Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are taken to the Caligari Carnival where they disguise themselves as freaks while Count Olaf seeks the help of Madame Lulu to locate the children and find out the truth concerning their parents' death.
As their outrageous misfortune continues, the Baudelaire orphans are shipped off to a miserable boarding school, where they befriend the two Quagmire triplets and find that they have been followed by the dreaded Count Olaf.