Warrior Nun: The Purpose of Shotgun Mary

The price of saving the world.

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

Shotgun Mary was one of the first heroes Warrior Nun introduced.

Seen at the very start of Warrior Nun season 1, Mary is set as a central figure within the Order of the Cruciform Sword (OCS). She is one of the sisters carrying a dying Shannon into the church, and clearly has a close bond with her as well. Following Shannon’s death, Mary begins an investigation, believing there is more to the story than she and the rest of the OCS knows. This is because, during one of their missions, the group was ambushed by a bomb containing divinium, a divine substance and the only one that can harm the Warrior Nun—in this case, Sister Shannon. And thus begins Mary’s attempts at uncovering who may have killed her friend, and why.

When I first watched Warrior Nun, Mary struck me as the deuteragonist of the first season of the show. For those that don’t know, “deuteragonist” is a shorter way of saying “second main character.” The protagonist is the most important character in the series, while a deuteragonist is the second-most important character in the series. Given just how much screen time Mary occupied, I always saw her as the secondary figure to Ava throughout Warrior Nun season 1. Especially because of just how important her search for Shannon’s true killer was.

Because Mary understood that, whoever ambushed the group, they would have had to know about Shannon being the Warrior Nun. In addition, they also would have required knowledge about divinium, and how it can be a threat to a Warrior Nun’s life if used the right way. Therefore, Mary is able to slowly deduce that someone in the Church was part of the conspiracy to murder Shannon. Mary doesn’t know who, though, even as she’s building a suspect list. She also doesn’t know why. However, as her investigation continues, she begins to unravel a mystery that seemingly has no end.

One of her primary suspects in Shannon’s death is ArqTech. Her most substantial reason for this is because Blair, the head of a private security company that often works for ArqTech, was working for them the night Shannon died. Mary had previously realized he was the one carrying the shipment that blew apart into fragmented divinium, leading her to believe ArqTech may have been involved. In Season 1, Episode 3, Mary confronts Blair at the edge of a cliff. As they converse, Mary aiming a shotgun at him, they realize that the shipment was a set up, and that both of them are in the middle of a chess game neither understand. However, instead of trying to make amends, Blair attempts to kill Mary, prompting her to shoot him off the cliff. So ends a possibly tentative alliance, and Mary must continue to walk the path of Shannon’s death investigation alone.

In Season 1, Episode 4, Mary learns even more about Shannon’s death. While continuing to suspect ArqTech and letting Father Vincent in on her theory, she discovers a piece of cloth stuck in the wall of Shannon’s bedroom. This leads Mary to believe Shannon was phasing into an unseen, secretive room within the Cat’s Cradle. However, to even get to the room, Mary would need Ava—who at this point is on the run—to phase through and find whatever’s in there. This causes Mary to divert from her original mission of solving Shannon’s murder. Instead, she goes to find Ava, both for the sake of her mission and for the sake of the OCS.

However, Mary isn’t alone. Lilith has the same mission, though given to her by Cardinal Duretti, who up until this point doesn’t seem trustworthy. His words were clear: If Ava has to die so Lilith can get the Halo, so be it. Throughout Season 1, Episode 5, Lilith and Mary get into action-packed altercations, each one more creative than the last. This allows audiences to see Mary isn’t just a nun with a shotgun. She’s also capable of incredible physical feats, and of tricking her opponents by distracting them with general fight moves. Most notable is when, during an intense fight scene with Lilith in a bathroom, Mary is able to handcuff her to a railing in one of the stalls. Not only does this underscore her intelligent way of fighting, but also her preparedness in any situation.

Which is also why Season 1, Episode 6 is my favorite of Warrior Nun Season 1.

This is the episode where it felt like the protagonist and deuteragonist finally came together, bringing each of their stories closer to one another. The episode entirely focuses on Ava and Mary, who are the only two main cast members to appear for the majority of the episode. The pair bond with one another as Mary saves Ava, following the tragic “death” of Lilith. She also helps Ava become more confident with her Halo powers. While part of the reason Mary does this is because she needs Ava’s help to discover what Shannon was hiding, another part of her assists Ava because she feels she can harness the Halo’s power.

Having fought with Lilith, who was supposed to be next in line for the Halo, Mary seemed to have realized Lilith could easily be manipulated by authoritative figures. With too little information about Shannon’s death at Mary’s disposal, she can’t risk the Warrior Nun being manipulated by someone, especially if the culprit turns out to be someone in the church. Ava’s rebellious nature means she’s less likely to be manipulated. And so, it makes sense for her to carry the mantle of Warrior Nun—even more important in this time of great uncertainty. Because she has what it takes to make decisions for herself. This is further highlighted when Beatrice comes to pick Mary up at the end of the episode, as Mary is sure Ava will find her way back to the OCS in due time.

At this point, Mary begins to put the last of the puzzle pieces together. She is more sure now than ever that Shannon’s death was an inside job, perpetrated by someone within the OCS. She also believes whatever’s hiding behind the wall in Shannon’s room is the key to everything. When Ava returns to the Cat’s Cradle in Season 1, Episode 7, she phases through the wall in Shannon’s room, under the watchful eyes of Mary and Father Vincent. Inside, she finds a secret room containing a book. After escaping the Cat’s Cradle after an attack from Sister Crimson’s Reject Nuns, Ava reveals the last part of the book was written by Shannon. It speaks of a secret beneath the Vatican—a secret that “he” wanted to use for unknown, seemingly nefarious purposes.

Shannon’s entry doesn’t mention who “he” is, but through deductive reasoning, Mary believes that it must be Cardinal Duretti. This is due to his many suspicious actions throughout the series, such as taking control of the Cat’s Cradle, bringing his Reject Nuns into the fold of the OCS, and vying for the position of Pope. It also stems from her trust of Father Vincent, who she believes couldn’t possibly be a traitor. Her relationship with Vincent is strong, as the pair feel like a brother-sister duo who are always on the same page. It’s the strong development of this friendship that makes what happens at the end of Season 1 all the more tragic.

Because, in Season 1, Episode 10, Mary, Ava, and the nuns of the OCS learn the truth: Vincent was the one who killed Shannon. His plan had been for Lilith to gain the powers of the Halo, manipulating her into freeing Adriel from his tomb. However, when the Halo was pushed into Ava’s back instead, Vincent took the opportunity to continue manipulating the OCS using their newfound outsider, who would trust him given his authority. And the plan worked: Mary’s attention was driven toward Duretti. Her friend, Father Vincent, who had been assisting her throughout her investigation, had been the one who killed Shannon all along. But he had successfully diverted Mary’s attention without so much as a whiff of suspicion from her.

The turn is abrupt. There’s no conversation directly between Vincent and Mary. There’s no attempt at trying to understand what’s happened, where her investigation went wrong. Instead, there’s only the cold, hard reality of what’s happened, and how easily Vincent was able to trick Mary by goading her into the fantasy of Duretti’s betrayal. Which is why it makes sense for Mary to be fed up with being pulled in every direction all at once. In the very end of the Season 1 finale, Mary joins her fellow nuns in battling people who have been possessed by Adriel’s powers. Her friends say, “In this life or the next,” the defining phrase of the OCS. But Mary steps out of line. “No,” she says.

“In this life.”

Mary’s final scene in Warrior Nun is her pointing her shotguns at a horde of possessed people who are threatening her life and the lives of her friends. It doesn’t take long for her to be overwhelmed. The final scene shows Mary screaming as everyone crowds around her. This leads into a timeskip during Warrior Nun Season 2, which shows many of the main characters in different places following Adriel’s rise to religious power. However, Mary is nowhere to be found. It isn’t until Season 2, Episode 2, when Lilith informs everyone of Mary’s ultimate fate, that it’s clear she isn’t coming back. In that first battle with Adriel, Mary laid down her life to protect the rest of the OCS.

I had mixed feelings about Shotgun Mary’s death at first. Part of me wondered why someone so important to Warrior Nun Season 1 would be killed off in Season 2. She also seemingly died offscreen, with no real buildup to her demise. While it was sad to see many characters’ reactions to her death, the initial reality of it didn’t sink in for me right away. I was in denial. How could someone with such an important storyline in the first season of the show be killed between seasons, with her last moment being her getting overpowered? It rubbed me the wrong way, and it made me wonder if the show was going for some sort of twist. Some kind of reveal. But, in reality, Mary is dead. Season 2 mentions her throughout as a motivating factor in the fractured OCS’ fight against Adriel, but other than that, Mary is gone.

Even though I initially wanted to deny Mary’s death, the more I considered the decision that had been made with her fate, the more I started to understand it. Mary is the first major casualty of Warrior Nun. She died after uncovering the truth about Shannon’s death, learning of Vincent’s betrayal and Adriel’s status as a living, quasi-immortal being. Using her deductive reasoning, she helped bring the truth to the light, even if she failed to discover it until it was too late. Mary maintained a persistence to her goals that was important to illustrate. Because it only made her death that much more difficult for the audience.

Mary’s purpose was twofold: To drive the story forward in a way that set up the rest of Warrior Nun, and to give audiences the same perspective as the characters in the show. Much like Ava, Beatrice, Camila, Mother Superion, and Lilith at the start of Warrior Nun Season 2, Mary’s fate is a great unknown. There’s a hole in the series that feels unfilled because of Mary’s absence, and the first two episodes make it unclear whether or not she’ll return to set things right. There’s a tension in bringing up her name and what happened. The uncertainty of her fate follows not just the main characters, but the audience as well. In a typical series where no body is shown, the character surely must be alive. Or, at the very least, their fate is left ambiguous enough to make their survival a possibility.

But Warrior Nun doesn’t play with its audience’s hearts for too long. By the end of Season 2, Episode 2, it’s clear that Mary is dead. It hits hard for the characters in the story. But for the audience, there’s this sense of denial. She can’t possibly be dead! I didn’t see it happen! But, sometimes, that’s the nature of things. Death can spring up in the middle of someone’s story, and there’s nothing the harsh reality of the universe can do to explain it. Mary died at the end of Warrior Nun season 1. She died solving the mystery of Shannon’s murder, believing in Ava, and ushering in the next chapter of Warrior Nun. A chapter that, sadly, had to play out without her involvement.

Now, there’s always the possibility that I’m wrong. That Mary isn’t dead, and plans for a Warrior Nun continuation will see her reunite with her allies at the OCS. But given how much grief was poured into the scene of everyone finding out she died—because of the emotional rollercoaster viewers and characters rode together—I don’t think this is the case. As cool as it would be to see Mary wielding two shotguns at the next big threat Ava and her friends face, her death feels too important to undo. It was a gut punch that set the stage for a darker, more unpredictable Season 2, and showed audiences that no one was safe. Mary’s death also allowed everyone else at the OCS to live, as without her sacrifice, there’s no telling how many more members of their team would have died trying to fight Adriel.

Mary is one of the more interesting characters in Warrior Nun, as she is both a fully realized person and someone who is used to alter the course of the show forever in her death. While she may not appear again (even if, admittedly, I really would like her to), Mary’s spirit lives on in Ava and her friends’ fight against Adriel. And it will continue to prosper as they face down more threats in the future. Mary’s investigation into Shannon’s death and belief in Ava as the Warrior Nun set the series on an important path. One that, for Mary’s sake, must be followed through.

In this life or the next? No. In this life.

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