Dune: Prophecy – References The Sisterhood Has Made To The Bene Gesserit

Summary

• The prequel series, Dune: Prophecy, explores the rise of the Bene Gesserit and the era of Padishah Emperors after the Butlerian Jihad.
• The breeding program aims to create a supreme being with the powers of a Mentat and Bene Gesserit for control and power in the Imperium.
• The Sisters of the Bene Gesserit refine Truth Saying into a powerful weapon vital for political survival in the Landsraad.

The story of Dune is evolving into its own franchise, which means that there’s now a prequel series to add to the collection of books, movies, comics, and video games. Dune: Prophecy just concluded its first season on HBO Max, and the series tells the story of the rise of the Bene Gesserit, known then as the Sisterhood, and the era of the Padishah Emperors in the aftermath of the Butlerian Jihad.

The Sisterhood and its adherents don’t call themselves the Bene Gesserit as of yet. However, many of their heightened abilities and mysterious skills when it comes to truth saying, political intrigue, and assassination are already in development thanks to the guidance of Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen.

7

The Breeding Program

A Multi-Generational Plan

• It took 10,000 years to produce the Supreme Being.

One of the flagship projects of the Bene Gesserit Order was the breeding program intended to eventually produce a human being with the powers of both a Mentat and a Bene Gesserit. This supreme being would also be under the control of the Order and would be in a place of power as the Emperor, so naturally the prime candidates for the breeding program were all members of the Landsraad.

The first episode of the series includes the machinations of the Sisterhood within the Landsraad to arrange a marriage and the breeding program as developed and maintained by Mother Superior Raquella. Raquella confided her secrets to Valya instead of her daughter because the Mother Superior knew that Sister Dorotea was a Butlerian fanatic who would not approve of the thinking machine, called Anirul, that was secretly running the breeding program.

6

A Vision of Arafel

Valya Dubs It “The Burning Truth”

• AI was defeated, but it wasn’t dead.

The Machine Wars defeated the AI threat, but it was never destroyed completely, and Mother Raquella’s vision on her deathbed of an entity called “Arafel” was a portent of their resurgence. Despite her own misgivings about thinking machines, Raquella didn’t seem to hesitate using the powers of Anirul, the name of the computer she used to calculate the nuances of the breeding program.

Arafel is the darkness that Paul Atreides and his son, Leto II, saw at the end of humanity, a battle that could end the whole human race. It wasn’t until more than 1,000 years after the God Emperor’s death that the Bene Gesserit, and the rest of humanity, would understand the nature of Arafel.

5

Truth Sayers

The First And Most Powerful Weapon Of The Bene Gesserit

• A technique that became essential for the great houses

Truth Saying is a practice that also exists in the real world, in the form of certain interrogation techniques or body language experts. In humanity’s distant future, the Sisterhood saw a more valuable use for the skill and refined it to the point of supernatural knowledge.

One of Valya’s most important powers in the Imperium is granting the families of the Landsraad a Truth Sayer at their request. An essential part of a family’s survival in the Landsraad was keeping a Truth Sayer close to the prominent leaders, and without one, a family was socially and politically impotent. This tradition continued into the modern era of Dune, with a Truth Sayer never far from the Emporer’s side.

4

Orange Catholic Bible

Developed After The Machine Wars

• A fusion of a variety of religious beliefs that originated on Earth

The word “Catholic” actually means universal, so this collection of holy texts contains much more than what a contemporary viewer could consider as an early branch of institutionalized Christianity. It was developed as a way to expand the human mind to live without computers after the Butlerian Jihad.

All of the members of the Sisterhood would have studied the Bible, but the followers of Dorotea are shown reading from it more often. Sister Emeline, an acolyte who is dedicated to the more traditional version of the Sisterhood, is also seen frequently reading from the Bible to her peers.

3

The Gom Jabbar

Armed With Deadly Metacyanide

• The famous weapon of the Bene Gesserit

The familiar weapon appears only in episode six of Dune: Prophecy and it is never referred to by the name that viewers now know from the movies; the Gom Jabbar. The design and intent are exactly the same, however, and Valya gives it to Francesca to end the Empoeror’s life.

Valya has determined that Javicco is no longer of any use and his rule must come to an end. It’s Francesca, who he trusts implicitly and can’t harm because of the Imprinting, who is tasked to end his life. She fails and is stabbed with the needle by Empress Natalya instead.

2

Imprinting

A Practise That Ensures Devotion And Loyalty

• Valya sends Francesca to seduce the Emperor.

Lady Fenrig of the movie era was also famous for this skill, which is one of the many talents the Bene Gesserit would develop to control their targets. The practice already existed when Valya joined the Order, and sending a Sister to use this power on the Emperor made sense.

Valya seems to be moving toward this idea as part of the breeding plan, but it’s a young Francesca who best understands Valya’s idea for imprinting on the Emperor when the four acolytes are first discussing how to take control of the Imperium.

1

The Mantra Against Fear

Fear Is Literally The Mind Killer

• The beginning of the Litany Against Fear

The Litany Against Fear is one of the most famous and well-known prayers connected to the Bene Gesserit in the modern era of Dune. It was because of the deadly virus used by Desmond Hart that this litany was developed.

In a gruesome time of trial and error that takes the lives of two other Sisters, Tula and Valya discover that the virus grows stronger the more the victim is fighting it. Instead of trying to force a transmutation of the virus, Valya allows it to “pass through her” and survives to reveal Desmond’s secret.