Warrior Nun: 10 Things That Make No Sense About The Order Of The Cruciform Sword

Netflix’s action-packed fantasy TV series Warrior Nun is worth watching for several reasons: it mostly features independent and brave female characters, impressive fight scenes, and awe-inspiring cinematography. After struggling to find itself for half a season, Ava finally comes to grips with her new reality of being a supernatural Halo-bearer, which automatically means that she needs to fight ancient evil from Hell alongside the Order of the Cruciform Sword. The Order in question was established in the time of the Crusades after the first Halo-bearer Areala received the magical Halo from Adriel, a mysterious man who introduced himself as an angel.

The members of the OCS are young nuns who decide to give their lives to the cause of fighting demons and spawns of evil. They live together and train under Mother Superion’s supervision. Even though the rules of the Order seem straightforward and strict, there are still quite a few things that unfortunately don’t make much sense about it.

10 The Sisters Can Be Very Hostile Towards Each Other

You’d think that fighting scary monsters that broke loose from Hell would form an incredibly strong allegiance and would put certain personal turmoils into a different perspective, but not at the OCS. Sometimes, girls bicker among themselves – it’s especially Lilith who usually stirs up tensions. But then again, they are always honest with each other and have each other’s backs.

The Halo-bearer is the only reason the OCS even exists, but the nuns are generally very indifferent towards Ava. The only exception is Beatrice: she is brutally honest with her, yet compassionate and understanding.

9 They Resort To Murder, Even When Not Necessary

Even when we consider that Warrior Nun is a manga-inspired fantasy show and that people have often killed masses in the name of their God, it makes no sense that the members of OCS – and high ranking Church officials, such as Duretti – are willing to murder innocent people. The Cardinal urged Lilith to kill Ava if necessary to get the Halo back. She was more than willing to do it, which leaves one wondering what kind of a next in line is she?

The Halo can reject the host, as it did with Mother Superion. Why would a Halo accept Lilith, a girl who doesn’t live the most basic Christian values? Well, it could be that the Halo is actually a spawn of Hell, as one of the fan theories suggests.

8 What’s Up With The Obvious Nepotism?

When joining The Order of the Cruciform Sword, women are supposed to give up any individualistic ideas, their past and devote their lives to fighting demons. But contrary to logic, who you are and where you came from plays a crucial role when it comes to the future you might have in the Order. These girls are not exactly all treated the same. The most glaring evidence for that is the fact that Lilith’s family has given the Order several Halo-bearers and even Lilith herself was the next in line until Ava crossed her path. The nepotism is a well-known fact, yet no one seems to bring it up.

Sisters are supposed to all be equal, sharing the same clothes, food, and goal. A closer look at the group dynamics reveals that that’s definitely not the case.

7 Ava Only Interacts With A Few Sisters

The Halo-bearer is the most important person to the Order, so it would be logical to assume the vast majority of sisters would either want to interact with Ava or at least gather around her more often. Instead, she is mostly surrounded by a select few: Beatrice, Shotgun Mary, Lilith, and Camila. These girls seem to run the show, but the Order of the Cruciform Sword obviously has more members than that. Five girls aren’t enough to fight an ancient evil.

The series rarely hints at just how many members are in the OCS. In one of the first episodes, Sister Camila sings Frank Ocean’s “Pink + White” and there are quite a few other nuns around. Who are those girls and why don’t they show any curiosity about their new Halo-bearer?

6 No One But Mary Is Upset About Shannon

Perhaps warrior nuns are trained to keep their emotions in check because Sister Shannon’s death didn’t really seem like a big deal in the pilot. She was the Halo-bearer, one of the most important people in Cat’s Cradle. Her death was shadowed by the issue of a dead orphan suddenly getting the Halo.

Shotgun Mary is the only one who raises the issue of her death possibly being an inside job and is seen mourning her. Perhaps other girls were grieving too, but it happened off-screen – we watched Ava fall in love and go dancing instead.

5 Blind Faith Into The Halo

The Order of the Cruciform Sword has been around since the crusades and in several long centuries, no one has dared question the origin of the Halo. Areala, the first Halo-bearer, supposedly received an angel’s Halo and the rest is history. It’s interesting that in all this time, no one brought up the fact that a Heavenly Halo shines bright red rather than an angelic blue. Judging from how it looks, it is pretty obvious that it’s a spawn of something evil rather than good.

ArqTech supposedly found a portal to a place with no pain, death, and disease: Heaven. Yet, when the Halo-bearer gets the Halo, it leaves a scar. Doesn’t sound like something that was sent by God’s grace.

4 Mother Superion’s Lack Of Interest

When the Halo ends up in Ava’s back, Mother Superion couldn’t be more displeased. She is a non-believer, an orphan who supposedly killed herself. It’s understandable that she is dismissive, but her absolute lack of interest and hostility make no sense. She is supposed to serve the Order, yet psychologically bullies the central figure, the Halo-bearer.

While such behavior is to be expected from young women, Mother Superion should know better than that. She is a mature woman and she runs a secret Order that fights demons. It would make much more sense if she put aside her personal opinions about Ava and do what’s best for the order. It’s a difficult time for the OCS as it is: there’s no need to make the Halo-bearer feel so unworthy that she repeatedly runs away.

3 Girls’ Motivations Haven’t Been Explored (Yet)

It’s interesting that the Order of the Cruciform Sword’s members are mostly women in their twenties. Surely that doesn’t mean they all die before they get a chance to reach their forties? In one of the conversations between Ava and Beatrice, they discuss the vows and lightly touch upon the warrior nuns are celibate. The premise is supposed to be feminist: it’s brave girls, not men, who fight demons from hell. However, they are all still governed by men. Why would they join such an order?

Hopefully, season 2 will explore the girls’ motivations to join this order because most nun-related movies and TV series do. The fact of the matter is that not many girls decide to become nuns when they grow up these days. Surely they must have very interesting and compelling reasons.

2 Shotgun Mary Is Technically Not One Of Them

The reasoning behind the decision to become a nun and go celibate is even further illogical when we consider that Shotgun Mary is also a warrior, but she is not a nun. She didn’t take the vows, yet is an important member of the Order. How exactly does that work? The Order demands that girls give up their identity when they join the order, but Mary is living proof that there are obviously ways around that.

Shotgun Mary doesn’t dress or fight like the nuns and she goes on all the important missions with them. The Order generally seems so strict, but they decide to look the other way with Shotgun Mary. Perhaps she worked with the OCS because she was the previous Halo-bearer’s best friend and will distance herself from the sisterhood in the upcoming season.

1 They Went Behind The Vatican’s Back

The Order of the Cruciform Sword is a highly kept secret, but the Vatican obviously knows about them. They do as the higher-ups say and report straight to the Cardinal. However, half-way through the season, they suddenly don’t want to obey Duretti’s orders anymore. He becomes the prime suspect for Shannon’s murder, so it makes sense that they don’t trust him.

Season finale brings the OCS to the Vatican in hopes to get to the bottom of things. They take out the guards and Ava enters Angel Adriel’s cave. As a result, all Hell breaks loose: Adriel was evil all along. When orders don’t respect the hierarchical structures, chaos ensues. If only the OCS would follow the Vatican’s orders as it did for centuries.

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