Is Carnival Row the new Game of Thrones? WMagazine thinks so!

In their article, they make a strong case for it:

[U]nlike Thrones, Carnival Row will take place in a vaguely futuristic city (albeit with Victorian-era touches, in a steampunk sort of way), and instead of ongoing wars and battle scenes, it will instead take on the form of a neo-noir mystery. Still, there’s not only enough that appears to be in the show’s DNA (including magical creatures and scheming members of a ruling upper class) to hook Thrones fans, but a few familiar faces from the Thrones cast will appear as well (in addition to veterans of the Outlander, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Misfits franchises).

What is Carnival Row even about?

Essentially, it’s a fantasy series about the tensions of an immigration crisis.

It all takes place in the “neo-Victorian” city of Burgue, a city dominated by humans, but tensions emerge when magical creatures like elves and faeries start fleeing to the city as refugees once war breaks out in their homeland. As seems to be unfortunately natural to humans, they don’t react too kindly to the outsiders. To make matters worse, a bunch of the newly arrived faeries end up murdered, including at least one faerie showgirl in the part of the city known as the titular “Carnival Row.” Most of the humans don’t really seem to care until a lone detective decides to take up the case. [Orlando] Bloom plays that detective, named Rycroft Philostrate, while [Cara] Delevingne plays a faerie known as Vignette Stonemoss.[…]

Who else is in the cast?

Indira Varma [Ellaria Sand, Game of Thrones] plays Piety Breakspear, who is described as “the regal and cunning matriarch of the powerful family that rules the city of the Burgue.” […]

Misfits vet Karla Crome plays another faerie with a gift for poetry who is forced to work in a brothel to survive.

Our Andrew Gower gets a mention, too!

[…] Tamzin Merchant [Running Naked, Ark], the actress who was originally cast as Daenerys in Throne‘s ill-fated original pilot episode, also has a major role.

Merchant (Salem) and Andrew Gower (Outlander) play brother and sister Imogen and Ezra Spurnrose. They hail from a wealthy family that’s falling on tough times, so they enter a business deal with a “Puck” who has moved across the street. And, in a bit of a taboo move, Imogen may or may not be falling in love with that Puck.

Read the full article here!