That Complicated 'Dune: Prophecy' Premiere, Explained in Simple Terms

It’s time to bust out your best sandwalk, because Dune is back—this time on the small screen. HBO’s new prequel series, Dune: Prophecy, debuted on Sunday, November 17, taking viewers back to the world of Paul Atreides, Arrakis and sandworms.

If you’re a Dune-iverse superfan, however, Prophecy can be even more convoluted and opaque than Denis Villeneuve’s two films. It’s set more than 10,000 years before the events of the movies and seems to involve as many warring factions as Game of Thrones did in its heyday. 

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But have no fear, we’re here to help! After watching Episode 1 of Dune: Prophecy, we’ve put together this handy-dandy recap of all the key points from the premiere and how they connect. We’ve got you covered so you won’t miss anything important while you stay on top of the major storylines

Read on for a dummy’s guide to the season premiere.

Everything important that happened in Dune: Prophecy Episode 1

In the Distant Past

The episode begins with a brief recap of a very old event in the world of Dune: the Butlerian Jihad. This was the years-long war against computers and thinking machines that humans eventually won, resulting in the ban of any machine created in the likeness of a human mind. Narrator Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) explains that most people believe her great-grandfather deserted the fight while an Atreides led the humans to victory, but she says that version of events is “spun out of lies”—and she intends to correct it. Looks like this will be a show with conflicting narratives being spread across the galaxies. 

Related: How to Read All 23 ‘Dune’ Books in Order

In the Less-Distant Past

In a voiceover, Valya explains the origins of the Sisterhood, which will later come to be known as the Bene Gesserit. The first Mother Superior is a woman named Raquella Berto-Anirul (Cathy Tyson), who taught her cohorts to become Truthsayers (employed by the Imperium to sort truth from lies). Raquella was also the architect of the Sisterhood’s breeding program, which involved maintaining a vast genetic archive and matching partners from compatible houses to create the best possible leaders for the Imperium. The Sisterhood’s home planet is Wallach IX.

As Raquella is dying, she calls out for young Valya (Jessica Barden) instead of her own granddaughter Dorotea (Camilla Beeput). Dorotea sees the breeding program as heresy but Valya does not, thus making Valya the ideal candidate to succeed Raquella as Mother Superior. On her deathbed, Raquella has a vision that she says means something called “Tiran-Arafel” is coming. The vision shows a sandworm devouring buildings and people burning.

According to young Kasha (Yerin Ha), the vision indicates “a holy judgment brought on by a tyrant.” Valya thinks it means that the Sisterhood should attempt to put a sister on the throne of the Imperium, but Dorotea is once again opposed to this idea and tries to destroy the breeding index. When Valya catches Dorotea in the act, she uses Voice on her, forcing Dorotea to kill herself.

Related: Dune: Part Three – Cast, Director, Plot

30 Years Later aka Present Day

The present day of Prophecy is set 116 years after the Jihad and 10,148 years before the birth of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet in the movies). Valya is now the Mother Superior of the Sisterhood with her sister Tula (Olivia Williams) by her side. The Sisterhood is gearing up for the arrival of Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina), who is the daughter of Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong). Ynez is set to marry the young heir to another house, but she plans to study with the Sisterhood until he comes of age. Based on Valya’s comments about Ynez, it seems clear that she’s the Sister who Valya would eventually like to become Empress.

The princess’ half-brother, Constantine (Josh Heuston), travels to Wallach IX to try to convince Valya that Ynez needs her own quarters during her stay with the Sisterhood, but his request is denied. Valya and Tula, meanwhile, discuss which Sister will be the best person to pair with Ynez as a roommate. Options include Sister Jen (Faoileann Cunningham), a fiery pot-stirrer with a possibly dark past, Sister Lila (Chloe Lea), a young acolyte with mysterious parentage, and Sister Theodosia (Jade Anouka), a fierce warrior with plenty of ambition.

Meanwhile on Salusa Secundus

Ynez’s father, Emperor Corrino, is negotiating her dowry with House Richese, which has promised to give House Corrino a fleet of ballista motherships that will help them keep control of Arrakis. The emperor likes the sound of that, but he’s less thrilled that Duke Richese (Brendan Cowell) wants his house to get their own wing in the palace.

While Ynez is betrothed to 9-year-old Pruwet Richese (Charlie Hudson-Prior), her heart lies with her hot Swordmaster, Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason). Her mother, Empress Natalya (Jodhi May), is opposed to the match with Pruwet, mostly because he’s a child, but also because she doesn’t like the idea of giving House Richese a full decade to scheme and plot.

In the midst of all this, a mysterious visitor arrives from Arrakis. This is Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), supposedly the only survivor of an attack on one of the emperor’s outposts there. According to Desmond, the attack wasn’t carried out by the native Fremen—it was instead perpetrated by insurgents from one of the Imperium’s allied worlds. Emperor Corrino’s Truthsayer, an older Kasha (Jihae), confirms that this story is true, or at least Desmond believes it to be true.

Kasha then has a vision very similar to the one Raquella had 30 years earlier, but this one shows the princess screaming, “You did this!” Kasha decides to travel to Wallach IX for counsel, but when she gets there, Valya is not concerned.

The Engagement Ceremony Gone Wrong

Much of the season premiere is about setting up the chess pieces on the board, but the episode still ends with a major bang. At the engagement ceremony, Pruwet gets caught playing with a forbidden computer-operated toy, which sends the entire room into a frenzy. Ynez threatens to kill him if he ever pulls anything like that again and then storms out.

After the party, Emperor Corrino has a chat with Desmond and tells him he thinks the wedding is wrong. Once Desmond leaves, he watches footage of the Arrakis attack and sees Desmond confronting a sandworm that seemingly devours him.

Desmond, meanwhile, goes to talk to Pruwet and tells the little boy that he’s been “gifted a great power.” He then burns Pruwet alive with his mind. At the same time on Wallach IX, Kasha suffers the same fate. The only person who seems to understand what’s happened is Valya, who declares, “I see, Mother.” 

Related: ‘Dune: Prophecy’ Finally Announces Its Premiere Date