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A piece of cinematic storytelling in the modernDunemovies that’s a little overlooked and a bit overpowered. The ‘Voice’ used by certain characters in the film and books is up there with Jedi Mind tricks as a trope in storytelling that is overpowered and bordering on broken. Only used sparingly, rarely, and not in moments when it really should be.
But of course, giving your character the ability to mind control anyone and everyone would annihilate not only the stakes but also the purpose for the story in the first place. So in the case of the ‘Voice’ in Dune, we get it sparingly and for all the right reasons. For those that are curious, or missed the movies, here’s every time someone uses the ‘Voice’ in Dune.
What Is The “Voice”?
Far from being just arandom superpower given to a characterto solve one specific problem and then be quickly forgotten about, there is more to the ‘Voice’ than the Dune movies fully explain. For those that have missed the lore, haven’t read the books, or have only just seen the films, here’s aquick crash courseon what the ‘Voice’ is, who uses it, and why.
First off, the ‘Voice’ isn’t something that everyone can use, onlya specific kind of person can wield it successfully,and even then the strength of it will also vary from user to user. It’s primarily anability of the Bene Gesseritand it involves altering the tone of one’s voice to control someone.
Usuallya person not initiated in the Bene Gesseritor without previous exposure to the ‘Voice’.
Upon use, the wielder of the ‘Voice’ is able toattune their vocal cordsin such a way that it will become an audio-neural control mechanism. What this means is, you say a command,the target hears it and complies without question, remorse, or fighting back. Pretty simple on the surface, but a nightmare to master.
Its usage in the modern Dune movies is fairly simple and ranges fromPaul being told to place his hand in a Pain Box, minor mind control, and Lady Jessica using it to make a Harkonnen trooper kill himself and his comrades.
Does The “Voice” Work On Everyone?
Unfortunately, we can’t really give a straighter answer on this other than,it depends. Again like Jedi Mind tricks,it works really well on people that are ‘simple-minded’ or weak-willed, but you canbuild up a resistanceto the ‘Voice’. Or, overcome it with other methods.
For example, in the books,Duncan Idaho was able to build up resistance thanks to Paul Atriedes. And it’s shown that with asolid amount of mental conditioning, someone can either put up a good fight against it or outright ignore ‘Voice’ commands. Or, if you went a more basic route, justdeafen yourselfor kill the user.
You can’t obey what you can’t hear.
Another bugbear isrange and complexity. It only works as far as the user can bephysically heard without amplificationand the commands need to be relatively simple. As an example, you could tell someone to “Drop down”, “Disarm”, “Take off your armor”, “Tell me what you know”, “Kill your friend”, “Be loyal to only me”.
But you couldn’t say “Overthrow the Government”, “Build a bomb and set it off here at this time”, oranything requiring a few additional steps. So it does come withsome limitationsto stop characters being completely overpowered at least.
Warning: Spoilers For Dune Part One And Part Two Are Below
Every Time Someone Uses The “Voice” In The Dune Movies
Now that you’re all caught up onwhat the ‘Voice’ is, how it’s used, and who can wield it you’ll have a better understanding of why its appearance in the Dune movies, even more so by Paul, is so significant.
TheBene Gesserit are the only ones that are supposed to use itand even then it’s for subtlety, manipulation, and spycraft. Paul being able to do it makes him aloose cannon, a liability, andsomeone with way too much power and controlat his age. Here’s what we caught over the two Dune movies.
Dune
First up we have themodern cinematic interpretation of Frank Herbert’s Dune seriessmushed into an easy opener and tone-setter of a movie. We get a good introduction to all our characters, the stakes, the planet they’re fighting over, and all the factions at play.
It’s agreat setup to the storyand a solid first film of a franchise that’s still forming. Ourfirst introduction to the ‘Voice’ being usedcomes about five minutes in the form of Paul being forced to practice using it by his mother at the breakfast table on their homeworld of Caladan.
She asks him to use the ‘Voice’ to make her pass him a glass of water. A simple thing but it shows thatPaul is still very much in trainingwith it, and his skill level is still so low that he canbarely get his own Motherto pass him a glass. It takes Lady Jessica providing anadditional tip about targetingsomeone for him to get it.
You could argue thatLady Jessica does have a slight pause before resisting Paul, hinting that even with her years of Bene Gesserit training he still got through her defenses.
That’s all we get of the ‘Voice’ in the film until a little later ataround 24 minutes in, but it’s a nice bit of lore glazing on what’s already been so far a very visually digestive film. The next time we see it used is whenthe Bene Gesserit pay a personal visit to Paulon Caladan with their Reverend Mother performing a test on him.
The trial in question involvesPaul holding his hand in a box of painwhilst the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother holdsthe Gom Jabbar Needlenext to his neck.If he takes his hand out, he dies, simple as that. It’s something he’s forced to do when the lovely lady in questionuses the ‘Voice’and says “Come here” and “Kneel”. With him subdued, she then uses herspiky death stickto stop Paul from moving further.
There’s aneerie voicethat asks “Who are you?” when Paul first meets the Reverend Mother. Thoughnobody answers, it’s implied it was her using the ‘Voice’ and failing.
He of course passes and that’s all we get of the ‘Voice’ until much, much later in the movie. The section in question is around47 minutes inwhen the Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit uses it tobanish the strange many-armed creaturethat the Harkonnens keep as a pet.
It’s something she encounters during hercovert meeting with the Baron and Peter De Vriesabout their deal to wipe out the Atreides but to leave Paul and Lady Jessica unharmed. Somethingthe Baron welches onpretty much immediately.
The creature in question,which is killed later offscreen, is revealed to bethe wife of Doctor Yuehwho betrays Duke Leto and his family. Never trust a Harkonnen it seems.
It’s something that surprisesthe Harkonnen Mentat De Vriesas he tells herit can’t understand their language, and yet it does. Something the Reverend Mother smugly points out.
The next time we see someone using the ‘Voice’ it’s by Paul whilst they’reheld captive by three Harkonnen troopersinside an Ornithopter on its way out into the deep desert. A location that the trio plan to use toabandon Paul and Jessica.
It’s something the Baron uses to get around his ‘Don’t kill Paul and Jessica’ clause from hisagreement with the Bene Gesserit, it’s not his fault if the desert kills them.
It’s pointed out by Lady Jessica thatone of the Harkonnen troopers is deaf, showing Paul and the audience that the ‘Voice’ won’t work on him.
It’sone hour and twenty-eight minutes on the timecodeand Paul’s having his first real-world attempt at using the ‘Voice’ and it abysmally fails. The troopergives him a smack, Paul calms himself and tries again.
He says: “Remove her gag” andthe trooper takes off Jessica’s gag. She then tells the trooper they’ve enslaved to kill the deaf one and set them free.Another trooper intervenesbut she tells him to; “Stop”, “Cut the rope” and “Give me the knife” as he frees her. Jessica stabs him andPaul uses his Atreides Space Judoto throw the remaining trooper out of the Ornithopter and into the night.
According to Jessica, Paul failed because his pitch was too forced. Implying thatrelaxing and centering himselfis how he should focus.
Finally, we seePaul using it inside the Fremen tenthe and Jessica hide in during a sandstorm atone hour and forty minutesin. Paul has a bad trip on Spice and seesthe genocidal Holy Warhe’s about to cause, Jessica tries to comfort him and he yells “Get off me”, which she does.
It’s thefirst time we see him use it in angerand also the last we see of the ‘Voice’ being used in the first modern Dune movie. So it’s time for the sequel.
It’s worth mentioning before moving on though that Paul has moments where heoccasionally hears voices in dire moments, in dreams or when he’s tripping on Spice. Such as telling him to “Let go” of the Ornithopter’s controls during a Sandstorm or “Follow the Fremen”, “Don’t be frightened” and other little tips.
There’s an argument that it’sthe Ancestral Bene Gesseritusing the ‘Voice’ somehow to tell him to do things, or it could just be all Paul since he’s havinga moment of heightened prescienceor awareness. But that’s up to your own personal interpretation ashe also hears Chani and his own inner voicemixed in at times.
Dune: Part Two
Things were looking rough for House Atreides at the end of the last movie.The Dukes dead, Lady Jessica and Paul are outcastshiding with the Fremen andthe Harkonnen are back on Duneharvesting it for Spice just like before.
But Paul’s been busy as he mounts aGuerrilla War with the Fremenagainst the Harkonen and the Emperor himself. Raiding HarkonenSpice Harvesters and Outpostsbefore fleeing into the deep desert on the backs ofgigantic Sand Wormsto safety.
We pick up where we left off withPaul going further into his role as the leader and Messianic figure of the Fremen, learning secrets about his past and uniting all under the banners of his name. It’s all very dramatic.
But we do seethe ‘Voice’ popping up very briefly in the sequel, so we’ve marked out every time we hear it in Dune: Part Two.
At25 minutes into the timecode,we have the Reverend Mother of a Fremen tribe using it on Lady Jessica as she asks aboutthe ‘Water of Life’she’s about to drink. It’s all part of hertrial to become the new Reverend Mother of the Fremen groupand it’s a massive narrative moment.
It’s also worth mentioning that it’s impliedthe Reverend Mother is a very old Bene Gesseritthat’s been guiding the Fremen. Mainly toward Paul being their new savior. But he’s just one of many as it turns out.
She’s told “Drink”, does so, and reacts like someone having a very horrible Acid trip.
Not long after this scene,Stilgar is seen talking to Paul about Jin and voices in the Desertthat could take control of him. Which just further strengthens the previous argument that the voices Paul hearscould be the Bene Gesseritas they’re also heard by Fremen.
It’s never elaborated on further, but it’sworth pointing out as it’s just another odd spiritualistic thingor tinfoil hat conspiracy that the Bene Gesserit are behind absolutely everything all the time.
We don’t really hear much of the ‘Voice’ in the second Dune movie, but we do get aneerie ‘Voice’-like momentfrom Jessica when she’s leaving for the South at roughly one hour and two minutes in on the movie’s timecode. She says she’ll be waiting in her normal voice then pauses and says “All of us” witha voice sounding like the Crypt Keeper.
It’s another hint thatthe Bene Gesserit might still be at playbehind the scenes, but that’s all we get for now.
Our next encounter with the ‘Voice’ is more direct. Here it’s one hour and ten minutes in and it involvesthe Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit using it to silence Princess Irulanduring a conversation about Paul Atreides and his antics as the Fremen Savior. She says “Enough”, before advising that the truth aboutthe Emperor being behind the death of the Atreides, and that the Bene Gesserit created the Arakis Savior problem, shouldn’t come to light.
So the conversation stops.
Skipping ahead toone hour and twenty-two minutes, we’ve got Lady Margot Fenring from the Bene Gesserit using it on Feyd Harkonnen. He initiallyquestions why she’s in a restricted area, but she responds by identifying herself and then asking him “What are you doing here?” and “Aren’t you taking part in your own celebrations?” using the ‘Voice’.
This seems to disarm and confuse him as he follows her, but he’s showngrunting as if he’s trying to resistor at least shake off its effects. Lady Margotuses it again to question Feyd, asking why he’s asking if she’s from the Bene Gesserit, and generally playfully interrogates him.
But it’s all a distraction asshe uses it to manipulate himinto not realizing where she’s leading him physically. Feyd remarks he knows about their tricks, butends up lost in a room he doesn’t recognize, nice one tough guy. Turns out it’sthe Guest Wing outside Margot’s roomand the whole thing was a ruse.
Margot brought Feyd to her room toperform the box of pain test Paul went through, assess Feyd as a candidate for the Arakis Savior issue, and eventuallyworm her way into controlling himlong-term from behind the scenes for the Bene Gesserit. Which is implied she was successful in achieving asFeyd gets her pregnantafter the test.
It’s all aboutsecuring those bloodlinesyou see.
It’s a bit of a wait until we see the ‘Voice’ again. This timeLady Jessica gets a turn, shouting with her Wyrd woman voice atone hour and forty minutesin. She says “Let him try!” when aHigh Priestess of the Fremenshows her how they extract the Waters of Life. Jessica sets the groundwork forPaul to consume it in the future, the Priestess objects but Jessica uses the ‘Voice’ to manipulate her into letting Paul have a go.
At aroundone hour and 47 minutes,we have spooky voices saying “Don’t resist” in regards to Paul rejecting his fate. But again, this could be Paul tripping on Spice.
Jessica flexes herBene Gesserit Jedi Mindtrick again at one hour and fifty-four seconds when impatiently telling the Fremen to find the other part of Paul’s army with a stern “Find them!” to a random Fremen Warrior. A poor chap who was only doing his job by telling her that they couldn’t find the other Fremen.
Jessica uses it again atone hour and fifty-five minutes, this time yelling “Do it” to Chani to get her to help Paul. Right afterChani sasses herfor causing the problem in the first place.
Attwo hours and three minutes,we get Paul using the ‘Voice’ on a Fremen Tribal Leader. He yells “Do you smash a knife before battle?” in regards tohim still not killing Stillgar, yet still petitioning to be leader.Stillgar insists on being murdered, but Paul uses the ‘Voice’ again to scream “I’m pointing the way” asStillgar physically reactsto the audio manipulation.
Jessica attempts to use the ‘Voice’ on Paul toslow him down, whispering with it “Slow down”, but itdoesn’t even registerwith him. Paul swaps back to his normal voice as he continues yelling and you can seea big vein on Timothy Chalamets forehead bulgewith the effort, careful there Tim.
Wouldn’t want topop a blood vesselbefore the franchise is finished.
Paul hits the ‘Voice’ up briefly with the word “Paradise” to emphasize the end of his speech attwo hours and five minutes. It’s a nice trick by Paul to instill in the Fremen Fundamentalists going with him meansbeing led to Paradiseto his followers.
Attwo hours and twenty-six minutes,we see Paul getting some revenge on the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother for the box of pain torment in the first movie. He yells “Silence” at her, bet that onemust’ve felt catharticfor Paul.
Shecalls him an abominationin return, telling the audience thata man being able to use the ‘Voice’is something that’s unholy to the Bene Gesserit. It’s a shock to her,an interesting tidbit for the audience,and also the last time someone ever uses the ‘Voice’ in the Dune movies so far.
