Battle of Rakis
the destruction of the sandworm homeworld
The Battle of Rakis was an engagement in the war between the Bene Gesserit and the Honored Matres. The Honored Matres attacked and killed Mother Superior Alma Mavis Taraza, and ultimately destroyed the planet and its sandworms, sparing only the single worm the Bene Gesserit carried away.
The Battle of Rakis was a battle during the war between the Bene Gesserit and the Honored Matres. The Honored Matres attacked the desert world, killing Mother Superior Alma Mavis Taraza, and the battle ended with the deliberate destruction of the planet and almost all of its sandworms. (Heretics of Dune; Chapterhouse: Dune)
The attack on Rakis#
The Honored Matres attacked the planet of Rakis, killing Mother Superior Alma Mavis Taraza. Reverend Mother Darwi Odrade took over as leader of the Bene Gesserit before escaping with Sheeana Brugh into the desert on a worm. (Heretics of Dune)
Teg's intervention#
Bashar Miles Teg went to a supposed safe house, only to discover the Honored Matres waiting there. He unleashed himself upon the complex and found that his prescient powers allowed him to see shielded no-ships. He captured one and located the final Duncan Idaho ghola and Reverend Mother Lucilla, who were taken to Rakis with him along with the now-hostage Honored Matre Murbella. When they arrived, Teg intercepted Odrade and Sheeana and their giant worm, having seen Taraza's master plan through his new vision. (Heretics of Dune)
Destruction of the planet#
Teg loaded them all into his no-ship, then led his troops out on a last suicidal defense of Rakis, designed to attract the rage of the Honored Matres. The Honored Matres decided to destroy the planet and its sandworms, sparing only the single worm the Bene Gesserit escaped with, and Sheeana. (Heretics of Dune; Chapterhouse: Dune)
Frequently asked questions
- What was the Battle of Rakis?
- The Battle of Rakis was a battle during the war between the Bene Gesserit and the Honored Matres. It ended with the deliberate destruction of the desert world and almost all of its sandworms.
- How did Mother Superior Alma Mavis Taraza die?
- The Honored Matres attacked Rakis, and the attack killed Mother Superior Alma Mavis Taraza. After her death, Reverend Mother Darwi Odrade took over as leader of the Bene Gesserit.
- How did Miles Teg discover he could see no-ships?
- Bashar Miles Teg went to a supposed safe house, only to find the Honored Matres waiting there, and unleashed himself upon the complex. During this he discovered that his prescient powers allowed him to see shielded no-ships, and he captured one.
- How did the Bene Gesserit escape the destruction of Rakis?
- Teg loaded Odrade, Sheeana Brugh, the final Duncan Idaho ghola, Reverend Mother Lucilla, and the hostage Honored Matre Murbella into his no-ship. He then led his troops in a last suicidal defense designed to attract the rage of the Honored Matres, who destroyed the planet while the Bene Gesserit escaped with a single worm and Sheeana.
- What happened to the sandworms of Rakis?
- The Honored Matres destroyed the planet and nearly all of its sandworms, sparing only the single worm that the Bene Gesserit escaped with.
Sources
- BookHeretics of Dune, Frank Herbert, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1984
- BookChapterhouse: Dune, Frank Herbert, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1985
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Alma Mavis Taraza
Alma Mavis Taraza was the Bene Gesserit Mother Superior who confronted the threat of the Honored Matres and the discovery that the girl Sheeana could command the sandworms. She drove the Duncan Idaho ghola project and the Tleilaxu alliance, and died on Rakis, her memories preserved in her successor Darwi Odrade.
Bene Gesserit
The Bene Gesserit were an ancient order of women who wielded power from the shadows of the Imperium through a millennia-long breeding program, mastery of body and mind, and the religious engineering of the Missionaria Protectiva. Their goal was the Kwisatz Haderach, and through him the guidance of humanity.
Darwi Odrade
Darwi Odrade was a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother of secret Atreides descent who rose to become the penultimate Mother Superior during the War of the Sisterhoods. She recruited Sheeana Brugh on Rakis, allied the Sisterhood with the Bene Tleilax, and died on Junction in the final assault against the Honored Matres.
Lucilla
Lucilla was a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother and Imprinter assigned to imprint the final Duncan Idaho ghola on Gammu. She later escaped the destruction of Lampadas carrying the memories of millions of sisters, before dying in Honored Matre captivity.
Miles Teg
Miles Teg was a Bene Gesserit Mentat and military commander, the Supreme Bashar of the Sisterhood's forces, bred down the Atreides line and so close in likeness to Leto Atreides I that he was used to reawaken a Duncan Idaho ghola. Tortured into prescience, he died in battle on Rakis and was later revived as a ghola.
Murbella
Murbella was an Honored Matre captured by the Bene Gesserit, sexually bonded to a Duncan Idaho ghola, and trained until she survived the Spice Agony to become a Reverend Mother. After the war between the two orders she rose to be both Mother Superior and Great Honored Matre, uniting the rival sisterhoods.
Mentioned in2 entries
Dune Timeline: from the thinking machines to the end of Kralizec
A dated chronology of the Dune universe, from the first age of space travel and the Butlerian Jihad to Paul Atreides, the God Emperor, the Scattering and the last war with the machines. Events run oldest first, era by era, and every entry says which book it comes from.
Heretics of Dune Explained: Plot Summary and Ending
The full story of Frank Herbert's fifth Dune novel, from the Duncan Idaho ghola on Gammu and the worm girl of Rakis to the Honored Matres burning Rakis, and what the ending sets up for Chapterhouse.
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