TL;DR – This first episode is mainly about the vibes, but if you click with it, you will be there for the long haul.

Disclosure – I paid for the Bing service that viewed this series.

Dune Prophecy Review –

One world that I have always loved diving into is the world of Dune. It is a weird and wonderful world full of texture waiting to be explored. It also has a history that stretches for tens of thousands of years, giving you a wide range to place a story without banging up against the story of the films. A world of intrigue teetering on the edge of the abyss for many.   
So, to set the scene, in the years after the Butlerian Jihad against the Thinking Machines, humanity had to find a new way forward. There were many competing forces during that time, one of which was the witches of the Bene Gesserit. On Wallach IX, those same sisters are grieving the death of their first Reverend Mother. The sisterhood is at a future point. Which way forward would they proceed? Shall they point people in the right direction, or should they be the ones controlling things from the shadows? Thirty years after blood was shed in the Bene Gesserit cloister, 116 years after the end of the Great Machine Wars, and 10,148 years before the birth of Paul Atreides. It will be time to see which direction the sisterhood takes. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

A series like this is quite interesting because I would think it was a struggle to work out how much-expected information your audience will have before going in. How much explicit worldbuilding do you need to do, and how much can you take for granted or just leave to the vibes to employ? When it comes to this first episode, they wisely assumed you understood all the references to Arrakis, Fremen, Spice, Worms, etc, so that they could focus on the issues that need to be explored. Say, for example, a Bene Gesserit in their start that could still fail. Or a long talk about whale fur, which was an oddly delightful reference to throw in there.  

Dune Prophecy is set in the timeframe where the Butlerian Jihad, or as the series is calling the Great Machine Wars, is still in almost living memory for people and everything that has been put in place since that time is fragile. This is the most precarious position that the Corrino Emperors would find themselves in for 10,000 years. There are still proponents of thinking machines running around the place; they only just got the Orange-Catholic Bible, and upstart houses are starting to play for advantage. This groundwork creates a firm underpinning for a story that I would like to see, even if I kind of know how it will pan out.

I think that the characters in this first episode helped with the groundwork. Every moment that Travis Fimmel was on screen was interesting, and I think this might be one of his best works to date. Mark Strong just works as the Corrino Emperor Javicco; he brings the absolute best qualities to a fraught role. I liked the interplay between the two Harkonnen sisters (Emily Watson & Olivia Williams), and I am interested in how that relationship shifts through the season. Also, all the potential Sisters in Training bring interesting qualities to the screen, and it will be fascinating to see if that continues going forward or if that gets lost in the shuffle.

I will say that this first episode is all about moving the pieces on the board and letting you know what sort of vibe the show will be. It’s the sort of show that probably needs to let you know from the start that it will 100% murder an annoying kid as the cliffhanger. I think that lack of action might be an issue for some, but I didn’t mind it. Also, while this is a very well-produced television show, it clearly does not have the budget that the films are working with, so you should take that under advisement when watching the show.

In the end, do we recommend Dune Prophecy: The Hidden Hand? Yes, we do. I honestly had a blast with this first episode, watching them start defining the scope of what is about to go down. It might have been a touch safe in some respects, but then it knew just when to ratchet up the intrigue.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you seen Dune Prophecy yet ?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Dune Prophecy
Directed by – Anna Foerster
Written by – Diane Ademu-John
Created by – Diane Ademu-John & Alison Schapker
Based On – Great Schools of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson & Dune by Frank Herbert
Production/Distribution Companies – Wandering Jew Productions, Herbert Propties, Inc., Flying Life, Legendary Television, HBO & Binge
Starring – Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Travis Fimmel, Jodhi May, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Chloe Lea, Chris Mason, Shalom Brune-Franklin & Mark Strong with Jade Anouka, Edward Davis, Josh Heuston, Faoileann Cunningham, Aoife Hinds & Mark Addy and Jessica Barden, Jihae, Camilla Beeput, Cathy Tyson, Barbara Marten, Brendan Cowell, Emma Canning, Charithra Chandran, Yerin Ha, Hannah Khalique-Brown, Flora Montgomery, Charlie Hodson-Prior, Laura Howard, Tessa Bonham Jones, Sarah Oliver-Watts, Callum Coates, Eva Alpysbay & Parker Sawyers