The following contains spoilers for Dune: Prophecy, now streaming on Max.
Dune: Prophecy is the latest part of the modern Dune adaptation franchise, with the TV show set centuries before the events of the Dune movies. Those were already fairly serious and bleak, being far from happy-go-lucky blockbusters or fun romps for the whole family. That’s especially the case with the new show, which fits right in with HBO’s usual fare.
Dune: Prophecy is now confirmed to be rated TV-MA, and the rating increasingly makes sense as the series goes on. While Dune: Prophecy’s first episode seemed comparatively tame enough, by the second, the show is in full-on HBO mode. While it might seem jarring to fans of the movies, it fits perfectly with the overall scope of the dark origins shown in Dune: Prophecy.
Dune: Prophecy Doesn’t Skimp On the Violence
The Show’s Violence Is Mostly In Line With the Movies
The story of Dune has always been centered around conflict, with this taking the form of political drama or outright warfare. This was firmly on display in Dune and Dune: Part Two, both of which saw massive battles between House Atreides and House Harkonnen, the latter of whom even employed the Sardaukar forces. Dune actually ended with Paul killing one of the Fremen. Likewise, even the 1984 David Lynch Dune had its fair share of violence, with one scene even involving Rabban’s severed, bloody head.
Compared to these elements, the new TV series is mostly similar in its amount of violent content to the Denis Villeneuve movies. Still, Dune: Prophecy ratchets up the violence a little bit, helping to earn its TV-MA rating. The show’s mature rating is mainly seen in the first and second episodes, namely when it comes to the character Desmond Hart. Possessing a special power granted to him by the worms of Arrakis, he can use this pyrokinetic gift to cause others to burn to death.
This doesn’t cause them to be surrounded by flames, but rather, their skin is visibly burned to a crisp. The concept is grisly enough, but add in the fact that one of the first victims of this act is a mere child, and it’s clear that the show isn’t pulling any punches. Likewise, the opening sequence of the show’s pilot episode has series protagonist Valya Harkonnen using her Bene Gesserit “Voice” powers on a fellow member of the Sisterhood. This causes her victim to stab herself in the throat, with blood rushing down the steps in a deluge after she falls. This makes it clear that the series is just as, if not more violent, than the movies.
Dune: Prophecy Ups the Ante In Nudity
The Show Has More Overt Sexuality Than the Films
The Dune movies, from the original adaptations to the newer films, had very light touches of sexuality. This meant that there was little in the way of overt nudity or anything of the sort, with heavy kissing being about the extent of this. That changes in Dune: Prophecy, with its first two episodes featuring the type of nude scenes that HBO productions are known for. Episode 1 has a somewhat censored scene of this nature, but Episode 2 features particularly strong/graphic nudity and sexuality. This scene features both male and female nudity, and it definitely feels jarring for the franchise as a whole.
Nevertheless, its par for the course with the streaming network and channel that the series is associated with. HBO shows have long since been synonymous with fairly graphic sex scenes, and this goes back to the era that launched the television classic The Sopranos. Given that the channel’s name stands for “Home Box Office,” these graphic elements helped separate the channel’s shows from network programming and create the idea of prestige television. This strong sense of visible sexuality continued in other franchises such as Game of Thrones and its prequel series House of the Dragon, with it becoming a borderline punchline when it came to the series’ use of the concept.
Language and Drug Use In Dune: Prophecy
The TV Series Subtly Features Other Adult Elements
The Dune books and movies were never insistent on especially strong language, and the same is the case with Dune: Prophecy. In contrast to other HBO shows, the series never goes hard on adult language, let alone a flurry of expletives. This keeps it in line with the general tone of the films, and helps to prevent the same jarring transition seen in The Penguin. That show’s language among its criminal element made a TV-MA rating obvious. At the same time, The Batman was rated PG-13 in spite of a fairly adult tone, and the sequel spinoff only made this rating even more questionable than it already was in the grand scheme of things.
Most of the harsh language heard in Dune: Prophecy is sporadic and not necessarily a frequently heard part of the TV show’s script, such as when House Corrino representative Princess Ynez chastises her young husband-to-be. Beyond this, however, it’s nothing like the abrasive shift in graphic sexuality seen in the transition from Dune films to the show. There is a stronger element of drug use in Dune: Prophecy, but even this isn’t necessarily the focus. Characters such as Ynez are seen partaking in a powdery substance that’s seemingly derived from the spice mélange on Arrakis. As fans of the franchise will know, the spice has psychodelic properties, expanding the consciousness of those who consume it in large amounts.
This is seen in the Dune movies through the character Paul, with his exposure to spice being part of a transcendence that serves as an example of humanity’s planned Golden Path. By having spice used as a banal recreational drug in the events of Dune: Prophecy, it furthers the ideas surrounding the substance. The Dune franchise tells a story of imperialism and colonialism, with the native Fremen and their resources on Arrakis taken advantage of by outside forces. This namely includes spice, which is instrumental to space travel in the series’ universe. It’s analogous to how various groups and countries in the real world have had their own resources pillaged by outsiders, who use these elements to build their own empires.
As in the Dune movies, the Water of Life poison is used by the Bene Gesserit to transcend consciousness and connect them to ancestral memories, with the psychodelic substance (which is derived from the spice-inundated worms of Arrakis) used to turn ordinary sisters into Reverend Mothers. This can be argued as an example of drug use, but it falls right in line with what was already seen in the movies. It’s the same process that allows Paul Atreides to ascend to the role of Lisan al Gaib several generations down the line. In fact, it’s only one of several elements that help to bridge the gap between the distant past seen in Dune: Prophecy and the later events of the movies, though the former tends to be a bit more brusque in some of its content.
Dune: Prophecy is now streaming on Max.
