Dune-Prophecy: Here’s How the Series Connects to the Movies? Timeline Explained!
The upcoming preview of Dune-Prophecy has left some fans with questions. The Dune universe is vast and takes place twenty thousand years from now. This time has been shaped by the Butlerian Jihad, a long-running war against “thinking machines” that ended with humanity’s victory and the banning of computers. This led humanity to depend on human skill and ingenuity, enhanced by drugs such as spice melange, to replace technology. Various “schools” formed, and Dune-Prophecy focuses on the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, a group of women with one goal: to create the perfect being. Dune-Prophecy takes place in the early days of the Bene Gesserit, ten thousand years before the films.
Dune and Dune: Part II captured viewers’ imagination and Dune-Prophecy aims to do the same. However, the series is only connected to the films’ events by being part of the same universe. The events of Dune-Prophecy are a prequel to those of the films, with a very, very different setting from that of Denis Villeneuve’s films in more ways than one. This is mainly due to the exact date on which the series takes place, and the vast differences in the political situation of humanity, as well as the circumstances of Bene Gesserit themselves.
Dune-Prophecy: A Step Back of Millennia
Dune and Dune: Part Two takes place in the year 10,191 AG, which means ten thousand, one hundred and ninety-one years after the founding of the Spacing Guild. AG means after the Guild. Dune-Prophecy takes place in the early years of the GA and draws on the prequel novels by Brian Herbert, son of the original Dune author Frank Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson, the Great Schools of Dune trilogy. These books take place immediately after the Butlerian Jihad trilogy. Humanity has just won its war against the Thinking Machines and formed a new Imperium, with House Corrino at its center. The Atreides are the heroes of the war, with Vorian Atreides helping to stem the tide of the Machines. The actions of Vladimir Harkonnen, however, who disobeyed orders to destroy the refuge ships the Machines were using as bait, have made his House a pariah. Meanwhile, the Bene Gesserit, the Spacing Guild, and the Mentat school, which teaches people to hone their minds to computer-like efficiency, have begun their struggle for power in the nascent Imperium.
This is a very interesting time in the history of the Imperium. Each of these schools, and certainly humanity itself, is trying to find its way in a universe different from the one they have experienced for thousands of years. Earth no longer exists, as the machine-controlled world was destroyed in the war, and various factions vied for power. The series follows sisters Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen and Reverend Mother Tula Harkonnen as they do their best to put the sisterhood in the best possible position while trying to figure out what to do to erase the stain on their family’s honor. Dune-Prophecy is all about political intrigue, as the various factions of the young Imperium all have their agendas and are in a mad race for power, each with the potential to change the universe with their actions.
Dune-Prophecy: A Very Interesting Period in Dune History
Dune novels took readers into a world unlike any other science fiction universe. The original six books all focus on humanity, politics, and ecology, and these themes played a major role in the Dune films. The Imperium of the Dune universe is one of the most intriguing empires in science fiction, and the various schools like Bene Gesserit are a big part of what makes it so interesting. The Dune films did a remarkable job of presenting this universe in a visually compelling style that told the Dune story in a new way, avoiding the complex exposition that made the books so beloved by more pedantic fans. Dune-Prophecy has the opportunity to delve deeper into Bene Gesserit in a way that the films didn’t and give fans a glimpse into an era they’ve never seen before.
Dune-Prophecy has a rich history to draw from, both in films and the books. Setting the series so far in the past allows it to do things that can foreshadow the films, but also not recontextualize the events too much. While drawing on the works of Brian Herbert and Anderson may tempt some Frank Herbert diehards to skip the series, Dune-Prophecy is a must-see for fans of the films who want to better understand the universe and how it works. Setting the series so far in the past allows it to tell its own story, which will impact the world of the films in ways that will enlighten viewers.
Dune-Prophecy Timeline: Where Does it Fit Into the Timeline of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune Films?
We’ll explain: the events of Dune-Prophecy are a prequel to the events of the films starring Timothée Chalamet, with a very, very different setting from the one seen in the cinema, for more than one reason. Dune and Dune: Part Two takes place in the year 10,191 AG, which means ten thousand one hundred and ninety-one years after the founding of the Spacing Guild in the science fiction saga created by Frank Herbert; in contrast, Dune-Prophecy takes place in the early years AG, so ten thousand years before the birth of Paul Atreides, the protagonist of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films: the story draws on the prequel novels by Brian Herbert, son of the original Dune author Frank Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson, known as the Great Schools Of Dune trilogy: these books take place immediately after another trilogy, also written by the two authors, known as Butlerian Jihad, which tells of how humanity won its war against the Machines and formed the new Imperium, with House Corrino at its center.
The Atreides are the heroes of the war, as Vorian Atreides helped stem the tide of the Machines, while the actions of Vladimir Harkonnen, who disobeyed orders to destroy the refugee ships the Machines were using as bait, made his House a pariah. Meanwhile, the Bene Gesserit, the Spacing Guild, and the Mentat school, which teaches people to hone their minds to computer-like efficiency, have begun their bid for power in the nascent Imperium…
