Dune: Prophecy Season 1: What Is Valya Harkonnen’s Voice Power (& How Does It Work)?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Dune: Prophecy Season 1, Episode 1, “The Hidden Hand.”

One of the most shocking scenes in Dune: Prophecy‘s Season 1, Episode 1, “The Hidden Hand,” sees Valya Harkonnen compel Reverend Mother Dorotea to slit her own throat! So, what’s the deal with Valya’s superhuman Voice power, and does it have any limits?

What Is Valya Harkonnen’s Voice Power in Dune: Prophecy Season 1?

Dune: Prophecy Season 1 doesn’t waste time getting to the juicy bits of its story, serving up Valya’s murder of Dorotea before we reach the 15-minute mark. After Dorotea makes it clear she has zero intention of honoring Mother Superior Raquella’s dying wishes, Valya takes decisive action. Adopting an unnatural timbre, she commands Dorotea to slash her own neck with a knife – and the stunned Dorotea has no choice but to obey!

That’s because Valya is the first Bene Gesserit sister to master the Voice: a technique that employs precise vocal tones and concise instructions to control the thoughts and actions of others. In the Dune novels, Raquella discovered the Voice before Valya; Dune Prophecy hasn’t yet confirmed whether that’s the case in the live-action continuity, too. However, both versions of Dune canon depict Valya bumping off Dorotea as the first “true” use of the technique.

Regardless, Valya Harkonnen isn’t the only character to cut loose with the Voice, on the page or screen. Notably, Paul Atreides, Lady Jessica, and Reverend Mother Mohiam demonstrate their mastery of the ability at various points in both the original Dune novel and its two-entry film adaptation, Dune: Part One and Part Two.

Related: HBO’s Dune: Prophecy Season 1 Falls Short of True Revelation [Review]

Are There Any Limits on Valya’s Voice Power?

Yep. While the Voice seems pretty unbeatable, it doesn’t make anybody (including Valya) invincible. Frank Herbert’s Dune books and the continuation titles by his son, Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson contain multiple instances of the Voice coming up short. Sometimes, this is down to the speaker’s inexperience; getting the pitch wrong or making the command too long-winded undermines the Voice’s effectiveness.

Related: All Major Actors & Cast List for Dune: Prophecy

Other times, a target’s innate mental fortitude or resistance training allows them to shrug the Voice off. And then there’s the most obvious limitation of the Voice: it has to be heard. If a target uses special sound-disrupting tech (as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen does in Dune) or is deaf (like one of the troops guarding Jessica elsewhere in the story), they’re immune to the Voice’s compulsion. But limited or not, the Voice is still one of the most important weapons in Valya’s arsenal!

Dune: Prophecy is currently streaming on HBO and Max, with new episodes dropping Sundays.