Why Carnival Row Was Cancelled Without A Season 3 According To Orlando Bloom

After nearly four years of excruciating patience, "Carnival Row" fans finally received what they wanted, only to be devastated immediately. Before Season 2 even premiered, Amazon announced this would be the curtain call for the series. Instead of continuing a truly innovative and fresh take on fantasy, streaming continues to put all its eggs in the IP basket with familiar franchises such as Amazon's "Rings of Power." No longer will we see the Victorian world of The Burgue as fae hybrid Philo (Orlando Bloom) fights prejudice and a way to be with his faerie lover, Vignette (Cara Delevingne). There is little catharsis in the ending, especially when learning why "Carnival Row" ended so soon.

In an interview with RadioTimes, Bloom declined to comment on the effects of the showrunner getting replaced between Season 1 and Season 2, saying that the changes were "above my pay grade." However, he did concede that the show likely ended due to losing momentum as a result of the pandemic.

"I think COVID really put the brakes on everything," Bloom admitted, noting that they were finishing filming Season 2 when lockdown went into effect. "It was jarring and so the thinking was, there was a lot of love for the show in Season 1 — and certainly Amazon was super supportive — but really, we had so much footage that we were able to take this world and bring it to a conclusion in a really great way." Bloom looked on the brighter side of life, taking the quick conclusion as a positive.

"And I love the idea of leaving people wanting more," he said, "rather than trying to wring the marrow out of everything."

The implications of COVID didn't just impact when or if "Carnival Row" would see a Season 3. It also had sway over what Season 2 would ultimately become. Orlando Bloom told RadioTimes the lockdown created an environment where aspects of the show's narrative could be retooled.

"[E]veryone could work from home and look at the footage that we had, and really address what was there and what we could do more of — or improve upon," Bloom explained. "So in the time that we were shut down... they actually got a pretty interesting shape of what the show was." What the season ended up being was a series finale, but it also had an eerie reflection of what was going on in the real world. As Bloom told ScreenRant, the social commentary of racism and prejudice is at the heart of the fantasy show. And just like a virus affecting humans in the real world, The Burgue was also subjected to a terrifying disease.

"What was sort of unique was that we were shut down for COVID just as we were filming and finishing filming a storyline that involved a virus going through the Carnival Row, taking out fae," the "Lord of the Rings" actor stated. "So it was like, 'Wow, is this really happening?' And I think that was life mirroring art and it was so true for the whole show and I love that about it."