The premise of Dune: Prophecythe latest sci-fi/fantasy juggernaut to hit the Max streaming service is that it’s a show about the rise of the Bene Gesserit Order. That is, the secret sect of all-female psychic eugenicists, counselors, governesses and mistresses of the space-faring noble houses from the pages of Frank Herbert duneand the extensive novel saga that developed from it.
It’s easy to forget that we’re not looking at the Bene Gesserit as we know it – Valya and Tula Harkonnen (Emily Watson and Olivia Williams) seem to have this sisterhood pretty well organized already! After taking power from their opponents, they have been in power for 30 years. They must follow a prophecy, serve in every prestigious noble house, and have a school for acolytes so well established that the Emperor’s daughter fights to be allowed to attend it. They even use traditional Bene Gesserit titles such as “Venerable Mother” and “Mother Superior.”
But despite all this, it is important to remember how much of what we know about the Bene Gesserit had not yet been invented or put into practice at this time Dune: Prophecy
And this list of Bene Gesserit’s defining characteristics begins with their signature superpower:
Photo: Attila Szvacsek/HBO
However, we see a young Valya (Jessica Barden) use a supernatural ability to take charge Dune: ProphecyIn the opening scenes, it appears to be a skill she developed alone in secret. In the era of Paul Atreides, the voice is a central part of Bene Gesserit training, and its ability to compel obedience through verbal commands is so well known that Baron Harkonnen sent deaf guards specifically for the capture of Jessica Atreides, a well-known Bene -Gesserit connoisseur.
Their eugenic agenda and their contempt for direct power
In this premiere episode of Dune: ProphecyValya and Tula agree on their overall plan for the sisterhood: they want to place a figurehead on the imperial throne that their order controls. Any daughter of the ruling House of Corrino would do it, but Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) is their current candidate. She wants to attend the Sisterhood’s school and learn the art of lie detection herself, while Valya and Tula plan to manipulate her into unwavering loyalty to the Order.
And during the Bene Gesserit of dune
Over several thousand years, the Bene Gesserit will attempt to become the arbiters of all marriages, and therefore genetic bloodlines, in the noble houses of the galaxy, using this gentle power to eugenically produce a psychic superbeing through which the Bene Gesserit will control humanity can rule forever.
The Panoplia Propheticus and the actual prophecy
Valya and Tula are already grappling with the power of prophecy and the truth that can be derived from it – and yet their current plan seems to have no hint of religious manipulation. In time, this will become another important tool in the Bene Gesserit arsenal.
In the thousands of years it takes for the Bene Gesserit’s eugenics plan to take hold, the Order uses an extensive network of agents – the Missionaria Protectiva – to spread the religious prophecy of the coming Messiah among the galaxy’s oppressed, poor and lowborn . Thanks to this secret mandate – the Panoplia Propheticus – Bene Gesserit adepts on any world can find a sanctuary based on an artificial cultural tradition of protecting and respecting witch women. And when the Bene Gesserit Messiah, the Kwisatz Haderach, appears, humanity will be ready to follow him.
Out of duneWe know that the Bene Gesserit plan will fail at the penultimate step: Paul Atreides, born a generation earlier, will take up the mantle of Kwisatz Haderach to take revenge on House Harkonnen and answer Fremen’s pleas for freedom. But the women who founded the Bene Gesserit had every intention of keeping their Messiah under the order’s thumb.
What does this all mean for Dune: Prophecy?
Well, the first episode of the series, “The Hidden Hand,” has already brought the voice to the screen, waiting for Valya to share this superpower with the rest of the order. It also tells us that somewhere in here, the Sisterhood’s leadership will change its mind about openly seizing the Imperial throne – Princess Ynez is not the organization’s path to galactic supremacy. And somewhere in the wings is the Bene Gesserit’s realization that the power of religion to control the masses is too great to not be used as a weapon.
Whether we can manage all of this Dune: ProphecyIt remains to be seen whether Alison Schapker and her crew plan to release the series in its first season in 2019.
