Dune: Part Two is coming soon, and the trailers give us a hint at where Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) is heading. To understand Jessica’ transformation into the figure from Paul’s vision in Dune: Part One, you have to understand another entity in the world of Dune: the Bene Gesserit.
Who are the Bene Gesserit, exactly? Here’s the lowdown on Jessica’s religious order.
Note: this article will mainly discuss the Bene Gesserit in Denis Villeneuve’s films, with a bit of lore from the books.
Who are the Bene Gesserit in the Dune saga?
To understand who the Bene Gesserit are, we need to go back to Dune: Part One.
We first meet the Bene Gesserit early in the film, when Paul (Timothée Chalamet) is still living on his home planet of Caladan. A group of women in tall black headdresses visits Paul and Jessica, and the Reverend Mother Gaias Helen Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling) subjects Paul to a cruel test: the Gom Jabbar, a poisoned needle that will kill him if he shies away from pain. In the book, she tests him to see if he’s what the Bene Gesserit consider human.
Gradually, we learn that the Bene Gesserit is an all-female religious order that trains its adherents, like Jessica, in meditation, bodily control like the ability to determine the sex of their unborn fetuses, and psychic powers. One such power is the Voice, which members of the order can use to control people.
The Bene Gesserit is also a formidable political force, embedded in every seat of power in the galaxy. When Paul and his family arrive on Arrakis, they learn that the Bene Gesserit has been planting rumors that Paul is Lisan al Gaib, or the Fremen messiah.
Why? Because the Bene Gesserit have been working for generations on a selective breeding program, in the hopes of creating a man who can carry their genetic memory. The Bene Gesserit can pass genetic memories onto their younger adherents, but only through female genetic lines. A member who can carry both female and male genetic memories, known as the Kwisatz Haderach, is destined to be an enormously powerful figure.
What role might the Bene Gesserit play in Dune: Part Two?
While we don’t know for sure what the Bene Gesserit will do in Dune: Part Two, the trailers and books give us some hints.
In the trailers, we see Jessica wearing the regalia and tattoos that she wears in Paul’s vision in Part One. In the book, Jessica becomes a Reverend Mother after she and Paul escape to the desert. Becoming a Reverend Mother isn’t just a job promotion, though: Jessica undergoes a physical transformation that not only gives her heightened powers, but has a profound effect on her unborn daughter, Alia.
Will the film follow the same story arc? We’ll find out soon enough: Dune: Part Two hits theaters on March 1.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
