Dune: Prophecy Star Reacts To Season 1 Finale's Major Deaths: "That Is The Most Tragic Part"

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the Dune: Prophecy season 1 finale.

Dune: Prophecy star Tabu reacts to the major deaths in the season 1 finale. Tabu plays Sister Francesca, a member of the Sisterhood who is also the lover of Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong) and the mother of Constantine Corrino (Josh Heuston). In Dune: Prophecy season 1's ending, Francesca is charged by Reverend Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) to use the Gom Jabbar to kill Javicco. Francesca is unable to go through with it, but Javicco instead takes his own life, and Empress Natalya (Jodhi May) uses the Gom Jabbar to murder Francesca.

During an interview with Collider, Tabu shared how she cried when reading Francesca and Javicco's deaths in the script and that it was a heartbreaking scene to shoot. She discussed the tragedy of Javicco learning about how he had always been a mission for Francesca. Tabu also explained her interpretation of Valya's plan in the finale, and that Valya confronted Javicco and told him the truth because she knew Francesca would never kill him. Check out Tabu's comments below:

Yeah, it's very heavy. It was heartbreaking, and every time I read it in the script, I cried, even when I was not shooting. The most wicked and evil thing any person can do is to tell someone that their lover has betrayed them and their lover does not actually love them, is only playing with them or manipulating them. It's the worst thing that you can do to anybody, because intimacy and the relationship between lovers is the most vulnerable relationship, I feel. You can spend a lifetime trying to convince somebody that you were true, and you have not betrayed them. Especially with Javicco, because he found Francesca after so many years, he's really liking this. He wants her to stay. And for Valya to come and...

I also think that Valya suspects that Francesca is not going to kill him. Valya is smart. When she gives her the Gom Jabbar, she sees the look on Francesca's face. Valya knows Francesca, and she knows that it's a very big risk for her to ask Francesca to do what she wants her to do. I think she goes and talks to the emperor in order to ruin Francesca's plan because she knows that Francesca is not going to kill him.

It was so heartbreaking, even for me to stand there as an actor, to see that he's so broken, and he's so shocked, and she is more shattered than him in that whole moment to explain to him that what Valya is saying is not true. But she knows that he has all the reasons to believe Valya, because she's actually come with the Gom Jabbar, but she's kept it over there. He says, "But it was part of the plan," and she's trying to convince him. But he is in that pit of fury, rage, betrayal, all of that, and he's not convinced. And that is the most tragic part of Francesca and Javicco. It was very sad to even do that scene.

What This Means For Dune: Prophecy

Valya Manipulated Francesca And Javicco To The Very End

Tabu's reaction makes Francesca and Javicco's death more tragic and adds new dimensions to the depths of Valya's machinations. Even though Javicco was technically a mission for Francesca, there was genuine love and intimacy between them, which makes it devastating when Javicco learns the truth of how the Sisterhood used imprinting to control him. While there was never any chance of a happy ending for Javicco and Francesca, Javicco taking his own life and Francesca being killed by Natalya is a particularly brutal way for their stories to conclude.

As for Tabu's interpretation of Valya's confrontation with Javicco, it makes the Mother Superior even more ruthless. She shared the truth with Javicco so he would feel as though his only choice left to make was to end his life. While Francesca and the other members of the Sisterhood dedicate their lives to the Order, their lives, their relationships, and their feelings are merely pieces on a board for Valya to move in order to fulfill her plans for shaping the Imperium and its future.

She Makes Francesca And Javicco's Deaths Matter Beyond What It Means For Season 2

Tabu's comments add more weight to Francesca and Javicco's death. One of the drawbacks of Dune: Prophecy only having six episodes is that it was difficult to become fully invested in its massive ensemble, especially for a character like Francesca who was not introduced until episode 5. Tabu's reaction and her reflection make Francesca's fate feel more impactful on an emotional level. With Emperor Javicco and Sister Francesca now dead, Natalya will be in a much more powerful position in Dune: Prophecy season 2.

Source: Collider