If it's a secret they're doing a shitty job keeping it since they keep fucking telling people.
Also if he's the only guy in the universe who doesn't know it means every single one of the emperors daughters is betraying him and his dynasty and his spies are shit.
Who do they tell? The reader gets it from Jessica, who tells:
The Reverend Mother, who knows it already;
Paul (I think), who is going through BG training himself, thus is privy to some of their secrets
Maybe (?) Leto (can't really remember), who she loves so much she YOLO'd a multi-generation BG project to make happy, so sharing a BG secret wouldn't be too large of leap from there.
Besides, huge secrets are kept routinely, or at least kept well enough to where no one could prove otherwise. The details of the Harkonnen attack, the Emperor's involvement in it, and Paul and Jessica's survival all come to mind.
He admitted Wanna told him much, though not exactly what. Again backing to Caladan trilogy, one great thing Brian did in that book is to show how many BG de facto rebelled in those times because love and marriage - which is surprisingly consistent with later eras BG completely abandoning the ideas*, holding their sisters way more strictly and developing techniques like imprinting (and ultimately factoring in rise of Honored Matress).
*Iirc only BG that still did it openly later was Teg's mother and it was counted as incredible scandal, but she had reputation of witch among witches and nobody dared to oppose her. For the rest, exile on Buzzell awaited.
Doubt it's that secret, everyone calls them witches, the most politically relevant ability of truthtrance is widely known, and every mentat worth his sapho would immediately notice some things, like the statistically improbable amount of daughters the BG have.
BG clearly have plot shield before Leto II, when he takes the role.
Exactly! Even a provincial 15 year old noble kid knew that Bene Gesserit occupation was politics, and BG sisters were everywhere not even pretending, but all powers seemingly turned a blind eye to it until God Emperor, and he was clearly training them. Maybe they just have a lot of dirt on everyone, plausible considering their other memories and breeding program involving a lot of nobility.
Oh well, at least in the abovementioned Caladan trilogy Brian did accurately portray them as incompetent and far cry from later ones like Taraza or Odrade.
The real gaping plot question is why the emperor allowed the Bene Gesseret to deny him an heir
It's not a plot hole. The Bene Geserit have mind control sex and his wife is Bene Geserit. The pussy is just too good
Isn't the exact, ludicrous amount of control BGs have over their bodies a closely-guarded secret?
If it's a secret they're doing a shitty job keeping it since they keep fucking telling people. Also if he's the only guy in the universe who doesn't know it means every single one of the emperors daughters is betraying him and his dynasty and his spies are shit.
Who do they tell? The reader gets it from Jessica, who tells:
Besides, huge secrets are kept routinely, or at least kept well enough to where no one could prove otherwise. The details of the Harkonnen attack, the Emperor's involvement in it, and Paul and Jessica's survival all come to mind.
Yueh knows.
Hmm, does he? I thought he just knew Jessica was pregnant.
He admitted Wanna told him much, though not exactly what. Again backing to Caladan trilogy, one great thing Brian did in that book is to show how many BG de facto rebelled in those times because love and marriage - which is surprisingly consistent with later eras BG completely abandoning the ideas*, holding their sisters way more strictly and developing techniques like imprinting (and ultimately factoring in rise of Honored Matress).
*Iirc only BG that still did it openly later was Teg's mother and it was counted as incredible scandal, but she had reputation of witch among witches and nobody dared to oppose her. For the rest, exile on Buzzell awaited.
I'm pretty sure Yueh says his Wanna did not "grant" him a child.
Doubt it's that secret, everyone calls them witches, the most politically relevant ability of truthtrance is widely known, and every mentat worth his sapho would immediately notice some things, like the statistically improbable amount of daughters the BG have.
BG clearly have plot shield before Leto II, when he takes the role.
Exactly! Even a provincial 15 year old noble kid knew that Bene Gesserit occupation was politics, and BG sisters were everywhere not even pretending, but all powers seemingly turned a blind eye to it until God Emperor, and he was clearly training them. Maybe they just have a lot of dirt on everyone, plausible considering their other memories and breeding program involving a lot of nobility.
Oh well, at least in the abovementioned Caladan trilogy Brian did accurately portray them as incompetent and far cry from later ones like Taraza or Odrade.