“The Penguin,” which aired its finale just a week before “Dune: Prophecy” took over HBO’s coveted Sunday night spot, grew to 2.1 million viewers for its finale, marking a series high. Its series premiere went on to draw 18 million viewers in the U.S. since its Sept. 19 debut.

Dune: Prophecy ‘s cold open speedwalks us through some of the major history we need to know about this time period of Dune ‘s world. The Dune prequel series takes us back to 10,000 years before the birth of Paul Atreides.

W hen Denis Villeneuve made the first Dune movie with no guarantee of a second, he wasn’t just risking telling only part of the story. He risked telling the wrong one. In its en

Prophecy.Set 10,000 years before the birth of Paul Atreides and his rise as the prophesied messiah known as Lisan-al-Gaib, HBO's new Dune: Prophecy series chronicles the early evolution of the Bene Gesserit order from a fledgling school for gifted young women to the superpowered mystical sisterhood that's pulling the strings of the imperial government at the start of Dune.