Warrior Nun: How Toya Turner's Shotgun Mary Could Return In Season 3 & Why She Must
In the words of "Warrior Nun" showrunner Simon Barry, thanks to the "combined voices, passion and amazing efforts" of the series' vocal and motivated fandom (otherwise known as The Halo Bearers) the beloved series will be getting a second chance at life, despite Netflix's unjust cancellation following Season 2. While it's unclear, at this stage, what form the long-awaited and hard-won resurrection will take, this much is certain: the series' comeback really ought to come with the return of Toya Turner's incomparable Shotgun Mary.
With Alba Baptista's Ava potentially lost to the other dimension, Lorena Andrea's Lilith potentially lost to the dark side, and The Order of the Cruciform Sword potentially decimated (and certainly weakened and thrown into chaos) by the events of Season 2, our remaining intrepid heroes — including Kristina Tonteri-Young's Sister Beatrice — will need a hero of their own. Enter Shotgun Mary, one of the series' most compelling, complex, and (again, potentially) integral characters.
Given that just about every character on the series is both compelling and complex (an anomaly for women warriors in the fantasy genre) the unforgettable impact Turner's character and performance had on Season 1 remains a highlight amongst highlights. Unfortunately, Barry told Cosmopolitan that Turner had to leave "Warrior Nun" due to personal reasons at the start of Season 2's filming. Though the Season 1 finale left her whereabouts unknown, a confirmation of her death was written into Season 2 to account for the character's absence.
And yet — her body is never recovered, news of her death initially comes from an unreliable source (Tristán Ulloa's Vincent), and the word "dead" is never actually used. Folks, we all know what that means ...
Other dimensions and unfinished business
Based on the extremely scientific and official rules of all television ever, it's safe to assume Mary isn't actually dead. "Mary is no longer in this life," Vincent tells Lilith in "Galatians 6:4-5," adding that "she's in the next." The line is a nod to the warrior nun battle credo, but since we've yet to learn what the "next life" even means in this universe, it's also likely an implication that Mary's simply trapped in the same dimension from which William Miller's Adriel first escaped. If that's the case, her return could set the stage for a much-needed reunion and possible resolution, or schism, between Mary and Lilith.
For most of Season 1, Lilith and Mary were more frenemies than besties, a dynamic that was not only realistic given their dueling but equally strong personalities, but entirely relatable. And yet, when the chips were down and Mary felt Lilith was in danger — or in danger of making the wrong decision — her sisterly love for her Type A rival rose to the surface on more than one occasion. We don't know yet whether Lilith has chosen the right side in the upcoming war she references at the end of Season 2. And, given the series' affinity for the kind of ambiguity, nuance, and shades of gray that inform our moralities and worldviews, it's unlikely to be quite as cut-and-dry as "right" and "wrong."
Nevertheless, having Mary return from that dimension with the same enhanced powers that Lilith did would allow the pair to continue to serve as foils for one another, while simultaneously foregrounding and representing the dualistic nature of humanity — and the potential for resolution, even love, between contradictory perspectives.
Equally as important, Mary's return would open the door (somewhat literally) for another reemergence ...
Mary's return could usher in Ava's
"Let me go," a dying Ava tells Beatrice in the most heartbreaking scene from Season 2 (and, arguably, one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the history of Netflix). The pair have only recently, and finally, embraced their love for one another, a reality that makes Ava's imminent departure all the more gut-wrenching. "Be free," Beatrice eventually says, before sending her friend into a dimension from which, as far as they both know, she can never return. Then, Beatrice takes her own advice and leaves the OCS behind. It's all so seemingly conclusive that it absolutely can't be. But the fact remains that, for Beatrice to double back on their agreed-upon acceptance of Ava's death, she'll need a catalyst, a sign that when she said goodbye, she needn't have felt she was saying goodbye forever.
Not only would Mary's return serve as just such a catalyst, but it would also continue an important pattern that Seasons 1 and 2 set for the nuns and their allies.
At the start of Season 1, Mary is trying to discover what, exactly, led to the death of her own (implied) significant other, Sister Shannon (Melina Matthews). At the start of Season 2, the sisters are trying to solve the mystery of what happened to Mary during the epic showdown with Adriel and his followers. At the start of Season 3, having Beatrice set out to solve the mystery of whether or not Ava is alive — and how to get her back — would bring the series full circle, since it was Shannon's death that led to Ava obtaining the halo, to begin with.
Mary's return would be a powerful commentary
Of course, Mary is more than a mere plot device, and one of the most important arguments for bringing her back has less to do with in-world storytelling and more to do with what the series, its cancellation, and its revival have come to mean in and for our world.
Within the narrative, Mary is iconic for a number of reasons, including her entirely plausible use of lines like, "baby girl, I have two shotguns. When you have two shotguns you don't need combat skills." Outside the narrative, however, she's equally as iconic. Back when Ava and Beatrice's relationship was still just a ship, Mary's romantic love for the fallen Shannon was made abundantly clear. Unfortunately, the series never got the chance to explore her sexuality, and giving viewers her full storyline would speak not only to Mary's journey but to the journey the series itself has taken as well.
When news broke that Netflix had (for reasons that never made sense) canceled "Warrior Nun," a number of outlets — including Out, Them, The Gamer, Movieweb, and Gay Times (to name a few) — called the streamer out for its history of canceling popular series with LGBTQIA+ representation and storylines. And, as Paste's Anna Govert noted, these cancellations frequently snuffed out stories focused on sapphic relationships and women of color.
It was not lost on the "Warrior Nun" fandom that Simon Barry's announcement arrived during the last week of Pride Month, and the return of Mary's character, in particular, would be both representative of the power of that fandom, and, a potent rebuke on Netflix's past behavior. Is Shotgun Mary the action hero the timeline we're all living in deserves? Sadly, no. But she is the action hero that timeline needs.