Bellonda

Bellonda is a fictional character from the "Dune" universe created by Frank Herbert. She is a Reverend Mother and the chief Mentat-Archivist councillor and a "watchdog" of Mother Superior Taraza. She is a main character in "Heretics of Dune", "Chapterhouse Dune", and "Hunters of Dune".

"Heretics of Dune"

"Chapterhouse Dune"

In "Chapterhouse Dune", during a conversation with the Duncan Idaho ghola it is revealed that Bellonda is a descendant of Anteac, an important Reverend Mother from the time of the God Emperor Leto II.

Bellonda then retrieves the following information about the origins of Mentats from Other Memory:

Order of Mentats, founded by Gilbertus Albans; temporary sanctuary with Bene Tleilax who hoped to incorporate them into Tleilaxu hegemony; spread into uncounted "seed schools"; suppressed by Leto II because they formed a nucleus of independent opposition; spread into the the Scattering after the Famine.

"Hunters of Dune"

Bellonda is one of the few Bene Gesserits with access to sensitive breeding Records. Furthermore, only she, Taraza, Hesterion, Odrade, Murbella, Sheeana, and Doria have the memories of all the Mothers Superior. ["Heretics of Dune" pg. 177] ["Hunters of Dune" pg. 251-256]

Bellonda suspects the Honored Matres were originally Reverend Mothers sent out in the Scattering. She suspects that melange withdrawal and hypnosis caused the Honored Matres to deny their origins.

Thirteen years after the no-ship "Ithaca" escaped from Chapterhouse, Bellonda is killed in a duel by her Spice Operations Director partner and Murbella's former Honored Matres assistant Doria. Murbellais outraged and forces Doria to Share with Bellonda and makes her the sole Spice Operations Director. ["Hunters" pg. 251-256]

References