Table of Contents
- 1 A mysterious mercenary entraps the worried Emperor
- 2 “Vikings” star Travis Fimmel knows how to create crazy characters
- 3 In “Game of Thrones” there weren’t exactly dragons flying through the air
- 4 A franchise’s backstory evokes a sense of home
- 5 The feud between the houses almost became a Romeo and Juliet story
- 6 What elements in “Dune: Prophecy” resonate with themes found in “Game of Thrones” and “Star Wars”?
The young woman who wants to sell the whale meat is as grumpy as the weather on the planet Lankivel. Snow, ice, basalt gray skies – sailors dismantling hairy leviathans on the frozen beach. Valya Harkonnen despises her father and mother, who seem to be content with being banished to this inhospitable place. Her uncle was falsely accused of cowardice in the space battle of Corrin – by one of House Atreides. Valya wants to avenge the disgrace and restore the family’s reputation, whatever the cost. A dispute for which she will go all out, for which she will involve everyone, which will survive her for 10,000 years until the appearance of the messianic Paul Atreides, protagonist of the two overwhelming “Dune” films (2021/24) by Denis Villeneuve.
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The HBO series “Dune: Prophecy” tells the story of the “Sisterhood,” a group of women with supernatural powers of vision and manipulation that form the Bene Gesserit order known from the films. The powerful mystics, decried as witches by the common people, forge alliances with royal families, take their daughters as students and install wives and concubines from their ranks at the courts.
Without Spice the big houses would feed me to the worm.
Javicco Corrino,
Imperator
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Their primary goal is to bring the people of all planets onto the path of enlightenment. To this end, they also use the technology that has been banned in the Empire since the Machine Wars (Butlerian Jihad) for their “genetic library” in order to “breed out better leaders”. The fact that the order’s founder, Raquella, sees the particularly talented but vengeful Valya as a possible successor infects the plan and sets a drama in motion. Shit happens. The Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn was also enthusiastic about little Anakin Skywalker and didn’t see Darth Vader in him.
A mysterious mercenary entraps the worried Emperor
The Emperor of the Star Empire, Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong), wants his daughter Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina), the heir to the Lion Throne, to be trained by the sisterhood before she marries the underage son of a prince – a connection that the ruler should secure a fleet of spaceships. The empire is neither happy nor stable; a rebellion is brewing underground.
And the sinister, pyrokinetically gifted mercenary Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), who appears out of nowhere and is angry about thefts of the all-purpose raw material Spice on the planet Arrakis aka Dune, increasingly entangles the ruler, to the dismay of the sisterhood. Spice is his insurance: “Without spice, the big houses would feed me to the worm,” whispers Corrino, alluding to the titanic creatures in the sands of Arrakis.
“Vikings” star Travis Fimmel knows how to create crazy characters
One comes from the rather mediocrely entertaining novel “The Throne of the Desert Planet” (Sisterhood of Dune – 2012), which Brian Herbert, son of “Dune” creator Frank Herbert, wrote together with sci-fi colleague Kevin J. Anderson Series that – as far as one can tell from the four episodes available for viewing – can compete with HBO’s “Game of Thrones”. A world of intrigue and conspiracies, of fragile alliances and open hostilities, of fear and mistrust unfolds before the viewer, opulently illustrated by Pierre Gill’s cameras and supported by a superb ensemble.
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It is led by Emily Watson (older Valya) and Olivia Williams (her sister Tula), with Jessica Barden and Emma Canning also perfectly cast as the younger versions of the Harkonnen sisters. And “Vikings” star Travis Fimmel flashes a similar amount of will-o’-the-wisp in his character as he did in Ridley Scott’s – unfortunately unfinished – sci-fi saga “Raised By Wolves”. Crazy – Fimmel can do that.
In “Game of Thrones” there weren’t exactly dragons flying through the air
The writing team around showrunner Alison Schapker (“Alias,” “Fringe”) brings a lot of realism and politics to the fantastical. And the music by German composer Volker Bertelmann has a fittingly infernal menacing tone that is reminiscent of his work for Edward Berger’s war film “Nothing New in the West” (2022). The Hollywood Reporter saw “Dune: Prophecy” as a “‘House of The Dragon’ with (quite a few) sandworms instead of (an awful lot of) dragons.”
But to be fair, one would have to compare the first franchise series with each other. And in “Game of Thrones,” the three Khaleesi dragons – dwarf fire breathers – were only born in the very last scene of the first season.
A franchise’s backstory evokes a sense of home
If the franchise is big enough, the success of the previous story is guaranteed because there is always a longing for “more of the good”. The allusions to the central story and the recognition of design modifications create a cozy feeling of home in the viewer. The two major sci-fi franchises “Star Wars” (with the second film trilogy, which took a generational leap back in 1999) and “Star Trek” (which marked the 90th anniversary of the “Enterprise” series in 2001) initially successfully explored how it all began or was before before the Kirk Spock era).
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“House of The Dragon” is currently set 200 years before the events of the parent series “Game of Thrones” and tells of the murderous throne chaos and a war called “Dragon Dance” after the death of the Targaryen King Viserys. The series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” predates Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” films by around 3,000 years. And although it basically tells the same story – Sauron is grasping for power and should be prevented from doing so – the second season was one of Amazon Prime Video’s big autumn hits. Fictional historical research – it’s fun to watch.
A 10,000-year time jump like in “Dune: Prophecy” is unheard of so far. It is surprising that so little has changed in this world. The black melange of hatred, oppression and desolation that Villeneuve showed in his two films so intensely that it was like a taste on the tongue has not yet been achieved, and the monumental buildings are not yet so intimidatingly oppressive. However, a claustrophobic feeling of doom creeps over you.
The feud between the houses almost became a Romeo and Juliet story
A series with a great future – and not just because of the 10,000 years. The feud between Houses Harkonnen and Atreides could have ended early, as we learn here. With two lovers from the enemy camps kissing and making love in a forest house of the Atreides people before the boy proposes to the girl. He believes in a shared future.
Until he suddenly notices how quiet it has become outside the village.
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„Dune: Prophecy“, first season, six episodes, by Alison Schapker and Diane Ademu-John, with Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Travis Fimmel, Mark Strong, Jessica Barden, Emma Canning, Jodhi May, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Chloe Lea (from November 18th on Wow)
What elements in “Dune: Prophecy” resonate with themes found in “Game of Thrones” and “Star Wars”?
- What do you think are the similarities and differences between “Dune: Prophecy” and other popular sci-fi franchises like “Game of Thrones” and “Star Wars”?
– How does the use of Spice, as an all-purpose raw material, contribute to the overall theme of power and control in the “Dune” universe?
– What fascinates you most about Travis Fimmel’s portrayal of Desmond Hart, and how does it compare to his previous roles in “Vikings” and “Raised by Wolves”?
– In what ways does “Dune: Prophecy” tackle themes of politics, rebellion, and the struggle for power in a unique manner?
– Can you discuss the significance of the love story between a Harkonnen and an Atreides in the context of the ongoing feud between the two houses? How does it affect the overall dynamics of the series?
– What role does music play in setting the tone and atmosphere of the show, particularly in establishing the sense of dread and foreboding?
