Finale highlights: “Snow Drifts” / “There’s No Place Like Home” – ONCE151

As everyone in Storybrooke awaits the naming of Snow and Charming’s new son, The Savior finally got to have a taste of what life is like in the Enchanted Forest when Emma and Hook got pulled into Zelena’s time portal. However, Emma finds herself back in the past and must walk in her parent’s shoes to find a way back into the present without changing the past or messing it could inflict untold damage to all of them, including her existence.

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We’ve got the whole gang to discuss the finale of season three and don’t worry, we will try not to make it five hours long. For season three finale, this was practically a movie. It was like Once: Back to the Future Edition.

RumBelle Wedding

It was a beautiful wedding, but why did they not invite everybody? There should have been more people, but it was beautiful and creepy at the same time. There was also something so creepy seeing Belle’s father marching his daughter to the same man who imprisoned his daughter and turned her into a helper. While some thought that she looked pretty, there was something lacking in her outfit.

One of the things about their wedding was Rumple and Belle’s wedding vows, where some montage was shown as they were saying them to each other; Hook and Emma being shown during Rumple’s “I was an enemy of love. Love had only brought me pain. My walls were up”; Snow and Charming during “I’ve spent my life finding you”; Rumple being shown during the line, “The man beneath him maybe flawed”; as well as Regina, Robin, and Roland along the lines, “You brought light into my life and chased away all the darkness… I will never forget the distance between what I was and what I am.”

It just seemed a bit off how Rumple married Belle with a lie; hiding to her about the real dagger. However, wasn’t why she fell in love with him? Will Rumple ever change? Are we going to see him revert to being the monster that he was in the next season once Belle found out that she was keeping the wrong dagger all along? Now that Zelena’s dead, will Rumple really try to change for the better? Surely, there will be consequences for all the bad things that he has done in the past.

Maid Marian

Maid Marian’s crime was knowing Snow White’s whereabouts and refusing to tell the Evil Queen. But now that she’s come to the present, will the timeline correct itself? Will she sacrifice herself to pave way for Regina and Robin Hood?

Will Regina turn back to being the Evil Queen after learning that Emma brought her back from the past? Or does she care too much on Robin and Henry now to revert back to her evil ways? It sure looked like she was hurt, but now that she’s a changed woman, how will Regina handle it this time?

Robin said that Maid Marian’s death was his fault. If it really was, does he know that it was Regina who had his wife killed? Or did Maid Marian really escaped before the past has been changed and was killed because of her husband?

With Regina knowing that she was the one who ordered Maid Marian’s death, how will Regina handle it once she realized it was her who tasked the guards to kill Maid Marian? Robin Hood seemed ignorant that it was the Evil Queen who had his wife killed. How will he react once he found out about it?

What if Regina is pregnant? With the short amount of time that she spent together with Robin, is it be possible for Robin to get her pregnant? How would it affect not only her relationship with Robin, as well as Robin’s own relationship with Maid Marian, but herself especially? She doesn’t have a clean track record being a mother, but if she was given the chance to be a mother of her own child, how will it change her?

It was nice hearing Regina telling Robin about seeing him in the tavern with the help of Tinkerbell. With that in mind, does that mean that Robin Hood really was meant for each other and it was just a matter of timing for them to finally be together?

Journey to the Past

It was great seeing how Emma was mesmerized attending her first Royal Ball. We also love how she went and told Hook, “Sorry, the only one who saves me is me.” Speaking of the ball, Emma seemed to be the only one who was wearing red at the ball.

We love how Emma got her magic back down in the Dark One’s vault. However, it happened while she was holding the black fairy’s wand. Now that Emma has her magic back, will she use it more in season 4? Will she finally be opened to being taught either by Rumple or Regina? Being the savior, how strong is her heart?

This episode has so much about Back to the Future references. The way the episode was shown, creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis sure did a great job giving a nod to it.

The Neal and Emma flashback at the Carousel was so lovely. It was so nice knowing how Emma’s definition of home has always come from Neal. Even down in the vault, Emma told Hook that Neal was right all along about finding a home; when you leave it, you just miss it. This also showed how they fell in love and wanted to find a home. Neal knows, by the end, how much Emma wanted to find a home, and all he’s ever done is try to get her there. That’s true love.

Continuity Issues

Snow wasn’t supposed to know about Daniel’s death until “An Apple Red as Blood,” but she only said, “I didn’t know telling your mother about Daniel would make her stop the wedding” — nothing about killing.

Why was Hook in the Enchanted Forest during this time? Wasn’t Hook supposed to be in Neverland? What was he doing drinking and flirting with different women at a bar, then?

Emma seemed to be really bad at time travel. Why didn’t she realize how it was fairly risky telling Rumple everything about the future, including about Belle. In addition, both Captain Hook and Rumple seemed to share a lot of knowledge regarding time travel despite the fact that it has never been done before.

Rumple was clever in putting the stolen clothes back to its owner to  help preserve the timeline but why didn’t he stop them from taking Maid Marian back to the present? Didn’t he realize that it will ruin the current timeline in the Enchanted Forest by Emma and Hook bringing her to the present?

When it was said that everything must happen the way it did, does every little detail really have to happen? It was the little things that made Snow and Charming fall in love to each other, but does every little thing really need to happen?

Snow has been known to have a pure heart all along, so what triggered her to actually try killing Regina using the dark fairy dust? How did the trolls knew that Snow was supposed to be dead?

It was such a strange explanation about “everything, except their little adventures going back to normal.”

Finding Home

The whole show has been Emma’s journey. She clearly have some defining moments all throughout the show. Since she called Snow and Charming ‘Mom and Dad’ back in the second season finale, it hasn’t been acknowledged since.

Hi, Daniel, Jeremy, and Erin!

After hearing your initial reactions, especially Jeremy’s comments about the finale being disconnected from the rest of season 3B, I really have to disagree.

This show, to a certain extent, is Emma’s story. There are many characters of course, and several of them received epic character development this season, especially Hook and Regina who both completed the transition from villain to hero in the span of this season. But Emma’s character development stalled out during this half of the season after she received the cursed memories. She started the season by admitting to her mother that she STILL felt like an orphan, a “lost girl” in episode 2, and didn’t make much progress from that point through the entire season – until the finale.

Emma’s inability to identify with her family and her home was FINALLY addressed at length, which I felt was overdue and very necessary. Emma’s pain and abandonment issues have been a huge part of her character and a huge part of her behavior this season, and they have never been thoroughly dealt with. But they saved the best for last and knocked down Emma’s walls in an amazing way in this finale. She finally realized what a gift she has with her family, and she accepted it. She also finally gave Hook a chance. Emma opening up to her family and to romantic love is basically a miracle given all she has been through in her life which, in her eyes, has amounted to a long string of abandonments. This character breakthrough is such a huge step that I think having a two-part finale almost exclusively dedicated to unpacking it was not only appropriate, but necessary to make it believable, moving, and fun. Now Emma is in the book, a symbol of her taking her place with her family and no longer being the odd one out – not even in her own mind.

In a story arc that dealt heavily with the ideas of home, family, and what those things truly mean, Emma’s final confrontation with the concepts was vital to the story and a perfect way to end the season. More than the struggle with Zelena, more than the budding romances, more than the new baby, Emma’s struggle with and acceptance of her home was the peak of the story arc. And it was a beautiful one.

— Katie LaCour

Although it was clear how young Emma has been searching for a home since she was young, the group home flashback was a bit silly. Although the actress portrayed young Emma well, the actress that was hired seemed almost the same age as when Jennifer Morrison was in Tallahassee.

Emma’s speech about losing Snow was so wonderful and so well-acted. It was nice to see her acknowledge how she unfairly treated her mother since knowing that Snow White was her mother.

It was fun seeing Hook punching his past self. He seemed to grow up a lot from being the drunk pirate to being an honorable man.

‘Hey There’

A lot of people from the forum was disappointed about finding out that the baby was named Prince Neal. It was awkward for Emma, Henry, and Rumple; knowing that Neal was Emma’s former lover, Henry’s father, and Rumple’s son. Why didn’t Snow and Charming talk to Rumple about naming their son after his son? Surely, it will just remind him how he lost his son in place of his own life. Was it disrespectful of them naming it after Neal? Or was it just appropriate that the baby was named after someone who saved all of them?

Living the Past

It was nice seeing Emma walk in her parent’s shoes and play princess for a day. Are we going to see something like this again in the future episodes? Will we see her finally dance with her father back in the Enchanted Forest?

Emma and Hook

Emma finally let her walls down and opened her heart to Hook. Will their relationship be smooth-sailing, or are they up for a bumpy ride?

Depending on which side one is on, Emma and Hook’s relationship going into a new level has a mixed reactions. While the CaptainSwan shippers rejoiced for finally seeing the two of them being together, some thought that it was a bit rushed and the way it was presented seemed a bit wrong.

Hook went through a lot to win Emma’s heart, even traded his Jolly Roger to get to Emma in New York, but is it the right time for them to get together?

Moreover, it was fun seeing the snarky, flirty banter between Rumple and Belle down in the Dark One’s Castle when Hook and Emma first visited his castle. It was obvious how he was trying to hide his feelings while Belle isn’t.

Elsa

I think the villain revealed at the end of the episode is more likely to be the White Witch than Elsa. First of all, Narnia is much older than Frozen and arguably more well known than Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen. Disney released Narnia movies a number of years ago whereas Frozen just came out last year. Second, Narnia is a whole other world like Oz or Wonderland. It is connected to many other worlds through many different portals including water (Magician’s Nephew), wordrobs (The Lion The Witch and the Wordrobe) and pictures (Voyage of the Dawn Tredder). It is a world rich with magic. I imagine Arendale would just be another kingdom in the Enchanted Forest world.  Given the fact that Frozen just came out and Narnia has been around a long time, it seems more likely that the writers would have had a lot more opportunity to think about taking the show to Narnia than to Arendale. They could have been thinking about Narnia since the beginning of the series… I think the White Witch would constitute a much bigger threat than Elsa. It [also] fits into the original story. In the Magician’s Nephew, the White Witch was awakened in the world of Charn and accidentally transported between several worlds including the portal world, our world, and Narnia. She was awakened and transported by two children (a boy and girl) who had magic rings. Emma and Hook aren’t children, but they are a man and woman. In the episode they had significant rings although they did not keep them. They unintentionally transported the mystery woman between worlds… I don’t know if this is true, but I was told that when Disney was working on creating Elsa for Frozen they originally intended to make her look like the White Witch, so if this White Witch looks like Elsa perhaps that’s a nod to real life the way Dreamy was a nod to the re-naming of that dwarf. I of course am blind and can’t see all the visual details, I believe in Narnia the White Witch’s magic was associated with the color blue. In Prince Caspian the creatures try to bring her back using blue fire for example. I do wonder what kind of villain she’d be and what her motivation would be. Perhaps she will have a frozen heart that will have to be melted with true love. Beyond that I think we’re running low on villain motivations.

— Gareth Grey

They are going to do Frozen I love that movie My theory is Maid Marion is going to be Elsa’s sister Anna.

— Aleana Harris

I have a theory that Elsa is Eva’s sister and Eva will play a role as Anna on Once Upon a Time. We do know that Snow was born during a harsh winter. Maybe that winter was caused by Elsa? Also, you know the scene from Frozen where Anna saved Elsa from being killed by Prince Hans? Well, I have a feeling Rumple is Prince Hans in this scene who is going to trapped Elsa inside the bottle and instead of Eva saving Elsa, she ended up not saving her and have King Leopold kiss Eva to save her from freezing to death. Then, Eva felt guilty for not saving her sister and she ended up becoming a good person afterwords. We do know that Eva wasn’t much of a good person when she was younger and she later changed into a good person later in her life. Maybe this is how Eva turned into a good person? And considering how everybody is related on Once Upon a Time, maybe this is how Elsa will fit into the family tree.

— nfjjf fjjjfjhf

Is Elsa related to anyone else that we have met before?

My top theories (based almost entirely in wishful thinking) are that she’s some sort of future dark Alice (who never got enough character development in OUATIW [Once Upon a Time in Wonderland] for my liking anyway…nor, enough exploration as the “Monster” or “Queen Alice” from Through the Looking Glass), a future White Queen Anastasia (the twist here being that would make “Anna” and “Elsa” effectively one-in-the-same), or the Knave’s supposedly drowned little sister. We don’t technically know what world that tea party in front of the Well of Wonders gazebo was in but, Alice’s daughter is probably about 7 or 8, meaning more could be done without upsetting the happy ending of OUATIW.

— Sara Murray

Or is Elsa’s sister, Anna the same Anastasia from Once Upon a Time in Wonderland?

By the way, it was clarified during the ABC Upfront presentation that it was indeed Elsa that was shown at the end of the season finale. Kitsis and Horowitz also told TVLine how they both fell in love with Elsa and got permission to use for the show, but with their own style.

Frozen was a movie musical. Will they go as far as making a musical episode to give homage not just to Frozen, but also to other Disney classics that have been introduced in the show?

I think it’s worth mentioning in the original Frozen storyline, Elsa was supposed to turn into a villain, like The Snow Queen before songwriters wrote Let It Go. This changed the *entire* plotline to accommodate the complex Elsa we know and love. Elsa was supposed to try to destroy Arendelle. Incluidng Elsa in OUAT could be a fun way of still creating that plotline.​ The vase Elsa was trapped in was in a room Rumple kept things he didn’t understand or was afraid of. Elsa’s cryokenesis is definitely something Rumple would want to keep locked up, especially if she has a vendetta against him and cannot be controlled by him.

— Zoe Romero

Will Elsa be the dark Elsa that was originally written for the Disney animated movie or are we going to see the same Queen Elsa with the same storyline as the ones that made the cut in the final Frozen movie?

Is it the right time to bring in someone as recent as Elsa to the show? Or are they just riding with Frozen’s fame? Elsa was initially based on the tale of Snow Queen, but is season 4 the right time to bring her in to the show?

If Elsa is set to come to the show, can we expect to see Anna, Olaf, and the other characters from the movie as well? Or will it be just Elsa?

Kristen Bell, the actress who voiced Anna in the animated movie, once expressed how she would be honored to reprise her role as Anna in the show. Will they get her to play Anna? Idina Menzel on the other hand, the actress who voiced Elsa, is currently in a Broadway musical If/Then. Given the chance, will she be open to reprising her role on the show? Will they allow her to play Elsa on Once Upon a Time?

Now that the third season is over, where would the story go in the next season? Will we see Arandelle? Which fairytale characters will we see next aside from Elsa? Is she the new villain that is set to bring eternal winter not just on Storybrooke, but also on our beloved heroes and villains? At least some of them are living happily ever after… for now.

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