This is a spoiler-free review of Dune: Prophecy's first four episodes. The show premieres on HBO and Max on November 17, 2024, with new episodes airing Sundays through December 22.

The new series traverses the formative years of the Bene Gesserit sect, the simmering tensions between the great houses of Herbert’s world and the wake of the war with the “thinking machines”. But with an exposition-heavy first episode,

Behind every supposedly "great man," there is not just a woman standing behind him, but an entire sisterhood of supernaturally gifted members pulling the strings. At least, this is the case in "Dune: Prophecy,