#SaveWarriorNun: Learning to Love a Canceled Netflix Series

A case for Warrior Nun's renewal

[Warning: The following post will contain spoilers for Warrior Nun Seasons 1 and 2.]

PART I

A month ago, I had no idea what Warrior Nun was.

While I'd heard the name of the series in passing, to me, it was just one of many semi-popular Netflix series that had been canceled in recent months. I was more disappointed in 1899 and Inside Job being axed, as I'd heard good things about both series and had them high on my "To Watch Eventually" list (Note: I have a very long list, so "high" translates to ~50 shows away). Warrior Nun was, believe it or not, somewhere on that list, but far down enough that I probably wouldn't have gotten to it until after the end of the world.

But then I began to write about it over on Screen Rant. While not directly about Warrior Nun itself, my first article to mention the series did cover the myriad of shows that Netflix had canceled in recent months. The new co-CEO of the streaming company, Ted Sarandos, claimed that Netflix had "never canceled a successful show." Within the article, I briefly mentioned Warrior Nun, as well as the fan campaign that had been building around saving the series. It wasn't long before a few people involved on Twitter began thanking me for the article. Nothing like this had happened before for anything else I'd written...well, ever, really. I was incredibly thankful and glad that I could be of service to fans of the series. After all, every story deserves to be told to its conclusion, no matter what that story is about.

And then, on January 27, 2023, I wrote about Warrior Nun fans' efforts to get the series renewed by streaming services other than Netflix. In this instance, it was Apple TV+, the streaming service behind the incredible sci-fi drama Severance. Sourcing from a multitude of fan tweets, I wrote about how it seemed inevitable that, because of how many people were vocalizing their hopes for a third season of Warrior Nun, the series would be renewed elsewhere. The article was a hit, with so many passionate Warrior Nun fans thanking me for writing the article that it made me realize just how special of a series this must have been. So, I decided to begin documenting my journey watching the series for the first time on Twitter.

What I didn't expect were the hundreds of people who would join me on my journey. The Warrior Nun community--many of whom are reading this right now (hi!)--followed me for many weeks as I wrote my episode-by-episode thoughts on the 2-season fantasy action series. I was floored by the amount of support I was getting over and over again. But I was also enthralled by a series that, with every new episode, excelled at the story it was telling. A series with such a niche premise was always going to have something that made it special. But I wasn't anticipating just how well-developed the show was.

Season 1 was imperfect. Don't get me wrong, I still liked it. But it very much felt like a season that was more interested in laying the groundwork for the rest of the series than telling the story that was happening in the present moment. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, though, because without the context for the first season, Season 2 wouldn't make any sense. Even so, there were some episodes that didn't engage me as much as the second season of the show did. But I think most of this had to do with my expectations surrounding the series. I expected the show to be what Season 2 was in its 10-episode debut season. And while I would have liked Season 1 to have a faster pace, the slower burn presented in Season 1 when compared to Season 2 still needed to happen.

Because Warrior Nun is a TV show.

I'm not going to beat around the bush here: TV has always been more for a broad audience than it has been for niche ones. Yes, there are plenty of genres to choose from and plenty of different shows with different casts of characters to watch. But, at the end of the day, TV is more beholden to ad revenue and viewing numbers than any other medium of art. You can take a risk on a one-time feature film because even if it doesn't make that much money, the movie itself has a beginning, middle, and end; the art has been created, finished, and now anyone can watch it. Books have even more freedom, especially with the advent of self-publishing and digital serialization, which make it easy to put your writing online anywhere you want for as big or as little a price tag as you desire. Even music can be created in Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) these days and uploaded online for anyone to listen to.

What makes books and music different from TV, movies, and even short films on YouTube, is that you can make them on a micro-budget, if any budget at all. But TV and film are different. Cameras, crews, casts, writers, editors, computers. All requirements for making a movie or TV show in the current age. They require money. And the best way to get money, is through funding. And funding requires a profit to be made. While a movie makes money directly thanks to the people who pay money to see it in theaters, TV series are a little bit different. Because when you watch something like Warrior Nun, you're not paying with your money, even if you have a subscription. You're paying with your viewership. If people are watching Warrior Nun on Netflix, and that number justifies the amount of money being spent on the series, then it would make sense for the show to get renewed. Right?

Sadly, it's a little more complicated than that, and I'm not an expert. In fact, it's difficult to say how Netflix decides to renew series that aren't massive hits like the late House of Cards or the current Stranger Things. What it sounds like to me (person who is not an expert) is that Netflix looks at the number of new subscribers a series is able to draw in, thus justifying its renewal because more people are subscribing and the company is making more money. It's like how a weekly TV series is liable to get renewed if there are more people watching--because the TV network is able to charge more for advertisers who want to put their ads on the show. More, new subscribers watching a show like Warrior Nun means more justification for the series to be renewed.

But what's the metric here? How many people were going to be necessary for Warrior Nun to get a third season? It's unclear, really, because when Season 2 did debut on Netflix back in November, the series was a hit. According to an article from CBR, Warrior Nun Season 2 was in the top three for global viewership on Netflix.

Despite having a $0 promotional budget.

Not a single penny of Netflix's money was spent on promoting Warrior Nun Season 2. Yet the show was still killing it globally. While it's unclear how many new subscribers Netflix was gaining from the series' worldwide success, the show was still, at the very least, a worldwide success amongst existing subscribers. Yet, somehow, this wasn't enough to justify the show's renewal. Which perplexes me. It would be more understanding if the series, niche as it is, had a small number of passionate people who wanted the show renewed. But Warrior Nun's situation is much bigger than that. If a series is drawing enough passionate people to crowdfund the international placement of billboards, including one just outside Netflix's headquarters in LA, is that series truly not successful?

Maybe there are some internal metrics or numbers that have passed me by that I'm just not understanding nor considering. But when I observe a fandom that is full of energy and vigor coupled with the all-important general metric of holding a top spot on Netflix on a global scale, it makes me wonder how a show like Warrior Nun could even be considered for cancelation. Like, I had this whole tangent planned about the popularity of crime procedurals that I'd use to illustrate a possible reason as to why Warrior Nun was axed. But with the information I have, analysis of the situation itself seems moot. Netflix canceled the series because it canceled the series. The whole thing sounds like circular logic.

So now I want to ask a different question: Why do people love Warrior Nun?

And I don't say this in a general, "What do you like about the show?" way. I pose this question from an analytical standpoint, doing my best to put aside my own biases for why I love the show and Lilith, it's Lilith, Lilith's awesome, and Salvius' character arc God that was so well done, and then the season finale was just this holy shit levels of fun but also worldbuilding and...

But. There is something else that makes Warrior Nun special beyond everything it does well that your average, good TV show does. Warrior Nun is different, because it likes to be different.

PART II

There is often a formula to TV series, both in their presentation and the way they tell their stories. Introduce the protagonist. Tell the story from their perspective until they directly meet other characters involved in the story. Use those key points of introduction to bring those new characters into the show as new points of view. Have each character go on their own journey that may or may not have key ties with the main plot. End each season on a bookends, but with just enough loose ends that, if the series gets renewed, there's plenty of story left to tell.

While Warrior Nun uses this formula as the groundwork for the show, the presentation of that formula is incredibly atypical. The story begins with Ava laying dead on a table until she's brought back to life by the halo's powers. But before she can be resurrected, the series introduces the major secondary characters first: Lilith, Beatrice, Camilla, and Mary. It also establishes the major secondary plot of the show, with Sister Shannon's death and who could have set up her demise. This is not normal. This is like if Breaking Bad started by introducing Jesse Pinkman and Krazy-8 in the opening scene. Or if The Walking Dead started with a scene between Shane and Lori talking about the zombie apocalypse. It's abnormal to begin a show by introducing the secondary characters and their plight first before the main character has any knowledge of what's going on.

It isn't a one-time deal, either. Before Ava meets Father Vincent and the nuns of the Order of the Cruciform Sword (OCS) at the end of Episode 2, those first ~100 minutes of Warrior Nun have a substantial amount of time dedicated to secondary characters Ava hasn't met yet. Mary investigating whether or not Shannon's death was a targeted attack. Father Vincent and his clashing with Cardinal Duretti over control of the OCS. Lilith vocalizing her unhappiness that the halo, her birthright, is now in the back of some stranger with no connection to their Order. If Warrior Nun were presented like a typical TV series that focused on the protagonist until it was time for them to interact with other characters, many of these plot points would have been presented differently. They may have even been relegated to footnotes the audience is told during Episode 3 as Ava is adjusting to life with the OCS. But instead, Warrior Nun shows the audience things that are happening at the OCS in real-time alongside Ava's escapades, even though the two haven't crossed paths yet.

But the unique elements of Warrior Nun's storytelling techniques don't stop at this introduction. Despite having a multitude of character motivations, plot threads, and mysteries introduced in just the first half of Season 1, Warrior Nun never wastes the viewer's time on something that doesn't further the plot or characters in the series. Let's be honest, here: There are a lot of TV shows that could be a lot shorter than they are. Even though I enjoy the quippy writing of Billions, for instance, a lot of it is filler that doesn't further characters or plots in any meaningful way. A 12 episode season of Billions could easily be cut down to 8. Maybe even 6, depending on which season we're talking about. And don't get me started on Seasons 7 and 8 of The Walking Dead. Filler content--stuff that doesn't do anything to directly enhance plot or characters--plagues many TV series across a wide array of channels and streaming platforms.

But Warrior Nun doesn't even consider the idea of filler content once. I can't think of a single scene throughout the entire series that wasn't necessary. Actually, I can think of more scenes that felt almost rushed. Scenes that skipped so much filler the revelations gave me whiplash. Specifically, the reveal that Father Vincent was working with Adriel at the very end of Season 1. The show wasted no time showing viewers the twist before jumping right into a battle with the new, immortal antagonist. And while I do believe this was to the detriment of the reveal's presentation, it falls in line with what the show strives to do. It does not want to waste audience's time on scenes that do not further the characters or the plot of the series. Simon Barry and team know that viewers of a fantasy action series called Warrior Nun want a roller coaster ride. If Season 1 had been a 22-episode CW production, or even had a required length of an hour per episode, the series would have taken on hours of extra scenes that would have done nothing to make the show any better. You get 10 episodes in Season 1, 8 episodes in Season 2, they never go over 50 minutes and typically stay around 35 minutes long when cutting out the credits. It's all we need.

Because within those episodes are scenes that always add to what the series wants to be. Character motivations and feelings can be ascertained through the way they fight. Beatrice's elegant fighting style reflects her professionalism. Ava throws her punches with a wilder disposition, reflecting her inexperience compared to the OCS' nuns. Mother Superion's physical attacks are stilted due to her injuries, requiring a reliance on projectiles and guns. Fight scenes are a major part of Warrior Nun and are crafted not just for viewing pleasure, but to underscore the strengths and weaknesses of certain characters.

I'm most reminded of Yasmine's fight against the one-eyed Cardinal William. It's not a hyper-impressive fight by the standards of the rest of the show, but it reflects Yasmine's character through how she's able to win. Season 2 establishes her as someone who knows a lot about a lot of things, as well as someone who has trouble knowing when to quell her knowledge. When she fights William, her aim is not to kill him by beating him up a bunch. Instead, she goes right for his femoral artery. Given that it's just one stab wound, William is unfazed, until he realizes how much blood he's losing. Yasmine quickly explains what she's done as the Cardinal bleeds out. The fight is a reflection of Yasmine's knowledgeable characterization, while also showing viewers how far she's come as a confident member of the OCS since her introduction. Instead of being a series that only uses violence to engage viewers with excitement, Warrior Nun utilizes those exciting, violent scenes to visually bolster characterization.

But it's not enough to just have a unique presentation style. A show also has to engage with viewers by making what's being presented to them feel important. It needs to be engaging not just in the way it's presented, but also in the what.

Is it even a spoiler to say Warrior Nun succeeds in doing this?

The stakes are high right from the start, with Ava walking around with the Vatican's property in her back. The first episode swiftly establishes how little she cares for why it's there or what responsibilities it may come with. For Ava, the halo is a second lease on life. It's why, despite his appearance in just the first half of Season 1, JC is an important person for Ava to connect to. His status as a social outcast alongside the rest of his friends resonates with her, as does his charming demeanor and lack of responsibility. He is the level of freedom that she wanted in life, that she had been dreaming about having, but could never achieve due to both her paralysis at a young age and lack of proper care at her orphanage.

Then, she is thrust into a world of responsibility. And she runs. When she does, Lilith and Mary chase after her, resulting in Lilith being dragged into the unseen, Hell-like dimension adjacent to Earth's own. Unable to handle the responsibility, Ava runs, leaving JC and Mary behind. Only Mary follows her. JC never appears in the series again, something that could be seen as an abrupt thread that's been left hanging, forgotten. Any other TV series would find a way to bring JC back into the plot, offering him an assortment of things to do because he's a familiar face that feels obligated to be kept around. Instead, Warrior Nun uses him as a symbol. He's important in so far as he represents everything Ava wanted her new life to be: A fun romp where "responsibility" wasn't even a word in her vocabulary. But as soon as that responsibility stares her in the face--as soon as Lilith sacrifices herself to save her life--Ava is forced to face it. JC disappears just like the life on the run she wanted to have.

Warrior Nun is always portraying its story in ways that would be unusual for a typical TV series. I never really asked where JC was because I understood what he represented in the story. Just like how I didn't need to see Father Vincent have a pivotal "come to Jesus" moment when he realized everything Adriel was doing didn't entirely benefit mankind. Much like how JC's absence represented harsh change, Father Vincent having his leg broken was a key moment for his character. But it wasn't the moment he decided Adriel wasn't worth worshipping anymore. The audience never sees that moment. Instead, Vincent's journey back to hero status comes over the course of Episodes 5 through 7. Conversations with Christian and Adriel begin making him realize that he's been manipulated into doing something that doesn't truly serve the greater good of humanity, as his questions become danced around or twisted to serve a different purpose. Him taking the Crown of Thorns in Episode 6--the one that could be used to defeat either Adriel or Ava depending on who has it--is a symbol of his conflict. He has the power, he has the most important weapon in the story. Now he has to choose who he wants to use it against.

And, in Episode 7, we see that he's fallen off the wagon. Drinking at a bar, Vincent clearly doesn't know what he wants to believe anymore. And then, while in the sunlight near graffiti of Ava descending down on Adriel, his fingers begin to burn. It's as if Adriel has made the choice for him, the plague of non-believers being burned by the sun deciding that Vincent is no longer worthy to stand by Adriel's side. This moment, to me, is not a turning point in Vincent's character, though. We never saw the turning point. Instead, his skin burning in the sunlight acts as confirmation for his subconscious decision, one that could have been made at any point between his stealing the crown and his sunlit confirmation.

And how could I write a Warrior Nun essay after seeing Season 2 without talking about Beatrice?

(Well, not too much here; her and Ava will get a full-length essay all to themselves in the coming weeks.)

Introduced in Season 1 as the only nun to develop a direct friendship with Ava, Beatrice is quick to reveal that she has romantic feelings for Ava. But she doesn't just come right out and say it. We get a hint in Episode 3 that she identifies as queer to some extent, but it's carefully-laced subtext that could easily be missed on first viewing. It isn't until Episode 8--when Beatrice grows emotional while reading about Sister Melanie, a gay nun who was persecuted by Nazis--that it's clarified that she herself is gay. Her feelings for Ava are reinforced when Ava just barely manages to phase through 20 feet of wall during a training session, with Beatrice caressing Ava's cheek following her near-death experience.

The subtext continues throughout Season 2, with Beatrice clearly afraid to tell Ava about her feelings for her. It's never direct, and it's never outright clarified for the audience what Beatrice is so afraid of. Instead, the difficulty of her emotional situation is hinted at with as much secrecy as her feelings themselves. This is made all the more difficult for her due to her personality, which centers around following rules and acting as proper as possible. Even if that means stifling who she really is in the process. It isn't until Season 2, Episode 6, when Ava falls so far she nearly dies, that Beatrice's feelings for Ava shine through like the halo as it heals her. It's clear, throughout her interactions with Ava, in Season 2 especially, that Beatrice wants to tell Ava how she feels, but allows her fears of persecution and (in her mind) impropriety to get in the way.

It's why Ava has to be the one to instigate their kiss in the Season 2 finale. She herself has gone through many character changes at this point. Now understanding what her responsibility is, Ava has grown enough that self-sacrifice is something she's willing to do in order to save Beatrice and everyone else she loves. But for Beatrice, Ava's decision to sacrifice herself breaks down her own beliefs of responsibility over all else. Because in that moment, Beatrice believes Ava's responsibility will get her killed, and that she shouldn't put herself in harm's way. It's the first time Beatrice's mask of propriety has slipped off. And Ava takes the opportunity to kiss her, telling her it's okay to let that mask fall.

Never once stated. Never once needing to be said aloud. But emotionally impactful all the same.

Now all of this is to say that I believe Warrior Nun's big key, universal factor that makes it such a damn good show is because of the atypical and subtle ways it presents its story. Characters the protagonist hasn't met yet but will soon meet getting screen time in the first two episodes to further their development no matter how unorthodox it may be. The use of fight scenes to develop characters or reinforce who they are. The lack of filler content, in any form, even during its slowest moments. The use of characters as symbols. Omitting key turning points because they happen within characters instead of at specific story beats. Never wasting the viewer's time. While some of this can be found in other TV shows, it's unusual for all of these to be present in a single TV series.

Warrior Nun is a special show because it not only has unique presentation and intrigue, but it succeeds in playing to these atypical strengths. It grew popular not just because of how fresh an idea it is or how well-developed its characters and story are. The presentation of the show is unlike anything I have ever seen in any other TV series. And don't even get me started on the varied cinematography, abrupt musical montages, or other visual and auditory aspects that make the series stand out even more on a technical level.

Seriously, please, don't get me started. My fingers hurt and I set out to write an essay, not a novella.

Warrior Nun is a layered series, in no small part because every facet of it is presented as important in ways other TV shows just don't pursue. The series is unusual in both story and in the way that story is made. And that's what makes it work so well. If Warrior Nun had been in the hands of anyone other than those who worked on Seasons 1 and 2, it never would have shone as brightly as it does. Which is, heartbreakingly enough, why Netflix was the perfect home for it. Despite canceling the series, Netflix still gave it a chance. Still gave it a budget, a place to call home. It succeeded, but for reasons beyond understanding, that success wasn't enough to warrant a Season 3. The show, despite everything that makes it so unique, engaging, and impressive, now stands to be forgotten like so many other canceled Netflix series before it.

So...where do we go from here?

PART III

The Streisand effect is perhaps one of the most important phenomenon of the modern age. Originating from the name of American singer and actress Barbara Streisand, the Streisand effect is when attempts to draw public attention away from something only serve to draw even more public attention to that thing. The inciting Streisand event was when Mrs. Streisand attempted to sue a photographer for violation of privacy after discovering an aerial photo of her mansion in a publicly-available series of photos from the California Coastal Records Project. The Project consisted of 12,000 coastline photographs across the state of California, meant to draw awareness to the issue of coastal erosion. It just so happened that "Image 3850" in this set of 12,000 included Barbara Streisand's home in the photograph. While Streisand sued due to fears of privacy violations, the photo had only been downloaded six times prior to her lawsuit (two of which were done by her attorneys). Within a month of the case reaching the public eye, Image 3850 had been viewed over 420,000 times. Downloads also skyrocketed.

When someone doesn't want people paying attention to something, and tells people not to pay attention to it, chances are, more people are going to pay attention to it. It helps if there's some level of negative connotation to what people aren't supposed to be paying attention to. However, the negative connotations of the Streisand effect don't always lead to negative outcomes. In the case of Warrior Nun, the attention the series received following its cancelation was the Streisand effect acting in full force, for the sake of saving the show.

If someone lives in New York City, or Los Angeles, or London, or even Arizona, now--saw that while I was writing, nice work!--they may have seen a billboard or a bus stop sign telling them to "#SaveWarriorNun." Perhaps they have wondered what this could mean, and so Googled "Warrior Nun" to find out. Perhaps some of these surveyors have then gone home, sat in front of the TV (or the computer--kids these days!), opened up Netflix, and turned on this "Warrior Nun" series the billboards keep telling them about. Then, some of these watchers--like me--end up enjoying the show enough to tweet about it, write about it, or think about it, all while using "#SaveWarriorNun" to spread hope of a Season 3 farther across the world.

It's not going to stop.

That one sentence is the conclusion I've come to about the campaign to save Warrior Nun after the countless likes, retweets, heartwarming replies, and incredible interactions I've had with the many people fighting to save this special series from becoming just another canceled Netflix product.

It's not going to stop.

The Warrior Nun fanbase is dedicated. The love surrounding efforts to save this series has not dwindled since December 2022 when the show was canceled. All canceling the series seems to have done is increase the number of people who want to see the show renewed. It's increased the number of existing viewers who have pure passion for the series. And it's increased the number of people who enjoy the series and understand why it's gained the popularity it has--trust me, I know, I'm one of them.

Do I think Warrior Nun will be renewed? Given how Netflix canceled the series despite all noticeable signs pointing to it being a success, it's hard to say what the future of the series will be. But I would be very surprised if, within the next few months, the show wasn't picked up by another streaming service or network. My personal preference is HBO, assuming Warner Bros. is still willing to take a gamble on new, interesting series, but any network or streaming service willing to take up the halo would be fine in my book. So long as the creatives behind the series continue to stay with it, of course. Because Warrior Nun is an incredibly unique series that deserves to have its story finished. Whether that be one more season, or many more to come. Warrior Nun is an incredible passion project with a fanbase that proves it deserves to continue having its story told.

And the future is looking bright for the series. Creator Simon Barry recently released an unused scene featuring Ava and Beatrice in bed the morning of Ava's water-running training in the Season 2 premiere to celebrate 10 million #SaveWarriorNun tweets. It only took around 2 months for 10 million tweets to be made in support of Warrior Nun's renewal. That's well over 150,000 tweets every single day since the show was canceled. Maybe more, depending on how many individual days passed between the show's cancelation and when the 10 millionth tweet was tweeted. If that alone doesn't prove just how driven fans of the show are to save the series, I don't know what does.

Warrior Nun not only deserves to be renewed, but likely will be renewed. It may still be a little while off, given the radio silence from Netflix and other streaming services despite the massive fan push to save the show. But I truly do hold out hope that someone, somewhere, in some corner of the television industry, sees the potential that future seasons of Warrior Nun hold. Both in viewership, and in the purely unique artistic presentation of the series. Warrior Nun deserves to be saved, and to have the rest of its story told. Because Warrior Nun is unlike anything television has ever seen.

Save Warrior Nun.

CODA

The essay itself is over, but I wanted to give a big thank you to everyone from the Warrior Nun fandom who has been following me since my first article about the series for Screen Rant last month. I never in a million years would have thought that hundreds of people would be interested in my decision to document my journey through the series for the first time. I'm glad I've been able to contribute many, many, many words to the effort to save the series, and am so incredibly grateful. Both for the support, and the opportunity to do this for you all.

While I may have finished watching Warrior Nun, I will continue to support this dedicated, wonderful fanbase as much as I can. For the next few Thursdays, I will be writing essays about Warrior Nun. Granted not as long as this! I don't think I'd be able to keep up with myself if I made something this big again! But I do plan to write many more analytical essays about the show going forward, and maybe a few different types of essays as well. And, whenever I can get my hands on a story about the show, I'll be sure to write more articles for Screen Rant too.

I'd also like to direct your attention to this tweet, where I asked fans to send me any Warrior Nun fan works that exist. If you have anything you'd like me to check out, please feel free to reply. I don't plan to go through them all the way I did Warrior Nun episodes (giving thoughts and whatnot), but I will be reading/watching/looking at/listening to whatever gets put there, purely because I really love this fandom and want to see what everyone is doing to support the show in the fanwork sphere.

And now I must go, for there are many more essays to be drafted, articles to scribe, and books to write (I write books too; see below). Once more, thank you all for your wonderful support and for introducing me to an incredible series. May it grace our televisions once again, in this life or the next (but hopefully this one!).

Best,

-Nick

***

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