Choosing Sides
Episode 4 of Carnival Row season 2, titled ‘An Unkindness of Raven’, begins with Imogen and Agreus laughing and entering their home while Ezra cheers them. Suddenly, everyone is shot and Agreus wakes up from his nightmare. Imogen assures him that they are safe and he heads out for breakfast. Outside, he sees a woman ranting that her family of 4 were kicked out just so Leonara could give the room to him and Imogen. She is put to work by Kastor who tells Imogen that the women and men all work as comrades and he is their block leader.
After breakfast, they head to the factories which are arming the New Dawn. Agreus says he will work for Imogen as well and he and Kastor argue about him killing the ship crew for being part of the slave trade. He then denies Imogen food as she did not work and Agreus gives her his share. Kastor goads him as he asks how he can betray his own kind and whether he likes Imogen because she is human. Before Agreus can start a fight, Imogen offers to work.
At that moment, Leonara enters and the workers chant Rovnost which surprises the couple. Kastor says she wants to talk to Imogen and Agreus leaves hesitantly. Leonara asks Imogen how she feels to have worked for the first time and adds that whatever they have made belongs to them all. Imogen is also surprised that Leonara has a human mate, Tomas and she says revolution is upon them. They bond over getting used to their partner’s different feet and hooves and laugh. Leonara ends up telling Imogen that she is free now but also warns her of Agreus resistance which could affect them.
Meanwhile, Agreus asks Kastor about Hannah, the woman whose room they were given. Kastor says she doesn’t exist and Agreus looks worried. He seems gloomy when Imogen says they could belong and they should stay. He tells her that Leonara is a murderer who killed the ship’s crew and that they should be careful as the place is a lie. However, Imogen still likes the idea of them being accepted there.
At that moment, Ezra meets with Leonara and says he can be of help after he brings news of the Pact’s deal with the Burgue for weapons.
In the Burgue, Dombey goes home and is being playful with his wife and kid. He then has a drink with his father who cheers him for killing Oona. They hear someone enter and Dombey sees Philo and Darius with Rafe, his kid. The officer is furious but Philo tells him the Black Raven is after him. He asks Dombey to work with him and at that moment Darius smells a fae. Philo heads out and sees Vignette who tells him he chose the wrong side. He says he’s trying to avoid a disaster but the Black Raven end up chasing Dombey and Darius. Philo joins them and they lose the fae while Darius turns into a werewolf to stop them. Kaine catches up to them and fights Philo while Dombey escapes. The cops show up and arrest Philo but Dombey frees him whilst still being his usual insulting self.
As for Tourmaline, she runs to the Mima and tells her that she saw her own death as the murderer came for her in her last vision. The Mima says she has a recipe to purge the darkness only if Tourmaline hasn’t become the darkness herself. She also adds that the ritual will be painful but Tourmaline doesn’t listen. She goes to the Haruspex shop for the recipe but Darius enters in his wolf form. Afraid, she turns to run but on hearing Darius cry in pain as he turns human again, she goes to him. He tells her about the experiments the Burguish did on him and she sympathizes with him. Despite him telling her to stay away, she goes to him and helps him clean up.
At the Row, an unbothered Philo drinks in a bar with Vignette. Both ask the other to run away as they have been declared an enemy by the opposite camp. They both refuse and reminisce about their trouble-free days but the cops appear and start beating up everyone in the Row. Vignette flies to warn the Black Raven and sees them outnumbered. She tells Dombey to stop his forces and in return she surrenders while Philo looks on helplessly.
The Episode Review
Ragusa truly shows what the Burgue would have been if human and fae could live and work together in harmony. While the New Dawn very clearly stands for what we today know as communism, they have a larger role of creating an equal world for all humanoid species. As for whatever suspicious activities that are ringing the alarm bells for Agreus and us viewers, we do hope there is a plausible explanation because Ragusa truly is utopia on the surface.
By the way, are we getting a little bit of romance between Darius and Tourmaline? After the complete mess that is Philo and Vignette and whatever opposing ideals that are probably going to tear Agreus and Imogen apart, we should at least get one happy couple.
With poor Darius being all alone and experimented on by his own people, he definitely deserves a little happiness. So does Tourmaline as we never got any closure after it was revealed she had feelings for Vignette.
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Episode Rating
(3)