‘Dune: Prophecy’ Episode 2 “Two Wolves” Review: Bringing The Spice Back

The second episode of Dune: Prophecy has been released, this time upping the stakes and bringing some much needed intrigue to the screen after the lesser premiere episode. Read our full review of Dune: Prophecy Episode 2 below.

‘Dune: Prophecy’ Episode 2 Review

We pick up this episode very soon after the ending of episode 1, which saw an empowered Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) burn the young fiancé of Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) and the Emperor’s very own Truthsayer to death with only his mind. This is seen by Valya (Emily Watson) as not only a hurdle in The Sisterhood’s plan to place one of their own on the throne, but as a direct attack on the powerful positions gained over the past 100 years.

This episode certainly ups the ante in many ways, bringing some much needed clarity and directionality to the conflicts that lacked sufficient set-up in the prior episode (though the premiere did have a lot of exposition to get through). The Sisterhood’s political maneuvering and manipulation is certainly the most interesting aspect of the series.

Emily Watson and Mark Strong still prove to be the standouts of the series thus far. Emily Watson as Valya Harkonnen commands an intimidating and calculating presence needed to believably be seen as a master manipulator, but Watson’s best scene thus far is when the character realizes control is slipping and she loses this confidence.

The direction in this episode also was a step up, providing us with a very cool (and creepy) Other Memory sequence that captures the horror of certain concepts explored in the book Children Of Dune. The visual effects oddly felt like a step up compared to the prior episode, which usually turns out to be the opposite for big budget shows like this.

I’m still not totally sold on some of the concepts explored in the show unfortunately. Desmond Hart’s abilities don’t seem aligned with the established universe in both Denis Villeneuve’s films (which are canon to this show) and the book universe, leading the series to feel more fantasy than science fiction. 

Overall this episode seems to be steering the ship in the right direction, providing a deeper and more interesting hook than the premiere was able to provide. If they keep up this momentum, it is possible the series could become beloved by naysayers of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson’s expanded Dune universe.

Dune: Prophecy Episode 3 will debut seven days after the release of the second episode, on Sunday, December 1st, 2024, at 9 PM Eastern Time (ET). It will be titled “Sisterhood Above All”, written by Jordan Goldberg, and will have a runtime of 62 minutes.

Thanks for reading this Dune: Prophecy episode 2 review. Stay tuned here at Feature First, for the rest of our coverage of the six-episode miniseries.