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Portrayed by Arty Froushan, Jonah Breakspear is one of the main characters in Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Carnival Row.’ His biological father is Ritter Longerbane, the Leader of the Opposition, but he grew up believing that he was the son of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear (Jared Harris). Jonah is introduced as a troubled young man, often visiting a faerie brothel on Carnival Row. His mother, Piety (Indira Varma), believes that he is born to do great things and has him kidnapped to teach him a lesson. After the deaths of his parents, Jonah becomes the Chancellor of The Burgue. If the events of season 2 episode 5 have made you wonder whether Jonah is dead and Froushan has left the show, we got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Jonah Breakspear’s Tragic Fate
Yes, Jonah Breakspear is dead. Despite what his mother wanted, Jonnah is not made for politics. Even after he was rescued from his presumed abductors, Jonah remained as aloof to governance as ever, only spending time in the parliament because his parents wanted him to. Only after he saw Sophie Longerbane (Caroline Ford) and how she out-maneuvered Absalom, he became curious about political intrigue.
However, he was still no match for Sophie and her ambitions. Even after learning her actions caused the downfall of his parents, he agreed to work with her. This is partly because he was genuinely terrified of what she would do to him if he didn’t. At the start of season 2, Jonah is the Chancellor, and Sophie is the Leader of the Opposition. They claim that their views align on how to deal with the fae issue.
Even though Jonah knows that a group of faun religious fanatics did not murder his parents, he still executes them and implements laws that turn Carnival Row into an internment camp, which leads to an outbreak that affects only faeries. Jonah doesn’t have many supporters in his father’s party and appoints his former teacher, Runyan Millworthy (Simon McBurney), as a political aide in the hopes that he will give him the advice he needs to be a good leader.
Ultimately, Jonah is naive and trusts people with ulterior motives. Although Millworthy genuinely wants him to become a great leader, he is sympathetic to the fae suffering and wants things to improve for them. This is why he speaks to the Pact delegation about allowing them to purchase weapons from The Burgue.
This applies to Sophie as well. She believes she can do a better job as the Chancellor for both the humans and the faes and orchestrates an elaborate scheme to bring Jonah down from power. When Jonah finds out about Millworthy and Sophie’s plans, he sends them both to Bleakness Keep to be executed for treason. He later visits Sophie and asks her to sign away her wealth in exchange for her life, but she refuses. As he starts to leave, Vignette, imprisoned in the cell opposite Sophie, calls him a monster, and Jonah orders her to be executed alongside Sophie and Millworthy.
However, after right Sophie is executed by guillotine, the winged creature that has killed both humans and fae arrives in the last few months and kills multiple humans present there, including Jonah. It wraps its wings around the Chancellor and kills him with its protruding bones and fangs. We later learn that the creature is a Sparas, a shapeshifting race of faes.
Arty Froushan Exits After Character’s Death
As his character is dead, we can assume that Froushan has left ‘Carnival Row.’ If the show had run for four seasons as originally intended, we could have seen a more detailed exploration of this complex character. But as this is ‘Carnival Row’s final season. The writers have to find a way to tie up all the plot threads.
In an AssignmentX interview, Froushan spoke about the motivations behind his character’s actions. “I think Jonah does a lot of soul searching,” he explained. “He does it in the first season, but even more so in the second. So, he’s not sure. He’s trying to figure it out. Basically, there are just so many other people telling him what’s best for him and what he should do, he’s kind of trying to, I think, retreat from the noise a bit, and just listen to what he wants and needs. But it’s hard to do that in the company that he’s in, and the position that he finds himself in. So, that’s the story of this season for Jonah, I think, is trying to decide what he really wants, and what he wants his destiny to be.”
Read More: Is Sophie Longerbane Dead? Did Caroline Ford Leave Carnival Row?
