Summary

• Dauntless' attack on Abnegation was part of Jeanine Matthews' plan, not their own misguided initiative.
• Erudite disagreed with Abnegation's leadership role and sought to control society through manipulation.
• Divergents like Tris and Four posed a threat to Erudite's plans, leading to unexpected twists and reveals in the Divergent saga.

young adult novels adapted to the big screen in the 2010s came Divergent, based on Veronica Roth’s book of the same name. Directed by Neil Burger, Divergent introduced viewers to a post-apocalyptic Chicago, where, as a result of a war, society was divided into five factions – Erudite, Candor, Abnegation, Amity, and Dauntless – each one dedicated to specific activities to ensure balance and peace.

Divergent followed Tris (Shailene Woodley), who was born in Abnegation but chose Dauntless as her new faction. Tris learned she's a Divergent, meaning she didn’t fit neatly in just one faction, but she had to keep this a secret. Once in Dauntless, she met Four (Theo James), a fellow Divergent who helped her through her initiation tests, and together, they discovered a disturbing plan that began with the destruction of Abnegation. As the faction of the brave, Dauntless attacked Abnegation and killed its residents, but the whole plan was an idea from an Erudite leader.

Dauntless’ Attack On Abnegation Was Part Of Jeanine Matthews’ Plan

Jeanine Matthews Was Erudite’s Leader

Jeanine had been planning to destroy Abnegation, and for that, she made an alliance with Dauntless.

Jeanine Matthews (Kate Winslet) was the leader of Erudite, and as such, she had the highest IQ score in her faction. Despite showing a polite relationship with the leaders of other factions, particularly Abnegation’s Marcus Eaton and Andrew Prior, she used every opportunity she had to sabotage Abnegation’s leaders. Jeanine had been planning to destroy Abnegation, and for that, she made an alliance with Dauntless. As mentioned above, each faction focused on specific activities, all of them necessary for the balance and peace of society, but Dauntless and Abnegation were complete opposites.

Dauntless is the faction that values bravery, courage, strength, intimidation, and fearlessness, while Abnegation is the faction of selflessness, and its are morally incorruptible. Because of this, Dauntless saw Abnegation as weak and called them “stiffs”, so it’s not that surprising that they agreed to a deal with Erudite – however, the of it are unclear, so it’s unknown what Dauntless would have gotten out of it aside from getting rid of what they considered to be the weakest and most useless faction in the city. Still, Dauntless agreed to inject its people with a serum by Erudite that allowed them to manipulate their minds, commanding them to do what they wanted.

Why Erudite Wanted To Get Rid Of Abnegation In Divergent (& Take Control)

Erudite Disagreed With Abnegation’s Role

Erudite held a grudge against Abnegation as the latter were the city’s political leaders due to their morally incorruptible quality and selflessness.

Dauntless’ attack on Abnegation was a key part of Jeanine’s plan, but her whole faction looked down on Abnegation. Erudite held a grudge against Abnegation as the latter were the city’s political leaders due to their morally incorruptible quality and selflessness, so just like Dauntless did, Erudite saw Abnegation as weak and thus incapable of leading the city. Being the faction that valued knowledge, Erudite, particularly Jeanine, felt they should be the leaders of society and not Abnegation, leading to an alliance with Dauntless thanks to their shared views against Abnegation.

The serum didn’t work on Divergents, so it not only allowed them to order the Dauntless to kill all Abnegation residents but also to identify which Dauntless were Divergent to get rid of them.

Jeanine and her fellow Erudites created a serum that allowed them to control other people, which they used on all Dauntless to create their own army. However, the serum didn’t work on Divergents, so it not only allowed them to order the Dauntless to kill all Abnegation residents but also to identify which Dauntless were Divergent to get rid of them. Divergents were dangerous to people like Jeanine as they couldn’t be manipulated as they were more capable of thinking independently, so they also looked to end with all Divergents.

Jeanine’s plan and Dauntless’ attack on Abnegation led to a collapse of the government, but some Abnegation escaped and fled to Amity, though some also became Factionless. Jeanine and the Dauntless definitely weren’t counting on Divergents like Tris and Four giving them a fight, and the attack on Abnegation was only the beginning of bigger problems and surprising reveals in the Divergent saga.