Dune: Prophecy Episode 1 is a dense, brutal introduction to the sprawling machinations of the Sisterhood, and it introduces an enigmatic man with a plan to destroy the Bene Gesserit before it’s even formed. Like me, you were probably worried about Dune: Prophecy. I had no doubt it would have epic production values, excellent performances, and deftly laid-out beats from Herbert and co.
’s extensive source material – but, even in Denis Villeneuve’s movies, it is a lot. Dune may have paved the way for Star Wars , but its world is more complex; more nuanced politics, unfamiliar factions and houses, and its on-screen story now spans millennia. Thankfully, its unanswered questions are by design, and Dune: Prophecy Episode 1 is a strong start to a dark, even frightening saga.
Dune: Prophecy gets its exposition dump out of the way The show’s opening quote sums the whole thing up perfectly: “Victory is celebrated in the light, but it is won in the darkness.” As we saw in the Dune movies, the Bene Gesserit are a shadowy, incredibly powerful collective that exerts control over everything in the universe – and this is their story. Via narration, Valya questions if truth lies within history or prophecy, citing the battle against “thinking machines” (in the books, this is the Butlerian Jihad) that enslaved humanity – yes, it’s all a bit Terminator-y.
“History says it was an Atreides that led them to victory, while my great-grandfather deserted the fight. When war e.