Carnival Row Season 2 recap guide: All 10 episodes explained

Carnival Row Season 2, Episode 5

Episode 5 gets us to the halfway point, and what a halfway point it is. Everything is about to change in Carnival Row, and it’s clear that nobody is all that safe.

With Vignette now imprisoned, Philo needs to do everything he can to get her out. That means working with Kane and speeding up plans when Tourmaline has word of a new vision. Meanwhile, Sophie and Runyan are caught, but will they end up with their heads on spikes?

Philo needs to save Vignette

At the end of the previous episode, Vignette turned herself in to save the Row. Now it’s time for Philo and Kane to work together to save Vignette. Of course, Kane tries to kill Philo at first, but the two eventually realize that they are on the same side…sort of.

For now, they want to save Vignette, but they’re running out of time. Vignette does get a trial, but it’s a show trial. It’s clear that she’s going to be executed, and Tourmaline finds out when. Despite Darius being against it, Tourmaline performs dark magic to find out about Vignette’s future, looking at everything through Vignette’s eyes and seeing Vignette taken to a guillotine.

Tourmaline knows that Philo and Kane need to act faster than they planned. That leads to Philo doing the one thing that he said was suicide: going into the prison to get Vignette out. We watch him stopped at the gates as the Chancellor’s prisoners, including Vignette, are taken to the guillotine.

Sophie and Millworthy are caught

At the start of the episode, we see that Sophie has tried to help the people of the Row. She has made it so that they will find work, and they’re being paid a week’s wages in advance. What is she playing?

We’ll never get to know. Jonah’s spies have found the documents needed to show that Sophie has bought up the factories and is creating weapons for The Pact. It’s treason, and when Sophie doesn’t quite accept Jonah’s proposal on his terms, he decides to have her arrested. He does it by having people pose as doctors to say that the Pix disease passed to a faun and could pass to her.

Sophie realizes when they’re not on the way to the hospital that she’s in trouble. She’s been arrested, and that’s when she finds herself in a cell opposite Vignette. Jonah pays a visit with a confession for her to sign to save her life, but she tears it up.

Jonah also finds out that Millworthy has been striking a deal with The Pact to supply them weapons. If only he knew what New Dawn was. Jonah has Millworthy arrested too.

Vignette isn’t the only one walking to her execution that night. Sophie and Millworthy are too, and Sophie is the first to be placed on the guillotine. She dies in front of Jonah.

Just as Vignette is placed on the guillotine, the creature that has been killing human and fae turns up. It kills the cops and then grabs Jonah, killing him in a torturous way. Did he deserve it? Most likely. However, his and Sophie’s deaths now change everything.

Philo and Kane get to the courtyard

After being stuck outside of the prison, the creature inside leads to the gates being open and both Philo and Kane getting into the courtyard. Millworthy says that Vignette flew away. The last we saw her the creature was coming up to her as she was strapped to the guillotine, so what happened?

That’s something we need to find out, but this creature is impressive. In fact, it looks like two creatures in one, and Philo and Kane got a small glimpse of it flying away in the distance.

Of course, Philo and Kane are in the courtyard when backup arrives. They’ll be arrested, and the next episode will be what they can do from the inside—and whether anyone will try to save them.