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Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for the Dune: Prophecy Season 1 finale.
When we look at it through the right lens, it is really not hard to realize that Max's Dune: Prophecy is nothing more than a good, old tragedy. From telenovela-like elements to Shakespearean characters doomed by the narrative, the show is full of stories for those who like to have their hearts broken in a million little pieces by their favorite pieces of media. Mothers willingly parting ways with their children in order to protect them, forbidden romances between people of different social backgrounds, revenge plans that end up with some seriously concerning collaterals, plots to increase a family's leverage that end up bringing defeat more than anything... pick your poison, and Dune: Prophecy will most certainly have it in store.
Honoring its six-episode-long tradition, the show's first season finale, "The High-Handed Enemy", featured no shortage of tearful or shocking moments. We had Dorotea (Camilla Beeput) coming back via Lila (Chloe Lea) to reveal the bodies of all the Bene Gesserit killed by young Valya Harkonnen (Jessica Barden) and her own set of followers. We had young Tula Harkonnen (Emma Canning) choosing to let go of her son to give him a shot at free will and then reuniting with him just to be sent to prison for her alignment with the Sisterhood. We had Princess Ynez Corrino (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) imprisoned by her own mother for trying to save her rebel lover. Finally, we had Mother Superior Valya (Emily Watson) facing her own doubts about everything she did to push her family forward, blaming herself for the death of her beloved brother. All of these scenes were great in their own right. However, no scene in "The High-Handed Enemy" comes close to the absolutely tragic moment that is the deaths of Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong) and Sister Francesca (Tabu).
Javicco and Francesca's Romance Was Doomed from the Start
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Not that we didn't see it coming, far from it: their love story was bound to end tragically from the moment it started. Crafted by Valya as a way to keep the then-prince under her thumb until he became emperor and could marry Natalya (Jodhi May), the bride chosen for him by the Bene Gesserit supercomputer, the romance between the future emperor Javicco and the young Sister Francesca was set on a course for destruction. Had things played out the way Valya wanted, the emperor would have grown old without ever experiencing free will, forever under the illusion that he was loved by the woman he devoted his own heart to. The other possibility was for the romance to crash and burn, exposed for the ruse that it is, breaking Javicco's heart and maybe even Francesca's.
Now, that second possibility? That is precisely what happens in "The High-Handed Enemy." After the arrest of Princess Ynez, Valya realizes that Javicco has lost all of his power and puts a plan to remove him from the throne into motion. Said plan involves revealing to him how the Sisterhood have been pulling the strings behind his reign all along, including how they sent him Francesca to keep him occupied until he and Natalya were old enough to get married. Javicco is immediately destroyed by this. As headstrong as he'd been in planning to send his wife away on a "goodwill mission" and placing Francesca by his side, he immediately goes back on his promises and confronts his mistress, making it clear to her that he knows he has been played.
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To make things sadder, though, Francesca has, of course, fallen in love with Javicco over the course of her years-long mission. The emperor's feelings are far from being one-sided, but he fails to believe her even as she shows him the poisoned Gom Jabbar needle Valya had given her to end his life. With tears in her eyes, Francesca tries her best to convince Javicco that she was never in on Valya's plans — or, at least, that she stopped following the Mother Superior's designs when they began putting the emperor's life on the line. Javicco, however, doesn't quite believe her. And, even if he did, he's already too far gone by this point; blackmailed by his wife, who is now using Desmond Hart's (Travis Fimmel) powers against him, and humiliated by the Mother Superior, he feels like he has never had a moment of free will in his life, and that this may never change up until the moment of his death.
'Dune: Prophecy' Frames Javicco's Suicide as a Desperate Grasp for Autonomy
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Thus, going against Natalya's wishes to keep him on the throne as a puppet and the Mother Superior's plan to have him murdered, Javicco decides to take his own life. As Francesca tries to convince him of her love, pleading with him to stay by her side and to help her find a way to change the delicate position they are in, the emperor takes his blade and drives it into his own body. He does that right after putting into words the feeling of being nothing but a pawn in someone else's game, which immediately frames his death as a desperate attempt at regaining a kind of autonomy that he never had. After living a life in which his strings were constantly being pulled by much more powerful puppetmasters, Javicco makes the only possible choice he can make: the choice to die.
This is tragic for many reasons. For starters, it is utterly heartbreaking for poor Francesca, who is left to cling to the body of the man that she loves, but who doesn't believe in her love anymore. Javicco dies not only thinking that he is despised by those he cared for the most, he dies because of that belief. Nothing could be worse for the woman who has indeed come to love him even if she didn't in the first place. But even though we can't help but shed a tear for Francesca, her feelings aren't what make this scene the epitome of tragedy as far as Dune: Prophecy is concerned. The real kick is that Javicco didn't even exercise the free will he was so desperately trying to grasp at. After all, wasn't his death part of Valya's plan all along? What difference does it make to her if he dies by his own hand or poisoned by Francesca? In the end, what matters is that Javicco is no longer a piece on the board.
Javicco and Francesca's Deaths Benefits Natalya's Future in 'Dune: Prophecy'
To add insult to injury, the emperor also furthers his own wife's plans by taking his own life. As Francesca is mourning the death of her lover, Natalya arrives at the scene and, using the very Gom Jabbar needle Valya had provided the sister with, claims yet another life. Francesca falls dead on the ground by Javicco's side, and Natalya rushes to tell the palace's staff that the emperor has been murdered. Sure, she would rather have him as her own personal plaything, giving an air of legitimacy to her shadow government, but with Ynez out of the way and Javicco dead, what's stopping her from taking over the Imperium? Especially with Desmond Hart at her side, Natalya seems pretty much unstoppable with her husband gone.
But that's not even the worst of it all. The saddest thing to come out of this whole affair is that history will never know the truth of the love shared by Sister Francesca and Emperor Javicco Corrino. His wife will forever further the narrative that the Bene Gesserit has taken her husband's life, while Valya will forever be oblivious to the fact that her close follower was actually in love with her target. Constantine (Josh Heuston), who will most likely be affected by the murder of both his parents, will remain as the sole proof of their romance, of course, but having a child with a man isn't the same thing as proclaiming your love for the entire galaxy to know. The true story of Javicco and Francesca dies with them, and that is the most heartbreaking aspect of their demise.
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Set in the universe of Frank Herbert's Dune series, this sci-fi epic follows the political and spiritual struggles on the desert planet of Arrakis. As factions vie for control of the prized spice melange, a prophesied hero emerges, challenging the balance of power and the fate of the galaxy.
Release Date November 17, 2024
Main Genre Sci-Fi
Seasons 1
Writers Diane Ademu-John , Kevin J. Anderson , Brian Herbert , Frank Herbert
Directors Anna Foerster
All episodes of Dune: Prophecy are available to stream on Max.Watch on Max
English (US) ·