Dune: Prophecy premiere recap

There is so much Dune mythology out there that it can be overwhelming to even scratch the surface. Most people know the basics of Frank Herbert’s wildly influential 1965 novel either through the source, David Lynch’s wacky 1984 film or the films Denis Villeneuve recently released to great acclaim. (Maybe there are a few who learned about this universe through the largely forgotten 2000 miniseries, but I doubt it.) Anyway, it’s really only the beginning of this world, with Herbert himself making five sequels before his son , Brian Herbert, took the throne and spit out two more based on his father’s notes. And that was only the beginning.

So it makes sense that in an era of prequels like House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power that Warner Bros. would reach into this deep mythology looking for more stories to tell. After their trip to Arrakis, the power brokers at WBD have shown up Dune: Prophecya story set thousands of years before Timothée Chalamet would walk across a sandy planet in Dune film. The premiere makes it clear that the creators are looking for some of that GOT spice that tells a different story of power players fighting for control built on a foundation of film quality, art direction, effects, cinematography and costume design. Whether they grasp what they are reaching for is another question.

Very loosely based on the 2012 novel Sisterhood Of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, Dune: Prophecy is about the behind-the-scenes machinations that really determine power. There’s a reason the premiere is called “The Hidden Hand,” which primarily refers to the control the Sisterhood commands over those who make the decisions that affect the fate of the universe. It opens with a prologue revealing how far a young Valya Harkonnen (Jessica Barden) will go to secure her vision of the future, using her “voice” to order her rival to commit suicide. “A new skill I’ve honed” it says easily.

Jump forward three decades. It has been more than a century since the great war that man fought against the thinking machines that tried to destroy them, which led to a ban on all such devices, at least in the capital. (This will be important later.) And yet it is also 10,148 years before the birth of Paul Atreides. It’s almost unsettling to see a show that basically suggests the same political and personal battles will rage across the universe for more than 10 millennia, but it also seems depressingly accurate if you think about the last decade of this.

Now the mother superior of the sisterhood, an older Valya (Emily Watson) works with her sister Tula (Olivia Williams) to select the right truth teller from among her students to serve alongside rising star Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina), which is to marry one very young man named Pruwet Richese (Charlie Hodson-Prior) in an attempt to coordinate political powers and build a fleet of ships to mine Spice on Arrakis for Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong). Javicco’s wife, Empress Natalya (Jodhi May), doesn’t love the union, but “Nez” seems surprisingly cool with it, understanding that it helps her rise to power, and she’s willing to go out and have a little fun fun on the side with Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason).

There are other key players introduced in this narratively choppy episode. The most important is probably Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), a soldier who has survived 12 tours on battle-filled Arrakis, while most of his peers don’t make it back from one. Fimmel plays him as a deeply traumatized man, but he sometimes feels like he’s on another show, as in a scene between him and Strong’s Corrino, where he warns of the insidious betrayals that could come from within, especially after young Pruwet had the nerve to bring a “thinking machine” to her engagement party. The premiere also introduces a few of Valya and Tula’s students, including feisty Jen (Faoileann Cunningham), traditional Emeline (Aoife Hinds) and emotional Lila (Chloe Lea). Finally, there is the engaging Kasha (Jihae), the Truth Teller to the Emperor, who has visions of a violent future that come crashing down on her in the final scenes.

Naturally, “The Hidden Hand” is mostly about introductions. So what do we learn about these characters and the story that will unfold in it Dune: Prophecy? There are a large number of lines about political power, including the opening crawl that says “Victory is celebrated in the light, but it is won in the dark.” This show, at least initially, is about the darkness where plans for victory are set in motion. The engagement party is in the light; the fleet of fighters that comes with a princess’s hand is exchanged in darkness.

It also clearly sets the stage for an examination of themes familiar to fans of the core Dune characteristics, including planning versus prophecy. Is there such a thing as free will in a world where sisters like Valya and Kasha have visions of what is to come? The prologue sets off a battle between a conservative view of the Sisterhood, where they see and advise more than control, and a progressive view, where they pull the strings.

The best scene in the premiere is between probably the show’s two best performers, as Valya and Tula debate who to push as Truthsayer for Nez. They need a key adviser who they know will whisper what they want into the ear of power. And it’s great to see two excellent actors riff on both plot and subtext, foreshadowing different approaches that are sure to tear them apart.

The key plot in “The Hidden Hand” comes late in a couple of violent deaths. Desmond finds Pruwet in the hall, playing with his forbidden toy again, and does something magically horrible to him. What happened to Desmond on Arrakis? “To win a war requires a sacrifice,” he says. And suddenly the kid is in excruciating pain and is burning alive where he sits. At the same time, it seems that Kasha is going through the same thing back at the Sisterhood. Valya finds her and the camera cuts to her eyes. “I understand, Mom,” she says. “I see.”

The big question, of course, is does anyone care? The problem with so many of these GOT follow-ups are that they mistakenly believe that people loved that show for its production value. Someone has clearly spent a fortune on it Dune: Prophecybut they must remember that it was the grades of Game Of Thrones it made it a hit. Will people care about Valya, Tula and Nez like they did Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister? For that matter, will they care about them like they do Paul Atreides from the movies? It’s too early to say, but there are reasons to be concerned. The premiere of Dune: Prophecy lacks the ingenuity and spark of another recent WBD spin-off of its ilk The penguinfeels both familiar and light at the same time, despite the clear boatloads of money poured into it. There’s something missing here that it might find soon, or it might be six long episodes of political wheel-spinning and terrifying visions. Let’s hope it finds that spice soon.

Stray Observations

• • This episode is directed by Anna Foerster, which is perhaps somewhat telling. While she has worked on good shows like Westworld and Jessica Jonesshe also directed the largely forgotten Underworld: Blood Wars after years of being in the photography units for a number of Roland Emmerich films such as 10,000 BC and 2012. No offense to these movies (some of which I enjoy more than most), but they are largely spectacle over substance. Likewise, much of this show looks good, but lacks the depth to really be remembered.
• • On that note, the main scene in this episode is the center of power on Salusa Secundus, a planet seen in the movies when Piter de Vries went there to meet with Sardaukar. It looks cool! Let’s hope some of it can be explored outside the capital. If the show is just going to be eye candy, let’s make it cute.
• • Isn’t it weird to set a show more than 10,000 years before what most fans know about this universe and make it look and feel so familiar? Even the score at times feels like a cover of the films, which is obviously designed to subconsciously associate this with something people love. But the reason people like the shows The penguin is how it expands in a universe, not how it recreates it.
• • If anything is going to hold this together, it’s the cast. So each recap I’ll highlight an underrated performance from one of them. Let’s start with the wonderful Olivia Williams, who should have been nominated for an Oscar Rushmore and probably even The sixth sense. She had a major tear in the late 00s and early 10s. Seek out her work in The ghost writer if you can, which won her the National Society Of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress.