since then Game of Thrones Ended in 2019 — and what a horrible little end it was — “there was a seemingly never-ending quest to find the next Game of Thrones” What this means is double: a series that captures Game of ThronesIts sprawling, fantasy world-building and political succession dramas and HBO’s premiere Sunday night spot dropped a show everyone wants to talk about the morning after.
Dune: Prophecy Looks like that from any other show right now.
Loosely based on the 2012 novel Sisterhood of Dune, prophecy there is GoT Trapped: political maneuvering between the universe’s richest families, backstabbing and surprising deaths, twisted villains and sweaty sex scenes. The struggle for power in Duniverse is as tough and deadly as in Westeros. And conveniently, it’s airing Sunday nights on HBO.
But what won me over prophecy While that’s all officially mentioned, it’s basically gossipy, ambitious space divas diva-ing ambitiously in space. granted, prophecy Another chapter in Hollywood’s fascination with IP, but it also spawned a brilliant little soap opera in which Emily Watson is the super-powered leader of an all-female finishing school for young intergalactic mages.
prophecy About how dangerous women in STEM — that is, witchcraft, transmutation, eugenics, and mothering — can be.
Dune: Prophecy About who gets to be stronger
prophecy Occurs at the very beginning — 10,148 years before the birth of Paul Atreides.
Timothée Chalamet starred in two of Denis Villeneuve’s the hill Cinema, Paul Atreides is the anchor for all casual fans. Both the hill The films chronicle his journey — fleeing home after an attack wipes out nearly all of his family and followers of the Atreides clan, and then becoming a refugee on Arrakis (aka the desert planet known as Dune), where he joins the Fremen, an indigenous people ruled by the same empire. Oppressed who killed his loved ones. Paul, as foretold by a sisterhood of prescient, super-powered women known as the Bene Gesserit, is a Messiah who will rule the universe.
Zooming in to 10,000 years BP (before Paul), prophecy Aims, as the title suggests, at the all-important Bene Gesserit revelations and the formation of the Bene Gesserit themselves.
How did this space diva become so powerful? Who are they? What do they believe? What is their purpose? Are they always meaningless?
Their reason for existence, like many other questionable organizations, is based to some extent on eugenics. oh no Mother Rachel (Kathy Tyson), their founder, has a vast archive of DNA from the most powerful family in the universe. His belief is that humans are fallible, weak creatures who will always be bent on their own destruction. By matching families based on this archive, Rachel believes she and her sisters can breed leaders they can control and influence — the end point being Paul Atreides.
To ensure greater influence over humans and their future, Raquella creates a school for future space witches on a desolate planet called Wallach IX, where wizards-in-training can learn the ability to watch when someone is lying or casting blood magic. Raquella calls protégés truthful and these skills make them very valuable. Soon every ruling family in the universe wants a Truther by their side.
What those elites don’t know is that although their Truthsayers seem to be integrated into their houses and customs, their true loyalty is to the Bene Gesserit sisterhood.
There is also a certain political commentary, who is allowed to rule the great houses of Dune, what roles women are restricted to, and how the Bene Gesserit turn women’s social limitations and devaluation to their advantage.
prophecy Beginning with Rakela’s death, she finds a group of acolytes who think the eugenics stuff is a bit icky, while her most devout follower, the ruthless Valya Harkonen (played by a young Jessica Burden, but mainly Emily), thinks it’s actually the rule. But even though we know Valya and her sisters succeeded in bending the future to bring us Paul, a lot can happen in 10,000 years.
Dune: Prophecy About who really holds the power in the Duniverse
prophecyIts greatest achievement is how it manages to cut through the denseness of the Tune universe. Taking all the complexity of Frank Herbert’s sprawling world and making it accessible is no easy task. but prophecy It does so, primarily, by framing this vast society and all relations within it as gossip. This makes Valya and her sisters the Gossip Girls of the universe.
If you want to compare this HBO fantasy show about politics, power and a throne and HBO’s previous, hugely popular fantasy show about politics, power and a throne, prophecy if like Game of Thrones Told through the eyes of Varys, Littlefinger, or Olenna Tyrell — players who have no apparent powers but who know how the game is played.
prophecy About how whispers can affect the world and who powerful people listen to. And that the politics of Dune — and politics in general — can be a lot more exciting when you realize who’s talking trash in it.
Heavy spoilers for its first episode Dune: Prophecy following
Whether it’s the half-princes who have no right to the throne or the scoundrels of House Corino – the rulers of the Imperium – with their shaky grip on spice production (the Duniverse’s most valuable resource), each episode boils down to Valya and her daughters talking about everyone else, and how they’re theirs. wants to manipulate.
At one point in the premiere, Valya and her sister Tula (Olivia Williams) have a private slut session. Like evil sorority sisters, they coolly go up and down the list of their acolytes, pointing out their strengths and flaws, usefulness and uselessness. Eyebrows are furrowed, lips pursed, and side-eyes flicked — deliciously. Valya and Tula must find a sister to match with Yenez Corino (Sara-Sophie Busnina), the princess they want to take to Bene Gesserit. In the process, they’re more than happy to list all the hopefuls who won’t make the cut.
Watson imbues Valya with the warmth of Gazpacho and the charm of a cursed porcelain doll. Undaunted by Rakella’s mission, Valia has the pieces in play to keep the entire system going. Thanks to his loyal confidant Kasha (Zhihai), he has a hold on House Corino and signs a contract to bring Yenez to his school. He also uses his connections to broker a marriage between Yenez and a son – a literal 9-year-old – into the House Riches, a powerful family that promises Corino cannons to keep spice production intact. The Bene Gesserit would doubtless be favorably disposed to that future heir.
But Valia’s plan seems to go up in smoke with the arrival of Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), a Corino loyalist and survivor of the Fremen attack on Arrakis.
As Hart tells Emperor Javico Corino (Mark Strong), reports from the region are not entirely true. Since there aren’t as many survivors as Hart, Corino has to rely on secondhand stories that pin down Fremen casualties. Hart tells the Emperor that no one — including Karino’s loyal truthtellers Kasha, Valya and their sisters — can be trusted. As Corino decides to weigh Hart’s words versus what Kasha and the Bene Gesserit promised him, someone – the episode doesn’t show us who – gives Corino surveillance footage of Hart in Arrakis that shows him surviving an attack, and more intriguingly, by a sand worm. being consumed The episode ends with Hart roasting 9-year-old Pruett Riches (Charlie Hodson-Pryor) with psychic powers. He apparently also burns Kasha to death.
Hart’s arrival and the pyrokinase are referred to by Raquella (early in the episode) as Tiran-Arafel, a “holy judgment” that seems to destroy the Sisterhood. But at this point it’s unclear if the heart represents the big bad Bene Gesserit destroyer that Raquella had visions of, or could be connected to other enemies of the Bene Gesserit. As my colleague Patrick Reiss explained the hill: Part two Released, the Bene Gesserit have counterparts known as the Bene Teilux, a patriarchal set of genetic splicers and cloners who are also itching to rule the universe. It is not so far-fetched to believe that they may exist in this universe as well.
Undoubtedly, for the betterment of Valya and his brotherhood, Hart needs to be squashed. He is clearly a threat. The closer she gets to Javico, the worse it gets for our space witches. We need a little more time, some gossip, and maybe a few more episodes to see if he’s the big bad that Raquel dreamed about, or just another piece of the puzzle that leads us to this.
