‘Dune: Prophecy’ Episode 1 “The Hidden Hand” Review: Walks Then Runs

The latest instalment in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune universe, Dune: Prophecy, is off to a great start but is far from perfect. Read our Dune: Prophecy episode 1 review below.

Dune as a franchise bewilders me. It’s so dense with lore and history that it can easily fall into the most niche of niches audience-wise, but happens to have done the opposite (see the box office gross of the recent two Dune films). I’m not well versed in the source material, bar the first half of the first book (authored by Frank Herbert), which makes something like this extremely appealing to me. 

‘Dune: Prophecy’ Episode 1 Review

Dune: Prophecy follows the creation of the Bene Gesserit, the all-female order of nun-like figures who possess magical powers as a product of intense training. The first episode specifically sets the playing field, introducing us to Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson), the current mother superior who is entrusted with preventing a vision that sisterhood founder Mother Superior Raquella Berto-Anirul (Cathy Tyson) sees. Over 30 years, Valya builds their sect and begins positioning the sisterhood behind the Empire, attempting to gain control of the throne. But not everything goes to plan, with the entrance of Arrakis soldier Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) who shakes things up. 

Dune: Prophecy is entrenched in mystery, but not necessarily one that must be solved. Even with the intense exposition in the prologue, which heavily details some of the lore that we didn’t get to hear in Dune. Perhaps most interestingly, and something that seems to be a big plot point is the confirmation of a Machine War (aka the Butlerian Jihad in the novels), where AI had previously enslaved humans but the great houses, specifically the Corrinos and the Atreides. It’s later played into more in the episode, but I am just loving the worldbuilding so far. I particularly love seeing this world from a more grounded level, even if the series concerns itself with a grand scheme.

The story itself is quite underbaked during the first half of the episode sadly, where the lore is more interesting than what is happening on screen at that time. This changes though about halfway into the nearly 70-minute-long episode, with what seems to be a pivotal wedding scene. From that point onwards, I was thoroughly hooked and had my eyes glued onto the screen for the remaining 30 minutes or so. I think another factor for this is that the script seemingly gets far better in the latter half of the runtime, where it felt more superficial in the beginning. 

But what makes up for this, is the amazing visuals which aren’t on par with Villeneuve’s films (which were shot by Greig Fraser) but then again, that’s a hard task considering the technical feat those films are considered to be. Instead, this series tries to be its own thing visually, still making sure to be grand and sweeping in nature. There are many wide shots here, usually used to mark settings or big and eventful scenes. A few shots and scenes that stood out to me were the bloodied stairs seen towards the end of the prologue, the introduction of Desmond Hart, and an inventive scene that contrasts the bright blue eyes of a Fremen bartender against the dirty and dark reds of the rest of the bar. 

The sound design here is quite good too, especially for a television series, making you still feel the scale of the world and its occupants, whilst on a tiny at-home screen. Dune Parts One and Two had the benefit of huge cinema screens backed by professional audio systems and are also widely considered to be some of the best audio technical work of the decade, so following that up is no easy task. This exceptional work allows some vision sequences in the series to really have an effect on the audience. This combined with fast-moving images and all sorts of zooms really works a charm. 

The performances here aren’t too noteworthy, but everyone understands the assignment. The show acts as an ensemble, and the cast assembled is really quite good. I particularly loved the performances given by Mark Strong, who plays Emperor Corrino, as well as Sarah-Sofie Boussnina as Princess Ynez, and of course Travis Fimmel as Desmond Hart. The latter channels Duncan Idaho energy, matching the charisma and charm portrayed by Jason Momoa in the first Dune instalment. 

Dune: Prophecy episode 1 is far from perfect, but it’s a solid attempt at continuing and building out the world Denis Villeneuve created with his masterful duology. Its worldbuilding is exceptional and more than makes up for a weak first half of the episode.

Dune: Prophecy episode 1 stars Emily Watson as Valya Harkonnen, Olivia Williams as Tula Harkonnen, Travis Fimmel as Desmond Hart, Mark Strong as Emperor Javicco Corrino, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina as Princess Ynez, and more. The episode was directed by Anna Foerster, and written by Diane Ademu-John. The episode is now streaming on HBO and Max.

What’s Next On ‘Dune: Prophecy’

This episode ended on quite a crazy note, ruining an alliance that was set up in the episode so where the follow-up episode goes is anybody’s guess. That being said, it’s safe to say that Desmond will likely get closer to the Emperor as a result of this, while Valya must put a new Truthsayer close to the throne, to continue her influence.

Dune: Prophecy episode 2 will debut seven days after the release of the first episode, on Sunday, November 24th, 2024, at 9 PM Eastern Time (ET). It will be titled “Two Wolves”, written by Elizabeth Padden and Kor Adana, and will have a runtime of 63 minutes.

Thanks for reading this Dune: Prophecy episode 1 review. Stay tuned here at Feature First, for the rest of our coverage of the six-episode miniseries.