From the Great Houses of the Duniverse to the fascinating women of the Sisterhood, Dune: Prophecy is taking us to brand new corners of Dune‘s world. At Dune: Prophecy‘s New York City premiere, Nerdist had the pleasure of talking to the cast of this epic series,

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,

HBO bets big on this small-screen extension of Denis Villeneuve's 'Dune'-iverse being their next 'Game of Thrones' blockbuster series. Nice try.

“Dune: Prophecy”: Science fiction. Starring Emily Watson, Olivia Williams and Travis Fimmel. (TV-MA. Six hour-long episodes.) Starts Sunday, Nov. 17 on HBO and Max. One new episode debuts each Sunday through Dec. 22.

Emily Watson, Olivia Williams and Mark Strong star in a visually grand six-part series, which takes place before the events of Denis Villeneuve’s blockbusters and focuses on a scheming drama surrounding the Bene Gesserit.