Very first use of Dune’s ‘The Voice’ is creepy beyond belief, but what is the strange superpower?

The first episode of Dune: Prophecy gave us a glimpse at the first-ever use of The Voice, a mysterious ability that is employed by the franchise’s insane space nuns, the Bene Gesserit.

Dune: Prophecy is set in the Dune universe, but some 10,000 years before the birth of Timothée Chalamet’s Kwisatz Haderach, Paul Atreides. The show serves to set up the events we are watching unfold in the Dune film franchise, offering a deeper understanding of the inner workings of both the Bene Gesserit and their overarching role in controlling the direction of humanity.

What is The Voice?

If you answered “It’s a singing competition” to the above question then I’m sending Sardaukar after you, and if you watched the Dune films, you know they’re not to be trifled with.

For those of you unaware, George Lucas *loosely* based much of his Star Wars universe off of the already established Dune lore, which is why concepts like the Jedi mind trick are eerily similar to the Bene Gesserit’s own version of space magic. The Voice is, simply put, the employment of different vocal tones and changes to take control of another living being, much like the mentioned Jedi mind trick. In the 2021 film, it’s easily noticeable and often described as demonic sounding.

The first real demonstration we receive in the first film sees Paul come face-to-face with Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam who instructs him to place his hand in a box of pain. She floods the device with her energy to cause the space prince immense pain but tells him he will die via Gom Jabbar if he removes it. She then uses the voice on Paul, instructing him to be silent.

@dunemovie

He is Paul Atreides. #DuneMovie now playing only in theaters. Get tickets now. Link in bio.

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We see The Voice employed a number of times throughout both the first film and the 2023 sequel, whether that be to force an enemy to commit suicide or something as simple as picking up a glass of water.

The most famous use, and one that has been turned into thousands of memes and gifs, is when Paul gets his own back on the Reverend Mother in the second film. Ever a diva, when she cautions him to exercise caution, Paul screams “Silence.”

Dune: Prophecy showed the origins of The Voice

The voice scene was pretty cool (spoiler) #duneprophecy pic.twitter.com/DONJirOGxN

— NoticerNetwork (@NoticerNetwork) November 18, 2024

Though they are yet to call themselves the Bene Gesserit, Dune: Prophecy’s sisterhood was shown to be the creators of the power, or at least the first to experiment with it. You now have the captivating Valya Harkonnen (Jessica Barden) to thank for those TikTok edits.

Valya, an ancestor to Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, told fellow sister Dorotea (Camilla Beeput) that she had “a new skill I’ve been honing.” She then proceeded to use The Voice to have Dorotea stab herself with her own knife. The scene is as enthralling as it is impressive, even if some have argued that it deviates from the original lore.

You see, as is the case with these massive expanded universes, its original creator Frank Herbert did not create every single aspect of the lore which allowed viewers to fill in the gaps for themselves.

As such, the 1984 book The Dune Encyclopedia suggests The Voice was being used centuries before Dune: Prophecy is set, and though this does create some small plot holes, the new show draws information from the canonised books, Sisterhood of Dune and Mentats of Dune.

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