Dune: Prophecy – Season 1 Episode 1 Recap & Review

The Hidden Hand

Episode 1 of Dune: Prophecy begins with a look at our protagonist, Valya Harkonnen. Over on the frozen planet of Wallach IX, she intends to change the written history that have placed a damper on the Atreides name.

All of this comes about after her house betrayed humanity while fighting the thinking machines. Alongside her sister Tula, the pair found a new lease of life with the Bene Gesserit.

There, Valya cosied up with her first true mother, the Mother Superior Taquella Berto-Anirul. A hero during the wars, she trained Sisters to become Truthsayers to sift truth from lies. This network of influence sets the path for the future political landscape to be shaped by those in power.

Mother Raquella intended to breed better leaders, amassing a vast genetic archive to foster the right royal unions and cultivate leaders that the Sisterhood could control. Valya shares the Mother Superior’s vision and on her deathbed, calls for Valya to be with her.

“Tiran-Arafel. It is coming,” She says, as visions eventually consume her. However, not before turning the power of the Sisterhood over to Valya. It’s on her to lead them forward and see the burning truth. What truth is that? Well, the girls believe there’s a reckoning coming and they need to prepare. That comes from plotting and putting a Sister on the throne. The first empress to rule the Imperium.

Dorotea, the first Mother Superior’s granddaughter, doesn’t share Valya’s same vision for overthrowing the men. As a result, Valya decides to kill her outright so she’s not going to be a problem.

Valya doesn’t even think twice about killing one of her own, and at that moment, she damns the name of Harkonnnen to the annals of history.

Fast forward 30 years and Valya is at the head of the table for the Sisterhood and her plan is set into motion. House Varick and Khumal have put in requests for a Truthsayer. House Harkonnen has put in a fourth request but that’s immediately shut down, while Varrick is given the greenlight this time around.

Prince Constantine shows up to speak to Valya in the midst of this. His sister, Princess Ynez, is on the verge of becoming a Sister and he’s understandably cautious. He wants preferential treatment for the princess but Valya sees through his bluff and Constantine eventually concedes. After signing the treaty, Valya speaks to Tula about the good news.

The Princess is currently over on Salusa Secundus, home of the Imperial House. The Princess Ynez definitely has a thing for her swordmaster, Keiran, and there’s a moment between them after training where his finger rests on her chest. Constantine comes and breaks things up though.

You see, Ynez is on the verge of a royal wedding and intends to use the Sisterhood to better her own chances of ruling. However her mother is no fool and knows she’s got the hots for Keiran, warning her. Ynez is cunning, and confident she knows how to negotiate.

Kasha speaks to her that night after a particularly nasty nightmare, given their connections, and after kissing her head, rushes back to the Sisters.

Brewing in the background is drama involving Arrakis. The Emperor is confronted by a man named Desmond Hart. He’s survived the harshness of Arrakis and is here to see him. This is surprising because they’d heard that his regiment had been wiped out in a Fremen attack. He’s here to set the record straight and tell the truth. As for the Emperor, he’s not particularly happy about the marriage but knows it has to happen. After all, this 9 year old, Lord Pruwet Richese, comes with a fleet of fighters needed for the stability on Arrakis.

This attack? Turns out it was insurgents from within their own houses and thievery. And of course, this makes sense given the Sisters are at work. Desmond wants a place at the palace but before he’s granted any such place, he’s offered to join in the festivities.

Over on Wallach IX, the Truthsayers are put through the tests, taught to root out liars, strengthen their resolve and step up. One of the Truthsayers though is a proper psychopath and boasts about killing her parents and captor in the past. Valya and Tula are impressed with the women under their care and try to find one of the Sisters suitable to join with the Princess.

The current Truthsayer, Kasha, shows up to see Valya and Tula. She warns about Nez’s nightmares and wonders whether this could bring on the reckoning they’re working so hard to try and avoid.

Either way, time seems to be up as Ynez is married to Pruwet and the party goes ahead. Drama ensues when Pruwet brandishes a thinking machine; a little lizard that scurries across the ground. These are forbidden and it ultimately causes chaos and hostilities in the throne room. The Emperor decides to overlook it, with his own reasons being what’s happening in Arrakis, but he’s equally not happy.

After the ceremony, Valya has done her research using the genetic archives. She’s convinced that Ynez is the right match to be the one who stabilizes the Corrino line for centuries. Valya doesn’t stand for subordinance and wonders whether Kasha should be taken off her post and dealt with.

Meanwhile, Ynez and Constantine head out that night for their final night in the Imperial World. As they head out to paint the town red (pun absolutely intended given the theme of red in Ynez’s nightmare), Ynez sleeps with Keiran.

At the Imperium, Desmond speaks to the Emperor. He warns that while the forces will work to sort the troubles out on Arrakis, it won’t do anything about the insurgency inside the palace.

Desmond warns that there are too many people starting to question the Great Houses and the share of spices. After all, if the Emperor stops all of this, he’d be cast out and “fed to the great worms.” He’s worried about the Wedding, but he tries to stand by his decision to put trust in Kasha. Of course, he’s unaware that he’s being manipulated.

That night, the Emperor looks over the footage from Arrakis while Desmond speaks to Pruwet, who can’t sleep. He points out that there’s an enemy within, controlling and manipulating how they think. Desmond coolly reveals that to win a war, they need a sacrifice. And that sacrifice? Pruwet. Desmond kills the kid, throwing the wedding and the plan the Sisterhood have been crafting for decades, into chaos.

As Pruwet is killed, Kasha too is killed and Valya watches in shock as she’s fried to a cinder in the corridor.

The Episode Review

The problem with a prequel like this, is you need likable characters to drive the story forward. If not, then we need a plucky antihero of sorts that we can rally behind. Unfortunately, Prophecy has none of that. Coming at this from someone who has read the first book but never the following novels, and watched the two movies, my knowledge in the lore surrounding this world is limited.

I’m sure fans of the books will go into a lot more detail than I will on the subject but so far, Prophecy, as a stand-alone show accompanying the aforementioned films, does absolutely nothing to endear itself to fans.

It’s slow, plodding and full of unlikable characters. There’s a thin sliver of misandry running throughout too, which makes sense for the Sisterhood, but it’s ironic then that the only half-likable character here is the Emperor… which happens to be a man.

Valya is terrible as a character, killing someone within 5 minutes and barely batting an eye, while the diverse range of Truthsayers having absolutely nothing unique about them at all. There’s some teen angst thrown in, while we see Ynez’s true colours come about, but in terms of the meat surrounding this show, there’s a lot of clunky exposition and not much in the way of plot progression. That is, until the end of the episode.

The graphic way of killing off Pruwet and Kasha is definitely a turning point for this one and a suitable cliffhanger to keep people coming back but whether it’s good enough to warrant this prequel series – which so far doesn’t get off to a particularly outstanding start – is up for debate. Hopefully net week’s chapter improves.