REVIEW: ‘Dune: Prophecy’ Episode 1 – “The Hidden Hand”

The first episode of HBO’s Dune: Prophecy, entitled “The Hidden Hand,” is now streaming on Max. Following the surprise success of 2021’s Dune and the even larger success of its sequel, Dune: Part Two, it was a no-brainer that Warner Bros. would find some way to mine author Frank Herbert‘s illustrious franchise for more content. Showrunner Alison Schapker (Altered Carbon) drew from the Great Houses of Dune trilogy from Herbert’s son, Brian Herbert, and his writing partner, Kevin J. Anderson, without directly adapting events from those novels.

That’s quite a relief to the Dune fanbase, who have long maligned Brian Herbert’s contributions to the franchise. The question then becomes: Does Dune: Prophecy make a case for itself? It’s difficult to say at this juncture, but the first episode, “The Hidden Hand,” holds some promise.

Almost immediately, Dune: Prophecy jumps right into the lore. During the wars with “thinking machines,” a period known officially in the novels (but not in the series) as the Butlerian Jihad, an Atreides gains victory. At the same time, the Harkonnen family, who fled the battle, are sent into exile. The young Valya Harkonnen (Jessica Barden) finds a sisterhood of women trained to be “truthsayers,” meaning that they are advisors to the Dukes of the Great Houses who can detect when someone their Duke is dealing with is lying.

Director Anna Foerster (Underworld: Blood Wars) adequately captures the surreal intrigue of the band of women who will become the Bene-Gesserit sisterhood. Since this series does not have a fraction of the film budget, the brutalist, dreary look of the world of Wallach IX serves as a sufficient backdrop to bring the sisterhood’s schemes to the forefront. Mother Superior Raquella Berto-Anirul (Cathy Tyson) suddenly falls ill, seeing visions of the sandworms indigenous to the planet of Arrakis swallowing up a kingdom and a mysterious figure wearing a red gown.

Much to the chagrin of Reverend Mother Dorotea (Camilla Beeput), Raquella calls out for Valya. Valya is entrusted with the sisterhood, but not before warning of “Tiran-Arafel,” a reckoning that a tyrant will cause. As the rest of her sisters are mourning, Dorotea attempts to destroy the breeding program Raquella had devised so that the sisterhood could control universal events. Valya discovers this and tries to reason with Dorotea. When Dorotea doesn’t listen, Valya uses “The Voice,” a method of mind control she’s devised through speech, to make Dorotea slit her own throat.

The opening scenes of Dune: Prophecy Episode 1 get everything right. The production value doesn’t feel diminished, the performers are all committed, and the intrigue stays high. When the series shifts forward to Valya Harkonnen, now played by Emily Watson, as an adult in a period clarified as happening 10,148 years before the birth of Dune protagonist Paul Atreides, Dune: Prophecy Episode 1 starts to go a little off the rails.

The Wallach IX scenes focusing on the sisterhood play well, at least. Emily Watson nails the sturdy authority required of a Mother Superior, and her training in the sisterhood and candid conversations about leadership with her biological sister Tula (Olivia Williams) hit the right notes. Valya has trouble with Reverend Mother Kasha (Jihae), who is beginning to experience visions similar to Raquella that impede her duty as truthsayer to leader of House Corrino and Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong). Kasha is concerned that the political marriage of the Empress’ daughter Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) to the nine-year-old Lord Pruwet Richese (Charlie Hodson-Prior) will bring about the Tiran-Arafel that Raquella spoke of.

The Corrino storyline is where Dune: Prophecy Episode 1 gets a little lost in the weeds. First, there’s Princess Ynez, who is training to be a part of the sisterhood while also fulfilling royal duties and fighting her attraction to her swordmaster, Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason). Sarah-Sofie Boussnina lacks the requisite fire to make Ynez anything more than a cog in Valya’s machinations, intending to use her marriage to Lord Pruwet to stabilize the bloodlines for the sisterhood breeding program.

Emperor Corrino agrees to the marriage due to the promise by House Richese that, in exchange, House Corrino will receive additional support in protecting the mines on Arrakis, where the universe’s most valuable resource, spice, is gathered. Most of the scenes in Salusa Secundus, especially Corrino’s conversations with his wife Natalya (Jodhi May), feel like characters regurgitating exposition by episode writer Diane Ademu-John instead of organic conversation. It treats the characters like chess pieces, as mentioned before with Ynez, but we spend so much time on Salusa Secundus that more interiority is required.

Things get slightly more interesting on the Corrino end when soldier Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) shows up. Full of swagger and a rough-neck way about him, Hart recounts to Javicco that his operation on Arrakis is compromised, not by the Fremen, but by insurgents from the Imperium. Any scene Hart is in is filled to the brim with mystery. He’s an engaging enigma who, one second, will seem like a blue-collar man of purpose and then go off on a tangent about powers beyond ourselves.

Dune: Prophecy‘s inaugural episode’s centerpiece wedding begins to converge the storylines. The opulent ceremony, wherein Ynez is wearing a red gown similar to what’s been seen in Raquella’s vision, faces an unfortunate aftermath when the nine-year-old, shy Lord Pruwet shows Ynez something: a seemingly “alive,” lizard-like machine he holds. The hall stands in stunned silence as thinking machines have been outlawed. Emperor Javicco Corrino lets it slide, playing off the situation so as not to jeopardize his gains. It’s an intense moment that hints that the remnants of the thinking machine world will play a more significant part in future episodes.

After the wedding, Ynez heads off for a night of freedom in the “Lowers,” a cyberpunk-style area full of nightclubs. There, amidst pumping electronic music, she and Keiran have sex, as she will no longer be able to see him when she goes to House Richese in two days. It’s an odd sequence from many angles – be it the massive stylistic shift from the Dune we see or the sudden burst of eroticism – yet a welcome one that promises Dune: Prophecy will be expanding the visual language and subject matter featured in the Denis Villeneuve films.

The stinger of this episode is a doozy. As Pruwet Richese plays with his toy, Desmond Hart sits by him. Staring at him, Desmond somehow makes Pruwet burn alive from the inside. Valya awakens to the screaming of Kasha, who is burning alive in the same way. And that’s where we’re left at the end of “The Hidden Hand.”

After Dune: Prophecy Episode 1, there’s reason to be cautiously optimistic. The world continues to be well-realized, but the characters lack a certain depth that would send it over the edge. For now, lingering questions will keep audiences engaged. I’m very interested to see where the titular prophecy goes and how Valya’s actions will set the stage for the rise of the sinister Harkonnen family. It’s an admirable first effort that the following episodes must seriously build on to make the journey Dune: Prophecy intends to go on worthwhile.

New episodes of Dune: Prophecy arrive weekly on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and streaming on Max.