The first season of Carnival Row wasn’t afraid to pull any punches. The Victorian world of magical beings had a lot more to offer than just pixies and a murder mystery. Along with its classic story of star-crossed lovers and political commentary, it featured undead monster children, incestuous power-hungry siblings, and a whole lot of inter-species sex. And while it was literally full of blood and guts, it wasn’t squeamish about killing off major characters, and it left the Burgue on the precipice of a disaster heading into the next season. With so much going on, we have a lot of questions we still need answered from Carnival Row season one.
Here are the biggest quandaries we still have heading into the second season.
Is Piety Breakspear truly dead-dead?
Piety’s Dark Asher was beyond anything even her own Fae witch doctor Haruspex could make; Piety’s skills in the dark arts were obviously immense. Yet we know Haruspex was able to exist for a brief time between the worlds of the living and the dead, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility Piety could too. Jonah said in the Carnival Row season one finale that his mother had not yet been located. Is that because they didn’t find her body, or because a pseudo-dead Piety is in hiding? We guess we will have to wait until season two to see if Piety Breakspear is secretly still alive.
Will Jonah marry his sister Sophie in Carnival Row season two?
One of the most unexpected revelations of Carnival Row season one didn’t go the way we expected. Sophie learned Jonah was her half-brother; instead of reacting with repulsion, she suggested they stay together and build a dynasty. He publicly asked for her to stand with him during his introductory speech as Chancellor. He even held her hand in the moment, but does that mean he’s embracing a union of marriage too? Or was he playing politics?
Will Ezra find Imogen and Agreus?
It didn’t take long for Imogen to go from being repulsed by Agreus to running away with him in season one of Carnival Row. But while she might not have any reservations about her standing in the aristocracy, her beaten, weak brother Ezra certainly does. Does he have it in him to keep his promise to find them? What lengths will he go to chase them down and “clear” his family’s name? He has a ship now to do it, but does he have the will to look for them in season two of Carnival Row?
Who else knows about Philo’s parents in Carnival Row‘s World? What about Jonah’s?
For a secret that was held for so long by so many, the truth about Philo’s parents was laid bare by the end of the season. Many of the people who kept it are now dead on Carnival Row. But along with Piety (maybe), Philo still poses an enormous risk to Jonah and Sophie if it comes out. Who else could reveal it, though? What other players in this political game know about the dead Chancellor’s real son, or that Jonah is really a Longerbane? Whomever knows the truth about either man holds a powerful—and dangerous—secret. We feel certain the secret won’t remain hidden in Carnival Row season two.
Are the Black Ravens secretly connected to the religious Puck sect?
The Black Ravens didn’t end up getting to do a lot in Carnival Row season one. Unless they did. While we saw brief glimpses of their criminal operation, it was the secret religious order of Pucks who worship the Hidden One who made a bold and daring attempt on the Chancellor’s life. But what if they were only able to do that because they had Fae help from another group who is also fighting against the humans forces in the Burgue? And if those groups aren’t associated at all, how long until they join together now that they are all imprisoned in Carnival Row?
What role with the Pact play in Carnival Row season two?
Aside from the bloody opening scene of the series, and the flashback third episode in which werewolves won the war against the Burgue, the Pact were mostly out of sight and out of mind. That doesn’t make them any less dangerous, though. With the Burgue wrecked in internal chaos, the Pact could soon see an opportunity to continue their conquests against their greatest geopolitical rival.
How will the Fae respond to internment?
Even before they tried to kill the Chancellor’s father, the Fae were already living in an apartheid state in the Burgue. The Chancellor has confined them all to the Row though, heading into season two. Now that their freedom to move around town, much less move away entirely, has been restricted, how much more of this oppression will the “Critches” take before they fight back? And if a human can make a Dark Asher like Piety’s, what are some angry, desperate magical beings going to be capable of when they have nothing else to lose?
How much influence will Runyan Millworthy have over Jonah?
Jonah wants an “honest man” by his side as he governs, but Runyan Millworthy also has close ties to the Fae community. Will he be able to reign in Jonah’s fight against Pixies, Pucks, and the rest? Or will he merely be a bystander whose words fall on deaf ears? If Runyan becomes a firsthand witness to Fae oppression and a declining city, could that honest man even become a spy who works against Jonah in Carnival Row season two?
What is Philo’s destiny in Carnival Row‘s World?
The prophecy that drove Piety to unspeakable acts said that the son of Absalom Breakspear would reach even greater heights than he did. Piety thought that meant Jonah might become king someday, so is that what could happen to Philo, Absalom’s real son? Could his destiny lie elsewhere entirely, when he saves his fellow Fae from their oppressed existence? Or, as the son of a human and a pixie, could he be the one to unite both of Carnival Row‘s worlds?
Who gets Agreus’ painting?
Sure, this isn’t super important, and yet it kinda is, because if that awful twit from the auction acquires the painting in Aregus’ absence, that will be the worst thing to happen on a show where a Frankenstein monster brutally murdered a bunch of people.
We’ll get these answers and more when Carnival Row season two premieres on February 17.
Originally published on August 30, 2019.
Editor’s Note: Carnival Row is a co-production of Amazon Studios and Legendary Television. Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks.
