Prophecy" episode 1 ahead! Screenwriters Schapker and Ademu-John keep a tight rein on the series' dour tone and bleak visuals that do present flashes of pure sci-fi geekiness, like the premiere episode's Butlerian Jihad clash with the thinking machines paired with Valya's passionate voice-over of how the Harkonnens were branded cowards and banished.

The following review contains spoilers for the first episode of Dune Prophecy, “The Hidden Hand.” The tasks assigned to “The Hidden Hand” seem insurmountable. The premiere of Dune: Prophecy is asked to set up an enormous cast of characters and the relationships between and the conflicts amongst those characters,

Dune: Prophecy has officially landed at Max as of Sunday, Nov. 17 when the series premiered. The prequel show follows the establishment of the Bene Gesserit years before the events of Denis Villeneuve's two films starring Zendaya,

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." The origins of the mysterious Bene Gesserit are explored in a new Dune series, premiering tonight on HBO and streaming on Max.

The "Dune" Universe is expanding on HBO. The latest installment in the sprawling sci-fi series - "Dune: Prophecy" - takes the story back 10,000 years before the birth of Paul Atreides and looks at the early days of the Bene Gesserit and a galaxy still reeling from a war with the "thinking machines.