‘Dune: Prophecy’ Episode 3 “Sisterhood Above All” Review: A Fall Massacre In Plain Sight

Dune: Prophecy continues an interesting story with episode 3 which is told almost exclusively in flashbacks. Read our Dune: Prophecy episode 3 review below. 

While Ethan wrote last week that episode 2 improved on the series’ first episode. I am of the opposite opinion, although ever so slightly. But this week shows a return to the highs of the first episode, complete with some gorgeous visuals, a strong cast and some brilliant worldbuilding. 

Dune: Prophecy follows the creation and rise of the Bene Gesserit, set 10,000 years before the events of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films. We see this through various perspectives, but most notably through the lens of morally ambiguous and morally ambitious protagonists Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams), two women born into a failing house as a product of a lie sprouted in the Butlerian Jihad. This episode sees these women in the past as young ladies trying to turn their luck around by joining the sisterhood and seeking revenge.

The way this all unfolds, from its setting to its setup, reminded me a lot of Game of Thrones stylistically with its ambient environment and lighting, a big shakeup from the usual manufactured surfaces present in the series. While there isn’t much Empire or present-day political action in this episode, we do dive deeper into some of the factions brought up into this world including our protagonist’s Harkonnens as well as their rivals- the Atreides clan. 

The way this was all done was supremely interesting to me, with us getting a better look at some internal conflict from both perspectives. The way this conflict is attempted to be resolved is even more interesting to me, perhaps setting up an early predecessor to the Gom Jabbar, as seen in Dune: Part One. I said in an earlier review that compared to our leads, the lore is the most interesting part of the series and that still rings true, but I did feel a lot more invested in Tula as a character. Valya too shared this development, but her being more tied into the Sisterhood itself makes it feel vaguely more mundane. 

The present-day scenes in this episode, of what little there were, were well executed, allowing me to be even more intrigued than I previously was with some present-day Harkonnen action imminent, as well as Tula’s antics with the thinking machine archive saving [redacted]. Technically, the show is as great as it ever was, and as it ever will be, with some of the CGI elements this episode looking fantastic. The cinematography feels incredibly cozy for such a cold-hearted series.

Dune: Prophecy’s third episode is again far from a masterpiece, but as the show irons out some kinks, it inches closer to that status with each passing episode. I appreciate that the series is opting for a more familial angle, working on relatability within the audience and I for one am looking forward to how the series will pan out now that we’ve reached the halfway point.

Dune: Prophecy episode 3 stars Emily Watson as Valya Harkonnen, Olivia Williams as Tula Harkonnen, Earl Cave as Griffin Harkonnen, Milo Callaghan as Orry Atreides, and more. The episode was directed by Richard J. Lewis, and written by Monica Owusu-Breen and Jordan Goldberg. The episode is now streaming on HBO and Max.

Up Next On ‘Dune: Prophecy’

The episode ended pretty naturally, so it’s unclear where exactly the show is heading, but it’s obvious we will get some heated debates between Valya and the rest of the Harkonnens now that she is meeting up with them again, for presumably the first time in over 30 years. 

Dune: Prophecy episode 4 will debut seven days after the release of the first episode, on Sunday, December 8th, 2024, at 9 PM Eastern Time (ET). It will be titled “Twice Born”, written by Kevin Lau and Suzanne Wrubel, and will have a runtime of 63 minutes.

Thanks for reading this Dune: Prophecy episode 3 review. Stay tuned here at Feature First, for the rest of our coverage of the six-episode miniseries.