Tamal Kundu
Created by René Echevarria and Travis Beacham, Amazon Prime’s ‘Carnivale Row’ tells the story of Rycroft “Philo” Philostrate (Orlando Bloom) and Vignette Stonemoss (Cara Delevingne), former lovers who reunite after seven years. They first met during a war in which their side was defeated and Vignette’s homeland was destroyed. Philo also led her to believe he was dead because he genuinely thought he would not survive and didn’t want her to share his fate. The show’s first season came out on August 30, 2019, and the second and final season on February 17, 2023. As about three-and-a-half years have passed in the real world, many of you must be wondering how much time has passed within the world of ‘Carnivale Row.’ Here is what you need to know about it. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Time Gap: A Possible 3 Months from Season 1 to Season 2
While initially, we are not given the exact amount of time between the two seasons, it becomes clear as the first two episodes progress that it has been somewhere between a few weeks and a couple of months since the deaths of former Chancellor Absalom Breakspear (Jared Harris) and his wife Piety (Indira Varma). We get a clear sense of the date from a conversation Sophie (Caroline Ford) overhears between two senior members of her party, during which they mention that it has been three months since the death of Ritter Longerbane (Ronan Vibert), Sophie’s father and the Leader of the Opposition before her.
In the intermediate period, the members of the faun cult that orchestrated the attack on Absalom have been caught, including Quill. In season 2 episode 1, they are publicly executed. With his dying breath, Quill claims that he didn’t kill Piety. In reality, he didn’t kill Absalom either. Jonah (Arty Froushan) and Sophie’s hold over power is tentative at best. Even wealthy humans of The Burgue are unhappy as the government policies have effectively turned Carnival Row into an internment camp, preventing what used to be a cheap labor force from going to work. The owners of these factories suffer heavy losses, and resentment against Jonah and Sophie continues to grow in multiple sections of society.
Agreus Astrayon (David Gyasi) and Imogen Spurnrose (Tamzin Merchant) find themselves traversing through open water, enjoying their precious moments of happiness, while Ezra (Andrew Gower) seethes with rage and bitterness in The Burgue. When the first season ended, Philo has openly accepted the fae part of him. At the start of season 2, he lives with Vignette in Carnivale Row. Vignette is still part of the Black Raven, the secret fae rebel/mafia organization. At some point before the start of season 2, a plague has broken out in Carnivale Row, affecting only the faes, and Vignette leads the efforts to get medicines for the disease. Meanwhile, Philo searches for Darius (Ariyon Bakare), who he hasn’t seen since he joined Vignette in Carnival Row.
In an interview with Screen Rant, Bloom speaks about the path his character has taken. “I mean, honestly, what that does to the character’s journey, looking at the shame and guilt and living with a lie,” he stated. “He was institutionalized. He was raised in an orphanage, he went to the army, went to the police in The Burgh, and he was institutionalized. And then, to reveal that secret will mean the end of his life as he knew it, but to live with that secret and to step into the rut, to carry that, it creates a whole new set of challenges for him.”
Read More: Where Does Carnival Row Take Place? Setting, Explained
