As a companion to Denis Villeneuve’s big screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune,
I’ve been exploring the characters, organizations and elements that make up this vast and complex
universe.
With a story that takes place roughly 20,000 years into mankind’s future, and largely
devoid of the types of technology and computing systems that one would typically expect to
see in such a setting, mankind has had to rely on other methods and means in order to
advance and prosper.
One of the factions which has been working for many generations in order to ensure and
even control the evolution of humanity is the ancient all female organization known
as the Bene Gesserit.
While the members of this sisterhood are widely known and can be found throughout the houses
of the Landsraad, their clandestine agenda and ultimate goal remains largely hidden.
By means of a long-running genetic breeding program the order of the Bene Gesserit intend
to produce a being under their control that possesses heightened mental powers capable
of bridging space and time.
This being is known as the Kwisatz Haderach.
While I’ve previously touched on several aspects of this superbeing and how he fits
into the Sisterhood’s plans.
In this video, I’d like to dive deeper into the lore behind the Kwisatz Haderach and the
history behind the initiative to produce such a being.
The term Kwisatz Haderach is derived from the Bene Gesserit's prescient powers, and
a limitation preventing them from fully accessing a specific region of prescient knowledge.
Through the use of the drug known as spice melange, the Bene Gesserit gained the ability
to access “other memory” which is the well of ancestral genetic memories contained
in one’s DNA.
However, because the members of the Sisterhood were females, who carry two X chromosomes,
they were not able to successfully access the paternal or male side of these genetic
memories.
Due to the fact that males possess an X and a Y chromosome, they would not have this same
restriction and thus would be able to access the genetic memories stored within both chromosomes.
For more information regarding the function of prescience in Frank Herbert’s Dune, be
sure to check out my lore video entitled “What is Prescience” where I delve deeper into
this fascinating subject.
Because of the Sisterhood’s limitation on accessing the full spectrum of “other memories”,
this drove them to initiate a genetic breeding program that would produce a male heir capable
of doing so.
They also would work to ensure that this heir would fall under their direct control.
In order to survive the mental trauma resulting from the unlocking of one’s genetic “other
memory” a member of the Bene Gesserit would have to possess and demonstrate the ability
to maintain supreme control over their entire mind and body.
Through the thousands of years in which the Sisterhood has been active, many have tried
and failed, often resulting in their death.
Gaining mastery over the full spectrum of other memories was only one facet of the Kwisatz
Haderach’s capabilities.
Not only would he have full access to the past memories, but he would also be able to
precisely predict the future.
In a sense, he would possess all the capabilities including the ancestral memories of a Bene
Gesserit Reverend Mother, the supreme analytical and calculating abilities of a Mentat, and
prescient foresight greater than that of a Spacing Guild Navigator.
Through selective breeding, this individual would be genetically inclined to possess higher
levels of cognitive ability, enabling him to reach the highest possible human potential.
The Kwisatz Haderach would be able to see all possible futures and through his capabilities
enabled by Mentat and Bene Gesserit training he would be able to cause specific threads
of time to be realized through manipulation.
At the time in which Dune takes place, and specifically after the emergence of the Bene
Gesserit offspring, Paul Atreides - the term Kwisatz Haderach was also understood to mean
"one who can be many places at once".
This term became synonymous with Paul and later came to encompass others who had similar
abilities.
Paul was not intended by the Sisterhood to be the Kwisatz Haderach however.
Because the Bene Gesserit can control the sex of their offspring, the initial plan was
for Paul to have been a female who would then be bred to a male heir from the lineage of
House Harkonnen, their offspring was meant to be this superbeing who would serve as a
bridge, healing the rift between between the Houses Atreides and Harkonnen who had been
engulfed in a centuries-old feud.
Through their careful manipulation of the Imperial House Corrino, this heir would have
assumed the emperor’s Golden Lion throne, giving the Bene Gesserit the control of a
prescient being in the seat of supreme control over the universe.
The Sisterhoods work to successfully produce this being and to ensure their control over
the universe was not only accomplished through their breeding program and infiltration of
the Great Houses.
Long before the events of Dune they also enacted a religious engineering initiative known as
the Missionaria Protectiva in which they sowed seeds of superstition in primitive cultures
which would grow into legend over time.
The superstitions that were seeded among the Fremen tribes on Arrakis had detailed the
coming of a prescient son of a Bene Gesserit who would lead them to freedom, they referred
to this son as the Lisan al Gaib.
On Arrakis the Bene Gesserit’s influence on the Fremen’s religion is so deep that
the phrase Kwisatz Haderach is known among the Fremen people and to them means a Shortening
of the Way in reference to a prophecy of a Messiah that would lead them to paradise.
On a large scale, this religious engineering would serve to assist the Bene Gesserit in
preparing the Empire for the arrival and ultimately help with the masses' acceptance of the Kwisatz
Haderach as their leader.
Ultimately the plan to produce the Kwisatz Haderach through the marriage of Houses Harkonnen
and Atreides was thwarted due to Lady Jessica’s disobedience in choosing to give her husband
Duke Leto a son as a male heir instead of a daughter.
From early on in Paul’s life he possessed the ability to see glimpses of the future.
This indicated that the Kwisatz Haderach may have arrived a generation earlier than intended.
Jessica’s actions drew the ire of the Sisterhood, but they were still intrigued, so they sent
the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohaim to test Paul’s prescience as well as his training
in the Bene Gesserit ways.
This traumatic test as well as the Bene Gesserit’s compliance with the attempted destruction
of House Atreides only added to Paul’s negative view of the Sisterhood and greatly diminished
any hope of them being able to control him as planned.
The organization’s work to produce the Kwisatz Haderach was ultimately an effort to transcend
humanity.
They intended to work through this being to further their power and influence in order
to guide and to direct humanity along a path of insight and stability.
A common theme in Frank Herbert’s Dune saga is a warning against hubris and humanity’s
inability to predict the capabilities and control the actions of other Humans.
Ultimately, the Bene Gesserit become blind in their arrogance, thinking that they are
wise enough to guide humanity.
But without the vision and foreknowledge of the Kwisatz Haderach, they failed to anticipate
the forces that loomed in the future and the terrible course that humanity ultimately must
take in order to ensure its long term survival.
The Kwisatz Haderach, with his supreme prescience can see a future called the Golden Path, a
future which the Bene Gesserit could not have foreseen.
This future would be clearly seen and ultimately would be unable to be ignored by any being
with the foresight of a Kwisatz Haderach.
Because of this, those who came to be identified as a Kwisatz Haderach would often feel trapped
by their own destiny and would subsequently experience significant grief.
Villeneuve’s Dune will no doubt show several visions of the events which lead to this future.
This Golden Path and the beings that can see it and have the power to ensure it, continue
to be center stage as the saga unfolds.
I hope you enjoyed this video, leave a like if you did and be sure to subscribe for more
Dune and other sci fi and fantasy content.
I’m curious to know what you think of the Kwisatz Haderach, are there any aspects to
this being that you find particularly interesting?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Thank you all so much for your support and as always, have a very nerdy day.