‘Dune: Prophecy’ Episode 4 Ending Explained: Who is a Shapeshifter? All About Face Dancers and the Bene Tleilax

Dune: Prophecy Episode 4 “Twice Born” ends with a moment so wild that there’s a massive chance you had no idea what exactly was going on. At long last, we understand what the HBO show meant when it kept enigmatically alluding to special skills that the young acolyte Theodosia (Jade Anouka) possessed. Well, that is, I think Dune book readers immediately put it together. At least, they would have if they perchance ever read past the original Frank Herbert Dune and dug into the sequels and prequels…

**Spoilers for Dune: Prophecy Episode 4 “Twice Born,” now streaming on Max**

In the final minutes of Dune: Prophecy Episode 4 “Twice Born,” Reverend Mother Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) finds comfort in the arms of what appears to be her long-dead brother Griffin (Earl Cave). “Griffin” tells Valya that he finally understands what it took for her to return to the Harkonnens. [Note that Valya has just aided the death of her elderly, ill uncle Evgeny (Mark Addy) and he’s still just, like, laying there, on the floor.]

“Griffin” then promises to help Valya and skulks off. However, as the camera follows him, his body begins to transform with a few disgusting crunches. The last we see of this mysterious, shapeshifting creature, it’s assuming the vague form of Sister Theodosia.

Theodosia has been a Tleilaxu Face Dancer this WHOLE TIME!!!

“Actually, it was one of the main reasons I was so excited to be part of this show,” Dune: Prophecy actress Jade Anouka told Decider during a recent virtual roundtable discussion. “When [showrunner] Alison [Schapker] sort of like dropped that bombshell about what my character would be in the later episodes, what she would reveal about her, I was like, ‘Ohhhhhh!!!‘”

If you’re still scratching your head over this bonkers reveal at the end of Dune: Prophecy Episode 4 “Twice Born,” that’s totally fine. The HBO show is blithely diving into way more obscure Dune lore than Denis Villeneuve dared to approach in his blockbuster film adaptations.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Face Dancer reveal at the end of Dune: Prophecy Episode 4 “Twice Born”…

Dune: Prophecy Episode 4 Ending Explained: What the Hell is Theodosia? All About the Bene Tleilax and Face Dancers:

Dune: Prophecy Episode 4 “Twice Born” ends with the revelation that Theodosia is a Face Dancer. So what does that mean?

In the lore of Frank Herbert’s Dune novels, Face Dancers are shapeshifters from the Bene Tleilax or the Tleilaxu culture. They are not born, but bred in Axlotl Tanks by the Tleilaxu masters. If the Sisterhood that becomes the Bene Gesserit are a matriarchy, then the Bene Tleilax are seen as their male opposites. There’s a reveal later on in Herbert’s books that Axlotl Tanks were once women in the society.

But let’s get back to Theodosia being a Face Dancer.

Face Dancers are usually bred to become assassins and spies. They have the ability to not only physically transform into another person, but to mentally and emotionally understand others.

“She knows how to read a room and she knows how to read people and she understands people,” Anouka explained to Decider. “Being a face dancer…it’s like being able to know and understand someone so much that you can then shapeshift into them.”

“So she understands in every moment, in every scene, with whoever she’s talking to, what they need her to say and what she needs to say in order to get what she wants or to get to that.”

If you’ll recall, in the scene where Valya and Theodosia meet Harrow Harkonnen (Edward Davis), Valya asks the young acolyte to reveal Harrow’s true desires. That’s not actually truthsaying, as the other Sisters know it. That was Theodosia leaning on her Face Dancer skills.

How Did a Face Dancer Become Part of the Sisterhood?

We’ve seen already in Dune: Prophecy that Valya has expanded the Sisterhood to include members of the Suk School of Doctors and Fremen like Mikaela (Shalom Brune-Franklin). So it stands to reason she would welcome a Face Dancer to her school.

The technology that the Tleilaxu use — which also includes a type of cloning — is scorned by the rest of the universe. After seeing how Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong) and his court react to a small robot toy, you can imagine they would be very anti-Face Dancers.

We were told early on that the Sisterhood took Theodosia in when she needed help. It seems that they have been hiding her, hence keeping her abilities a secret.

“She’s so mysterious,” Anouka said. “She doesn’t let people that close because I think it’s a secret she wants to keep. She needs to keep.”

“But it means the Sisterhood, for her, is quite different. I think she feels so capable there. I think she has absolutely no doubt that she’s going to become an acolyte when she goes through the training. I think she’s a bit like, ‘Come on, Valya. Like, actually, this is no test. You know, right?’”

What is a test for Theodosia? Whether or not she can get away with using her Face Dancer skills to help the Sisterhood survive their reckoning. A challenge she’s now willing to take on after seeing what Valya has endured.