The Voice is one of the most powerful and dangerous powers in Dune: Prophecy. The ability is at the center of the narrative throughout the HBO series and plays a key role in enhancing the status of the Sisterhood.
The Sisterhood uses the Voice to alter the pitch and neurological balance of their enemy, which gives them control of their actions. Throughout the first season, Valya utilizes the skill several times to gain control over her opponents.
However, the Voice’s portrayal in Dune: Prophecy makes it even more dangerous when compared to Denis Villeneuve’s Dune film series. In the show, the power has no limits, and its dark origin makes it more threatening than its movie counterpart.
Why the Voice in Dune: Prophecy is more dangerous than in the Dune films?
In the movies, the Voice is shown as a mystical force that is used to escape from dangerous situations. On the other hand, Dune: Prophecy makes the power more deadly by explaining where it came from and how it can be used as a weapon.
The films demonstrate the Voice as a skill used by Paul Atreides and Lady Jessica to survive and grow. In Dune: Part 1, Paul struggles to control the power while using it to escape from his captors. Jessica then has to step in to finish the job.
Being highly trained in the Bene Gesserit, Jessica is able to use the Voice with perfection. The power is mostly personal in the film as it helps the characters flee from their enemies. The films also showcase how much training and discipline is required to master it.
On the contrary, the Voice is much more than just a survival tool in Dune: Prophecy. The series delves into the origin of the power, showing how it was created by Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen.
However, Valya uses it without any moral limits and turns it into a weapon for gaining and holding power. She even uses it to kill her rivals. This makes the Voice a tool for domination, not just self-defense.
Another big difference between the portrayal of power in the films and the show is how people resist it. In the movies, the Voice seems almost impossible to fight against. Only those who have trained in it seem to have any chance of resisting it.
In Dune: Prophecy, Desmond Hart becomes the first person to resist the Voice. This adds a new twist to the lore and signals the Voice is not always unstoppable. Meanwhile, the ability plays a much bigger role in the show than in the films, as Valya uses it to create a society where she is in control at a time of political chaos.
What makes the Voice in Dune: Prophecy more dangerous is how it is used to change the political scenario and the overall world. While the movies depict it as a tool for self-defense, the show turns it into a weapon that has no limits and can prove deadly for everyone.
At the same time, there are also some differences in the portrayal of the Voice in the media and Frank Herbert's Dune novels. Unlike the movies and television series, the books explore the psychological impacts of controlling someone with the Voice.
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The screen adaptations instead focus on physical and almost supernatural aspects of the power. Additionally, in the novels, the Bene Gesserit communicate with each other using secret intonations or trigger words, which makes the Voice even more complicated and fascinating.
All episodes of Dune: Prophecy season 1 can be watched on Max.
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