Since jumping into his father’s universe with his regular co-author, Kevin J. Anderson, Brian Herbert has put his own twist on Dune. While reception from fans and critics has been mixed, many readers have been thrilled to see the world of Dune expanded and the history of the setting filled in with much more detail. Now, Dune: Prophecy is bringing some of these stories to viewers and, while its getting generally positive reviews, there are things that are sure to bother long-time fans of Frank Herbert’s original novels.
Dune’s Butlerian Jihad Was Originally More Philosophical than Physical
Dune Prophecy takes place soon after the end of the Butlerian Jihad, and the conflict overshadows much of the story. Rivalries and feuds were born from the conflict and the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood emerged from it as well. Further, House Corrino, the rulers of the Imperium, rose to prominence through their leadership of humanity during the war. This momentous conflict, however, looks much different in the show than as it was envisioned by Frank Herbert.
The original Dune and the subsequent sequels generally kept the events of the Butlerian Jihad vague. By the time of the first novel, roughly ten thousand years had past, and its events were ancient history. While its impact on the Imperium, most notably the absence of computers and other advanced technology, was still felt throughout human civilization, the details were not often discussed. Still, the rough image Herbert painted of the Butlerian Jihad hinted at a movement that was mostly philosophical in nature.
Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson depicted the conflict in their Legends of Dune trilogy as an outright war of humans against thinking machines. In the novels, artificial intelligences are the antagonists, seeking to conquer and rule over humanity. Dune: Prophecy even opens with flashbacks to this war, showing battles against monstrous machines. The original vision of the Butlerian Jihad, on the other hand, focused more on humanity’s rejection of dependence on machines and respect for the human mind.
Dune and the later novels implied that it was not thinking machines that enslaved humanity, but other humans who took advantage of the laziness and complacency that had emerged in society thanks to a reliance on machines. Frank Herbert originally sought to emphasize the dangers of people relying on computers to do their thinking for them and the need to value human intelligence and creativity. Far from being a war against artificial intelligence, it was more of a rejection of advanced technology and its cultural consequences. Any warfare that occurred was primarily against those humans that refused to give up technology and attempted to use it against others.
Ultimately, Dune: Prophecy frames the Butlerian Jihad as driven by fear of machines, while Dune originally framed it as being driven by a reverence for humanity. This respect for human consciousness, and the cultural shift that followed the conflict, would have religious consequences that are also misrepresented in the new series.
Religion Was Undergoing Dramatic Change at the Time of Dune: Prophecy
In the appendices of Dune, Frank Herbert delved into religious belief in the Imperium and explained that, after the Butlerian Jihad, believers were gradually united under a single set of doctrines. After the destruction of thinking machines, religious leaders were united in a common commitment to the sacredness of the human mind and a desire to reevaluate and reconcile past differences. This would eventually lead to a series of conferences that produced the Orange Catholic Bible and a single unified set of practices and principles that blended the beliefs of nearly all human religions. This was an era of great upheaval, and it’s ignored by Dune: Prophecy and the related novels.
Legends of Dune Novels
Year Published
The Butlerian Jihad
2002
The Machine Crusade
2003
The Battle of Corrin
2004
There are no mentions of religious councils or the development of the Orange Catholic Bible in Dune: Prophecy and few of religion in general. While viewers get glimpses of a fanatically religious opposition to machines brewing in the Imperium, there are no indications that new ideas are emerging, or that religious leaders are engaged in major debates. Further, there aren’t even any mentions of specific religious traditions. The soldier, Desmond Hart, references a belief in gods in the first episode and Emperor Javicco Corrino confides that his wife is religious but, surprisingly, neither discusses any specific beliefs. This exchange also conflicts with Dune’s lore in other ways.
Hart’s apparent belief in multiple gods contradicts the general pattern established in Dune. While there were many different beliefs after the Butlerian Jihad, it’s clear that monotheism was the dominant trend. It was believers in a single deity that compiled the Orange Catholic Bible and the book specifically refers to a single God. Further, the Fremen of Arrakis descended from people who followed a blending of Islamic and Buddhist beliefs, who also believed in one supreme being. So Hart, having spent time on Arrakis, would have been exposed to monotheism, and it’s unlikely he would have come to believe in many gods elsewhere.
Finally, the very idea that Empress Natalya is religious is not impossible, but very unlikely. Dune established that, while most people in the time of Paul Atreides subscribed to the ideas of the Orange Catholic Bible, the nobility and other elites of society were apathetically agnostic, not strongly believing anything and caring far more for material interests. Exceptions were certainly possible, but it would be strange for the wife of the emperor to be so openly religious when such beliefs were out of style in the royal court.
The Powers of the Bene Gesserit Were Far from New
Another dramatic change underway after the Butlerian Jihad was the emergence of groups like the Spacing Guild, Mentats, and Bene Gesserit. These organizations and specialists were evolving to fill the gaps left by thinking machines and quickly became indispensable to the Imperium. As Dune: Prophecy shows, the Bene Gesserit were quickly embedding themselves in the halls of power by becoming advisors to the nobility. While their place in society was new, however, their powers were not.
Dune: Prophecy suggests that the Bene Gesserit, in addition to being a new group, was also just beginning to hone its powers like the Voice and Truthsense. This is not what Frank Herbert described in Dune, though. Instead, the original Sisterhood was founded by accomplished women who already possessed remarkable powers and had made names for themselves in their own right.
According to the original lore, the Bene Gesserit was born when women from across the galaxy, who had independently unlocked their hidden potential, joined together into a sisterhood. Some of these women had been known as witches in their communities, and others had developed their own cult followings. There’s no doubt that they had already begun to hone the skills and abilities that would later define their organization. Dune: Prophecy may accurately capture their early growth and expansion, but their origins, and their powers, simply don’t get an accurate portrayal.
Dune: Prophecy, and the novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson have their strengths and lots of fans love them. That doesn’t mean they’re perfect, however. Fans of the original novels may be frustrated with some of the inaccuracies, and those that are first diving into the setting should be aware that the prequel stories don’t always fit neatly into the original narrative.
