Dune: Prophecy is a slow and cerebral meditation on the power of patience

Though Frank Herbert passed distant successful 1986, conscionable a twelvemonth aft the work of his sixth and last Dune novel, the franchise continued connected acknowledgment to new books penned by his lad Brian and penning spouse Kevin J. Anderson. Few of the duo’s 20 Dune books person been capable to replicate the philosophical complexity and textual grandeur that made the archetypal hexology specified beloved pieces of subject fiction. But immoderate entries, similar 2012’s Sisterhood of Dune, managed to adhd caller extent and communicative texture to the larger Dune saga by fleshing retired the far-flung past of its Truthsaying witches.

The reasoning down Dune: Prophecy, HBO’s caller bid based connected Sisterhood, is casual capable to recognize erstwhile you see the box-office occurrence of Denis Villeneuve’s films and Warner Bros. Discovery’s eternal hunt for different Game of Thrones-level ratings giant. The book’s exploration of the interior play that shook the Bene Gesserit bid successful its aboriginal days made for an intriguing — if winding and pulpy — read. And the caller amusement does a respectable occupation of reworking the beats of Herbert and Anderson’s caller into a overmuch sharper communicative astir vengeance and power.

Prophecy’s inclination to pivot adjacent further distant from the halfway Dune texts and its less-than-cinematic TV accumulation values mightiness beryllium turnoffs for franchise purists and melange fiends chomping astatine the spot for the upcoming Dune Messiah adaptation. But adjacent though this archetypal play takes a mates of episodes to truly deed its stride, erstwhile it does, Dune: Prophecy becomes a captivating dive into the past.

Set conscionable implicit 10,000 years earlier Paul Atreides’ birth, Prophecy revolves astir sisters Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams) — 2 of the Reverend Mothers instrumental successful the instauration of the Bene Gesserit. In the show’s present, erstwhile the secretive, all-women bid is astatine the tallness of its power, the brace oversees the Sisterhood’s school, wherever girls from crossed the Imperium larn to go brilliant, lie-detecting governmental advisers valued by the Great Houses. As Valya decides which of the Great Houses deserves having the services of a afloat trained subordinate of the Bene Gesserit, Tula guides the school’s young acolytes similar Lia (Chloe Lea) and Theodosia (Jade Anouka) successful their studies of statecraft and spirituality.

Valya and Tula some embody the astir mystical powerfulness of multigenerational position that the Bene Gesserit summation by consuming and internally transmuting a poison that unlocks the ancestral memories coded into their familial memories. But arsenic formidable a beingness arsenic the sisters are arsenic adults, Prophecy spends a important magnitude of clip chronicling Valya (Jessica Barden) and Tula’s (Emma Canning) youths, erstwhile they were mean girls dealing with the consequences of their family’s ruinous autumn from grace.

One of the bigger issues that immoderate Dune fans person taken with Herbert and Anderson’s novels is the mode they reframed the Butlerian Jihad — primitively presented arsenic a philosophical rejection of exertion successful pursuit of humanity’s advancement — arsenic a literal warfare against tyrannical robots and cyborgs. Much similar Sisterhood of Dune, Prophecy uses Valya and Tula’s communicative successful the past to radiance much airy connected the struggle and the mode 1 of their ancestors caused the Harkonnen household to beryllium exiled successful poverty. 

Especially successful moments erstwhile Prophecy flashes to scenes from the war, it seems similar the amusement is leaning into a garden-variety postapocalyptic vibe that doesn’t precisely gel with the code acceptable by the big-screen Dune projects it’s spun disconnected from. But the mode this archetypal play rapidly establishes however the warfare shaped Mother Superior Raquella Berto-Anirul’s (Cathy Tyson) extremist attack to tally the Sisterhood erstwhile Valya is archetypal sent determination makes it consciousness similar Prophecy’s originative squad is trying to amended connected the book’s weaker points.

Compared to the novel, Prophecy does a overmuch amended occupation of organically bringing its characters’ arcs together, and the past timeline’s events pass the present-day mystery. It’s successful the past that the proto-Bene Gesserit archetypal commencement storing their extended familial records connected forbidden computers and reasoning astir however they could beryllium utilized to the Sisterhood’s semipermanent governmental advantage. Some of those plans look to beryllium playing retired beautifully successful the contiguous arsenic the Bene Gesserit marque their last moves involving Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong) and his girl Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina). But for each of big Valya’s content that she’s guiding her Sisters down the close path, determination are others whose spot successful the Bene Gesserit is shaken erstwhile a bid of unusual deaths puts immoderate of the Imperium’s astir almighty families connected precocious alert for treachery.

Though Dune: Prophecy shifts betwixt its antithetic crippled lines well, moments not focused straight connected the Harkonnens and the goings-on astatine the Sisterhood’s schoolhouse conflict to pb with an vigor that feels chiseled from different phantasy and sci-fi tv adaptations. The Corrino family’s play — Ynez is engaged to a kid for governmental reasons but is secretly successful emotion with Swordmaster Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason) — is cardinal to the series. But adjacent though it’s absorbing to spot however the Bene Gesserit softly power the Corrinos done Reverend Mother Kasha Jinjo (Jihae), the show’s attack to doing palace intrigue is thing you haven’t already seen successful erstwhile HBO genre shows.

Prophecy’s directors and cinematographer Pierre Gill are intelligibly trying to archer a much intimate Dune story wherever warfare is waged successful smaller, emotionally charged moments alternatively than connected spectacularly realized battlefields. It works beautifully erstwhile the camera zooms successful to prime up the parallels betwixt Watson, Barden, Williams, and Canning’s tremendous performances arsenic the Harkonnen sisters. The amusement is astatine its astir visually stunning (and disturbing) successful a fig of scenes that unpack immoderate of what it means for the Bene Gesserit to summation entree to their Other Memories. But Prophecy’s outer shots of important Dune locations similar Salusa Secundus deficiency the atmospheric strangeness that made the Imperium of the films consciousness alien.

Even though Prophecy sharpens Sisterhood of Dune’s communicative into a overmuch stronger drama, the amusement inactive feels similar supplementary speechmaking that mightiness not entreaty if you aren’t profoundly invested successful the larger narrative. In its archetypal 4 (of six) episodes, it lone hardly begins venturing into a abstraction that mightiness marque this infinitesimal successful Dune history captivating successful its ain right. That could support this archetypal play from being the breakout deed HBO wants it to be, but it works arsenic a lore-heavy dose of abstraction meant to tide the Dune faithful implicit until the adjacent movie is out.

Dune: Prophecy also stars Jodhi May, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Aoife Hinds, Travis Fimmel, Tabu, and Josh Heuston. The amusement premieres connected HBO connected November 17th.