Review of Penitence episode 1

A new show's out on Warhammer TV, and it's all about the Adepta Sororitas in the Order of the Sacred Rose. Oh, and Orks. It's called Penitence and I've started watching it this week. This is my review of episode 1, with only minor spoilers.

Thesion IV is presumably a planet that was once under Imperial rule, but has fallen to an Ork Waaagh! I'm making assumptions, because at least in the first episode we're not told the planet's history. However, we're given a few clues at the start. With the Sisters of Battle in flight to the planet surface, Palatine Saragoza opens the episode with a briefing, saying that "For too long, Thesion IV has been bereft of the Emperor's Light." Saragoza's troop has been tasked with a deliver-the-MacGuffin mission: Enshrine relics of Canoness Rexilla, establishing Thesion IV as a shrine world. I see no reason to enshrine Canoness Rexilla on a planet that never belonged to the Imperium, so probably this is a fallen Imperial world.

Of course, that's not definitive. I can imagine reasons for Canoness Rexilla to be enshrined on Thesion IV even if it was never part of the Imperium. Maybe establishing a Shrine World there is a way of demonstrating that all planets are rightfully Imperial. Or maybe it's a way of planting a flag against the Orks. Or a prompt for the Imperium to expand yet further.

Battle sisters in the ash wastes

The details don't really matter. The important thing, to me, is that episode 1 opens with an explicitly stated goal. Get the MacGuffin to the Objective. It's nice and neat and clean, and I love it. This is exactly the adventure I want to play in Wrath and Glory.

On the way to the planet surface, their ship is shot down. There are but 3 survivors.

Venthia is a disgraced Novitiate. We don't know what horrible sin she has committed, but we know that she is on a penitent mission to restore her place among the Battle Sisters. When you make a mistake in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, all resources are taken from you and you must work your way back to where you started at a disadvantage. Venthia is the only Sister here without power armour, and with just a meager pistol for her own defence. It's morbidly comical, except that it also rings uncomfortably familiar. Why would any civilised society punish someone with further penalties, as if intentionally increasing the odds of failure? Isn't the point of rehabilitation to result in success?

Well, Adepta Sororitas doesn't think so. And no one more vehemently than Ludmilla. Sister Ludmilla is the heavy weapon specialist, with that big Heavy Bolter you get in a Battle Sisters Squad kit, and her faith in the Emperor is about as stalwart and unwieldy as her weapon. She's staunchly against offering any assistance to Venthia, seeing her as a sinner who's on this mission out of a greedy desire to improve her standing with the God Emperor. Again, it's morbidly comical except when it feels too real.

Saragoza leads the trio on the mission, and shows compassion to Venthia and tries to gently guide Ludmilla to the concept of, without saying as much, mercy. That's quite the task, because in the world of 40k mercy is explicitly discouraged. Showing mercy to someone usually means letting them continue on their heretical or mutant path. Mercy is part of the problem, in the 40k universe, and must be stamped out. But Saragoza seems to believe that Venthia can yet be saved.

The relic of Canoness Rexilla

Interestingly, Venthia is the one who manages to rescue the relic from the crash site. Both Ludmilla and Saragoza are aware of this, and leave it to her to carry the relic.

Now, I don't know whether carrying the relic is seen as a burden or an honour, but I find it fascinating that Venthia has it in her possession. It could be that carrying the relic implies a heavy responsibility, and also means you don't have a hand free to hold a weapon, and so it is a burden. Then again, it seems like a pretty great honour, as well. Or maybe it's just a simple matter of mystical finder's keepers. Venthia found the relic, so it must be the God Emperor's will for her to carry it.

I don't know, but it's something to ponder if you're inclined to ponder the in-universe complexities of cultural and religious dysfunction.

There are Orks too

To my memory, this is the first 3D show on Warhammer TV to feature Orks. They come across pretty well, I think. They look like Warhammer Orks, being both brutish and ramshackle, although in this episode they're relegated to a lot of wordless growling and roaring. They do have some lines, but I think to keep them at a maximum threat level, they don't talk too much, and the things they do say are to the point and suitably menacing.

In this episode, their role is largely part of PVE (player vs. environment). They stay at a distance and fire at the Sisters whenever the plot needs the Sisters to have a reason to move on. When the Adepta Sororitas reach a stretch of muddy ash that's now essentially wet cement, they are forced to cross through it because the Orks are firing at them. As on the tabletop, these Orks shoot a lot of bullets but they don't seem to hit often and there's no AP (armour piercing) to speak of.

Good Warhammer

So far, this is good Warhammer 40,000, for me. It's got a lot of good ingredients: Armies I enjoy, a simple and clear mission, and interesting in-world cultural conflict. This is also an order of the Adepta Sororitas that I've never seen on screen before, so that's a nice detail, as well.

I don't know whether they'll get the MacGuffin to the Place, but I'm willing to trek through the ash wastes with them to find out.