Dune: Prophecy permits its feminine results in play each hero and villain.
Dune: Prophecy opens with a thesis assertion. It comes because the Reverend Mom Tula Harkonnen (performed by Olivia Williams), a member of the highly effective, quasi-religious order referred to as the Sisterhood, instructs a gaggle of novices within the refined artwork of Truthsaying, which is used to find out whether or not somebody is being dishonest. “Humanity’s biggest weapon is the lie,” she tells them—each the justification for the lesson and a proof of the ethos that the Dune universe’s inflexible imperial society runs on. However the Sisters’ weapon isn’t simply their capability to smell out lies; it’s additionally their capability to inform them. Tula and her fellow Sisters are usually not merely reacting to the misleading males accountable for the empire, as portrayed within the Dune books. As a substitute, the ladies of Dune: Prophecy are the present’s heroes and its villains.
Toying with the binary of “good” and “dangerous”—and who falls into which class—is a core curiosity of the Dune franchise. The novelist Frank Herbert’s (predominantly male) heroes are sure by advantage, however they’re additionally deeply flawed: Paul Atreides, the protagonist of the primary Dune novel, is a deconstruction of the messianic determine, his seemingly divine traits the results of forces past his management. The reader is inspired to root for Paul, however the story’s climax argues that the existence of an all-powerful despot spells dangerous information for a fragile interstellar empire.
Dune: Prophecy depends on Frank Herbert’s antihero mannequin in recounting the origins of the Sisterhood, a nunlike order of duplicitous superwomen ultimately referred to as the Bene Gesserit. Prophecy is predicated on the prequel novel Sisterhood of Dune—written by Brian Herbert, Frank’s son, with the author Kevin J. Anderson—which follows the high-ranking (and biologically associated) Sisters Tula and Mom Superior Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) of their pursuit to develop their order. Their purpose is to control the noble homes into putting in one in every of their members on the imperial throne, thus cementing the Sisterhood’s management over the identified universe.
A extra apparent interpretation of this story would maybe have girlboss-ified these characters, portray them as an impartial and influential group of girls decided to avoid wasting humanity from its darkest impulses. As a substitute, although Tula, Valya, and their co-conspirators see themselves as saviors, Prophecy ensures that the viewers doesn’t. The present repeatedly reveals the ladies’s hypocrisy: They don’t have any downside utilizing the very lies they deem forbidden to everybody else, they usually’ll go to extremes to guard their legacy.
The sequence’ antagonistic view of the Sisterhood is an enlargement of the order’s portrayal in Frank Herbert’s work. Within the first ebook, the creator reduces the Bene Gesserit to a cautionary story of hubris: Paul thwarts their millennia-long efforts to affect the empire for their very own acquire. Dune: Prophecy deepens the viewers’s understanding of why these girls crave absolute energy regardless of its risks, and their despicable strategies to achieve it. Within the Dune-iverse, your legacy is your future, however for the Sisters, future is simply one other device at their disposal.
Prophecy’s emphasis on its principal characters’ inconsistent morals is a refreshing change from different female-led fantasy sequence of late. Latest exhibits have usually inspired viewers to root for the ladies at their heart: HBO’s Home of the Dragon renders its central former pals turned sworn enemies as tragic, not malicious. The Wheel of Time’s sorceresses battle to avoid wasting their world’s supply of magic from the forces of darkness. A feminine Elf commander leads the battle for Center-earth on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy, and it’s not even an actual contest. When the battle is heroes versus villains, it’s straightforward to know which facet to face on, and thus a bit of boring to interact with.
The Sisterhood, in contrast, is sneaky and manipulative and amoral. These alienating qualities don’t maintain Prophecy or its characters again; the Sisters’ ethical turpitude drives each the empire and the intrigue ahead. However what’s most compelling is how these girls rely upon, and infrequently promote, the Dune universe’s strict, gendered constructions. They organize marriages, making certain that noblewomen bear kids that keep on humanity’s most coveted genes, and uphold the technologically superior empire’s archaic system of lords and serfs. The place different sequence in its style are likely to showcase robust feminine characters breaking freed from sexist restraints, Prophecy exhibits how its girls leads use discrimination and subjugation to their benefit.
Not all of this works. The present has already gotten its justifiable share of criticism for its use of sure supply materials (some Frank Herbert purists contemplate the Brian Herbert prequels noncanonical) and for its depiction of some components of the lore. However its core themes—the corrupting attract of management, the risks of placing the longer term within the arms of grasping autocrats—align intently with these of the unique Dune novels. Just like the elder Herbert’s male leads, Prophecy’s girls willfully perpetuate a cycle of abused energy and depravity. Their actions are their very own, they usually’re not ashamed of them.
