S1E1 "The Hidden Hand" (premier episode)

[astrohip]

On Wallach IX, young Valya Harkonnen promises Mother Superior Raquella that she'll protect the Sisterhood by putting one of their own on the Imperial Throne. Thirty years later, Valya faces a threat to her long-awaited plan.

[AnimeMania]

[AnimeMania]

I don't know why Travis Fimmel didn't just kill the Prince while there were a lot of witnesses around, so that people might have thought it was some kind of freak accident, so that everybody wouldn't suspect the Corrino family of doing it.

[Ariah]

I guess that is how it feels when an intellectual property you love gets adapted and changed:)

 I have a habit of rereading the original Herbert books every year, all six of them. Couldn’t care less for the prequel sequels. Surprisingly, I quite enjoyed the first episode (and yes, I did enjoy Villeneuve’s version, despite the changes).

So far, the series has grabbed my interest: the hint at the greater plot, the familiarity of the setting coupled with the potential for surprise. Something the Acolyte tried to do, but wasn’t allowed. There’s a lot of time between the series and Paul’s birth, so a lot of possibilities can unfold, unburdened by the legendarium.

I’m curious if and how the lore will be broken (atm, Desmond Hart has the biggest potential there:)).

A nitpick: why does the fashion remained almost completely unchanged for 10k years? Or has it just been going in circles the way we’ve been rehashing baggy trousers from the 1990s? 
Technology I can understand, no thinking machines (also, haven’t seen a single Mentat yet, perhaps they’re about to become a thing in the course of the series), but clothing and jewelry? Impossible:)

——

I know what I said about prequels and sequel (from Brian Herbert) . I’m aware the series is supposed to be based on Sisterhood of Dune.

So far couple of names and one event match. I’m hoping that’s it :)

Edited November 18, 2024 by Ariah

[Haleth]

1 hour ago, Ariah said:

A nitpick: why does the fashion remained almost completely unchanged for 10k years? Or has it just been going in circles the way we’ve been rehashing baggy trousers from the 1990s? 

Well, if you save something long enough…

I’m not sure how I feel about this since the epi was so full of exposition. I am interested enough to look forward to the next one. The reveal that Hart has some kind of power is going to throw the Sisters into a tizzy. 

[Msample]

So I get why/how the kid died. But why did the sister back on Wallach IX die?

[AnimeMania]

33 minutes ago, Msample said:

So I get why/how the kid died. But why did the sister back on Wallach IX die?

Travis Fimmel said that she was manipulating the Emperor, maybe he had the power to reach her as well.

[Ariah]

37 minutes ago, Msample said:

So I get why/how the kid died. But why did the sister back on Wallach IX die?

I’d say some sort of psychic link; when Kasha was truth probing Desmond, she locked in on his eyes, became hypnotized even.

interesting, as such power on the male side shouldn’t be possible for the next 10k years :) (or even longer)

as to why Kesha had to die?

long-term plan has been set in motion, now that the young fiancé is dead, the princess may not go to Sisterhood’s school. A new Truthsayer will be sent over to the Emperor. New variables on the board.

The burning is also an interesting thing: is it like an electric burning, from a machine malfunction? Or, lore-wise

Spoiler

The insides of the Worm burn hot like a furnace. 
Is Desmond a machine in human form or is he channeling the power of the Maker?

 

[peridot]

It was an interesting premiere.  The Emperor kept making concessions to the guy building his ships, he looked so weak.  He was cruel to his wife, too.  He's probably not going to be my fav.

Are the witches very long lived?  It looked like Raquella was in the machine war, but that was a century previously. 

Valya is stone cold - if you're in her way, you're up shit's creek. 

When the little boy started rubbing at his hand, I thought the soldier poisoned him somehow.  I wasn't expecting pyrokinesis.

The voice in the abyss was very creepy.  Looking forward to the rest of the season.

[AimingforYoko]

2 hours ago, peridot said:

Valya is stone cold - if you're in her way, you're up shit's creek. 

Yeah, it's like she's a Harkonnen or something.

Not the best pilot, a little too exposition heavy. Hopefully that's out of the way.

[magdalene]

I liked the pilot.  I really perked up when Travis Fimmel's Desmond Hart came on the scene. If you have never watched him in Vikings you are missing out. When he likes his role he is chefs kiss. His eyes were mesmerizing in Vikings too. It seems to be his special power as an actor.

[Haleth]

Whenever I see Travis Fimmel in something I wonder what he’s like in real life. He frequently takes such creepy roles. (But yes, was fantastic in Vikings.)

[skotnikov]

Basically Frimmel has the same role he had in "Raised by Wolves". The pilot was not good, it seemed somehow cheap and boring,  and once I saw the show-runner's interview  I knew right away it won't be good. She couldn't even explain what the show is about.  

15 hours ago, Ariah said:

 

A nitpick: why does the fashion remained almost completely unchanged for 10k years? Or has it just been going in circles the way we’ve been rehashing baggy trousers from the 1990s? 
Technology I can understand, no thinking machines (also, haven’t seen a single Mentat yet, perhaps they’re about to become a thing in the course of the series), but clothing and jewelry? Impossible:)

Well, in Asia women still wear burqa, which comes from the 15th century or something, so why not?

Edited November 19, 2024 by skotnikov

[Tachi Rocinante]

Good premiere - lots of exposition.

10K years before Paul and they're still using those shitty spice mechs?  These people have interstellar travel, they should be able to harvest the spice from the air. 

I guess I'll be the asshole. I know he was good in Vikings, but Travis Fimmel was atrociously bad in Raised By Wolves and he's not much better here (so far). 

[Affogato]

On 11/18/2024 at 12:59 PM, peridot said:

It was an interesting premiere.  The Emperor kept making concessions to the guy building his ships, he looked so weak.  He was cruel to his wife, too.  He's probably not going to be my fav.

Are the witches very long lived?  It looked like Raquella was in the machine war, but that was a century previously. 

Valya is stone cold - if you're in her way, you're up shit's creek. 

When the little boy started rubbing at his hand, I thought the soldier poisoned him somehow.  I wasn't expecting pyrokinesis.

The voice in the abyss was very creepy.  Looking forward to the rest of the season.

Raquella dies about 50 years after the machine war, the story starts after  Valya has been leading about 50 years. If I got it right. They do learn to be longer lived, but it may have taken some time. In addition it might scare folk and they might not want to draw attention in that way. But yes, at some point they learn to detect developing cancers and so on. 
 

i wasn’t hugely impressed so far. I would also have guessed the galactic culture would have collapsed after the Butlerian Jihad.  That they wouldn’t have the spice stuff in place. I get that there should be computers surviving all over, secretly in use. It seems like this should maybe take place 500 years later. I guess the idea is that the uprising only happened after space travel in another way was in place. I don’t remember the timeline, I haven’t read the Brian Herbert books. 

Edited November 21, 2024 by Affogato

[astrohip]

8 hours ago, Affogato said:

Raquella dies about 50 years after the machine war, the story starts after  Valya has been leading about 50 years. If I got it right.

I'm confused, I don't think that matches what E1 told us.

I think the first scenes of the Sisterhood, where Valya was young-ish, and Raquella was dying, was around year 80. Because the scenes of "present day" started with a "30 years later" note. Making them around year 110 or so.

But Raquella was in the war, which was 80 years before the first Sisterhood scenes, so she had to be 100+ at that time.

But I could be wrong, I'm easily confused on these dates.

[Affogato]

3 hours ago, astrohip said:

I'm confused, I don't think that matches what E1 told us.

I think the first scenes of the Sisterhood, where Valya was young-ish, and Raquella was dying, was around year 80. Because the scenes of "present day" started with a "30 years later" note. Making them around year 110 or so.

But Raquella was in the war, which was 80 years before the first Sisterhood scenes, so she had to be 100+ at that time.

But I could be wrong, I'm easily confused on these dates.

It says 116 years after the end of the machine war, so yes, i divided it sloppily. Spice is a geriatric drug and prolongs life, a number of people will live longer because of that.  I didn’t mean to indicate Raquella wasn’t old.

I bet some other people from the machine war are still alive, or at least one named one. 
 

[mrspidey]

Watched the premiere and my problem are the infamous Eight Deadly Words.

I don't care about any of these characters. There is no one to root for. Poor man's Duncan Idaho, a.k.a  Desmond Hart came close but then he killed a child, so...

Everyone's a jerk. It's like GoT without House Stark.

[Ottis]

On 11/20/2024 at 5:15 PM, Tachi Rocinante said:

Good premiere - lots of exposition.

10K years before Paul and they're still using those shitty spice mechs?  These people have interstellar travel, they should be able to harvest the spice from the air. 

I guess I'll be the asshole. I know he was good in Vikings, but Travis Fimmel was atrociously bad in Raised By Wolves and he's not much better here (so far). 

I actually loved him in RbW, thought he stole the show. Recognized him immediately in Dune: Prophecy.

So worms obey or don't like him? Is this a remnant of what Paul will have?

The princess banged the sword trainer, so I guess the genetic plan went out the window even before the young groom flamed on.