Becoming The Muse

Dune: Prophecy Series Review

Dune: Prophecy is a science fiction television series, set in Frank Herbert‘s Dune universe developed by Diane Ademu-John and Alison Schapker for HBO. The first season of Dune: Prophecy premiered on the 17^th of November 2024 and was renewed for a second season, two days before the season finale aired, on 19 December.

Dune: Prophecy is a prequel to the Denis Villeneuve films Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two, taking place some 10,000 years prior and follows the formation of the fabled sect which will become known as the Bene Gesserit.

The Good

One of the most intriguing aspects of the Dune Universe is the mysterious group called the Bene Gesserit and their grand-vision for humanity, shaping and moulding it down a specific path… in the movies they are left as an enigmatic wildcard… The series gives insights into the formation and motivations of this mysterious sisterhood of powerbrokers masquerading as truthsayers.

The series’ look and feel echoes the cinematic quality of Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune films, a testament of the series’ production values, with breathtaking visuals and special effects giving it the immersive atmosphere that is the hallmark of the Dune Universe.

The series gets bonus points for its female-centric narrative dominated by strong complex female characters. Emily Watson as Mother Superior Valya and Olivia Williams as Reverend Mother Tula deliver a strong performance as the Harkonnen Sisters who become the heart and soul of not only the sisterhood, but the series.

Special mention goes to the casting and performance by Emma Canning as Young Tula and Jessica Barden as Young Valya, whose flashback scenes are so compelling you’d wish the series spent more time on those characters.

Travis Fimmel as Desmond Hart clearly had a lot of fun as the enigmatic character whose end game you will never be able to workout, if he is either a genius, a mad fanatic or a weapon, maybe all three…

The Bad

While it captures the aesthetic of the Dune Movies the series feels set in a more technologically advanced world than the movies which can be a bit hard to reconcile as its supposed to be set eighty years after the humans defeated thinking machines…

Its set 10 000 years before the story as we recognise it from the movies… so besides running into familiar names of houses and a couple of tidbits, there’s not much for one to feel connected to the Dune books and movies.

Dune: Prophecy is basically a brand new story and so there’s a lot of information, world and character building that has to happen, which can make the first episode a bit tedious to watch with its expositions, that are basically fast tracked information dumps.  

Dune: Prophecy bites a bit more than it can chew in 6 episodes, there isn’t enough time to properly develop, explore and conclude the various plots and subplots… you end up with an erratically paced watch where half the time nothing is happening and the other half too much is happening, at too fast a speed.

The Ugly

The Dune Universe is a very complicated world to capture and expectations set by Villeneuve’s films are hard to meet, while Dune: Prophecy does a decent shot at that, it doesn’t quite live up to the standard and one might feel a bit of a disappointment.

Without wrapping up storylines and leaving more questions than answers, the series comes across as an attempt to clickbait fans of Dune into a long running franchise, with 10 000 years of creative liberties and little to no accountability as it’s a large enough time-span to undo whatever happens without impacting on the more known Dune world…

Final Thoughts

 Dune: Prophecy is a visually stunning and ambitious series that offers a unique perspective on the Dune universe. I would recommend it for fans of Dune movies and books, and those who enjoy politically intriguing narratives such as Game Of Thrones, just with Sandworms instead of Dragons… 😂

Have you watched Dune: Prophecy; or read or watched any of the Dune Universe bodies of work?