Dune: Prophecy is a very complicated show. Sure, part of it is the fact that there are so many characters, storylines, and counterplots mixing together in every scene. But to put it more simply, it’s just very difficult to explain to people whether I like this show or not. To put it simply: watching feels like a chore, the line-by-line writing isn’t particularly funny, interesting or engaging – and yet for every droney character or boring line, the series has also introduced a short plot arc in the setup a dune universe that I’m simply fascinated by.

But the show can’t keep going on the steam of these ideas forever, and as the season one finale approaches, it seems to me that there are two paths forward Dune: Prophecy. And in true franchise style, only a narrow and complicated path leads to a clean result.

(Ed. Note: This post contains spoilers for Dune: Prophecy Season 1 Episode 5.)

The future of the series – or at least our hints at what it might look like – all depends on Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel). The first option, and this is where I fear the series is heading, is the easy option that Desmond Hart is the proto-Kwisatz Haderach; The Bene Gesserit’s first glimpse of a man with supernatural abilities and the direct, stated inspiration for them to pursue a similarly powerful man that they can control instead.

This version of the show would be simple and clean and far too boring for a world like Dune. If that’s all Desmond Hart really is, it would be incredibly easy to see how the rest of the show could fit together. In the war against Arrakis, which episode 5 alludes to, the Fremen would win victories thanks to the Bene Gesserit, and Mikaela (Shalom Brune-Franklin) would sadly watch as her people were fed a lie about Lisan al Gaib. The sisterhood would learn to harness the voice and be perfectly recognizable by fans of the Denis Villeneuve films by the end of the show. In other words, Dune: Prophecy that would be Solo: A Star Wars Story of the Dune universe, a short adventure that somehow fully explains the backstory of everyone involved, shrinking the universe and robbing it of its mystery in the process.

The other version of Desmond and the show as a whole are more chaotic. We call it the midi-chlorian pathway. In that case, the show would have to stop trying to connect the dots. Let the reveal of Desmond’s shared Harkonnen and Atreides blood be a reveal solely for Tula and the audience, rather than something more significant to the universe. Sure, these two bloodlines play a role in the Bene Gesserit plan to create the Kwisatz Haderach, but that doesn’t have to be part of the plot of this series.

This would provide the opportunity to do so Dune: ProphecyThe Season 1 finale opens the door to the bigger, stranger parts of the Dune universe. It could show us the Spacing Guild and their bizarre Guild Navigators; It could open up the idea of ​​a complex, massive war against Arrakis, and offer small hints at the kind of battles that would force the Bene Gesserit to evolve into the secret organization we know them as when the series begins in earnest. How The Phantom Menace‘s one-time mention of midi-chlorians, what Dune: Prophecy What we need now is to build the world through unanswered and unanswerable questions, not overly simple facts. If this season sets the table for a stranger universe, then its awkwardness could easily be forgiven.

Apparently, midi-chlorians have a somewhat negative connotation for science fiction fans as a betrayal of the elegant world-building of the original Star Wars trilogy; Dune: Prophecy That would never happen. What I’m saying is that at this point we can really hope for the ambition of the Star Wars prequels, which have continually expanded their galaxy in both good and bad ways, rather than the narrow time span that Disney had with the series So far it’s just gotten smaller and tighter with every entry.

But to get past all the Star Wars analogies, Dune is a series that has always been at its best when it was at its strangest and most ambitious. The original book is a masterpiece with one of the best and most interesting science fiction worlds ever created. It’s well made not because all the threads are tied together so carefully, but rather because of the mess Frank Herbert left around the edges, little threads he can pull later whenever he feels like it.

And Dune: ProphecyDespite all the boring scenes and overly important lines there have been so far, the first season is still able to create those wonderfully frayed edges. But to achieve that, the finale has to be big, messy and ambitious in a way the show has only hinted at so far.