The Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam is instructed by the Sisterhood to collect the genetic material of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen ( through conception ) for their breeding program.

As the Baron's homosexuality is something of an open secret, Mohiam blackmails him into having sexual relations with her and conceives his child.

When he determines that Mohiam inflicted him with the disease, he attempts to coerce her into revealing the cure, but soon discovers that there is none.

The plot is thwarted and the secret preserved-the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam kills the Mentat and arranges for his corpse to be shipped home to Giedi Prime.

Prohibitions spawned by the Jihad also include artificial insemination, as explained in Dune Messiah ( 1969 ) when Paul Atreides negotiates with the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, who is appalled by Paul's suggestion that he impregnate his consort Princess Irulan in this manner.

As Dune begins, Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam ( Jessica's former instructor ) is still furious over Jessica's insubordination, but is somewhat intrigued by the potential she sees in 15-year old Paul.

In the Prelude to Dune series, it is revealed that Jessica's mother is in fact Mohiam ; according to the authors, this fact was pulled directly from Frank Herbert's working notes for the original Dune series.

In the storyline, Mohiam blackmails the homosexual Baron Harkonnen into a sexual encounter ; when the first daughter she conceives proves genetically undesirable, she is forced to return.

Gaius Helen Mohiam is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.

Paul ( Kyle MacLachlan ) is tested by Mohiam ( Siân Phillips ) in Dune ( film ) | Dune ( 1984 )

Mohiam explains to Paul that the purpose of the test is to discover whether Paul is " truly human ", by requiring him to endure pain and still act rationally.

He passes the test, and Mohiam ( though still furious over Jessica's choice to disobey the Sisterhood and bear a son instead of a daughter ) is somewhat intrigued by the potential she sees in 15-year-old Paul, as she notes he has survived more pain than any other Bene Gesserit inductee.

Later, Mohiam accompanies Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV to Arrakis in her role as Imperial Truthsayer ; there she is faced with Paul's four-year-old sister, the pre-born Alia, whom she calls an abomination.

Mohiam is further alarmed as she witnesses the ritual battle-to-the-death between Paul and Feyd-Rautha.

But Mohiam is most concerned with the potential outcome of the duel, which could prove to be " a major catastrophe for the Bene Gesserit breeding scheme.

Paul is victorious ; seeing the inevitability of the situation he has orchestrated, Mohiam compels Shaddam to give in to Paul's demands, allowing Paul to depose him and become Emperor in his place.

Forbidden to ever return to Arrakis, Mohiam is taken into Paul's custody when it becomes known that she is on a heighliner in orbit above the planet.

This is a complicated proposition for Mohiam, however, because artificial insemination is forbidden in the wake of the Butlerian Jihad.

The Prelude to Dune prequel novels reveal that Mohiam is secretly the mother of Jessica and grandmother of Paul.

In Dune, Padishah Emperor of the known universe Shaddam Corrino IV keeps the wise but calculating Bene Gesserit Truthsayer Mohiam by his side at all times.

Mohiam also has a major role in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy ( 1999 – 2001 ) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

The non-canon Dune Encyclopedia ( 1984 ) by Willis E. McNelly invents an extensive, alternate biography for Mohiam.

Mohiam is instructed by the Bene Gesserit to collect the genetic material of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen ( through conception ) for their breeding program ( it had been previously established in Dune that he is secretly Jessica's father ).

It is also revealed in the prequels that the name given for Jessica's mother in the original novels, Tanidia Nerus, is an alias used by Mohiam.

When Chani begins a special Fremen fertility diet high in melange, Irulan loses her access to administer the contraceptives ; though urged by the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Mohiam to chemically abort any potential fetus, Irulan protests.

When Shaddam is forced into a corner by Paul Atreides in Dune, he and his Truthsayer, the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Mohiam, realize " they had one weapon left and both knew it: treachery.

On the Harkonnen homeworld of Giedi Prime, the Baron Harkonnen grows weaker and more corpulent due to a strange disease which, unbeknownst to him, was inflicted upon him by a vengeful Mohiam.

Artificial insemination is also prohibited, as explained in Dune Messiah ( 1969 ) when Paul Atreides negotiates with the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, who is appalled by Paul's suggestion that he impregnate his consort in this manner.

It is also later noted by the Reverend Mother Mohiam that Feyd's encounter with Lady Fenring produced a daughter.

* Jessica is tested by Reverend Mother Mohiam in a way that is reminiscent of Paul's testing in the first book of the original series.

In Dune Messiah ( 1969 ), Tleilaxu Face Dancer Scytale is involved with the Guild Navigator Edric, Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, and Princess Irulan of House Corrino ( the consort of Emperor Paul Atreides ) in a plot planned by Scytale himself to force Paul from the throne through assassination or abdication.

Mohiam avenges the assault by giving the Baron an incurable disease which over time will make the Baron obese, destroying his beautiful body.

The Dune Messiah scenes include a new chapter between Alia Atreides and Duncan Idaho, a new introduction and a discarded ending that features the death of the conspirators Edric, the Reverend Mother Mohiam and possibly Princess Irulan at the hands of a Fremen mob incensed by Paul Atreides ' death.

The Encyclopedia notes that Anirul had been compelled to comply with the Sisterhood's breeding program by way of a residual poison administered by Gaius Helen Mohiam, and refers to Anirul's distant, icy relationship with daughter Irulan and revulsion for the " malicious " Wensicia.

Gaius Helen Mohiam | Reverend Mother Mohiam ( Siân Phillips ) and other Bene Gesserit, from David Lynch's Dune ( film ) | Dune ( 1984 )

Reverend Mother ( Dune ) | Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam | Mohiam ( Siân Phillips ) and other Bene Gesserit, from David Lynch's Dune ( film ) | Dune ( 1984 )

Another popular role was that of the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam in David Lynch's Dune ( 1984 ) and Charal from Ewoks: The Battle for Endor ( 1985 ).

Gaius Helen Mohiam | Reverend Mother Mohiam ( Zuzana Geislerová ) and other Bene Gesserit, from the Frank Herbert's Dune | Dune miniseries ( 2000 )

* Gaius Helen Mohiam from Frank Herbert's Dune

In the novel Dune, the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen has this impression of Mohiam:

As Dune begins, the " old crone " Reverend Mother Mohiam comes to Caladan to " test " young Paul Atreides before his departure for Arrakis.