Warrior Nun: How to Write a Twist Hero

Duretti did nothing wrong

[Warning: This essay contains spoilers for Warrior Nun seasons 1 and 2.]

Twists in stories are at their best when the information for them is already there.

I've noticed throughout the modern media landscape that twists or subversion of expectations have been utilized not to tell a story, but to get a reaction out of the audience. Sometimes it's the final season of Game of Thrones, where there weren't enough seeds planted throughout certain characters' stories to justify their sudden turns toward different goals and ideals. Sometimes it's Season 8, Episode 8 of The Walking Dead, where the twist feels more like a punishment for the audience than a meaningful storytelling decision. Some of this is subjective, but what isn't is what makes a good twist.

Setup. There needs to be some kind of reason behind the twist. It can't just come out of nowhere. The best stories that have twists—whether that be twist endings, twist story beats, or twists in character motivation—are ones that telegraph the twist is coming. Subtle little hints that set the twist up so that, on second viewing, the twist becomes clearer to the audience before it happens. I think the series Mr. Robot does this the best. I won't spoil things, obviously, as it's a fantastic series that I highly recommend to everyone reading this essay. But it is a story with many twists and turns, all of which can be picked up on when viewing the show a second time. A good twist doesn't make the audience feel like an idiot. A good twist makes the audience realize just how smartly the show played it.

Warrior Nun presents a fantastically-executed twist in the form of Cardinal Duretti. Season 1 presents the aggressive man of God as an antagonistic leader with secret ambitions for power. Much of this is presented through the lens of other characters, who don't trust Duretti because of his secretiveness coupled with his aggressive stance against Ava having the halo. He seems to be "against" major characters like Beatrice and Mother Superion throughout season 1. There's an agenda of his own transpiring in the background of the series, one that many of the show's heroes presume to be malicious. However, by the end of season 1, it's revealed that Duretti's ambitions were never based on a lust for power or the destruction of the Church at all. Instead, he was truly trying to do the right thing to the benefit of those around him.

Duretti is the perfect example of a twist hero.

When he's first introduced in episode 2 of Warrior Nun, Duretti is butting heads with Father Vincent, a character who the audience has grown to trust over the course of episode 1. Unlike the calm and collected Vincent, Duretti presents himself as more aggressive and boisterous, believing that Ava's possession of the halo is a massive danger to the OCS. Despite Duretti's doubts, Vincent continues to assert that Ava was chosen by God, and that they would be remiss to question God's plans surrounding their newfound Warrior Nun. Duretti is undeterred by this, however, and continues to clearly demonstrate his distaste for Ava taking the halo. This comes to a head in Season 1, Episode 4, with Duretti enlisting Lilith to find Ava and bring back the halo. He doesn't care if Ava makes it back alive or not. All he cares about is ensuring that the halo is back in the hands of the OCS.

From the outset, Duretti appears to be a villainous figure that the audience shouldn't be rooting for. After all, he is going against the protagonist of the story, not caring whether she lives or dies. To him, Ava's life is meaningless compared to the power of the halo. While we don't know at this point why he wants to take the halo from Ava, Duretti's antagonistic portrayal makes it seem like he wants the halo for some kind of unknown, nefarious purpose. If he's doing everything in his power to hunt the show's hero down, then surely he must have some kind of evil reason to do so!

And that's how Warrior Nun tricks you into thinking that Duretti is a villain.

By the time Episode 4 rolls around, the audience has no concrete information that Duretti is planning to do something heinous with the halo's power. All we really know is that he is willing to send Lilith to possibly kill Ava to get the halo back in the hands of the OCS. However, because Duretti has become a threat to the protagonist of the series, we, the audience, assume that whatever he's planning is villainous. In reality, though, Duretti has exhibited no outward signs that he has any secretive plans that could spell doom for anyone aside from Ava.

And, in the case of hunting down Ava to retrieve the halo, he does so because he wants the powerful artifact back in the hands of the OCS. Back in the hands of the group it belongs to. For him, Ava is a nobody whose death would be a worthy price to pay in order to ensure the halo's safety. While to us, the audience, she is the hero of the story, the world of Warrior Nun presents viewers with many more complications surrounding its antagonists. Yes, Duretti is an antagonist at the start of the show because he is fighting against the interests of the protagonist, Ava. But "antagonist" doesn't necessarily mean what he does is morally wrong. It just means he's a figure the protagonist has to struggle against. In this instance, Duretti sees justification in his actions, as the halo is, objectively, much safer in the hands of a trained nun than someone unfamiliar with OCS customs.

Suspicion around Duretti continues to deepen throughout Season 1. Much of this comes in the form of his interactions with Mother Superion, the harsh yet dedicated trainer of the Warrior Sisters. As the season progresses, Superion along with other core members of the OCS begin to suspect that Duretti is trying to gain power in the Church for suspicious reasons. Following the death of the Pope, Duretti begins a mission to become appointed as the new Pope, heading to the Vatican in order to conduct a vote alongside other major holy figures around the world. Because he speaks cryptically about his future plans, suspicions regarding a possible traitor within the OCS are lumped onto him. There is, of course, no concrete evidence of this. However, his actions circumstantially line up with the idea that he's working against the OCS.

As the main heroes learn more about the origins of the halo, they determine that Duretti was responsible for the death of Sister Shannon, and that his goal is to become elected as Pope so he can order Ava to retrieve the bones of Adriel beneath the Vatican. This would make Duretti one of the strongest men of the modern age. So, in order to stop him, the team decides to go to the Vatican to destroy Adriel's bones before Duretti can get his hands on them. While there, however, Duretti sends his Reject Nuns—led by Sister Crimson—into the catacombs after them once he realizes they are there. It's clear that the rejected nuns will stop at nothing to keep the team from going into Adriel's tomb.

However, the reality of the situation is that Duretti doesn't really know they're going into Adriel's tomb.

Both Duretti and the core team of characters are operating on circumstantial evidence that has led them to believe that one another has betrayed the OCS. Ava's team is going into the depths of the Vatican to destroy Adriel's bones so Duretti can't use them for...an unspecified nefarious purpose. Duretti sends his own team of nuns after the group because he believes they are there to sabotage his rise to power as Pope for...an unspecified nefarious purpose. Both Ava's group and Duretti are operating on limited information, making assumptions about one another's goals, neither of which are true. They both see themselves as doing what's right in this scenario, even if it risks the OCS as they know it.

Duretti's response to learning Ava and the gang are at the Vatican also adds another layer to the twist reveal that he's not really a bad person. Because despite sending a group of rejected nuns after the group, risking the group's possible death at the hands of said nuns, Duretti genuinely believes what he's doing is the right thing. This is because one of his core character traits has always been taking extreme measures. Instead of trying to capture Ava and calmly try and convince her that giving up the halo is the right thing to do, he sends Lilith to kill her. Instead of informing confidants within the group that he was vying for power as the Pope to better protect the Church and the OCS, he makes a massive power play without telling anyone out of fear it could fall through if he does. And instead of trying to learn more about why the group is in the Vatican, he sends Rejected Nuns to their location, risking the possibility of killing them. It's because of his affinity for extreme measures that Duretti is marked as a possible evil-doer, complicating his character by showing just how far he's willing to go to protect the Church and himself...but always for the right reasons.

This becomes most apparent in the Season 1 finale, when Mother Superion confronts Duretti following his appointment to becoming the Pope. She begins telling him that they know his plan, and that the team is on the way to destroy Adriel's bones. But Duretti has no idea what she's talking about. "What bones?" he asks. As their conversation continues, it slowly dawns on both of them that something is amiss. Superion practically tells Duretti that they suspected he had betrayed the Church. Duretti counters by very seriously saying that he was rising to power so he could better protect the Church. And, by extension, the OCS. The reveal stuns Superion—and the audience—because up until this point, it seemed as if Duretti was the central antagonist of the series. It appeared that Duretti was, in fact, a villain that wanted complete power over the Church for unknown reasons.

But that was never the case at all.

In reality, Duretti had nothing to do with Sister Shannon's murder and had no idea the very much alive Adriel was trapped beneath the Vatican. In truth, the seemingly trustworthy Father Vincent had been behind everything. It was he who set up most of the pieces on this holy chessboard, including Sister Shannon's murder. The mission the team had been on throughout Season 1 had not been to stop Duretti from ushering in a new age of the Church with him at the height of power. It had instead been a trick mission that brought Adriel back so he could reign over the world. Duretti was just a convenient scapegoat, his brash attitude, secretive nature, and extreme decisions marking him as the perfect patsy. Just as Father Vincent becomes the twist villain, so too does Duretti become the twist hero.

This heroism is more prominent in Season 2, coupled with some of Duretti's characteristic questionable decisions. As Pope, Duretti staunchly refuses to acknowledge Adriel as a messiah figure, knowing the context of how he was freed during Season 1. At the same time, however, he also tortures people he knows are part of Adriel's group, the Firstborn Children, in attempts to get information out of them. Duretti's character remains just as consistent in Season 2 as in Season 1. He's still harsh, forthright, and makes extreme decisions that he believes are the only way to get positive results. However, all of this comes across in a different light knowing he's on the side of the show's heroes. Instead of appearing like an evil, sadistic calculator, Duretti morphs into a ruthless man on a mission from God. He will stop at nothing to ensure God's word is not twisted by Adriel and his followers, continually refusing to call Adriel a messiah.

Even up until the very end of his life, in Season 2, Episode 6, Duretti stayed faithful to God. He refused to acknowledge Adriel as a true messenger of God, even in front of millions of people who may have perceived his tricks as miracles. Sadly, he ends up paying the price for it, being electrocuted to death as the plan to put the Crown of Thorns on Adriel's head goes awry. Duretti's death is sudden, brutal, and extreme. Just as extreme as his methods to try and do good for the Church and the OCS. It's a fitting end to an explosive character such as himself, and acts as finality to his character arc as the twist hero, loyal to his place as a man of God until the bitter end.

Duretti is a masterfully written character whose role as the show's twist hero was an incredible use of turning tropes on their heads. Just as Father Vincent is being revealed as the twist villain, so too is Duretti being revealed as a genuine hero. The switched roles of both holy men underscores both the unpredictability of Warrior Nun's character motivations, as well as how expertly hints of said motivations are weaved into the story through every episode. If one looks at Duretti's story from an objective point of view, everything he does is justified through his lens of protecting the Church and the OCS. While a subjective standpoint treats him as a possible villain, the reality is that the show complicates its characters in ways that take them out of the boxes of heroes and villains. Duretti truly was doing what he believed was right even if it wasn't always portrayed that way, making him the perfect twist hero.

And a heroic martyr.

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