>>>>I have the sneaking suspicion that, as the orders were contemporary,
>>>>the Jedi arose at least partially as a counter to the BG, not an
>>>>offshoot of them.
>>
>>To counter which part of them?
>
>Um... the evil, ruthless, manipulative, take-over-the-universe,
>torture-people-for-fun part?

...Uh, what Bene Gesserit were you reading about, Gryph?

Evil? That's a subjective call. I wouldn't say so, though; they, as a rule, weren't malicious in intent or deeds. Maybe in specific instances, perhaps, but as a rule, no. The only all-out Evil personage I can think of in the first book would be Baron Harkonnen and his progeny. In the later books, there is the warped version of the Bene Gesserit who show up, whose eyes turn orange when they get pissed. They're much nastier than the Bene Gesserit.

Ruthless? Certainly, in some ways, in pursuit of their specific goals. But not unilaterally. The Bene Gesserit were many things, and many of them were kind and compassionate (such as Jessica). The Reverend Mothers tended to be ruthless, in that they didn't consider such things as love or human compassion in selecting for their breeding program.

Take over the universe? Not as such. They wanted to create a male Bene Gesserit, the Kwisatz Haderach, who would be a messiah to the people of the galaxy. Not necessarily a political leader. That was Paul's work, and he most certainly was not under their control.

Torture people for fun? Nope. Never. They would never torture someone without a specific purpose. What the Reverend Mother did to Paul was to test him, and also as vindictive as she'd allow herself to be towards Jessica for fouling up their breeding program by having a boy instead of a girl.

-- Sean --

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