila dies in 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 Schapkers Dune: Prophecy is only in its second week, but already the bodies are piling up. The Great Houses aren't quite at war yet, but with a rebel uprising against Arrakis and the Bene Gesserit already showing fractures, things are moving in that direction. Dune: Prophecy season 1.
Set 10,148 years before the birth of Paul Atreides, the Dune prequel charts the rise of the Bene Gesserit under the stoic Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson). While the Bene Gesserit have plans to put one of their own on the throne, their ranks lost another in the November 24 episode “Two Wolves”. It was appropriately tragic, but don't be afraid. Sacrifice only makes the Bene Gesserit stronger.

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Who dies in Dune Prophecy episode 2?
It was a short but sweet effort Dune: Prophecy for Chloe Lea's Purple. Although Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams) envisioned her as a future pastor, Lila died in the Sisterhood's quest to save itself. While Valya was away dealing with the deaths of Lord Pruwet Richese (Charlie Hodson-Priors) and Reverend Kasha (Jihae Kim) in the first episode, she left her sister in charge of the school and asked her to let Lila go through the “spice” Agony.”
Tula was seen preparing the Rossak poison, which is a nod to the ritual tied to its discovery on Rossak in the books. The 2004s Dune: The Battle of Corrin by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson fleshed out the ritual when it confirmed that Raquella Berto-Anirul (Cathy Tyson) was poisoned by Rossak Sorceress Ticia Cenva, managing to transform the drug into a harmless substance. One of the side effects of the substance is an ability to visit the combined ego and memories of one's female ancestors. But as Lila's death proves, they aren't 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 (Timothee Chalamet) have been exposed to it. Most famously, Paul took on the suffering Dune: Part Two and appeared on the other side as the fabled Kwisatz Haderach/Lisan al Gaib. Spice Agony involves would-be godmothers ingesting the blue substance, but as horrible as it is for them, it's worse for men. As noted by Rev. Helen Mohiam in Duneall men who have tried to transform the Water of Life have died.

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After being inflicted with a deadly poison, Lila metabolized the poison and successfully regained consciousness to meet her ancestors in her second memory. She met Raquella, who was not only the first leader of the Bene Gesserit, but also Lila's 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 took her future, so now she will take her “hope”. Since Lila was somewhat of an adopted daughter of Tula, Dorothea delivered a harrowing blow to the gut by killing Lila on Wallach IX and therefore killing her physical form. Given that Lila seemed like an underrated character full of promise without any of the other girls' egos, it was a shock to see her bow out so early—especially given her connection to Raquella and the fact that Dorothea was her own grandmother.
Lila's death is perfect
There are already swirling theories that Lila might not be gone forever. Herbert's Children of Dune shows Paul's sister, Alia (briefly played by Anya Taylor-Joy in Dune: Part Two), possessed by the spirit of Baron Harkonnen – her biological grandfather. Dorothea was out for revenge, and if she could possess Lila while tricking Tula into thinking she was still alive, there could be serious trouble at school.
Most importantly, Lila's death allowed Raquella to warn the sisters of the coming Tiran-Arafel, with her telling the young acolyte:
The key to the bill is one who is born twice. Once in the blood. Once in season. A revenant full of scars. A weapon born of war, on too short a path.
The first episode foretold a great reckoning at the hands of a tyrant, with ominous imagery teasing the destruction of the Bene Gesserit temple on Wallach IX. While it looked like this foreshadowed Leto Atreides II as the God Emperor of Dune, the fact that Demond Hart (Travis Fimmel) “died” on Arrakis and was reborn in the middle of the war is another potential player as the fabled Tiran-Arafel.
It also threw another mystery into the mix, with fans asking what happened to Lila's mother. The young girls are taken from their biological mothers at birth to prevent them from bonding, and although Tula told Lila that her mother died in childbirth, it seems this was another lie from the Harkonnens. A hopeful Lila suggested that she might see her mother in her second memory, but when Dorothea emerged from the shadows, she told Lila that her mysterious mother was not there. Instead, she suggested that the Bene Gesserit use it as a tool to get Lila to go there.
It is clear that Lila's mother did not die in childbirth. Since she's not there in her second memory, there could be some big consequences if she's still alive. Whether she's a character already introduced or someone yet to debut, Raquella's great-granddaughter can be a powerful ally or a powerful foe. There's a reason Valya and Tula keep their fate a secret, but with Lila now dead, the past may catch up with the Harkonnen sisters. After all, Desmond Hart has already shown Valya that she is not as powerful as she thinks.
Even if Lila is gone in physical form, she can appear further down the line. As Sister Emeline (Aoefie Hinds) said to Lila before the anguish:
Reverend Mothers know better than anyone that the dead are not gone.
There is an element of tragedy that Lila made the decision to go through the pain herself. But while the Raquella line has lost another one, it feels like the continued mistakes of the Harkonnen line are coming back to bite Valya and Tula. The show's opening said it was about correcting inaccuracies in House Harkonnen's history, but Mother Superior may be headed for her own Duniverse version of Macbeth.