Prophecy” on Max, there are almost only bad guys and it’s refreshing

TV SERIES – Return to Arrakis, well almost. This Sunday night, November 17, Max posted the first episode of the series online Dune : Prophecy. Adapted from the literary saga of Frank Herbert just like the films with Timothée Chalamet, its plot takes place a hundred centuries earlier, in a ruthless universe where almost no one has good intentions.

The series is inspired by the book Dune: The Sisterhood by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert (son of Frank Herbert) published in 2012. The novel is the first in the trilogy Dune: the originsprequel to the cult saga published in 1965.

Dune : Prophecy follows the political maneuverings of the “sisters” ancestors of the Bene Gesserit, led by Valya and Tula Harkonnen. They are trying to prevent a tragic prophecy announcing their annihilation from coming true, while fulfilling their dream of ultimate manipulation of power. But many obstacles will stand in their way, including the terrifying Desmond Hart.

Villain Palette

Faithful to the universe imagined by Frank Herbert, the series takes viewers among large families and people with competing ambitions. A bit like a Game of Thrones space opera style, Dune : Prophecy unfolds its characters and its intrigues gradually, each episode placing new pawns. But on the chessboard, we don't really know who we would like to see win. And it's pretty exhilarating.

One of the most intriguing aspects of this new HBO creation is indeed its gallery of protagonists and their relationships. These are almost all consumed by ambition, blind devotion or a God complex. The relationships that bind them to each other are, in the vast majority, toxic. Bonds made of control, manipulation, domination and treachery. With at the top of the list Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson), the mother superior of the Sisters and Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), the former soldier of Arrakis endowed with mysterious powers.

The spirit of Dune

Even the young princesses and the “innocent” acolytes of the Community have their secrets and their own agenda. Only a few rare figures, seemingly naive, seem to be (for the moment) on the “good” side, like the emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong) or the discreet Tula Harkonnen, crushed by the weight of her sister's ambition .

We find in Dune : Prophecy many elements of Frank Herbert's sprawling universe which already captivated us when reading the novels and in the two recent feature films: the planet Arrakis, its giant worms, its Fremen people; the Empire and its fragile foundations, its court intrigues and its political shenanigans with the great houses; or the Bene Gesserit and its sisters “inhabited” by mystical visions and an excessive thirst for control. And we discover new rivalries and new issues, all in neat settings that have nothing to envy of science fiction films.

Yes, we must detach ourselves, as much as possible, from the films of Denis Villeneuve. The Max series does not have the ambition, nor the excess, nor the special effects budget, nor the epic breath. This is what is said. Now, after watching the first episodes of the series, it is clear that it does not lack flavor. And not simply because the precious Spice (the most prized substance in the universe of Dune) is once again central.

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