The third episode of Dune: Prophecy takes us back in time to deliver Valya and Tula's history. A young Valya wants to shed the blood of the Atreides. Her family members do not share her enthusiasm for vengeance except for her brother Griffin. He goes on a mission to confront Vorian Atreides, and what returns is his dead body, leaving Valya and her family in more pain, more agony. These details arrive in a matter-of-fact manner and don't spark an emotional response from the audience. The episode tries to conjure weighty emotions from bare-bones elements. How do we know that Valya and Griffin are so close that the latter blindly follows the former into the fire of revenge? They are siblings; moreover, she once used her Voice to save him from drowning in the water. This information comes verbally through a scene that, without style or an air of drama, looks disposable and functional. Later, a young Tula's romance with Orry, her boyfriend, is depicted similarly through bland shots of them hugging each other. Tula's fondness for a young boy in Orry's group is shown through a paper-thin scene that merely functions as a setup for a moment involving an injured animal. No wonder Episode 3's dramatic material seems more like a crash course than a meaty, fully fleshed symphony of intense sentiments.
It's weird that Dune: Prophecy's interest in Valya's history doesn't have anything to do with the explanation regarding her Voice. How did she get this gift? The episode doesn't say because it wants to maintain its theme of resistance. Valya questions Dorotea and stands in the rain during a vow-taking ceremony for a long time (others, either quickly or eventually, accept the Sisterhood). Orry says that he has no interest in following the path of hate laid down by his ancestors, which means that he, even after learning the truth, accepts Tula. His love, indeed, is not fickle. Sister Lila is in a coma and should be euthanized according to the rules. But by putting Lila on a life-support machine, Tula goes against the tradition. If only the show itself had been as defiant as its characters. Unfortunately, it still displays no indication of breaking any norms. I can recycle my headline from my review of the second episode: Still Unstimulating, Still Dull.
The acolytes, including those who often stand in the spotlight, remain uninteresting and feel like mere cardboard cutouts. It's hard to care about the threat the Sisters are trying to prevent or whether they will succeed (we, of course, know the outcome). With nothing exciting to look at on the screen, both in terms of story and the visuals, we find ourselves distracted by superficial aspects, like the perfect casting of Jessica Barden as young Valya. This character impresses her friends with her powers by making one slap the other. Valya possesses the remarkable ability to bend others to her will. However, even her Voice cannot make you enjoy this dull show. Everything has its limitations.
Final Score – [3.5/10]