the sedate, controlled future for mankind that the BG wanted


Moderators: Omphalos, Freakzilla, ᴶᵛᵀᴬ

Post Reply
istaivan
Posts: 20
Joined: 18 Feb 2019 19:32

the sedate, controlled future for mankind that the BG wanted

Post by istaivan »

If you didn't know better (and we all do):
You would think "If the Bene Gesserit wanted a nice safe happy future for humanity, and prescience creates the future when it's used, why on earth are they staging a violent scene where Gurney and Namri are -strapping Leto down- and jamming a syringe of spice-essence violently into him."

Is it any wonder Leto's visions are then affected by that to be violent and dramatic?

And then the BG unfairly accuse Leto later of being the savior in his own drama, of inventing Kralizec in order at the same time save us from it.

But we all -do- know better. Alia was on the prowl, Jessica was in a -hurry- to get Leto's abilities activated before the Baron-abomination did heaven knows what to him. Also Gurney isnt 100% in control of the situation, he has to deal with Namri so it's a complicated hybrid of what Gurney wants and what Namri wants. Also Leto's repeatedly said, hell no I won't go, I need more time first. That was the point of the interview with Jessica earlier.

It's just funny, but I am sure one of the novice questions for Children of Dune is "if they wanted chill predictions out of Leto, why didn't they approach him in a chill, calm manner?". Pretty easy to refute, but amusing to speculate anyway.
User avatar
Freakzilla
Lead Singer and Driver of the Winnebego
Posts: 18449
Joined: 05 Feb 2008 01:27
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Contact:

Re: the sedate, controlled future for mankind that the BG wanted

Post by Freakzilla »

I don't know that we're ever told what the BG were expecting to achieve with their KH. I'd like to think they wanted to be more peaceful but it could have been that they wanted only a jump on future events to further their own goals. But Leto did give them millennia of enforced tranquility, to show them that's not really what they wanted.
Image
Paul of Dune was so bad it gave me a seizure that dislocated both of my shoulders and prolapsed my anus.
~Pink Snowman
georgiedenbro
Posts: 1035
Joined: 11 Jun 2014 13:56
Location: Montreal, Canada

Re: the sedate, controlled future for mankind that the BG wanted

Post by georgiedenbro »

If we imagine that the BG represent Frank's views in some capacity; or at least that the best among them does; then I don't see that their desire would be for a nice, safe, happy future. Frank's entire premise for the series is that there is no such thing as a nice, safe, happy future, because circumstances are always changing, technology moving, the ecosystem varying, and the needs we have to overcome must change with them. There will always be a new peace, a new thing to threaten the peace, and new learning needed to overcome that. The cycle will never end, and the only constant is change (one of the epigraphs says something to this effect). If there's one person who can be said to be the embodiment of the BG's understanding, it's Teg. Or at least it becomes their understanding, with Leto II's help. One needs to avoid complete destruction (Scattering) while also avoiding stagnancy; mobility and adaptation is everything. The KH is the antithesis to all this, creating and locking in a static dream that traps everyone, most especially the dreamer. This is the trap the early BG presumably didn't understand, and which only Paul first realized.
"um-m-m-ah-h-h-hm-m-m-m!"
Post Reply