Warrior Nun season 1, episode 4 recap – “Ecclesiasticus 26:9-10”

This recap of Warrior Nun season 1, episode 4, “Ecclesiasticus 26:9-10”, contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.

Check out our spoiler-free season review.

Check out the episode archive.

Warrior Nun episode 4 finds Ava justifying the decision she made at the end of the previous installment. She intends to live, she owes nothing to any self-serious holier-than-thou nuns, and she’s going to get laid with… someone, anyway. But as she roams Spain’s alleyways, she spots the telltale hissing trail of a wraith demon hovering above a man who is following a young woman. When Ava tries to intervene, though, both she and the man are set about by a gang, and she ends up stabbed and beaten.

Flashback time in “Ecclesiasticus 26:9-10”, as we find a young Ava in the immediate aftermath of the car accident which paralyzed her; bruised up, wearing a neck brace, Sister Francis looms over her assuring her that she’s a very lucky girl. I guess that’s a question of perspective.

Back in the present day in Warrior Nun episode 4, Ava somewhat implausibly finds JC on the beach. He takes her back to their new hideout, where nobody seems appropriately suspicious about her obvious stab wound bloodstain. At least the kids tell Ava that Jillian ambushed them looking for her, even if Zori seems a bit sour about it. The argument worsens, and as Ava gets more irate she freaks out, her powers damaging the building.

At Arq-Tech, Kristian informs Jillian about their dead mercenary; he advises not to oppose the Church openly, or it could mean war, but she makes the strong counterpoint that an assassinated heretic looks a lot like war already. At the same time, Cardinal Duretti meets with Father Vincent and Mother Superion to reveal that, for the time being, he’s going to be remaining there in an oversight capacity. Superion for, Vincent against.

Ava, meanwhile, is fed up, now having betrayed the nuns for friends she subsequently lost. She experiences another flashback, this time to starting her period and being berated by Sister Francis. Even as a quadriplegic she managed a tiny act of rebellion. It’s very easy to like this character. And JC obviously likes her a fair bit too, since he proposes they adventure together. She likes the idea. But someone in a nearby vehicle starts to follow them.

Cardinal Duretti’s first act as overseer in “Ecclesiasticus 26:9-10” is to rile the Sisters against Jillian, who, according to him, is a blasphemous heretic using holy relics to enrich herself. It looks like she made the right call in suggesting the Church had already begun their war. Duretti summons Sister Lilith and compliments her on her impressive lineage, buttering her up so that he can task her with bringing Ava in — since she’s the “proper” Halo-Bearer and all. This positions Lilith as an antagonist and, perhaps more to the point, sees the Cardinal acting in direct opposition to Vincent’s wishes.

Father Vincent’s only real ally seems to be Shotgun Mary, who asks in “Ecclesiasticus 26:9-10” if he’ll hear her confession. In Shannon’s room, she has found part of her habit embedded in the wall. Could there have been a hidden room embedded in her chambers? A room she’d have to phase into, to hide a secret in. Mary, convinced that Shannon was assassinated, wants to break down the wall. But Vincent says they need Ava to phase in. To find her, they’ll have to ask a friend of hers.

Speaking of Ava, another flashback, this time to shortly before her death. Sister Francis tells Ava she’s going to age out of the orphanage and be a poor cripple girl on the streets, just as she preps a syringe and crosses herself. It’s looking quite a bit like Sister Francis killed Ava. There’s no wonder that, when JC asks her to tell “Ava’s story”, she says she’s still figuring it out.

The Sisters stake out Arq-Tech, ready to retrieve the Divinium. Camila is nervous, both about going on-mission and breaking into a private business. Beatrice agrees that it’s risky, but Lilith is defensive, which doesn’t go unnoticed. Nevertheless, the shift change occurs, and the heist begins.

At the airport, about to leave with JC, Ava gets a weird feeling that something is unfinished — she has one friend, Diego, and she feels he’s in trouble. She has to check on him. And she’s spotted doing so by Arq-Tech’s tail, who reports it in just as the Sisters are breaking in. Lilith hears Ava’s location on the radio. The other Sisters begin to move through the labs, taking out guards, very much resembling a trained, cohesive unit; it’s an impressive display, and the first time we’ve got to see them operate like this. Beatrice stays behind while the others escape, giving her a chance to stylishly take out a hallway full of guards.

Ava arrives just in time to confront Sister Francis, who immediately mistakes her for a devil. When Ava asks how many she has killed, she enthusiastically whispers that she lost count over the years. But she doesn’t see herself as a murderer, but a saviour, releasing souls from their pain and into the arms of God. She stabs Ava with the syringe, hoping to add another to the tally, but Ava chokes her and accidentally breaks her neck. Diego sees this, but he tells her to go before she gets in trouble.

Jillian finds her security team being nursed back to health, and Kristian presents her with security footage of Beatrice whooping them. She instructs Kristian to buy out Macready’s private military company under an alias since her current security team can’t handle a “petit member of the clergy.” Beatrice, having returned to Duretti with the shield, theorizes that Jillian is trying to harness Divinium to, as Duretti puts it, “open the gates of Hell”.

As Ava leaves the orphanage at the of Warrior Nun season 1, episode 4, “Ecclesiasticus 26:9-10”, she’s confronted by Lilith, who draws her sword. “I told you, I’m not going back,” Ava says. “It’s okay,” Lilith responds, “I only need part of you.” Cliffhanger!