# Should Weirding Modules be Good In-Universe Weapons (Dune 1984)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 3, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-weirding-modules-be-good-in-universe-weapons-dune-1984/994051 "2023-12-03T14:31:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-weirding-modules-be-good-in-universe-weapons-dune-1984/994051/1 "2023-12-03T14:31:19Z")
In the 1984, they added weirding modules as weapons used by House Atreides to explain why they were such excellent fighters. These do not exist in the books (and confused my dad so much they he re-read the books because he thought he had missed them). I was thinking about it this morning while cooking breakfast. Should the weirding modules be good weapons based on the Dune universe? Here’s what we know. Weirding modules take certain sounds and convert them into violence! You can shatter rock, crush an enemy, explode their organs, make explosions, set fires, etc. In the Dune universe, there are also conventional weapons that shoot bullets, and of course, the infamous laser gun. Lasers are interesting in the Dune universe because they also have personal shields that will block all but something moving slowly. If a laser hits a shield though, then both the laser gun and the shield go up in an atomic explosion. This has made melee combat pretty viable in the Dune universe since the slow blade will penetrate the shield. Importantly, shields are not used frequently on Arrakis because they attract sandworms. Meaning, that conventional weapons are actually effective on Arrakis, although seemingly laser weapons are not used much because there’s still a fear of shields (if I recall correctly, the Fremen set up shield traps to encourage the Sarduakar from using lasers). Weirding Modules Analysis Pros: 1. Unlimited ammo. If you can talk, then you have ammo. 2. Explosions. What’s better than killing one enemy with one shot? Killing a bunch of enemies with one shot. 3. Versatility. I figure you’d mainly use it to make explosions in war, but having the option to make targeted hits, start fires, explode rock, is great. Cons: 1. Slow rate of fire. Although I would estimate it is probably pretty close to the time to take a well-aimed shot (1.5 seconds maybe), so it isn’t super slow. But there’s no semi-auto or automatic fire with weirding modules. 2. Requires fairly specialized training. The Fremen seems to learn it easily, but there’s an implication that a bit of elitism is required, something that the Fremen have in spades. Unknown: 1. Shields? Laser Guns Pros: 1. Continuous beam. You can literally sweep the battlefield. 2. Also has pulse fire and arc fire. It is unclear how deadly arc fire can be relative to the beam modes but it can hit an area. 3. Very deadly especially in beam mode. Cons: 1. They do require ammo although it is unclear how long a battery pack lasts. I’ve seen 100 shots per pack but I don’t know if this is canon. 2. Shield interaction. Projectile Weapons Pros: 1. Semi-auto and automatic fire. 2. High rate of fire. 3. No special training required. 4. Family versatility. While one gun has individual pros and cons, as a family of weapons, projectile weapons have access to poison darts, flamethrowers, and explosives. Cons: 1. Ammo. It is unclear how much ammo there is per clip, but they definitely need ammo. 2. Lack of individual weapon versatility. The big question remaining for me is: Do Weirding Modules interact with shields? We know that projectile weapons have fallen out of favour because of shields (although still used because not everybody has a personal shield). And we know there is hesitancy to use laser weapons because of shields. If weirding modules bypass shields, then is that the critical elements that could turn them into an in-universe super weapon? In a world dominated by melee combat, and short range dart throwers to bypass shields, the weirding module is going to have a tremendous advantage. So, should they bypass shields? We know the sound can bypass shields because they can talk to each other. But this is low energy vibrations. The weirding modules shots travel through the air at tremendous velocity. So it seems like the air molecules being pushed forward by the module should be blocked as they would be going too fast. Maybe the weirding modules have a shield penetrating firing mode? I.e. a particular sound that makes the air move slow enough to penetrate a shield but still kill the enemy. Any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-weirding-modules-be-good-in-universe-weapons-dune-1984/994051/2 "2023-12-03T16:26:14Z")
Sound passes through shields but is distorted somewhat, so I’d rule that it interrupted the weirding effect. If I was forced to have them in my universe that is. Which I’d hate. Because they are an _extremely_ dumb concept Almost as dumb as heartplugs. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-weirding-modules-be-good-in-universe-weapons-dune-1984/994051/3 "2023-12-03T17:37:34Z")
Yes, but only almost. Heartplugs are worse. 😉 Lynch said he didn’t want “kung fu on sand dunes”, which is why he added them. He was wrong. As an 11-year old at the time, I thought they were cool. After reading the books, I also thought they were dumb. The weirding way was much much cooler. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-weirding-modules-be-good-in-universe-weapons-dune-1984/994051/4 "2023-12-03T17:44:47Z")
Just FTR, this is one quote from the book on sound & shields (when Paul is training with Gurney before leaving Caladan): > Paul snapped the force button at his waist, felt the crinkled-skin tingling of the defensive field at his forehead and down his back, heard external sounds take on characteristic shield-filtered flatness. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-weirding-modules-be-good-in-universe-weapons-dune-1984/994051/5 "2023-12-03T17:58:15Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > If a laser hits a shield though, then both the laser gun and the shield go up in an atomic explosion. Which Herbert apparently didn’t really think through the implications of. Lots of important places (homes of the Great Houses, for instance) are protected by shields. Just about anyone can get ahold of a lasgun. And even under the constraints of the Butlerian Jihad, it’s not too tough to rig up a delay timer on a trigger (plus the possibility of suicide bombers, of course). What would our world look like if just any random yahoo with a personal sidearm was able to nuke the White House? How is any Great House still standing? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-weirding-modules-be-good-in-universe-weapons-dune-1984/994051/6 "2023-12-03T18:16:37Z")
_Can_ just about anyone get hold of a lasgun? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-weirding-modules-be-good-in-universe-weapons-dune-1984/994051/7 "2023-12-03T23:12:25Z")
Supposedly “in-Lynchverse-movie” the development of the WM technology was what created the potential for House Atreides to upset the balance of powers in the greater Imperium (\*), which implies that this would have to deal with shielding technology. The shields stop kinetic-energy attacks, have that over-the-top bad interaction with directed-energy weapons, and _attract/disturb the worms_ which may imply some sort of vibrational characteristic – so the in-Lynchverse-movie technobabble could be that whatever is it the WMs do, it disrupts the shields’ frequencies. (\* In-book, the risk is Leto’s growing _political_ popularity combined with an army _in the process of becoming_ far better led and trained than anyone save the Sardaukar; thus Step 1 is to displace him to Arrakis to disrupt that build-up, deprive from the familiar-ground home court advantage, and separate from established support networks. The lasgun/shields “atomic explosion” interaction was obviously something Herbert was throwing in to justify the battles in Dune being mostly mano-a-mano, since the story was not mainly Hardware SF but Human-Development SF. But that could be handwaved with that it would be a very low-yield reaction, only proportionate to the energy capacity of the shield unit and gun involved.) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-weirding-modules-be-good-in-universe-weapons-dune-1984/994051/8 "2023-12-04T00:23:26Z")
If the laser in my computer’s mouse suddenly decided to blow itself up, I wonder how much damage it could do? It only draws a tiny amount of electricity. On the other hand, if the lasing element did some kind of E=mc^2 conversion, that might be significant. Herbert wrote the books in the late 1960s. He had no idea how ubiquitous lasers would become in just a couple of decades. In one scene, it is mentioned that there are no satellites in the skies above Arrakis. The Space Guild says they cannot put any up, so there aren’t any. **And nobody questions it.** [It is later implied that the Fremen are bribing the Guild. But still, nobody in the establishment questions it.] Herbert had no idea how ubiquitous, and how indispensable, satellites would become in just a couple of decades. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-weirding-modules-be-good-in-universe-weapons-dune-1984/994051/9 "2023-12-04T00:49:12Z")
IIRC the lasgun/shield event was wildly unpredictable, _could_ equal a nuclear weapon, _could_ kill only the 2 operators. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-weirding-modules-be-good-in-universe-weapons-dune-1984/994051/10 "2023-12-04T12:32:19Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > He had no idea how ubiquitous lasers would become in just a couple of decades. Note that lasers are actually [an essential part](https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Laser_Pen) of making shields, suspensors and other Holtzman tech. So they’re not rare or exotic tech in the Duniverse. Just dangerous to point at a working shield. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-weirding-modules-be-good-in-universe-weapons-dune-1984/994051/11 "2023-12-04T13:17:01Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > In one scene, it is mentioned that there are no satellites in the skies above Arrakis. The Space Guild says they cannot put any up, so there aren’t any. **And nobody questions it.** Well, there’s also a heavy implication that a whole lot of Dune’s society is based on keeping lots of people ignorant, to maintain the power of various factions like the Bene Gesserit and the Spacing Guild. So it’s entirely possible that lots of people just never had the knowledge level needed to realize they should question this. When every inquiry is met by, “That’s a guild secret, and we’ll destroy your entire family if you keep asking it”, you learn not to be inquisitive.