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Dune: Prophecy boss explains why the series premiere ends with those shocking events

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Dune: Prophecy boss explains why the series premiere ends with those shocking events

As a long-time fan of the Dune saga, I must say that the series premiere of “Dune: Prophecy” has certainly lived up to my expectations. The intricate web of politics and power struggles, the rich world-building, and the complex characters have all been expertly brought to life in this adaptation.

In the first episode of Dune: Prophecy, titled “The Hidden Hand”, we encounter various characters involved in the perpetual struggle for power over the Imperium. Reverence Mother Kasha, portrayed by Jihae, serves as the personal truthsayer to the emperor, played by Mark Strong, and is secretly maneuvering events so that the emperor’s daughter Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) can eventually ascend to the throne and become empress. Ynez harbors a sense of understanding for the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, where Kasha belongs, and the Bene Gesserit are renowned for their ambition.

For this purpose, Kasha successfully persuaded the emperor to allow Ynez to marry Pruwet Richese (Hodson Prior), a young boy and heir to a powerful house. As the episode drew to a close, both Kasha and Preset met their end, tragically killed by Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), who aimed to diminish the Bene Gesserit’s influence across the known universe, leaving them charred from within.

During a recent roundtable discussion with journalists, including myself, we asked Alison Schapker, the showrunner of Dune: Prophecy, about the unexpected ending of the first episode. Slashfilm wanted to know why they chose to end it in such a surprising manner.

In essence, Schapker explained that they purposefully aimed to acquaint us with the Bene Gesserit in the initial episode. A key aspect of this introduction is recognizing that their schemes unfold over an extended period. In this instance, the scheme initiated centuries ago was designed to secure control over the throne by positioning someone who would be loyal to the sisterhood, knowledgeable about it, and even a disciple of it. Valya Harkonnen, our second Mother Superior, is nearly achieving her plan’s culmination. However, by the end of the premiere, this carefully orchestrated plan encounters a significant upheaval.

And I think that was very much a conscious kind of, ‘ok, now, we’re gonna get to see: how does she respond to this antagonist?’ So that tonal shift of something coming at you and upending everything that had carefully been put over place in place over decades, that was something we were looking forward to kind of putting in motion as kind of an inciting moment of the series.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll observe Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) and her sisters’ reactions to this unusual danger. It seems that there’s a lot of curiosity, as Deadline reports that the premiere drew in approximately 1.2 million viewers between HBO and Max on Sunday alone. The viewership increased significantly the following day, resulting in a total of around 2.1 million viewers over the two days.

Ahead of its release, I had the chance to preview the initial four episodes of “Dune: Prophecy”, and each one seems to surpass the last in quality. I’m eagerly anticipating the storyline to build further momentum. Fresh installments of “Dune: Prophecy” are released every Sunday night on HBO and Max.

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2024-11-20 20:41

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