Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films have become so popular that they have created a massive multimedia franchise. The first Dune television project since the SyFy Channel miniseries in the early 2000s, HBO’s Dune: Prophecy is an adaptation of the book Sisterhood of Dune written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Imagine what you would think an HBO Dune series would look like, and that is basically exactly what you get with Dune: Prophecy.
If you have not seen episode 1 of Dune: Prophecy, stop reading here because this article contains MASSIVE spoilers.
Dune: Prophecy Episode 1 Recap
Like Villeneuve’s Dune films, Dune: Prophecy begins with a quote that summarizes the show’s central theme: “Victory is celebrated in the light, but it is won in the darkness.”
The show’s narrator, Valya Harkonnen, then explains the context of the universe. Led by the House Atreides, the humans rose up against the “thinking machines,” and the Harkonnens were branded as cowards and banished to a desolate world.
Hoping to change the history of lies spread by the Atreides, Valya (played by Jessica Barden in her youth) joins the Bene Gesserit as a disciple of the first Mother Superior, Raquella. Under Raquella, the Bene Gesserit have embarked on a quest to breed better leaders using the genetic archive.
When Raquella dies, Valya succeeds her as Mother Superior, seeing a prophecy of the future as she takes on the role. She begins to hatch a plan to install one of the Bene Gesserit as the leader of the Empirium. Hoping to undermine Valya’s plan, Sister Dorotea attempts to steal the breeding index. However, Valya uses her new skill — the Voice — to control Dorotea and have her kill herself. She then shares her mantra: “Sisterhood above all.”
Thirty years later — 10,148 years before the birth of Paul Atreides — Valya (Emily Watson) receives a request from House Harkonnen for a truth sayer. She denies this request for the fourth time, making it clear that she has cut ties with her past. Meanwhile, Lord Constantine arrives, hoping to enroll his sister, Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina), in the Bene Gesserit’s school on Wallach IX.
On Salusa Secundus, Princess Ynez engages in blade training with Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason) as Emperor Corrino (Mark Strong) negotiates for her marriage with Duke Richese, who promises a fleet to Corrino on Arrakis in exchange for the Princess’s hand for his young son and a wing in the palace on Salusa Secundus.
Back on Wallach IX, the Sisterhood undergoes truth-sayer training, where one of the sisters describes her tragic past, having been sold to a human trafficker and having escaped by killing her and her parents.
As Princess Ynez prepares to marry the nine-year-old Richese, it is revealed that she is romantically interested in Atreides. Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) arrives from Arrakis and reports to Emperor Corrino that allies, not Fremen, attacked his unit. He asks the Emperor for an assignment at the palace to allow him to rest.
Kasha (Jihae), Corrino’s truth-sayer, has a nightmare. She reveals to Princess Ynez that she is destined to lead the Empirium to a better future. Meanwhile, Empress Natalya (Jodhi May) reveals to her husband that she is unhappy about their daughter’s arranged marriage, but he explains that it is necessary for political reasons.
On Wallach IX, Valya and her sister Tula (Olivia Williams) try to determine the ideal roommate for Princess Ynez, and they decide upon Theodosia (Jade Anouka). Kasha arrives to tell Valya about her nightmare, but Valya insists that the wedding must proceed. Tula asks Valya why she won’t listen to Kasha and asks her to “check the match.”
At the wedding, the young Richese shows Princess Ynez his pet, a robot lizard, which is now considered forbidden technology as a thinking machine. Desmond kills the robot, while Corrino decides to turn a blind eye to preserve the alliance. The Princess tells the kid that she will kill him herself if he does something that stupid again. At the same time, Valya verifies that the match is correct and suggests that Kasha be taken away from Salusa.
As Princess Ynez has one last night out with her brother, Desmond counsels Corrino, telling him that his more prominent issue is a growing insurgency on Arrakis. Corrino reveals that he knows the marriage is wrong but must do it to maintain control over Arrakis. Ynez and Atreides flirt and have sex.
With the Emperor distracted, Desmond confronts the young Richese and tells him there is a “war hidden in plain sight” — implying it is against the Bene Gesserit. He kills the young Richese by burning him from the inside.
On Wallach IX, Kasha dies of the same burns as the young Richese. Looking at Kasha’s corpse, Valya says, “I see, mother. I see.”
Is Dune: Prophecy Episode 1 Good?
Like many pilot episodes, the first episode of Dune: Prophecy is full of set-up and exposition, establishing the world and characters we will spend the rest of the series with. Unfortunately, with the miniseries only spanning six episodes, there’s not much time to be spared for this type of set-up.
However, Dune: Prophecy does show potential in its first episode, with many having compared it to Game of Thrones but in the Dune universe. And, for the most part, it does not sacrifice the scale of the film franchise. It still looks and feels epic, even if it focuses more on politics than battles. It’ll be interesting to see where the show goes with its remaining five episodes.
New episodes of Dune: Prophecy air on HBO and Max every Sunday at 9pm ET/PT.
