“Dune: The Prophecy” – a prequel to the large-scale film epic Denis Villeneuve, based on the novel of the same name by sci-fi writer Frank Herbert. The new project is an adaptation of the books of the writer’s son, Brian Herbert, who after the death of his father decided to expand the universe of “Dune”. Immediately clarify: the series will not be Timothy Chalamet and Zendaya, because it is about events long before the birth of their characters. This is the story of the rise of the secret female order of Bene Gesserit, which conducted eugenic experiments for thousands of years to ensure that a messiah was born in the empire. Together with the editors of PythiaGuru, we speculate whether the series lives up to the expectations of fans of the books and movies.
Ten thousand years before Paul Atreides was born, the war between humans and artificial intelligence ended. The great houses of the Empire completely banned the use of robotics, so as not to repeat the monstrous catastrophe. Meanwhile, the mysterious female order of the Bene Gesserit, led by Reverend Mother Valea Harkonnen (Emily Watson) and her sister Tula (Olivia Williams), foresees a new threat to humanity. Bene Gesserit, with her powers of foresight and manipulation, begs the question: what role do predestination and free will play in shaping destiny? Analyzing the natal charts of celebrities, including fictional characters, like the characters in Dune, the Reverend Mother, or Paul Atreides, would give us a complementary insight into their motivation and purpose in the storyline written by the author.
To change the course of history, cunning sorceresses (you can’t call them otherwise) infiltrate the political circles of the empire and organize dynastic marriages: crossing different branches prepare the birth of the messiah-savior. But one day Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), an imperial soldier serving as the head of House Corrino (Mark Strong), arrives from the desert planet Arrakis to his home planet of Bene Gesserit Wallach IX. He claims to have gained the power of the sandworm Shai-Hulud and challenges the plans of the Bene Gesserit, in whom he sees a new enemy of humanity.
It’s worth saying here that unlike his father, Brian Herbert, author of “Dune: The Prophecy,” writes typical space soap operas that no longer have the philosophical and esoteric revelations of the first novels. But it’s the perfect material for a TV series, and that’s why his trilogy “The Great Schools of Dune” (2012-2016) was filmed simultaneously as Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation.
The series is markedly different from Villeneuve’s films in tone, atmosphere, and scale. The creators took inspiration from the first seasons of Game of Thrones, and the main action here revolves around palace intrigue within the House of Corrino. The hesitant Emperor Javico heeds the advice of the Order of the Bene Gesserit and agrees to marry off his adult daughter to the underage duke of another house, unknowingly fulfilling the eugenic designs of the witch-sisters. At the same time, new novices are raised within the women’s collective, discovering telepathic abilities and realizing that the path of their order may not be as righteous as they are led to believe in their classes.
Unfortunately, the series about space sorceresses with telepathic abilities turned out to be simply boring. The lack of ideas, imagination, and basic interest in the project can be felt in everything – from the decorations of palaces and spaceships, as if generated by neuroset, ending with the acting (does not save the series and two-time Oscar nominee, the star of Lars von Trier’s films Emily Watson). The lack of budget affected not only the poor graphics, but also the script: there is no sane action, the characters persistently portray that they are moving on them a terrible threat, but nothing but talk, it does not confirm. You have to fill the time with pointlessly long scenes in nightclubs and chambers, where orgies under the influence of psychoactive substances take place. And it looks like not “Game of Thrones”, but some “Magnificent Century”.
In “Dune: The Prophecy” the answer is unambiguous: the collective goal is above all and it is necessary to use any means, including legends and myths, to achieve power and subjugate the future. If before robots enslaved people, now – the past, the memory of war and new threats of destruction.
