samnestro

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.

The first episode was a little slow-moving but that's understandable seeing that it has a lot of heavy-lifting to do by getting the setting of the Butlerian Jihad out of the way first but it ended on a strong catalyst.

Episode 2 picks up from there and begins to coherently build on the nature of established characters to deliver court intrigue that is easy to follow (and believe me that's a compliment if you know anything about the Dune books) with charactes with clear motivations and a threat that is a strong contender to the Bene Gesserit.

The sets are gorgeous. The costumes are always fun to see especially if you take time to break down how fashion is depicted in different segments on society. There's a fun bit of psychological horror going on near the end.

Overall, a solid second step. If you had doubts that it would continue to needlessly tease out the threat with long, archaic conversations and exposition dumps, don't worry. It's a meaty one.