Twice Born

Again, I must start with the praise that there is genuine heart and care in this project on the creative team's behalf. Sets, music, costumes, down to the tiniest details, they are all done with respect to the source material. There's even an intriguing story of a brewing showdown between the great mental schools, formed during and after the Butlerian Jihad, buried deeper than Shai Hulud in the Southern desert.

Because dear Maker, the writers do everything in their power to steer you from enjoying it. The dialogues are some of the worst I have seen on TV. Wannabe pseudo-intelligent sentences like "You need to burn down something before saving it" made me cringe like rarely before. Do you even read what you write down?

Also, clunky exposition dumps again. "My favourite Ixian" - since when do normal people talk like that? Do you talk that? Or are they just stuffing this sentence in so the audience knows that Ix exists and makes machines? Wouldn't a casual "What news from Ix" have been more natural?

Character work is abysmal and those who have the focus are getting stupider by the minute. Don't believe me? Well, let me give a few examples:

• The double agent sister, not warning Vayla that key members of their feigned coup plot are being rounded up and taken away. Lady, you had one job.

• The empress throwing both her husband and Desmond under the bus by leaking info about the Richese assassination plot because she THINKS it will push the events into the right direction? Well, what would've happened if Richese already rallied the houses against you? Or one of their allies? What if Desmond was killed or put out of the equation entirely? Or heck, even if he just arrived 5 minutes later to the trial? She had neither the influence nor the competence, or the knowledge to shape the events the way they've been shaped. One might say she's lucky, like, winning the jackpot twice in a row lucky. I say, it's hack writing.

The male leader characters not only returned to their episode 1 portrayals, they actually became so much worse. The Prince? Useless. Emperor Corrino? A puppet. Every single leader of the great houses? Gullible fools. Baron Harkonnen? A pitiful useless wimp. Old Baron Harkonnen? A pathetic nobody. I am so sorry for Mark Strong and Mark Addy, being wasted in such a god-awful script.

Let me state again the obvious: the Sisterhood is awesome in the books because they thrive in a universe where strong male characters shape the fate of the universe (or so they think). This? This is just a pathetic copy, where we're supposed to cheer for an MMA champion for taking a candy bar from a kid. The writers want strong light but no strong dark. It just doesn't work like that.

Dune: Prophecy has a lot of moving parts but manages to anchor itself in a familiar narrative, one reminiscent of Russia's last Romanov monarchs: the story of weak rulers swayed by a mad zealot who promises them power and destiny.

In the wake of the Butlerian Jihad, a new power rises: the psychic arms-race. And to see the various sub-plots clearly converge into an inevitable clash between established quasi-religious instituitions and the monarchy is one I find thoroughly engaging.

Now, the show so far is not without its faults. Some might argue that the characters are in service to the story and they feel it should be the other way around. I.e. Characters sometimes merely exist to be placed into factions rather than to be explored. However, I'd argue that the show does a phenomenal job of setting up the stakes and delivering emotional and plot pay-offs.

It's not trying to be Game of Thrones because it feels confident enough in its premise to be its own thing. Its a cautionary tale of how humanity trades its freedom for security, and inevitably one master for another. Perhaps not as well-written as Frank Herbert's prose but still very much in line with the spirit of his work.

Overall, Dune: Prophecy is a fantastic tie-in to the burgeoning Dune franchise...as long as it remains a strong, tight miniseries.

Honestly I'm not gonna lie my heart was racing so so so fast When both Desmond hart and Valia were in the same room, oh my God I was so drown in fear mixed with being so nervous about what is happening I honestly loved that feeling because not many TV shows or films can make me feel this strong about an event. Actually that rarely happened especially with heart racing And i was so Surprised too about what happened after their meeting it was so iconic i will never forget this moment.

I not gonna talk about what happened and what I think about what happened I would like to save it for later for some reasons.

This episode is like silk and kashmir rubbing each other, making sweet frames of sound and picture. The amber scene is perfect, nothing to add, nothing to remove, the light, the shadows, the music, the acting, the camera angle, the word perfect is not used lightly here. If Awards mean anything anymore this episode deservs the all.

This episode is like silk and kashmir rubbing each other, making sweet frames of sound and picture. The amber scene is perfect, nothing to add, nothing to remove, the light, the shadows, the music, the acting, the camera angle, the word perfect is not used lightly here. If Awards mean anything anymore this episode deservs the all.

I felt like last week was a bit slow but good plot building, Travis fimmel is stealing the show for me. He was brilliant in vikings and he is brilliant in this, he is perfect for these kind of roles.

Really enjoying this series so far, a good example of a week to week show.. the pacing is perfect, the story is a lot easier to follow than it was in the films I would say and its presented a lot better with more interesting characters.

A lot of new shows have fell short of the mark, this feels a lot fresher than the house of the dragon and the rings of power, maybe its because its a new world and idea rather than a good idea that is badly delivered. HOTD and TROP both seem poorly written with bad scripts and to put it frankly just milking the success of prior productions, this on the other hand is great. Roll on next week.