Carnival Row – Battle Lines

By starrymag | March 27, 2023

By: Dawn Inchaurregui-Miller

 

 

Tourmaline (Karla Crome) wakes in bed to the sound of whispers. Darius (Ariyon Bakare) stirs but does not wake as the whispers continue. She gets out of bed and approaches the mirror which seems to be the source of the sound. Tourmaline leans in and screams as she is suddenly pulled through and  trapped on the other side of the mirror. Darius hears nothing as she frantically bangs on the mirror calling for him on the other side. She turns, and sees the old Haruspex (Aoife Tsigani) who touches her shoulder and whispers to her, “Our journey does not end with life, and yours has just begun.” Glass shatters, and she falls back through to the other side. Darius runs to her, stepping in glass as he goes. He bends to pull out a shard deeply embedded into his foot but the pain begins to trigger him turning into his marrock form. Tourmaline places a hand on him with her eyes blue and stops him from changing. He is shocked as he asks how she was able to do it.

 

Philo (Orlando Bloom) walks through Carnival Row reaching the old Haruspex house to look for Vignette. Darius says she went after the Black Ravens. When Philo says he needs Tourmaline’s help Darius asks him not to let her as it’s too dangerous. Philo says danger is coming anyway, explaining about the New Dawn being behind the attacks on the ships. He tells him they are starting a revolution, and it must be stopped as the army will destroy the Row in the process.

 

Leanora (Joanne Whalley) tries to convince Vignette (Cara Delevingne) to join her efforts. As they talk, Vignette tells her she has heard it all before. Leanora thinks that they are the same, as she helped her own people by robbing the train for medicine when the pix were diseased and needed it. Vignette asks why she needs Black Ravens when she has an entire army in Ragusa. She then tells Vignette that she intends to take on the Burgue which makes Vignette laugh. But The Pact who also laughed, are not laughing now. They discuss the sparas being on the New Dawns side, having murdered two Black Raven’s, whom Leanora calls “small-minded traitors.” Leonora says the movement is bigger than any one person and those still standing at the end will be free. She asks Vignette if her heart has been broken so many times that she has begun to believe she doesn’t deserve her freedom, but not to forget the freedom of her loved ones.

 

Vignette talks with Phaedra (Eve Ponsonby) and Kaine (Jay Ali) as Leonora’s people prepare their weapons. She begins to ask them to be part of The Sparas, but they themselves have no idea of its identity in human form. Phaedra tells her that she is impressed by it, although Vignette calls what it did at the docks a slaughter. They want to know if she is back with them and Phaedra explains why, even though she dislikes Vignette, she would fight alongside and die for her as she would all the others on their side.

 

Imogen (Tamzin Merchant) reads the newspaper as she and Agreus (David Gyasi) and Kastor (George Georgiou) sit in the Spurnrose house waiting to speak to Parliament. She is sickened by the attacks on the boats and the murder of the Chancellor, realising now that it was the New Dawn. Kastor compares the carnage the Burgh caused when they supplied weapons to The Pact. Imogen says how can she address Parliament after that, but he thinks they will be more inclined to listen. He also reminds her what they are capable of by referencing the bodies laying in the mud in Ragusa. Imogen asks agreus what he thinks she should do. He tells her he is tired and knows the only reason he has not been placed within the Row with all the other fae is due to her. She talks of escaping but he knows she will try to save The Burgue and as many people as possible as that is who she is. She looks out of the window, wistfully saying she has long known how harsh the Burgue is and maybe she should just let it burn.

 

Philo is inside the Haruspex house speaking with Tourmaline, who rightfully assumes Darius had told him not to ask for her help but she wants to know what he needs. She tells him of the mirror incident where she was pulled into what she calls “The Gloaming,” but what he wants to know is the exact details of her vision. He plans to bring about exactly what she saw, knowing she can mentally connect to the sparas just as she did with Vignette. Darius disagrees with the danger this will put her in. She knows it’s already coming for her either way, but at least some good can come from it. She points out however that she can’t connect with it without something personal. When he suggests it, she agrees it’s possible with a tooth from The Sparas.

 

Back at the Spurnrose household, Milworthy (Simon McBurney) arrests the three of them but while Imogen and Agreus insist they know nothing, they tell him that Kastor has confessed. Imogen tries to warn them that the New Dawn have extreme methods and not to act rashly She and Agreus then appeal to Kastor to reach out to his comrades for a ceasefire. Milworthy, satisfied with their suggestion then leaves the three of them inside the house, but before climbing back inside the carriage, he nods at a man standing in front of the house.

 

Vignette heads back to see Tourmaline, who guesses she has rejoined the Black Raven. She attempts to defend the actions of the New Dawn and hopes they can help liberate them just as they did the people in Ragusa. Tourmaline tells her she is helping Philo set up the trap to kill it and she cannot believe that Vignette would even join the same side knowing it will kill her. Vignette claims it only kills when it has to, but Tourmaline stops her saying she has seen the mess that the Revolution will bring and she doesn’t need Vignette to make choices for her.

 

Philo meets with Dombey (Jamie Harris), hidden under an alleyway, where he is reluctant to believe Tourmaline’s vision. He says everyone is looking for The Sparas, police, humans and fae. Annoyed by this Philo goes to walk off, but Dombey calls him back. Philo requires a machine gun to carry out his plan to catch the sparas with Tourmaline, so Dombey has to figure out how he can possibly bring one into the Row to be used by a critch.

 

Kastor gives Agreus a letter with a code, telling him to hand it to the new dawn which will give him the right to speak on his behalf. Imogen wishes to go with him, but Kastor says he must go alone as only fae are allowed into the Row. Agreus agrees with him as it is the only way to stop the war.

 

Dombey and Philo are inside the Burgue mortuary standing over Berwick’s (Waj Ali) body, looking for a tooth from The Sparas. Dombey becomes angry, bringing up the trust that he had in Philo, which he betrayed leading to his death. Philo realizes this, knowing he got in his own way and let his friend down. He tells him to look away as he puts his hands into the open stomach of Berwick, pulling his hands out when he finds a tooth. A group of other officers arrive and can’t believe Dombey is working alongside Philo. He then has to put on a show in front of them to keep their plan a secret.

 

Imogen stops Agreus before he climbs inside the carriage telling him she wants to make up for cutting him so deeply inside. She acknowledges what he did to survive and is glad he did so. He tells her all cuts heal with time and climbs inside the carriage ready to deliver Kastor’s message.

 

Vignette and Kane sit side by side, legs hanging over the edge of a roof. He warns her that though he has defended her loyalty, the New Dawn are still concerned about her. She tells him she is still in it with them, but is worried for those who don’t want to fight and wonders if Oona would have sided with the New Dawn. Kaine replies that Oona would have been the first to sign up, knowing that it would give everyone their freedom, but Vignette wonders if they even stand a chance against the Burgue.

 

Agreus enters the Row looking for the Tavern in which he will meet the new dawn. When he reaches it, Vignette is the one to greet him and points out he’s being followed as she takes him out the back but Kaine holds up a knife and stops the human that has been tailing him. They talk amongst themselves about their differing views, with him dressed up fancy, she tells him they shouldn’t have to play by human rules. He doesn’t agree with Leonora’s ideals saying he believes in education and civilisation in which you can earn money for what you do, rather than struggle just to receive equal pay. She says that she would rather see it all burn down, instead of slowly waiting for a change that could never possibly happen in their own, or their children’s lifetime.

Vignette then leaves Agreus who is taken through to meet Leonora and deliver the message, which turns out to be a secret code. The note was in fact, a warning that Imogen was backing out of their agreement signalling to hold Agreus captive.

 

Milworthy screams outside of parliament realising his man was captured after being seen following Agreus through Carnival Row. Though he believes neither Imogen or Agreus knew of the attacks, Fletcher and Winetrout are angry that the plan failed and insist on the two of them being hanged as traitors insisting that the army should be sent into Carnival Row. To stop them, Milworthy reminds them both of the coming election. It wouldn’t look good for either party to encourage war on Burguish soil. Both of them, keen to take leadership, agree war is a last resort and will hear the New Dawns deal for peace.

 

Tourmaline, holding the tooth that Philo has brought her, begins to get the blood potion ready. Darius and Philo discuss whether they can even trust Dombey, let alone to bring the machine gun. Tourmaline asks if Darius has yet told him about Vignette rejoining the Black Ravens.

 

Vignette, Kaine and Thaedra move through the streets to make another attack, ducking quietly as they go. Philo, who is waiting in the shadows to talk to her,  interrupts them stating aloud that it’s true that she has rejoined the Black Ravens. Both Philo and Kane almost come to blows, both equally disappointed with the others’ decisions. Vignette intercepts, asking to speak to Philo alone. She says she now has hope, but he points out she is now choosing them after she promised to keep Tourmaline safe. She wants to fight for the people she loves, but he asks her instead to go with him. All he wants is to do the same, protect and keep his loved ones safe. She believes she is doing that, even for him and they part ways.

 

Imogen waits for Agreus and hearing a carriage looks out the window. The carriage door is opened and a box is handed to Kastor who brings it inside and gives it to Imogen. She is hesitant to open the box but when she does, she sees a horn inside and falls to the floor. Sitting in shock, Kastor tells her she must read the speech they supply or Agreus will be killed.

 

The episode cuts back quickly to the Haruspex house, where tourmaline realizes Vignette has made her choice to stay with a black raven after Philo silently enters alone. She quietly continues to finish the potion.

 

The police officers talk about how weak Dombey has become, disgusted by him trusting a critch like Philo. All of them become increasingly riled up, where a drunk constable Thatch talks of burning down the Row to finally take care of the critch problem. Later, Thatch stumbles out into the street to urinate against the wall, as the three Black Ravens quietly land behind him. Vignette is shocked when Kaine and Phaedra light multiple Molotov cocktails to throw down onto the pub while the police are still inside. As they begin to throw them down, Thatch is still outside of the pub narrowly avoids being hit, before shooting up at the three of them. He locks eyes with Vignette, who throws one down at his feet merely to make him stop shooting.

 

Dombey delivers a machine gun, Philo tries to brush off the awkwardness between Darius and Dombey, they then set up the gun aiming out the front window. Tourmaline streaks blood and potion across her face. She adds the tooth and begins to chant as she places her hands inside the potion, sinking into the mind of the sparas. She sees Milworthy greeting the ambassador for The Pact and when the sparas in human form feels her, he turns to look in the glass window of a carriage. We see the face of Major Vir (Andrew Buchan) looking back, flashing between the image of Vir and Tourmaline with her eyes blue.