Many centuries after the our era the universe of Frank Herbert's Dune exists. Invision a world distant in space and devoid of surface water, virtually a wasteland ravaged by sandstorms and immense worms that reside below the sands. Despite its harsh appearence Dune is a planet sought by many. Buried underneath its worldwide desert exists a kind of element called "the spice." The spice is needed by the spacing guild to fold space for travel. The spice increases mental ability and longevity. Many political groups fight to attain total control of Arrakis, this desert planet. The Fremen are the only natives of this place, they have formed a bond with the spice, and know the the true power of Dune.

THE MAP OF DUNE

Both the Spacing Guild and the Bene Gesserit fear the son of House Atreides' Duke Leto and Lady Jessica. The Bene Gesserit specifically instructed Jessica to bear only female children so that the balence of bloodline in the houses could be maintained through selective breeding. But she disobeyed their command and out of love for her Duke bore a son Paul Atreides. Foreseeing their impending irradication and the stopping of spice flow, The Spacing Guild orderered the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV to have Paul killed.

The Reverend Mother Mo'ahim knows the legend of a messiah, The Kwisatz Haderach, that would usher in a new age for manipulation of the spice as well as become the hand of God. She suspects that Jessica's son may be the one. On the Atreides homeworld, Caladan, the Reverend Mother comes to perform a Bene Gesserit test called a gom jabbar on Paul, to determine the strength of his will. He endures her test, but before this event he has visions in his dreams of a strange people he has never seen and a water dripping into a dimly lit pool. The Reverend Mothers knows of his talents and his dreams, but is uncertain as to how powerful he is or may become. He passes the test adequately, surpassing the threshold of pain that very few could endure.