Tabu in Dune: Prophecy Episode 5Image via HBO
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Leah Marilla Thomas
Published 37 minutes ago
Leah Marilla Thomas is a freelance entertainment journalist specializing in television, film, live theatre, and culture. With an MFA in screenwriting and over a decade of digital media experience, her work has appeared at Collider, Cosmopolitan, Polygon, Bustle, Refinery29, Teen Vogue, The Mary Sue, and more. A member of the Television Critics Association since 2021, she combines sharp cultural commentary with deep interest in prestige TV, genre storytelling, and trend-driven analysis.
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Season 2 of Dune: Prophecy has officially started production and added a handful of actors to its already sprawling cast, including Indira Varma, Tom Hollander, and Ashley Walters — so now marks the perfect time to catch up on the HBO Max series, especially while you’re waiting for Dune: Part Three to hit theaters next year.
Dune: Prophecy is set several millennia before Dune and Dune: Part Two, in the world of Denis Villeneuve's films, which are, of course, adapted from Frank Herbert's novels. While a prequel series of books (Sisterhood of Dune, Mentats of Dune, and Navigators of Dune) co-written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson includes characters and events that are referenced in the HBO series, Prophecy takes place slightly after the events of those novels.
Female Characters Are Front and Center in ‘Dune: Prophecy’
The female characters in Dune are, for the most part, operating from the shadows, but Dune: Prophecy is set within those shadows. For more casual fans, the spin-off expands the evolution of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood and its origins. The story follows two sisters from House Harkonnen, Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula (Olivia Williams), who lead the sisterhood in their present day and train young women to advise leaders and bloodlines throughout the galaxy, while manipulating events so that certain things come to pass. Jessica Barden’s performance as the younger Valya shows how she rose to power, why she desires to redeem House Harkonnen's name, and how she responds to a prophecy about the destruction of the world.
We also meet Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) of House Corrino, who, at the beginning of the series, is trapped in an arranged marriage to a boy from House Richese and set to join the sisterhood while she waits for her husband to reach marrying age. Her mother, Empress Natalya (Jodhi May), is against both of these developments. She doesn't trust the Bene Gesserit, resentful of the power they hold over her husband, Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong) both politically and sexually, and is on a journey to assert her own strength. Among Dune: Prophecy's other standout women are a Fremen girl named Mikaela (Shalom Brune-Franklin), a bartender and spy for the sisterhood, as well as the other Bene Gesserit acolytes who all have traumatic backstories and missions of their own. Sure, there are male characters on the show as well, including a mysterious figure with some unbelievable stories and powers named Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), a young swordmaster called Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason), and Ynez's free-spirited half-brother Constantine (Josh Heuston), Javicco Corrino's son with his Bene Gesserit lover, Francesca (Tabu) — but compared to Dune, this show is definitely more female-focused.
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Posts 4 By Gregory Mysogland Dec 24, 2024‘Dune: Prophecy’ Avoids the “Prequel Curse” by Going Even Further Back in Time
Emily Watson, Sarah Sofie-Boussnina, and Chris Mason in Dune: ProphecyImage via HBO
The fact that Dune: Prophecy is set so far in the past alleviates a lot of annoying prequel tropes. Sure, plenty of the surnames are recognizable, Valya is the first to use and teach others how to use The Voice, and the biggest prophecy looming over the story could be related to Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet). Valya's actions to avoid an apocalyptic future may well be putting other atrocities in motion. However, the series is not so beholden to setting up the events of the film that it feels like there aren’t believable stakes. Plus, there are enough characters who don't appear in the Great Schools of Dune trilogy with completely unknown journeys and fates — which, given the nature of this universe, is rare!
One of the fairly valid criticisms of the show as a prequel is that the costume and production design look so similar to Dune that it's not believable set so far in the past. However, if you consider that society is recovering from a war against a major technological advancement like "thinking machines," maybe it makes sense that society has stunted for ten millennia. That's not to say that there aren't technological advancements in Dune: Prophecy, but they're fairly minimal. There's also the Bene Gesserit themselves, who, as we know from Dune, plan things out for centuries — so they're definitely manipulating the stagnancy of civilization on these various planets to a degree as well.
There’s a Nostalgic Feel to ‘Prophecy’ That Has Nothing To Do With 'Dune'
Dune: Prophecy is, at its core, a hard science fiction series set in a famously intricate world. All the characters are morally grey in a way that will remind you of Game of Thrones, and there's plenty of dense worldbuilding, but there are also young people who flirt during fight training, secret affairs, seedy space bars, and gossiping witches. The science fiction elements are just as extensive as Dune, but the palace intrigue is a little bit lighter. Everything is grounded, but it's also glossy. It feels sort of like watching a SYFY channel show like Caprica or Krypton, just with a massive budget. It's not silly or, heaven forbid, campy, but it's watchable. That may not appeal to some of the more hardcore fans of Herbert's books, but it does help not to alienate new or casual viewers.
All of that said, if you missed the worms and the, well, sand part of Dune in Prophecy, don't worry. The Season 1 finale ends with an unexpected trio of characters from three noble houses landing on the planet Arrakis. Most of Season 1 may have taken place in rooms and hallways, but the show can't avoid this pivotal part of the Dune universe for long. Filming for Season 2 is set to occur in Jordan as well as Hungary and Spain, so you know things are going to get spicy.
Dune Prophecy Poster
Dune: Prophecy
TV-MA
Sci-Fi
Adventure
Fantasy
Drama
7
10
Release Date
November 17, 2024
Genres
Sci-Fi, Adventure, Fantasy, Drama
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