The Dune universe has once again attracted audiences, this time through the premiere of Dune: Prophecy on Max. This exciting new series is set 10,000 years before the events that fans saw in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies. It shows a period of history long before Paul Atreides rose to power.
The first episode, titled “The Hidden Hand,” introduces a universe in recovery. It shows a time when humanity is still healing from a devastating war against machines and the political systems of the future are taking shape.
One of the biggest focuses of the episode is the state of the universe. Humanity is still recovering from the Butlerian Jihad, a war that took place against sentient machines.
These machines were once integral to the galaxy, but after the war, humanity outlawed the use of such technology. This conflict has left deep scars, and as the episode unfolds, it is clear that its impact still echoes in the decisions and attitudes of the people and factions that remain.
Humanity Struggling to Recover from the Butlerian Jihad
The episode opens with a flashback to a century earlier, during the final battle of the Butlerian Jihad. In this scene, viewers get a glimpse of the war that shaped the future of the universe. Valya Harkonnen, voiced by Emily Watson, provides a voiceover explaining that history often claims that an Atreides led humanity to victory over the thinking machines.
However, Valya challenges this version of history, claiming that the real story has been distorted. According to her, the Harkonnen family, which she is a part of, was wrongly labeled as cowardly and banished to a desolate world.
This altered history sets the stage for Valya’s journey. Many decades later, we see her as a young woman, voiced by Jessica Barden. Along with her sister, Tula, Valya joins the Sisterhood on Wallach IX, a world where the order has been established by Raquella Berto-Anirul.
Raquella is the first Mother Superior of the Sisterhood and serves as a motherly figure to Valya. Under her guidance, Valya learns the ways of the Sisterhood, which trains women to serve as Truthsayers. These women help the Great Houses of the galaxy discern truth from lies, allowing the Sisterhood to form a powerful network of influence across the Imperium.
Despite her strong abilities and potential, Valya’s Harkonnen heritage makes her an outcast within the Sisterhood. However, her life changes after the death of Mother Raquella. On her deathbed, Raquella shares a vision with Valya, one of a sandworm swallowing the Sisterhood headquarters in a desert.
The vision ends with a pair of mysterious blue mechanical eyes. Raquella warns Valya of an upcoming reckoning for the galaxy, telling her that she “will be the one to see the burning truth and know.”
Raquella’s passing causes a brief divide within the Sisterhood. Reverend Mother Dorotea, played by Camilla Beeput, refuses to recognize Valya as the rightful leader and threatens to destroy the genetic matrix that the Sisterhood uses to track the lineage of the Great Houses.
Valya, however, is able to stop her with a technique she has mastered called the Voice, which allows her to control others with her words. She orders Dorotea to kill herself, thus establishing her dominance and setting the stage for her leadership.
Valya Plans Humanity’s Future in ‘Dune: Prophecy’ Episode 1
Fast forward thirty years, and Valya is now the Mother Superior of the Sisterhood. She has built a thriving order, and Tula, now voiced by Olivia Williams, is her most trusted advisor. Tula teaches young girls the ways of the Sisterhood, including martial arts, brain anatomy (focusing on detecting lies), and the art of Truthsaying.
The Sisterhood is flourishing, with young girls from all over the galaxy eager to join their ranks. This development also ties into a larger plan that Valya has been quietly orchestrating over the years.
One of Valya’s most important tasks is training Princess Ynez Corrino, the heir to the Golden Lion Throne, to join the Sisterhood. Princess Ynez, voiced by Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, is set to spend ten years with the Sisterhood, where she will be trained as a Truthsayer.
This is part of a long-term strategy to ensure that a member of the Sisterhood will eventually sit on the throne and have significant power over the Imperium.
The episode reveals that Valya has been watching the behavior of the Great Houses closely, using her network of Truthsayers to track their movements. Valya has also implemented a secret breeding program, encouraging the Great Houses to marry according to a specific genetic plan.
This plan will, in theory, eventually put a Sister on the throne. To ensure that the plan proceeds smoothly, Valya assigns Kasha, a Truthsayer (played by Jihae Kim), to be close to both Princess Ynez and Emperor Javicco Corrino, the ruler of the Imperium.
Political Tensions Build as House Corrino Struggles to Control the Imperium
At the same time, the power of the Imperium is unstable. House Corrino, which rules the Imperium, is struggling to maintain control. The Fremen, the desert people of Arrakis, remain a significant challenge. They have not been pacified, and their control of the spice supply is a key issue.
To stabilize the Imperium, Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong) arranges for the marriage of Princess Ynez to Pruwet Richese (Charlie Hodson-Prior) of House Richese. This union is meant to secure the throne and maintain control over the spice supply, which is crucial to the power of the Imperium.
However, not everyone agrees with this plan. Empress Natalya, played by Jodhi May, strongly disapproves of the marriage, but Javicco sees it as the only viable solution. Tensions rise as different factions in the Imperium fight for influence over the throne, while the looming shadow of the past war clouds everyone’s decisions.
In the midst of these tensions, a mysterious stranger named Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) arrives. Hart is a former soldier who fought for the Imperium on Arrakis, but he mysteriously survived an attack that wiped out his entire regiment.
Desmond’s arrival shakes things up, especially when he tells Emperor Javicco that the attack he survived was not carried out by the Fremen, as everyone assumed, but by rebel insurgents from within the other noble houses. This revelation catches the attention of the Emperor and his Truthsayer, Kasha.
A Dangerous Vision of the Future
As the royal engagement celebrations unfold, a strange vision begins to haunt Kasha. She has a vision of Princess Ynez in her red wedding dress, being swallowed by a sandworm, with Ynez calling out that Kasha “did this.” The vision ends with the same mysterious pair of mechanical blue eyes and an unintelligible message.
Distressed by the vision, Kasha travels to Wallach IX to speak with Valya and ask her to cancel Ynez’s wedding. However, Valya refuses, warning Kasha to stay true to the Sisterhood’s mission.
During the engagement party, an incident occurs when Pruwet Richese accidentally releases his robot pet. Robots, or “thinking machines,” were banned after the Butlerian Jihad, and the incident causes Empress Natalya to call for the wedding to be canceled.
However, Emperor Javicco minimizes the situation, and Pruwet faces no real consequences. Frustrated, Princess Ynez lashes out at Pruwet and later spends the night with her swordmaster, Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason), in a secret relationship.
The next day, Desmond Hart speaks with Emperor Javicco again, offering his views on the state of the Imperium. He tells the Emperor that the problems the Imperium faces, especially with Arrakis, go far beyond simple political alliances.
According to Hart, there is an insurgency at work, and people are beginning to question the ban on thinking machines. Hart expresses his disdain for the Sisterhood and suggests that the true threat may be something much larger than anyone realizes.
Tragic Deaths and a Dark Revelation
That night, something tragic occurs. Desmond Hart has a private conversation with young Pruwet, who is struggling with a nightmare. Hart tells the boy about a war that is “hidden in plain sight,” being fought by an enemy who manipulates everyone and does their thinking for them.
He assures Pruwet that his sacrifice won’t be in vain. Moments later, Pruwet dies painfully, his body burning from the inside out. This shocking death mirrors the death of Kasha on Wallach IX, who also dies in agony, screaming as Valya and the other sisters watch in horror.
As Kasha dies, Valya whispers, “I see, Mother. I see.” This moment suggests that the “burning truth” that Raquella had foretold has finally come to pass.
A New Beginning for Dune: Prophecy
With its first episode, Dune: Prophecy sets the stage for a political and spiritual revolution. As the episode closes, the real story of the Dune saga begins to unfold, revealing a deep web of deceit, prophecy, and war that will have lasting consequences on the galaxy.
As Valya Harkonnen takes center stage as a pivotal figure, her fate, and that of the Imperium, lies at the intersection of truth, power, and destruction.
