Dune: Prophecy ending explained – What happened to Valya and Tula?

Based on the book Sisterhood of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson, the series follows sisters Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula (Olivia Williams) Harkonnen and details the establishment of the Sisterhood that would be known as the Bene Gesserit.

The six-part series saw people across the Imperium facing mysterious attacks, with the finale giving us plenty of answers while still potentially leaving room for more in future.

Here's how Dune: Prophecy ended.

Dune: Prophecy ending explained: What happened to Valya, Tula, and Desmond?

By the end of the episode, Tula is reunited with her son, Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) – although he immediately orders her arrest.

Elsewhere, Valya helps Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) and Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason) to escape, taking them to Arrakis to begin her plot to place Ynez on the throne.

The episode picks up with Tula reeling from the revelation that Desmond is her son.

We flash back to Valya killing Sister Dorotea, with Tula and the other sisters witnessing the murder. They get their story straight, claiming that she ended her life herself, weakened by grief over Mother Raquella's death, but before she confirms her part in the lie, Tula flees.

She tells Valya that she's pregnant with a child fathered by Orry Atreides. Valya promises that they'll raise the baby together.

In the present day, Tula and Nazir continues to puzzle over the acolytes' drawings and Kasha's death, establishing that the virus is feeding off of fear, becoming a bioweapon. It's theorised that Desmond is the virus's first victim and that they can generate a cure.

Tula attempts to use Nazir to transmute the virus to create a cure, but it backfires. Nazir sees something that she describes as the "monster of Arrakis" and burns from the inside just as Kasha and the others did, dying on Tula's table.

Desmond tortures Keiran to try and find out how long the Sisterhood had been dealing with the insurgents. Despite his hatred of the Harkonnens, Keiran reasons that he hates Desmond and the Emperor more, and refuses to testify against the Sisterhood.

Ynez begs Natalya to spare Keiran's life, but Natalya instead has her arrested, saying that she wanted to teach her a lesson about power.

Valya plots to be arrested at the palace, before killing the guards who have seized her. She and releases Ynez, replacing her with Sister Theodosia (who has shape-shifted into the Princess so as not to arise suspicion). At Ynez's insistence, Valya also frees Keiran.

Finally, Valya faces up to Desmond, but when she asks him to show her a vision of her end, they both collapse. She has visions of her brother's death, as she starts to succumb to the fear, with Tula attempting to bring her out of it.

Valya also sees inside Desmond's memory, seeing a gruesome scene of his eyes being plucked out and engineered to give him his power, putting a machine inside of him. Valya goes to kill Desmond and Tula stops her, revealing that he's her son and that she lied to protect him from Valya.

Valya leaves Desmond alive, preparing herself for a battle in the shadows against their enemies. Tula embraces Desmond and he orders her arrest.

Valya, Keiran and Ynez arrive on Arrakis, with Valya telling her that the path to their enemy begins there.

How did Emperor Javicco and Francesca die?

After realising that his whole life has been dictated by the Sisterhood, Emperor Javicco turns his knife on himself, taking back one bit of control as he kills himself. As Francesca cradles him, Natalya stabs her with a poison dart.

Francesca, Constantine's mother, warns Valya about Ynez's arrest and brings her a message from Emperor Javicco, saying he wants to give Francesca Natalya's mantle – and divorce Natalya. Valya's unconvinced and plots to rescue the princess and place her on the throne.

In a flashback, we see that Valya plotted out the Emperor's whole bloodline and allowed for Ynez's birth. Using the forbidden genetic technology, she paired the Emperor and Natalya, ensuring Ynez's birth so as she could place her, as a Sister, on the throne.

Sending the other Sisters away, Valya also uses the technology to show Tula her son's potential – shaping the trajectory of worlds. Present-day Tula decides to go to Desmond in an attempt to stop the viral attacks. After all, he was not born a weapon.

Valya plans to get arrested to get to Ynez in the suspensor cells, and plots with Francesca to poison the Emperor.

Natalya confronts the Emperor about his plans to send her away and pass on her mantle to Francesca, revealing that she has Desmond by her side – all but making the Emperor her puppet. When Valya arrives, the Emperor pleads with her to get rid of Desmond.

But she's not having any of it, telling him that the Sisterhood has always shaped his life's plan, brutally saying that he doesn't matter and it's Ynez they want on the throne. The Emperor orders her arrest – just as she planned.

Francesca tells Javicco about the plot to kill him. Javicco threatens to kill Francesca, but she points out that her imprint on him won't let him hurt her. He realises that he's never known one moment of freedom in his life and in a final attempt to gain control just once, he turns the knife on himself and stabs himself.

While Francesca cradles Javicco in her arms, Natalya stabs her with the poison dart, and the pair die together.

What happened to Sister Lila?

Sister Lila's body is taken over by Sister Dorotea (who was previously murdered by Valya). Dorotea tells the acolytes the truth of what happened to her and reveals that her former followers were also murdered by Valya.

As Lila, Dorotea returns to the scene of her death and tells the acolytes that the Sisterhood was built on blood.

We flash back to Valya taking leadership of the Sisterhood, using her powers to force them to accept her leadership or go the same way as Dorotea.

It results in a blood bath, with only one of them, Sister Avila, choosing to follow Valya and the rest cutting their throats.

In the present, Dorotea shows the acolytes the bones of her former faithfuls in the wells, telling them that Valya murdered them and vows to return the Sisterhood to its righteous path, destroying the forbidden genetic technology that's so valuable to Tula and leaving the acolytes with deeply dangerous information about their Mother Superior.

Dune: Prophecy airs on Sky and NOW.

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