Warning: SPOILERS for Dune: Prophecy season 1 finale!It's a good thing Dune: Prophecy has already been renewed for season 2 because episode 6 left the Harkonnen sisters in very complicated situations. After learning that Desmond Hart is Tula's son (and therefore that she has been lying to her sister for the past few decades), Valya allows him to live and instead goes to Arrakis with Ynez. Her choice is significant, as she has already lost the trust of the Sisterhood now that Dorotea has returned and brought the truth with her – she has even lost one of her most loyal followers, Sister Francesca (Tabu), albeit in a very different way.
Despite having been willing to kill dozens of Sisters alongside Valya in her youth, Francesca could no longer follow Valya's path when the time came to kill Emperor Javicco. She tries to save his life when he stabs himself in the Dune: Prophecy season finale, but she dies when his wife Natalya injects her with the needle originally intended for him. In a fascinating twist, her need to place motherhood and her personal family unit with Javicco and their son Constantine is reflected in the flashbacks, which show her choosing to help Tula go into hiding. her son of Valya and the Brotherhood.
TelaRant interviewed Tabu before Dune: Prophecy episode 6, titled “The High-Handed Enemy,” to discuss all things Sister Francesca. Despite his untimely death, there is still much to explore in his relationship with Javicco, his love for his son, and the juxtaposition of his loyalty to Valya in flashbacks and his decision to step away from the greater plan in the present.
Tabu delves deeper into sister Francesca's pre-dune: story of prophecy with Javicco
“Is she really in love with him? Is she really playing him all the way?”
ScreenRant: At the beginning of episode 5, Francesca makes a dramatic entrance and immediately establishes her relationship with the Corrinos. How much of her history with Javicco do you know beyond what we see in Dune: Prophecy?
Tabu: That was one of the discussions I had with Anna [Foerster, who directed episode 5] and Alison [Schapker] because you don't see Francesca and you don't see her with Javicco before this. You just see her as young Francesca, so it was left to my imagination and whatever we decided could have happened.
But there's also a line when she says that they were the ones who actually rigged the Emperor's wedding, and that's what she says to Javicco as well. It brings together two universes and everything. I'm sure she's in love with the Emperor — not just in love, because they have a child together, this relationship can't be anything other than a very strong bond. Whether you explain it or not, I think having Constantine and seeing her with him answers and explains the relationship that you don't see on screen.
Constantine is the mark of what Javicco and Francesca shared. I would love to see their love story, but I also think it works better because you haven't seen it and you're left wondering what happened between them, which gives rise to a lot of other questions. Is she really in love with him? Is she really playing him all the way? You're led to believe she might be playing him, but I think episode 6 answers all those questions.
ScreenRant: On the topic of Constantine, how would you describe Francesca's relationship with her son? How much does she care about Constantine as an individual versus him as a valuable piece of the Bene Gesserit's millennia-old plan?
Tabu: I think there are both. She loves him and wants the best for him, and wants to secure a position for her son. Again, we don't know if it's part of the plan, [and even] She doesn't know the bigger plan, but she's also using it to secure a position for her son.
Because as a mother there's no way she wouldn't feel like her son could have been the Emperor. The emperor's true heir is Constantine, but she knows she won't see him on the throne because of Valya's plan. I think somewhere [inside]she doesn't like the fact that he's just drinking and has thrown away his life without purpose. She also wants to give him a purpose through the Corrinos because, after all is said and done, they are family. They are a unit, but she knows her son is not happy about her not spending time with him or the fact that the Brotherhood is everything to her.
She understands his issues with his father and tries to calm him down all the time. You also see that Javicco is very much in love with her, so I saw them as a family and as a unit, and she will do anything to ensure that. Of course, she will follow Valya's plan, but she will not follow Valya's plan in this regard.
ScreenRant: Valya mentions the art of imprinting to Theodosia, and then we see Francesca convincing Javicco to make her son commander. Is this an example of successful printing?
Taboo: Francesca was brought in because she has that power, yes. When all else has failed, and when Alia feels that the Emperor is simply slipping out of their hands and they have no power over him, that's when Francesca is brought in because she has the deepest, most subtle power of impression.
The Emperor doesn't even realize this is being done to him, which is why when he says, “I could have killed you,” [in episode 6]she says, “You couldn't have. My imprint wouldn't have allowed it.” She does all this, but still doesn't do what Valya asked.
ScreenRant: Francesca talks to Constantine about protecting her sister, and then the first thing he does is get rid of Keiran Atreides. Was that her intention, and if so, why?
Taboo: Everything she forces Constantine to do will be part of the Bene Gesserit's larger plan to have a Sister on the throne. Anything that can get in the way of that, they're going to eliminate, so it's actually part of the plan to protect Ynez.
Valya is losing more than just Francesca's trust in Dune: Prophecy
“I think she also feels very slighted by Valya’s plan and has the biggest conflict in the series.”
ScreenRant: We see you interact with Emily Watson and we know that Valya sees Francesca as an important part of the Sisterhood. How does Francesca see her as a leader and to what extent would you say she believes in Valya's plan?
Tabu: These are questions that we all discussed on set, but the thing is, when you see Francesca's arc and her journey, and when you watch her scenes, the question arises, “What's bigger for her? Bene Gesserit and Valya's plan or her love?” I don't know [the answer].
She knows it's important, but she's also surprised by Valya's real plan to kill the Emperor. I think that's when she backs down, her feelings for the Emperor take precedence and she won't do that. She won't do that. But because she died, we don't know what would have happened between her and Valya. She didn't follow Valya's instructions and didn't follow her plan, so we don't know how that would have turned out.
But of course we know that she wouldn't carry out Valya's plan as is, the way Alia planned it. The beauty of Francesca is that she is conflicted. She is important, but she is wholehearted. And that's what you finally see, because Javicco is the father of her child; it's her [turning] point. When Valya tells him what to do, his only response is that he is the father of my child. “You can't take that away; you can't just suddenly bring me in and use me to have this marriage, use me to have this child with the Emperor, and now use me to eliminate him.”
I think she also feels very slighted by Valya's plan and has the biggest conflict in the series.
More about Dune: Prophecy Season 1
From the vast universe of Dune, created by acclaimed author Frank Herbert, and 10,000 years before the rise of Paul Atreides, DUNE: PROPHECY follows two Harkonnen sisters as they battle forces that threaten the future of humanity and establish the legendary sect that will become known as Bene Gesserit. DUNE: PROPHECY is inspired by the novel SISTERHOOD OF DUNE, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.
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