With Dune: Prophecy, a new series in the science fiction universe will soon be released. The series will focus on the Bene Gesserit. The secret order is also introduced in the films. MeinMMO explains everything you need to know about the Bene Gesserit.
What are the Bene Gesserit? The Bene Gesserit are an order of sisters who usually operate in secrecy. The order seeks to influence the politics of the entire universe by placing Bene Gesserit members in important families. Unlike ordinary people, the Bene Gesserit possess special abilities.
We also see this in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films. There, Paul Atreides’ mother is a Bene Gesserit. But what is their goal and what abilities do they have? MeinMMO explains everything you need to know.
The new Dune series focuses on the order of the Bene Gesserit:
The Origin and Goals of the Bene Gesserit
Where do the Bene Gesserit come from? Once, there was a great revolt of humans against conscious machines and robots. Many machines and robots were violently destroyed. The humans were led by a religious movement.
After the great revolt, only 2 orders remained that still possessed ancient knowledge from before the revolt: the Bene Gesserit and the Spacing Guild.
Shortly after the revolt, the sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit was formed. The order is structured hierarchically, with the Reverend Mother
at the top. At the time of the current Dune films, the Reverend Mother is Gaius Helen Mohiam, played by Charlotte Rampling.
What are the goals of the Bene Gesserit? The goal of the Bene Gesserit is based on the figure of the Kwisatz Haderach. This is a kind of messiah who is supposed to be a male Bene Gesserit. It is suspected that Paul Atreides is this figure.
The Bene Gesserit want to guide humanity towards a future that they deem correct. To do this, they seek to gain significant political influence. For a long time, there was a breeding program. They infiltrated influential families with Bene Gesserit members, ensuring that they bore children with them.
This influence worked quite well for some time until Jessica Atreides gave birth to a son instead of a daughter. This changed the balance of power. It was also related to the legend of the Kwisatz Haderach.
Throughout their history, the Bene Gesserit also influenced myths and religions. If it serves their purpose, they manipulate these for their own ends. Thus, the legend of Lisan al-Gaib among the Fremen also derives from the Bene Gesserit.
The Abilities of the Bene Gesserit
What can the members of the Bene Gesserit do? The Bene Gesserit do everything to guide humanity on what they consider the optimal path. For this, the women in the order undergo rigorous training. The focus is not only on mental but also physical training. All their abilities can be enhanced to superhuman levels through the consumption of spice
.
After training, they can control their bodies perfectly, whether it be blood pressure, heat, or senses. This helps them survive in extreme situations. They are also immune to poisons since they can control and transform substances within their bodies.
Appropriately, they are trained in close combat and are among the strongest warriors in the universe.
Their most well-known ability from the films is called The Voice
. This is a special vocal technique that allows the Bene Gesserit to compel others to do something. Resisting this requires extreme training. Paul Atreides is the only man in the films who is able to use The Voice
as he learned it from his mother.
The Bene Gesserit can also discern whether someone is lying or omitting the truth.
The most powerful ability is probably the recall of ancient memories. For this, they need the famous spice
. This allows them to access the memories of their female ancestors. The Kwisatz Haderach is supposed to have the ability to access male memories as a messiah.
We still have to wait a bit for a third Dune film by Denis Villeneuve, but the Bene Gesserit are getting their own series, which will premiere on November 18, 2024. Everything you need to know about Dune: Prophecy you can find here: Dune: Prophecy: Release Date, Trailer, and Cast – All Information about the Dune Prequel Series
