The Ending Of Warrior Nun Season 2 Explained
Based on the comic "Warrior Nun Areala," Netflix's "Warrior Nun" is a thrilling fantasy saga packed with high-octane action, fascinating mythology, and thoughtful themes regarding free will and fate. The show is centered around the Order of the Cruciform Sword, a group of nuns with extensive martial arts training who fight evil. The Warrior Nun is their strongest member, powered by an embedded holy relic called the Halo. When their leader is murdered, a dead woman named Ava (Alba Baptista) is chosen by the Halo to take her place.
The Halo was given to the first Warrior Nun by an angel named Adriel (William Miller), whose bones are entombed under the Vatican. Suspecting foul play from a would-be Pope, the Order breaks into the tomb, only to find that Adriel is alive and malevolent. He calls down wraith demons to possess innocents as he rampages his way out of the Vatican. In Season 2, he immediately establishes a popular cult to increase his power. At the same time, a powerful being from another dimension named Reya sends someone to kill Adriel, even as Ava and the Order try to take him down. Strange alliances are made, trusts are betrayed, and a reckoning comes for Adriel.
All in all, Season 2 greatly ups the stakes for every character, expands on the show's villain and his motivations, and generally pays off a great deal of exposition from Season 1. Sound like a lot? It is — and we're here to explore it. This is the ending of "Warrior Nun" Season 2, explained.
Adriel's defeated ... for now
Sleazy demon Adriel is the big bad of Season 2. He's an incredibly vivid villain: His syrupy tone is perfectly emblematic of his charming, manipulative, and fundamentally deceitful ways. Adriel is a thief who steals the Halo from Reya, a being who rules the realm on the other side of the portal. Disguising himself as a human, he's well on his way to establishing his own powerful cult when the first Warrior Nun, Areala, skillfully tricks him. He is subsequently entombed for a thousand years.
When he's freed by Ava and the Order, he immediately gets himself a brand new cult. Adriel is the one responsible for encouraging Dr. Jillian Salvius (Thekla Reuten) to create a dimensional portal. He lures her top assistant Kristian (Peter de Jersey) into his cult, and uses technology from ARQ-Tech to focus the prayers of his followers, making him invincible. He proceeds to use that tech to perform apparent miracles, like healing boils, stopping a plague of locusts, and dispelling a fear-causing fog. Of course, he's also the source of these ills, which he creates using his cutting-edge gadgets.
Just when it seems like he's powerful enough to trap Reya and kill Ava, the Warrior Nun summons the monstrous Tarasks from the Other Side. They tear him limb from limb. It's a perfect end: Adriel brags that nothing in the human realm can kill him, so Ava simply brings over the things he's been fleeing. It remains to be seen if he'll actually stay dead, but it's obvious that his death unclouds the minds of his followers.
Ava begins a new journey
Throughout Season 2, Ava is in training to defeat Adriel. While she gets much more control over her powers (which include energy blasts and the ability to phase through objects) she's subject to them suddenly switching off at seemingly random times. This is all thanks to Adriel's gigantic cross, which acts as a siphon for mystical energy — even prayers! The uncertainty and rebelliousness Ava demonstrates in Season 1 is gone, as her sisters in the Order of the Cruciform Sword become her priority. She accepts them, and they accept her.
Ava is resigned to the idea of having to sacrifice her own life in order to defeat Adriel. Miguel (Jack Mullarkey), who has returned from the Other Side in order to kill Adriel, tells Ava that he's a bomb, and she's the fuse that will set him off. Ava manages to survive that eventual detonation, but she's mortally wounded in her fight with Adriel and Lilith (Lorena Andrea).
After Adriel's destruction, she's content to die and give the Halo to Beatrice (Kristina Tonteri-Young), but Lilith suggests putting her through the gate to the Other Side. No one knows how this will affect her, but it will save her life. Miguel and Lilith both came back from the Other Side and were greatly changed, but neither carried the Halo. What will Ava be like when she returns? We don't yet know.
The journey of Sister Lilith
No character on "Warrior Nun" has enjoyed crazier swerves than Sister Lilith. Her main ambition in Season 1 is to be the one who receives the Halo after Sister Shannon (Melina Matthews) is killed. When Ava gets it instead, she's furious, and goes on a mission to kill her. But a monstrous Tarask kills her when she hunts down Ava. Surprisingly, Lilith not only returns from death, but comes back with terrifying new powers. Her demonic claws and quantum teleportation make her a powerful ally for the Order, whom she helps upon her return.
However, Lilith finds her skin becoming scaly in Season 2, and turns to Dr. Jillian Salvius for help. Jillian examines the scales and suspects a mutation of some kind, but is unable to provide her with any real answers. When Lilith turns to Adriel, the slippery manipulator unlocks her potential. This includes giving her sight that allows her to see demons, as well as huge, bat-like wings. In other words, she's a demon nun.
Adriel's sweet-talking preys on Lilith's jealousy of Ava. Moreover, there's a kernel of truth in Adriel's arguments about seeking freedom from a capricious God who doesn't answer prayers. He uses this to manipulate her with dreadful skill. In time, she becomes more than a match for the Warrior Nun. In the end, Lilith sees Adriel as the monster he truly is, and gains her own agenda. Thus, she warns Beatrice that a holy war is coming, and hopes they're on the same side.
Father Vincent's road to redemption
The betrayal of Father Vincent (Tristán Ulloa) at the end of Season 1 is a truly wild moment. His story — he's a former hitman and alcoholic who redeems himself in the priesthood — is touching ... until it's revealed that he's Adriel's biggest accomplice. He betrays the trust of everyone in the Order of the Cruciform Sword and continues to act as Adriel's right-hand man in Season 2.
Vincent buys into Adriel's rhetoric about freedom and fighting the oppression of the church. However, the more that Adriel grandstands, the more Vincent starts to have doubts. This comes to a head when Adriel kills the Pope. Father Vincent grabs the Crown of Thorns, which can render supernatural beings powerless, and gives it to Ava instead of returning it to Adriel. Ava sees his doubts, and approaches him.
Mother Superion (Sylvia De Fanti) spares Vincent's life earlier in the season. This act of mercy winds up helping everyone, as Father Vincent aids the Order in the final battle against Adriel. Where the disillusioned priest will go next is unclear — especially since he takes off his collar in the finale.
The tragedy of Miguel and Jillian
One of the central plots of Season 1 is Dr. Jillian Salvius' attempt to save the life of her son, Michael, who has a rare blood disease. Notably, Michael has visions of Adriel's tomb, the Warrior Nun, and other supernatural phenomena. Jillian creates a mystical gate in an effort to send him to a heaven-like place where he can be healthy. When she finally makes the gate work, young Michael runs through it and disappears. Jillian has no idea how to get him back.
At the beginning of Season 2, Ava befriends a young man named Miguel, who opposes Adriel. He soon invites Ava to help him and his organization. Very quickly, Ava learns there's much more to Miguel than meets the eye. This becomes especially obvious when he helps her defeat a number of demon-possessed people. When he tells them they're going to go to his home, which is a safe place for them to stay, they go to Jillian's house. Here, Miguel reveals that he's her son.
The tragedy of the situation is that while Jillian is overjoyed to see him alive, she's also mourning the stretch of time she lost with him. Unbeknownst to her, his situation is even more tragic than it appears to be: His only purpose in returning is to carry out a suicide mission. Once again, a character who tries to play God — Jillian, in this case — gets punished for her hubris.
Beatrice and Ava's feelings for each other
One of the most slow-boiling character developments on "Warrior Nun" is the friendship that eventually turns into love between Ava and Sister Beatrice. Beatrice struggles with feelings of worthlessness and fears of rejection, due to the fact that she is a lesbian. She responds to these thorny emotions with obsessive overachieving. When Beatrice relates the story of a Warrior Nun who was gay, Ava immediately understands that this is her way of coming out to her.
Their friendship deepens in Season 2, as they both take jobs at a local bar in Switzerland in an attempt to lay low. Beatrice is trying to train Ava, but Ava also has her eye on having fun. When Beatrice tells Ava that she's never had a drink, Ava is determined to get her drunk. They have a great time and dance with each other at a bar.
Their budding love comes into sharper focus when it appears that Ava is dead from a fall. Before Ava revives, Beatrice cradles her and pours out her heart. Later, Ava kisses a shocked Beatrice, knowing that their time together is limited. Before sending Ava to the Other Side, they have another tender moment, but Beatrice doesn't tell Ava she loves her until after she crosses over. It's clear that this will be something that propels the action as the series moves forward, as their love story is an excellent anchor amidst all the weirdness of "Warrior Nun."
Mother Superion comes clean
Mother Superion has her own journey in Season 2. She's a stodgy enforcer in Season 1, disapproving of everything that Ava does and working closely with Cardinal Duretti (Joaquim de Almeida) to keep the Order of the Cruciform Sword viable. However, she comes around and helps the sisters invade the Vatican at the end of Season 1.
Season 2 sees her truly come to grips with her past. She reveals the full story of how she held and was rejected by the Halo. While on a mission, her insistence on working alone wound up getting the then-current Mother Superion killed. Her arrogance literally made the Halo drop out of her body, and Sister Shannon became her replacement. This makes her resentful of Shannon and even more resentful of Ava.
Later, when Superion is gunned down, she confesses her jealousy to Ava and the others. Ava forgives her and lies down with her. Ava's unconscious use of the Halo to heal brings Superion back to life, and makes her feel healthier than she has in years. She also feels closer to the sisters than ever before, having finally admitted to her festering feelings and personal flaws.
Camila and Yasmine grow up
One of the most fun friendships on "Warrior Nun" is the one between Sister Yasmine (Meena Rayann) and Sister Camila (Olivia Delcan). Both of them start Season 2 as secondary characters who need to prove themselves, and eventually emerge as legitimate butt-kickers in their own ways. Camila is the youngest member of the Order of the Cruciform Sword, but she's a brilliant woman whose understanding of technology makes her a crucial team member. Even when Adriel implants her with a device that allows him to read her thoughts and speak to her, Camila manages to turn the tables on him by getting in his head at an opportune time.
Yasmine is part of an order dedicated to protecting the Crown of Thorns, the weapon that temporarily deprogrammed Adriel and allowed Areala to imprison him. When Adriel is let loose upon the world, she tracks down the Order to inform the Warrior Nun about the Crown's existence. While guiding them to the Crown in a museum heist, Yasmine quickly has to figure out how to navigate the violent and dangerous world of the Order. She doesn't even know how to drive all that well! But she grits her teeth and does what's necessary.
Yasmine and Camila are key players in the final battle against Adriel. Camila takes out a whole gang of thugs, while Yasmine manages to stab one of the leaders in a way that makes him bleed out. Both will likely have even more significant roles in the future.
The Pope's death
There are times when it's hard to tell the difference between the heroes and villains of "Warrior Nun." This is especially true of authority figures, and the show's Pope is no exception. In Season 1, he's Cardinal Francesco Duretti, a man obsessed with appearances, who clamps down on the activities of the Order of the Cruciform Sword because he doesn't want them making the church look bad. He's so sneaky and duplicitous that it's easy for them to suspect that he killed Sister Shannon and was trying to get Adriel's bones to consolidate power.
This suspicion turns out to be wrong. However, just because he didn't do those things doesn't mean he's not a power-hungry and ruthless person. He tortures one of Adriel's spies to get information, grandstands at a meeting of clergy in order to browbeat them into working against Adriel, and is part of an institution that has, Adriel asserts, killed millions of people over the course of its history. The Pope is fighting against Adriel not because it's a righteous cause, but because he's worried about someone stepping on his turf. If there's a God on Earth, then what use will people have for the church? Adriel is presented as a charlatan, but he cleverly co-opts all of the church's rhetoric. When Duretti gets disintegrated by Adriel on live television, it's a declaration and demonstration of power. It's horrifying — yet it confirms Adriel's own claims.
A holy war with the Other Side
One of the last things Sister Lilith says to Sister Beatrice in the Season 2 finale is that a holy war is coming. What exactly does this mean? There are hints planted throughout the entire season. The nature of the Other Side, the realm at the other end of the portal that Dr. Jillian Salvius creates, is not exactly clear. Its existence is first made known when Adriel arrives on Earth after ripping open a gateway from his world, using the Halo. He's pursued by Tarasks, monstrous demons whose sole purpose is to regain the Halo.
Lilith is dramatically changed by her time in the Other Side after she's killed, and Jillian sends her over again through her gate. What feels like seconds for Jillian feels like days for Lilith, who walks through a desert until she's expelled by an entity that does not want her there. Miguel wanders the same desert as a boy, until he's rescued by wandering angels and taken to the shining city. He's raised in Reya's court, and trained as a weapon to use against Adriel. Reya later helps Ava defeat Adriel.
Is Reya a god, a demon, an angel, or something else entirely? Is she going to start the holy war against Earth, or will someone bring the fight to her? What are her motivations and intentions regarding Earth? Like many of the most powerful figures on the show, her motivations are inscrutable — and absolutely fascinating.