The Enchanted Forest, also known as Misthaven, is a Fairy Tale Land realm featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. It first appears in the first episode of the first season of Once Upon a Time.
History
Hundreds of years after gaining magic and immortality from the Holy Grail, the sorcerer Merlin decides to remove these powers from himself by using the Flame of Prometheus to mold the Grail into the sword Excalibur. Instead, this unintentionally creates the very first Dark One, Nimue, after she drinks from the Grail to gain immortality and darkens her own heart by Vortigan. Merlin then creates a dagger from the swordtip of Excalibur as a way to control her and protect the realm from her. With his Apprentice, the sorcerer also goes on to choose an Author, whose sole responsibility is to witness and record real-life stories in a magical storybook. ("Nimue," "Best Laid Plans")
The Dark One's powers passes down to various other people throughout the years, with the transfer of power occurring when a person kills the Dark One with the dagger and becomes the new Dark One. ("Desperate Souls", "Nimue")
An Ogre War lasting fourteen years plagues the realm, with at least one unnamed kingdom resorting to recruitment of children over the age of thirteen to become soldiers in the war. It is during this that a wool spinner, Rumplestiltskin, kills the current Dark One, Zoso, and becomes the next Dark One. Rumplestiltskin later uses his newly gained power to stop the Ogre War. A second Ogre War occurs as well, but not much is known about this, except that Widow Lucas' six brothers were veterans of this war. ("Desperate Souls", "The Return", "Red-Handed")
In King Xavier's kingdom, his son Prince Henry marries a miller's daughter, Cora, once she proves her worth by spinning straw into gold, which helps replenish their kingdom's coffers. Cora has a daughter, Regina, with her husband, whom she vows will be queen one day. She enacts this plans years later, when Regina is of marriageable age, by poisoning Queen Eva, King Leopold's wife, leaving him a widow. Cora then instigates a situation to have Regina impress Leopold and win his favor with a marriage proposal. Regina unhappily marries Leopold and becomes stepmother to his daughter Snow White. Years later, after Snow has blossomed into a young woman, Regina manipulates the Genie of Agrabah into killing Leopold. Regina attempts to have her stepdaughter killed as well, but she escapes unharmed. Snow becomes a wanted fugitive throughout the kingdom when Regina claims she is responsible for Leopold's death. Regina offers up rewards to villagers if they forfeit Snow's location, but they refuse, with many of them being executed for their defiance. ("The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter", "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree", "The Stable Boy", "The Queen Is Dead", "The Miller's Daughter", "The Evil Queen", "Lost Girl")
On Sir Maurice's lands, he gain soldiers from Lord LeGume for combating the ogre skirmishes, by having his daughter Belle accept a marriage proposal from LeGume's son Gaston. However, even this is alliance is not enough to stop the ogres from breaching Maurice's castle, resulting in the death of his wife Colette. Maurice's desperation to protect his people from the ogres leads him to call upon Rumplestiltskin for help. In exchange for keeping the ogres away, Belle agrees to become Rumplestiltskin's eternal servant. ("Skin Deep," "Family Business," "Her Handsome Hero")
A shepherd, David, unexpectedly becomes a prince when he masquerades as his deceased twin brother James, the adoptive son of King George. He is later made to continue playing this role by becoming betrothed to King Midas' daughter Abigail. ("The Shepherd")
In another kingdom in the Enchanted Forest, Cinderella makes a deal with Rumplestiltskin to go to a ball, where she wins the heart of Prince Thomas and ends up marrying him. ("The Price of Gold")
After being uncursed, Snow attempts to rally people to fight alongside with her to take back the kingdom from the Queen. Regina wants Snow to give up her claim to the throne, however, the princess instead declares war against her stepmother. Regina joins forces with King George's army, but when his soldiers are defeated, Snow receives aid from the Blue Fairy to capture Regina. The war council votes to have Regina publicly executed for her crimes, but Snow calls it off at the last moment and decides to give another chance to the former Queen. When Regina still proves herself to be vengeful, Snow banishes her from the kingdom, vowing to kill her if she ever harms another person again. ("Lost Girl", "The Cricket Game")
On the day of Snow and Prince Charming's wedding, the Queen announces her intentions of getting revenge by taking away everyone's happiness. The couple receive information from Rumplestiltskin about the Queen's curse, and that the only person who can stop her is their unborn child, who will break the curse in twenty-eight years. The day the curse is cast, Snow goes into labor early and gives birth to a baby girl, Emma, whom Charming sends into the magic wardrobe to ensure she will find them again in twenty-eight years. The curse then engulfs the Enchanted Forest, except for a portion of land that Cora protected with her magic, which whisks the inhabitants to another realm. ("Pilot")After taking the Darkness into herself, Emma becomes the new Dark One and emerges from the vault. As the dark side beckons, she tries to find her way to Camelot, and meets a young woman named Merida. Emma's friends and loved ones travel to the Enchanted Forest by cyclone, where they are reunited with Emma. King Arthur and his knights find them. He takes them to his kingdom, Camelot, to help find the sorcerer, Merlin, who went missing. ("The Dark Swan")
Arthur takes Emma's family captive and threatens to kill them unless she hands over the Dark One's Dagger. Emma is able to free them, but Hook receives a deadly wound. In a desperate bid to save the man she loves from dying, Emma fully embraces the role as the Dark One. She uses dark magic to tether Hook to Excalibur, and Hook emerges from the Vault as the second dark one. ("Birth," "Broken Heart")
As Hook emerges from the Vault, he is greeted by a manifestation of the Darkness, which offers him help to seek revenge on Rumplestiltskin. Emma tries to convince him that together, they can keep the Darkness at bay, but when Hook asks where Excalibur is, she lies to him and says that she no longer has it. When Hook finds out about the deception, he no longer trusts her, and fully embraces the Darkness. Because Merlin is the person that Nimue loved the most, and Nimue still lives inside all Dark Ones, Hook enacts the Dark Curse by ripping out Merlin's heart and crushing it. Heartbroken and desperate to fix her mistakes, Emma uses a dreamcatcher to remove everyone's memories about what happened, including Hook's. The curse sends everyone back to the Land Without Magic. Merida and many of the Camelot residents are swept up in the curse as well. ("Broken Heart")Locations
For detailed location information, please see the Enchanted Forest Locations category or the list of minor Enchanted Forest locations.
Kingdoms
The Enchanted Forest is divided into kingdoms, much as the Land Without Magic is currently divided into countries. Known kingdoms of the Enchanted Forest are:
- Snow White and Prince Charming's kingdom (formerly ruled by King George)
- The Evil Queen's kingdom (previously ruled by King Leopold and Queen Eva and now belongs to Snow White and Prince Charming)
- The King's kingdom (Prince Thomas' and Cinderella's home kingdom)
- Maurice's kingdom (Belle's home kingdom)
- Aurora and Prince Phillip's kingdom (previously ruled by King Stefan and Queen Briar Rose)
- King Xavier's kingdom (Prince Henry's and Cora's home kingdom)
- The King's kingdom (ruled by an unnamed king, Liam and Killian Jones served in his navy)
- Maritime kingdom (Prince Eric's home kingdom)
- Rapunzel's kingdom (ruled by her parents)
- Northern Kingdom (Princess Eva's home kingdom)
- King Midas' kingdom (Abigail's home kingdom)
Additionally, there are some other locations:
- Avonlea (a location close to Maurice's castle)
- Longbourn (a port town)
- The Dark Castle and its surrounding mountains (home to Rumplestiltskin)
- The Forbidden Fortress and the surrounding Forbidden Mountains (home to Maleficent)
- The Frontlands (Ruled by duke. A region or kingdom where Rumplestiltskin, Milah and Baelfire lived, or lived close to.)
Notes:
- Bolded Names are canon location names. Such names have been given in-show by characters themselves.
- The name that appears first within a couple denotes who inherited the kingdom
- "Formerly ruled by" denotes that the previous ruler was either overthrown or removed from power by force. "Previously ruled by" denotes that the current ruler inherited the kingdom.
Inhabitants
Notes:
^: Current inhabitants
*: This inhabitant's status and/or current whereabouts is unknown
†: Deceased inhabitants
No mark: Taken to Storybrooke via either the first or second Dark Curse
º: In Storybrooke via other means
F:Former inhabitants
Trivia
On-Screen Notes
- There is education and schools in the Enchanted Forest, as Red Riding Hood went to school. ("Red's Untold Tale")
- There are birds and animals in the Enchanted Forest, that can communicate with humans and understand human speech. ("Pilot," "The Price of Gold," "What Happened to Frederick," "Into the Deep," "A Curious Thing")
- The currency in the Enchanted Forest includes coppers, silvers, gold, shillings, pennies and doubloons. ("Hat Trick", "Think Lovely Thoughts", "White Out", "Poor Unfortunate Soul", "Heart of Gold", "The Dark Swan", "Heartless")
- "Execution" exists in the Enchanted Forest, as when it was found out that the Genie of Agrabah killed King Leopold, Regina, the Queen, told the Genie that he would be executed. This is further confirmed when The Evil Queen was almost executed by Snow White and Prince Charming but the execution was stopped in the last minute. ("Fruit of the Poisonous Tree," "The Cricket Game")
- There are several ways to execute someone, as in Prince Charming's case, he was almost executed by guillotine by King George, but for the Evil Queen, several soldiers shot their arrows to a blinfolded Regina. ("An Apple Red as Blood," "The Cricket Game")
- Execution seems to be used for the people who commits a major crime, like for killing a king or terrorizing people for far too long. ("Fruit of the Poisonous Tree," "The Cricket Game")
- The Enchanted Forest can be accessed via the Mad Hatter's hat, a portal created with a magic bean, travelling to another world with the Shadow, by taking a ship from Arendelle and by undoing the Dark Curse.
- Christianity seems to be present in the Enchanted Forest, as a cross can be seen on a shield dropped by a fallen soldier outside the dragon's cave,[6] on Daniel's grave,[7] and on the cover of a book in Maurice castle.[8] Churches are also known to exist there. ("The Shepherd," "An Apple Red as Blood," "Family Business," "Mother")
- Also prominent is the character of a Bishop. ("Pilot," "The Thing You Love Most," "The New Neverland," "Operation Mongoose Part 2")
- Christian dignities also exist in the Enchanted Forest, as a man named Clemmons is a vicar.[9] ("Red's Untold Tale")
- The Enchanted Forest does not appear for the first time in the twelfth episode of the second season.
- In "The Queen Is Dead", Mary Margaret celebrates her birthday, indicating that the inhabitants use the Gregorian calendar. This is confirmed in the novel Red's Untold Tale, where the Gregorian calendar is used to organize days.[9] It is further confirmed on-screen in "Our Decay", where it is revealed that Zelena was born on April 15.
- The exact size and scope of the Enchanted Forest is not known.
- According to a map, there are rivers named the Kitsis river and Tigelaar River,[10] which are named after the writers Edward Kitsis and Liz Tigelaar respectively. ("Skin Deep")
- The Enchanted Forest is across the desert from Agrabah, across the sea from Arendelle and a few days ride away from Camelot.[11] ("Ariel", "A Tale of Two Sisters")
- On of Merlin's books refers to the Enchanted Forest as a riding.[12] ("Siege Perilous")
- Liam's navigation map mentions the locations The Spit,[13] Miraud Is.[14] and Kei Is.[15] One area is described as "A mighty swell when the Wind is at N.W."[13] ("The Brothers Jones")
- "Kei Islands" is another name for the Kai Islands of Indonesia.
Production Notes
- According to show creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, nature and respect for it is important in the Enchanted Forest, so the Glass Coffin is carved out of a log, Snow White has flowers in her hair at her royal wedding, and Magic Wardrobe is made out of a tree trunk.[16]
Appearances
Once Upon a Time: Season One | ||||||||||
"Pilot": | "The Thing You Love Most": | "Snow Falls": | "The Price of Gold": | "That Still Small Voice": | "The Shepherd": | "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter": | "Desperate Souls": | "True North": | "7:15 A.M.": | "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree": |
Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears |
"Skin Deep": | "What Happened to Frederick": | "Dreamy": | "Red-Handed": | "Heart of Darkness": | "Hat Trick": | "The Stable Boy": | "The Return": | "The Stranger": | "An Apple Red as Blood": | "A Land Without Magic": |
Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears |
Once Upon a Time: Season Two | ||||||||||
"Broken": | "We Are Both": | "Lady of the Lake": | "The Crocodile": | "The Doctor": | "Tallahassee": | "Child of the Moon": | "Into the Deep": | "Queen of Hearts": | "The Cricket Game": | "The Outsider": |
Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears |
"In the Name of the Brother": | "Tiny": | "Manhattan": | "The Queen Is Dead": | "The Miller's Daughter": | "Welcome to Storybrooke": | "Selfless, Brave and True": | "Lacey": | "The Evil Queen": | "Second Star to the Right": | "And Straight On 'Til Morning": |
Mentioned | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Absent | Mentioned | Appears | Appears | Mentioned | Appears |
Once Upon a Time: Season Three | ||||||||||
"The Heart of the Truest Believer": | "Lost Girl": | "Quite a Common Fairy": | "Nasty Habits": | "Good Form": | "Ariel": | "Dark Hollow": | "Think Lovely Thoughts": | "Save Henry": | "The New Neverland": | "Going Home": |
Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Absent | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears |
"New York City Serenade": | "Witch Hunt": | "The Tower": | "Quiet Minds": | "It's Not Easy Being Green": | "The Jolly Roger": | "Bleeding Through": | "A Curious Thing": | "Kansas": | "Snow Drifts": | "There's No Place Like Home": |
Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears |
Once Upon a Time: Season Four | ||||||||||
"A Tale of Two Sisters": |
"White Out": |
"Rocky Road": |
"The Apprentice": |
"Breaking Glass": |
"Family Business": | "The Snow Queen": |
"Smash the Mirror": |
"Fall": | "Shattered Sight": |
"Heroes and Villains": |
Appears | Appears | Absent | Appears | Absent | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Archive | Appears |
"Darkness on the Edge of Town": |
"Unforgiven": | "Enter the Dragon": | "Poor Unfortunate Soul": |
"Best Laid Plans": | "Heart of Gold": | "Sympathy for the De Vil": |
"Lily": | "Mother": | "Operation Mongoose Part 1": |
"Operation Mongoose Part 2": |
Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Absent | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears |
Once Upon a Time: Season Five | |||||||||||
"The Dark Swan": | "The Price": | "Siege Perilous": | "The Broken Kingdom": | "Dreamcatcher": | "The Bear and the Bow": | "Nimue": | "Birth": | "The Bear King": | "Broken Heart": | "Swan Song": | |
Appears | Mentioned | Mentioned | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Mentioned | Appears | Appears | |
"Souls of the Departed": | "Labor of Love": | "Devil's Due": | "The Brothers Jones": | "Our Decay": | "Her Handsome Hero": | "Ruby Slippers": | "Sisters": | "Firebird": | "Last Rites": | "Only You": | "An Untold Story": |
Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Archive | Appears | Mentioned | Appears | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Six | ||||||||||
"The Savior": | "A Bitter Draught": | "The Other Shoe": | "Strange Case": | "Street Rats": | "Dark Waters": | "Heartless": | "I'll Be Your Mirror": | "Changelings": | "Wish You Were Here": | "Tougher Than the Rest": |
Appears | Appears | Appears | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Appears | Mentioned | Appears | Absent | Absent |
"Murder Most Foul": | "Ill-Boding Patterns": | "Page 23": | "A Wondrous Place": | "Mother's Little Helper": | "Awake": | "Where Bluebirds Fly": | "The Black Fairy": | "The Song in Your Heart": | "The Final Battle Part 1": | "The Final Battle Part 2": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland | ||||||||||
"Down the Rabbit Hole": | "Trust Me": | "Forget Me Not": | "The Serpent": | "Heart of Stone": | "Who's Alice": | "Bad Blood": | ||||
Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | ||||
"Home": | "Nothing to Fear": | "Dirty Little Secrets": | "Heart of the Matter": | "To Catch a Thief": | "And They Lived...": | |||||
Archive | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Comics | |||||||||||||||||||
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Once Upon a Time: Novels | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Once Upon a Time: Specials | ||||||||||
"Magic is Coming": |
"The Price of Magic": | "Journey to Neverland": | "Wicked is Coming": | "Storybrooke Has Frozen Over": | ||||||
Archive | Appears | Archive | Appears | Appears | ||||||
"Secrets of Storybrooke": | "Dark Swan Rises": | "Evil Reigns Once More": | "The Final Battle Begins": | |||||||
Archive | Archive | Archive | Absent |
Other Appearances | ||||||||||
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Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.
References
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Worlds and Major Locations | |||
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