The season premiere of Dune: Prophecy introduced a ton of new characters and lore, but there’s at least one thing that ought to look familiar to fans of the Dune movies: the Voice.
The Voice, or just Voice, is a technique used by the Sisterhood (later called the Bene Gesserit) to manipulate the person on the receiving end. Trained users can alter the tonal qualities of their speech and then deliver commands that a listener must obey.
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Episode 1 of Dune: Prophecy, “The Hidden Hand,” seemingly reveals that the Voice is a creation of a young Valya Harkonnen (Jessica Barden), who uses it to kill her rival Dorotea (Camilla Beeput) following the death of Mother Superior Raquella (Cathy Tyson). While the episode doesn’t offer any explanation as to how Voice works, Valya tells Dorotea that it’s “a new skill I’ve been honing.” Valya claims she would have taught Dorotea how to use it if she’d bent to her will, but Dorotea refuses, so Valya commands her to stab herself.
Thirty years later, an older Valya (Emily Watson) is in charge of the Sisterhood, but it’s not yet known whether she’s taught others to use the Voice. Here’s what we know so far:
What is the Voice?
The Voice is an ancient audio-neural control mechanism that allows the user to wield complete power over a receiver. Users alter the tonal qualities of their voice and then deliver commands to listeners, who will obey without question. These commands must be simple, as directives that are too complex won’t work. It’s also possible to develop a resistance to Voice through training.
Dune: Prophecy hints that Valya Harkonnen invented the technique, but it hasn’t been revealed how she came to discover its uses. This is a departure from Sisterhood of Dune, which serves as the basis for Dune: Prophecy. In the book, Raquella is the one who first uses Voice, and Valya just develops it into the more formalized technique that future Sisters can learn.
Related: How to Read All 23 ‘Dune’ Books in Order
Was the Voice in the Dune movies?
Yes, the Voice was used a few times in Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two. Early in the first movie, Reverend Mother Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling) uses it to command Paul (Timothée Chalamet) to come to her when she’s administering the pain box test. Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), can also use it, and she teaches Paul to use it as well, even though he’s male and thus not Bene Gesserit. Perhaps most notably, he uses it on the Reverend Mother at the end of Part Two, silencing her during his final showdown with the emperor (Christopher Walken).
Related: Dune: Part Three – Cast, Director, Plot
Who can use the Voice?
So far onscreen, the only known user of Voice in Prophecy is Valya, who apparently developed the technique herself. In the movies, Reverend Mother Mohiam, Lady Jessica and Paul Atreides are the only people shown using it, but presumably other members of the Bene Gesserit know how to wield it too.
Why is the Voice important?
The Voice is a cornerstone of the Sisterhood’s (and later Bene Gesserit’s) ability to manipulate the Imperium. They use it for interrogation, for protection, and in the case of Valya and Dorotea, for murder.
If that makes you wonder why they don’t just use it all the time to make sure they always get what they want, the answer is that they still have at least something of a moral code. In the original Dune novel, for example, Lady Jessica considers using it on her partner, Duke Leto Atreides (played by Oscar Isaac in the movies), but she ultimately decides not to because it would be a violation of his trust in her. Reverend Mother Mohiam, on the other hand, has probably never thought twice about using it.
As the women of Dune: Prophecy turn the Sisterhood into a force to be reckoned with, the Voice is likely to come up again—and Dorotea probably won’t be the last person on the wrong end of it.
Related: ‘Dune: Prophecy’ Finally Announces Its Premiere Date
