After only a short six-episode first season for HBO’s newest hit show Dune: Prophecy, the show will now go on hiatus for the production of the second season. The show itself makes it clear from the start that it is a very loose adaptation of the Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson novel Sisterhood of Dune. Characters like Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) appear, but the show’s plot veers off into its own direction. The cast is certainly stacked with some serious talent such as Mark Strong, Jodhi May, Travis Fimmel, Olivia Williams, Mark Addy, Jessica Barden and more. The show’s first season serves as an incredibly meaty exposition for seasons to come, but does it live up to the hype?
[Warning: spoilers for Dune: Prophecy season 1 discussed below]
Dune: Prophecy nails the fundamental story of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood
By far the most substantial and enjoyable aspect of season one are the dynamics and relationships built throughout the Sisterhood school on the planet Wallach IX. The first episode quickly establishes Valya Harkonnen and her sister Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams) as the true leads of the series.
The relationships throughout some of the younger cast are the true standouts, though. Sister Jen (Faoileann Cunningham), Sister Emeline (Aoife Hinds), and Sister Lila (Chloe Lea) lead a large portion of the storyline that takes place on Wallach IX at the Sisterhood school and deliver on some of the more well-written portions of the show. Some of the storylines at the Sisterhood school reminds me of a psychedelic and more mature version of Harry Potter. There’s something about a school for magical individuals that tends to hook an audience.
The lineage of the character Lila plays a huge role in the series, as her lineage dates back to the original Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, Mother Raquella. Raquella, who is seen in the prologue along with a young Valya Harkonnen (Jessica Barden), prophesied a reckoning that would come for the sisterhood as she dies. This scene essentially sets in motion the story of the show. During the present day portion of the series, Lila undergoes the spice agony younger than any other sister has, as a way to communicate with her great-grandmother, Mother Raquella and learn more about this reckoning.
The spice agony is a common ritual that Bene Gesserit sisters undergo to become Reverend Mothers. The ritual mainly involves releasing a drop of what’s referred to in the Dune films as “Sandworm urine”, unfortunately, into their eye. This gives the sister the power of both the consciousness and all memories of her ancestors on her maternal side. The series showcases a look into the mind of Lila while she’s undergoing this transformation, something that’s never been seen in live-action and is certainly one of the highlights of the season by far.
The show continually jumps between the past and the present on Wallach IX, as we see how the decisions of the young Valya and Tula Harkonnen lead them to becoming the head mothers of the Sisterhood school. While the flashbacks were limited, the group dynamic of young Valya (Jessica Barden), young Tula (Emma Canning), young Francesca (Charitha Chandran), and young Kasha (Yerin Ha) serves as an entertaining backstory into the origins of the sisterhood.
This is where the show likely needed more episodes, however, as there just was not enough time to fully flesh out the plot that takes place in the flashbacks of the series. Going forward, the series should look to expand to eight or even ten episodes.
The inconsistent but solid plot line of Salusa Secundus and the Imperial house
A majority of the series takes place on the planet by the name of Salusa Secundus. The planet is home to the Imperial family, House Corrino. The Corrino family are major players in the Dune universe, as 10,000 years in the future during the Dune films the Corrino Emperor is played by the infamous Christopher Walken and his daughter Irulan played by Florence Pugh. In Dune: Prophecy, the Emperor Javicco Corrino is played by the great actor Mark Strong and his family includes Empress Natalya (Jodhi May), Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina), and Constantine Corrino (Josh Heuston).
While both Mark Strong and Jodhi May are phenomenal actors, I felt at times that they were unfortunately miscast for these roles. Thankfully, episode six makes up for it, as the script seems tailored more to the performances of both actors in the finale episode.
Most of the Salusa Secundus plot line revolves around the arrival of the mysterious soldier Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) and his unique power to literally use a power within his eyeball to burn human beings alive from the inside. While this is an incredibly odd plot line, the show actually does end up making sense of Desmond Hart’s power through some scientific explanations. The characterization of Desmond Hart is a bit one note throughout the season, but the reveal of his lineage at the end of the season provides some hope for development in future seasons.
Desmond’s lineage could be a massive part of the overall trajectory of this show. Young Valya and Young Tula suffer the loss of their older brother Griffin at the hands of the infamous Vorian Atreides. In a revenge plot, Tula infiltrates the Atreides family and forms a romantic relationship with Orry Atreides, only to end up killing all of the members of the family.
Before that occurs, Tula and Orry accidentally conceive a child. We later learn that this child grows up to be Desmond Hart himself. Now, why is this important? 10,000 years later in the future, another Atreides-Harkonnen man known by the name of Paul Atreides grows up to be the Kwisatz Haderach, fulfilling the Bene Gesserit prophecy that was long in the making. Could Desmond Hart be the prototype for the original concept of the Kwisatz Haderach? Hopefully, we’ll find this out in future seasons of the show.
Other than the plot line involving the Imperial house and Desmond Hart, there are a few side stories that unfortunately bog down some of the series in a minor way. The Imperial house’s Swordmaster Kieran Atreides (Chris Mason) is revealed early on to be a rebel plotting with a rebellion group that runs a spice den club to assassinate the Emperor. While the spice club is visually cool to see occasionally, it certainly felt like this storyline could have been put on the chopping block to give more time to more prominent storylines.
Dune: Prophecy is a worthy entry to the Dune universe
Like most series in modern television, there are some messy aspects of the first season of Dune: Prophecy. The show does deliver on the expected source material and is thoroughly enjoyable to watch each week. The season 1 finale really brings it home and delivers what feels like a classic HBO level production with a well-written script.
The production value of the show gets better and better each week as well, and certainly forms its own aesthetic by the end of the season. The Dune films are so high class in terms of production design, costume design, sound design, score, and every other technical aspect that it almost felt impossible for Dune: Prophecy to match that level of perfection in its first season.
Season one ends with Valya, Princess Ynez, and Swordmaster Keiran Atreides arriving on Arrakis, something that will likely increase the hype for season two. I believe the show likely needs to raise its episode count to eight or ten and therefore raise the overall budget, which may be something that HBO currently is unwilling to do. Overall, Dune: Prophecy season 2 should be highly anticipated for all fans.
Dune: Prophecy is now streaming on MAX. Did you enjoy this season? Let us know on social media @mycosmiccircus and @TheCosmicCircus.com on Bluesky!
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