Dune: Prophecy review: a cerebral meditation on the power of patience

Although Frank Herbert died in 1986, just a year after the publication of his sixth and last Dune novel, the franchise continued thanks to new books written by his son Brian and writing partner Kevin J. Anderson. Some of the duo’s twenty Dune books have managed to replicate the philosophical complexity and textual grandeur that made the original hexology such beloved pieces of science fiction. But some entries, like the one from 2012 Sisterhood of Dune, managed to add new depth and narrative texture to the bigger picture Dune saga by further expanding on the far-flung history of the Truth-Telling Witches.

The thought behind it Dune: ProphecyHBO’s new series based on Sisterhoodis easy to understand when you consider the box office success of Denis Villeneuve’s films and the eternal pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery takes a different perspective. Game of Thrones-level reviews giant. The book’s exploration of the internal drama that shook the Bene Gesserit order in its early days made for an intriguing – if twisting and pulpy – reading experience. And the new show does a respectable job of reworking the beats of Herbert and Anderson’s novel into a much sharper tale of revenge and power.

Prophecy‘s tendency to turn even further away from the core Dune writing and the less-than-cinematic TV production values ​​may be a turnoff for franchise purists and melange fiends looking forward to the upcoming Dune Messiah amendment. But even though this first season takes a few episodes to really get going, once it does, Dune: Prophecy will be a fascinating dive into the past.

Set just over 10,000 years before the birth of Paul Atreides, Prophecy centers on sisters Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams) – two of the Reverend Mothers who were instrumental in the founding of the Bene Gesserit. In the show’s present, when the secretive all-female order is at the height of its power, the pair oversee the Sisterhood school, where girls from across the Empire learn to become brilliant, lie-detecting political advisors who are appreciated by the Great Houses. As Valya decides which of the Great Houses deserves the services of a fully trained member of the Bene Gesserit, Tula guides the school’s young acolytes such as Lia (Chloe Lea) and Theodosia (Jade Anouka) in their studies of statecraft and spirituality.

Valya and Tula both embody the almost mystical power of the multigenerational perspective that the Bene Gesserit gain by consuming and internally transmuting a poison that unlocks the ancestral memories encoded in their genetic memories. But as formidable as the sisters’ presence is as adults, Prophecy spends a significant amount of time capturing the young people of Valya (Jessica Barden) and Tula (Emma Canning) when they were just ordinary girls dealing with the fallout from their family’s ruinous fall from grace.

One of the bigger problems that some Dune fans have adopted Herbert and Anderson’s novels is the way they have reframed the Butlerian Jihad—originally presented as a philosophical rejection of technology in the pursuit of humanity’s progress—as a literal war against tyrannical robots and cyborgs. Very much Sisterhood of Dune, Prophecy uses Valya and Tula’s story from the past to shed more light on the conflict and how one of their ancestors caused the Harkonnen family to be banished into poverty.

Especially at times when Prophecy flashes to scenes from the war, it seems like the show is leaning towards a post-apocalyptic garden setting vibe that doesn’t exactly fit the tone of the big screen Dune projects from which it emerged. But the way this first season quickly shows how the war shaped Mother Superior Raquella Berto-Anirul’s (Cathy Tyson) radical approach to leading the Sisterhood when Valya is first sent there gives the sense that ProphecyThe book’s creative team tries to improve the book’s weaker points.

Compared to the novel, Prophecy does a much better job of bringing its characters’ arcs together in an organic way, and the events of the past inform the present-day mystery. It is in the past that the proto-Bene Gesserit first stored their extensive genetic data on forbidden computers and considered how to use them for the Sisterhood’s long-term political advantage. Some of those plans seem to be playing out beautifully in the present as the Bene Gesserit make their final moves, involving Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong) and his daughter Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina). But despite adult Valya’s belief that she is leading her sisters on the right path, there are others whose faith in the Bene Gesserit is shaken when a series of strange deaths puts some of the Imperium’s most powerful families on high alert for betrayal.

Although Dune: Prophecy transitions well between the various storylines, moments not directly focused on the Harkonnens and the goings-on at the Sisterhood’s school struggling to lead with an energy that stands out from other fantasy and sci-fi television adaptations. The drama of the Corrino family – Ynez is engaged to a child for political reasons, but is secretly in love with sword master Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason) – is central to the series. But while it’s interesting to see the Bene Gesserit quietly influence the Corrinos through Reverend Mother Kasha Jinjo (Jihae), the show’s approach to palace intrigue is nothing you haven’t seen before in previous HBO genre shows.

Prophecy‘The directors and cinematographer Pierre Gill are clearly trying to tell a more intimate story Dune story in which war is waged in smaller, emotionally charged moments instead of on spectacularly realized battlefields. It works beautifully as the camera zooms in to pick up the parallels between the great performances of Watson, Barden, Williams and Canning as the Harkonnen sisters. The show is visually stunning (and disturbing) in a number of scenes that unpack some of what it means for the Bene Gesserit to access their other memories. But Prophecy‘s external photos of important Dune locations like Salusa Secundus lack the atmospheric strangeness that made the Imperium of the films feel strange.

Even Prophecy sharpens Sisterhood of Dune‘s story into a much stronger drama, the show still feels like supplementary reading that might not appeal if you’re not deeply invested in the larger story. In the first four (of six) episodes, it barely begins to enter a space that could reach this moment Dune history is fascinating in itself. That might keep this first season from being the breakout hit that HBO wants it to be, but it works as a good dose of space meant to ease the Dune faithful until the next movie comes out.

Dune: Prophecy Also stars Jodhi May, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Aoife Hinds, Travis Fimmel, Tabu and Josh Heuston. The show premieres on HBO on November 17.