Reviewed by Alicia Glass 

Set in the expansive universe of Dune some 10,000 years before the events of Frank Herbert’s original Dune and the rise of Paul Atreides, the show follows the early days of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood and the ascent of a terrible and destructive prophecy. 

Welcome back to the many worlds of Dune! The war with the thinking machines, known amongst the Dune denizens as the Butlerian Jihad and that is a whole other prequel series they should make into a show right now but we digress, is a very recent memory, and most forms of computer-like technology are now considered all but blasphemous. Humanity barely won against the thinking machines that 80 or so years ago, and now humans are banding together in various types of schools, to pool their knowledge and teach their younglings various human skills so they don’t disappear. The Corrino Imperium still sits arrogantly on the throne with the various Noble houses of humanity in attendance, but the human alliance that came together to fight the thinking machines is a tenuous thing at best. And now a new threat shines out like blue eyes in the deep shadows, spurring the Sisterhood and a great many others into action! 

First off be aware, the fledgling Sisterhood that will become the fabled and incredibly powerful Bene Gesserit in the events of Herbert’s 1965 OG novel, is at this particular moment run by a pair of Harkonnen sisters, and because of this, mildly in disgrace. They don’t really go into what exactly the Harkonnens did during the war against the thinking machines that caused their Houses fortunes to take a serious downturn, but by and large Albulard Harkonnens actions on the Bridge of Hrethgir (it’s a book thing, read the prequel Butlerian Jihad books already) are considered cowardly beyond belief and brought great shame upon House Harkonnen. As is the way here in Dune, the Harkonnens in general blame of course House Atreides for their actions during the Battle of Corrin and pretty much all throughout the war against the thinking machines, but also the Corrino Imperium at large, as Corrinos aren’t exactly known for their mercy, pity, or forgiveness. Vendettas are declared often, some openly and many not, and the young Harkonnen daughters Valya (Jessica Barden) and Tula (Emma Canning) are expected to both take vengeance and turn their House fortunes around, within their lifetimes and with little to no help from the men of House Harkonnen. 

The Elders of House Harkonnen, especially the girls’ mother Sonia (Polly walker), father Vergyl (David Bark-Jones) and uncle Evgeny (Mark Addy) often accuse Valya of being riddled with ambition and rage, a black stain on their House that’s likely to explode with vengeance against those she considers their enemies, and to take her somewhat kinder sister Tula down with her. Their brother Griffin (Earl Cave), one of the nicer Harkonnens you’ll ever meet, finds his unfortunate end far too quickly and this only pushes young Valya closer to the edge of Harkonnen fury. Though in a gorgeously realized scene of idyllic picnic and Noble hunting romance turned to deadly retribution, young Tula demonstrates just how ruthless the Harkonnens can actually be, and it is bloody brilliant. 

The Corrino Imperium, on the other hand, currently ruled if you can call it that by the Padishah Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong), is a shining thing, full of rich history and tradition and for most intents and purposes about as useful as a chocolate teapot. Only the Emperor’s shock troopers, those terrifying soldiers known as Sardaukar, keep the unruly Nobles in line and the others from just overrunning the Imperium. The Emperor’s wife, Natalya (Jodhi May), who united thousands of worlds when she wed a Corrino about basically joined large parts of the Imperium together, has her hands full trying to wrangle her wayward daughter, the Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina), who wants nothing more than to run off with the Imperium’s Swordmaster, one Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason), rather than wed someone half her age for the good of the Imperium. And then there’s Javicco’s illegitimate son Constantine (Josh Heuston), acknowledged but barely, living alongside his Princess sister but without his Sisterhood-trained mother Sister Francesca (Tabu), he strains the easy familial bonds of peace Javicco desires and yearns to do his own thing regardless of empire ambitions. 

Due to previously mentioned circumstances, the Emperor’s Truthsayer from the Sisterhood, Reverend Mother Kasha Jinjo (Jihae), has her loyalty to both the Sisterhood and the Imperium called into question when an enigmatic figure from seemingly nowhere shows up and starts challenging everything. 

Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) is a soldier who came most recently, he claims, from surviving being swallowed by Shai Hulud, that’s right the giant sandworms of of the Dune planet Arrakis, to the throne of the Corrino Empire, to gain Javicco’s ear and trust. Hart has a clear vendetta against all Truthsayers and the fledgling Sisterhood in particular, it turns out with very good reason, but that isn’t explored until after Hart has demonstrated his capacity for ruthless bloodshed several times over. Hart takes the edict of ‘thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind’ as quite clear gospel, and several poor House Richese Nobles die as a direct result of it. (House Richese in particular is known for their manufacture of sophisticated machines that serve the Imperium.) Desmond Hart demonstrates shocking mental powers far beyond the scope of most humans at this point in the Duneiverse, which is actually a direct result of the Sisterhood manipulation of genetic bloodlines between the Great Houses and other specials of humanity, but also their insistence on the severing of emotional ties between parent and child, in theory to better serve humanity as a whole. None of these things particularly serve to stabilize an admittedly volatile mind such as Desmond Hart possesses, and this was before he went to Arrakis and got all swallowed by a great sandworm! 

Back on Wallach XI, the homeworld of the Sisterhood, young Sisters are beginning their various trainings and their Reverend Mothers are forming factions amongst themselves after the death of the Sisterhoods founder, Mother Superior Raquella Berto-Anirul (Cathy Tyson). Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) has taken over as Mother Superior, with her biological sister Reverend Mother Tula (Olivia Williams) in tow, but challengers are often and plenty, as the Sisterhood holds many secrets, even from each-other. 

The Sisterhood rituals of undergoing the Agony so as to reach the female-doctrinated line of ones own genetic Other Memory has barely been established, and Raquella’s own granddaughter Reverend Mother Dorotea (Camilla Beeput), as pious as she may be, is already questioning the faith and effectiveness of such practices by her superiors, and we simply cannot have that. In fact, here in the present, the entire Sisterhood is being split into argumentative factions, mostly due to the hidden secret thinking computers Valya uses in order to keep track of all the bloodlines and genetics the Sisterhood has database, but other buried secrets are being brought to light whether the Harkonnen sisters like it or not, and lines are being drawn. When Mother Superior Raquella suffers a terrible and terrifying prophetic vision of a future reckoning that she dubs Tiran-arafel, the Burning Truth, and dies soon after, the Sight she could not unSee spreads like a plague through the Sisterhood, further separating the factions, as no-one can agree how to deal with the apparent evil that’s coming. And so Valya Harkonnen, now Mother Superior of the entire Sisterhood which she hangs onto with teeth and fingernails when necessary, wielding the formidable power of the Voice that cannot be denied, her sister Tula in tow, prepares to do whatevers necessary to ensure the survival of the Sisterhood in the Imperium! 

It has to be mentioned, because we Dune fans have waited through a zany Lynchian film classic, the fever-dream that would have been Jodorowsky’s Dune if it had ever gotten made, 2 epic Villeneuvue masterpiece movies, and a made-for-TV remake and an accompanying SciFi TV sequel miniseries starring James McAvoy, just for the moment that happened practically at the very end of Dune Prophecy Season 1 – the reveal of Sister Theodosia (Jade Anouka) as an actual Facedancer created by the Tleilaxu. V’s Dune Part 3 has been confirmed to have the return of Jason Momoa, but anyone who’s read the original Dune series from Herbert Sr. knows that he doesn’t return as the beloved Duncan Idaho he played in the first Dune, but as a ghola (clone) made by the hated Tleilaxu, sent to assassinate Muad’dib. And the introduction, done in a secretive and gloriously shocking reveal on the show finally, finally, of facedancers and the Tleilaxu in Dune Prophecy opens the door for such a thing to happen in the third film. 

Dune Prophecy The Complete First Season was co-released by HBO and Legendary Entertainment in glorious 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on May 13th, 2025, and comes with all six episodes, 5 extended featurettes, and one all-new bonus feature exclusive to the release. And of course, the show has been renewed for a second season at HBO, currently in pre-production!