With the popularity of the Villenueve films, it’s no surprise that Warner Bros. Discovery would want to expand on the Dune franchise. Because of this, they decided to make HBO’s Dune: Prophecy– a mini-series centered around the mysterious Bene Gesserit. It’s an interesting premise, with the group’s strange supernatural powers, and it makes sense for HBO, too. After all, they love to make shows centered around power plays, deception, and the upper class. So it’s not surprising that Prophecy is more-or-less the same, albeit sandy and sci-fi flavored. There are some anachronicities to the series– after all, technology ten thousand years from the Dune movies should feel a bit more different– but Dune: Prophecy is not terrible, especially with the excellent performances of Emily Watson and Olivia Williams.
Synopsis
Ten thousand years before the ascension of Paul Atreides, sisters Valya and Tula Harkonnen establish the fabled sect and female order that would become known as the Bene Gesserit to control the future of humankind.
Storyline
10,000 years before Paul Atreides ascends to the throne, the Harkonnen family are sentenced to exile for running away from the war against the thinking machines. Because of this, sisters Valya and Tula Harkonnen establish the Bene Gesserit, the socio-political truthsayer sect that aims to breed the perfect leader and put one of their own on the throne.
TLDR
It won’t compare to the films, but it’s a fairly decent series to tide yourself over the next few years, at least until Dune Messiah.
What stands out
The introduction is a bit clunky, but it gets better as the series progresses.