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Zelena, also known as the Wicked Witch of the West, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the twelfth episode of the third season. She is portrayed by starring cast member Rebecca Mader.
The Wicked Witch of the West is based on the character of the same name from the children's novel, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".
History
Abandoned by her birth mother, who leaves her to be taken by a cyclone, she is taken by it to the land of Oz and picked up by a woman. The woman's husband witnesses the baby exhibit magic by felling a tree, though the latter remains oblivious. Given the name Zelena, she loses her adoptive mother in childhood and grows up with a drunken father. While she is shaving his neck, he harps on Zelena to always put on her best face. Accidentally cutting him with the razor, she conjures a rag, but her use of magic angers him. He reveals the truth, that she is not his biological daughter, and spitefully calls her "wicked". Hurt, she consults the Wizard about her birth family. Zelena finds out she was abandoned because her own mother, Cora, wished to become royalty, which her first-born could not give. She glimpses her half-sister, Regina, who has become Queen and struggles during a magic lesson with her instructor, Rumplestiltskin. Gifted silver slippers, Zelena uses them to travel to Regina's palace, where she dresses herself in her sister's clothes and succeeds in Rumplestiltskin's prior magic lesson. Rumplestiltskin witnesses this, and when she admits being Cora's firstborn, he has doubts until testing her genetics. Accepted by him, she learns that he is making a powerful curse to take himself to a Land Without Magic. She is taught to channel rage, such as anger about her own abandonment as well as jealousy towards Regina, into magic. Rumplestiltskin also teaches Zelena how to let the rage go by thinking of a happy moment, and even shares his childhood memory of being raised by spinsters and eating meat-pies. This helps her realize her happiest moment is having met him. After the lesson, she bakes him a meat-pie, but he has to leave to teach Regina magic. Upset, she reacts in hysterics until he points out that her jealousy is literally turning her skin green. Unwilling to have competition, Zelena attacks Regina, though it is Rumplestiltskin in disguise. He disqualifies her as the future caster of his curse since one of the ingredients required for it is the thing she loves most—him—and that makes her too dangerous. He backtracks upon seeing the silver slippers she has, which can take him to a Land Without Magic. Too furious at his prior rejection, she scathingly promises him that he'll choose her next time. Returning to the Wizard, she asks for a way to change the circumstances of her own past, though he says it's impossible. She rips away the Wizard's curtain, discovering he is just a man putting on a show, and transforms him into a pet flying monkey. As she gets a glimpse of Rumplestiltskin calling Regina his "best pupil", her jealousy reaches a boiling point, and Zelena's skin becomes completely green with envy. ("It's Not Easy Being Green")
Shortly after, Glinda, the Witch of the South, recruits Zelena into a sisterhood of witches. Along with the Witch of the East and the Witch of the North, the trio believe Zelena is destined to join them because of a prophecy foretelling of a sorceress arriving by cyclone and becoming the Witch of the West. Zelena is still obsessed about changing her past, but with Glinda's encouragement, she decides her own future as a good witch is more important. After receiving a pendant to harness her powers, Zelena views the western area of Oz, which she will be responsible for watching over. She and Glinda approach the wreckage from a cyclone to rescue a young girl named Dorothy. Fearing this child, who also arrived by cyclone, is the actual Witch of the West, Zelena researches the prophecy in the Book of Records; discovering the sorceress will "unseat the greatest evil the realm has ever seen", which she believes is herself. Even with Glinda's advisement that her fears may be not true, Zelena plots to get rid of Dorothy by attacking the girl with fire. However, Dorothy counters her assailant with water; causing Zelena to physically melt away. Despite being seemingly dead, Zelena reemerges at the Wizard's Emerald City palace after Dorothy has rejected Glinda's offer of joining the sisterhood since she only wants to go home. Assuming the Wizard's voice, she sends Dorothy back to Kansas with the silver slippers, and then reveals herself to a shocked Glinda. Zelena reaffirms her goal of changing her own past, and to keep Glinda from finding another sorceress to fulfill the prophecy, she banishes the Witch of the South to the Enchanted Forest. ("Kansas")
With the Wizard under her control and Glinda trapped in the Enchanted Forest, Zelena takes dominion over the Emerald City and its guards. At some point, she acquires the elixir of the wounded heart. ("Heart of Gold")
One day while away from her chambers, Robin Hood, on Rumplestiltskin's orders, attempts to steal two vials of the elixir. Disguised as one of Zelena's guards, Robin manages to fill one vial, but he drops the second dose after she catches him trespassing. When she questions his actions, Robin Hood salutes and greets her, unaware that her guards know better than to talk to her. Even more suspicious now, Zelena demands to know why he is stealing from her. With his cover blown, Robin Hood grabs an enchanted bow from the room to fire at her. However, she duplicates two more illusions of herself to confuse him. As Zelena figures out he must have been sent by Rumplestiltskin, and he continues to not respond, she dissipates the illusions and hurls a fireball at him. Robin Hood dodges, letting his arrow fire as he does, causing the shaft to fly around the room until it hits a steam engine. With the room completely fogged up, Robin Hood escapes as Zelena is distracted. ("Heart of Gold")
Zelena, now known as the Wicked Witch of the West, eventually leaves Oz and begins taking residence in Regina's former palace, breaking the latter's magic lock on the crypt, which was created by blood magic. Conveniently, due to her blood link to Regina, this allows her easy access into the palace. Zelena later enacts her own protection spell to keep outsiders out. Threatening to harm Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip's unborn child, she forces them to notify her when the old inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest return. When they do so, she sends her minion, a flying monkey, to extract some of Regina's blood. After doing so, the Wicked Witch mixes the blood with a potion intending to seek revenge on Regina. ("New York City Serenade," "Witch Hunt")
While still in the palace, she notices Regina and a man break in through the underground tunnel with intentions of bringing down the barrier encasing the building. Zelena also learns that Regina is concocting her own brew of the Sleeping Curse and planning to use it on herself. Only after Regina, having broken the palace shield, prepares to use the curse, she finally reveals herself to the other woman. The Wicked Witch speaks freely about having tried on Regina's clothes and seeing all the various rooms in the palace such as the crypt. While Regina believes Zelena forcibly opened the crypt, which is bound by blood magic, she insists that is not the case. When she admits their relation as half-sisters, with Cora as their shared mother, Regina doesn't believe her. Zelena elaborates by detailing how she was sent away to Oz while scathingly recounting how Cora gave Regina everything. Though Regina considers her lucky to have escaped Cora's tyranny, Zelena is too hurt by her mother's abandonment. Additionally, Zelena feels inferior to her since they were both students of Rumplestiltskin, but yet she wasn't the one chosen to enact the curse. Upon learning Cora and Rumplestiltskin are dead, she is somewhat disappointed by the news. Nonetheless, Zelena announces that her true intent is to get what she desires; describing it as "her dreams being realized" while Regina will suffer a "fate worse than death". ("Witch Hunt")
Zelena entraps a man named Lumiere into a form of a candelabrum; forcing him to manipulate Belle and Neal into reviving Rumplestiltskin by using a key to open the vault of the Dark One. Unknown to the pair, whoever resurrects the Dark One will lose their life. Shortly after Neal opens the vault, he begins dying while Rumplestiltskin is resurrected. As opportunity would have it, Zelena reveals herself to Rumpletstiltskin as he is holding his son as well as the accursed dagger. Since he is unable to cling onto both Neal and the dagger, she grabs the weapon. To keep his son alive, Rumplestiltskin quickly absorbs him into his own body. Zelena then orders him to kill Belle, but before he can, she is entrapped by Lumiere's flames. The girl flees unharmed, taking Lumiere with her, while Zelena furiously seethes. ("Quiet Minds")
Leading Rumplestiltskin back to this old castle, she imprisons him in the great hall inside a human-sized cage. After learning Aurora and Prince Phillip told Snow White that she desires their unborn child, Zelena makes a speedy entrance to the palace to turn the twosome into flying monkeys as punishment. Leaving no time to waste, she immobilizes Snow White and does the same to Prince Charming and Regina when they attempt to defend the pregnant princess. Casually, she approaches to touch Snow White's belly and promises the child will soon be hers. Later, Snow White learns from the banished Good Witch of the South, Glinda, that Zelena is weakest against light magic; a criteria Emma fits, and she proceeds to cast another Dark Curse to return everyone to Storybrooke. In the midst of it, Zelena interferes by dropping a potion into the curse mixture, which will erase their memories of the past year in the Enchanted Forest. Victorious, she flies off back to the castle to ingest a substance to retain her memories. Zelena then hands the same vial to Rumplestiltskin; daring him to keep his memories or be foolish enough to want to forget. ("A Curious Thing")While in Storybrooke, Zelena imprisons a resurrected Mr. Gold, courtesy of Neal, who previously used a key on the vault of the Dark One to bring back his father. As a price of opening the vault, Neal was supposed to die, but just before he perished, Mr. Gold absorbed him into his own body. At a town hall meeting, she gets her first glimpse of the savior, Emma, who is attempting to figure out who caused the new curse. One of the residents, Leroy, openly blames the mayor, Regina; an accusation that the other townspeople agree with as does Emma. In a display of frustration, Regina causes a tremor and magically dissipates out of the room. Zelena, sitting at the end of one aisle, watches the situation with interest. Under the disguise of a midwife, she becomes acquainted with Mary Margaret at the diner, and becomes an asset to the expecting mother, who desires a midwife to help her throughout the pregnancy. Hours later, Leroy announces to the town's citizens that Emma caught Regina making a memory potion, which will apparently allow whoever drinks it to recall who cursed them. To protect herself from exposure, Zelena teleports into the mayoral office during the night to steal the potion, but disappears in green smoke when Emma and Regina burst in to apprehend her. Luckily, they do not catch a glimpse of her face, which is shrouded by the smoke. That same night, she magically opens a cellar door outside her house and carries a tray of food to a ragged and disheveled Mr. Gold, who grabs her arm to hiss that she should have never brought him back. She laughs, roughly kicking the tray into the cell, snidely telling him to "eat up" since they've got work to do and then strolls out of the cellar with ease. ("Witch Hunt," "Quiet Minds")
Paying Mr. Gold another visit in the cellar, she walks in on him furiously spinning straw into gold. Purposely, Zelena unlocks the cell door, daring him to harm her, though well aware he cannot since she possesses the Dark One's Dagger. She forces him to sit still while giving him a facial shave using the dagger as a razor. During the task, Zelena sourly recounts how her drunken father often made her shave him. She recalls him telling her to "put on her best face", which was impossible since the outside always shows what is rotting on the inside. On purpose, Zelena nicks Mr. Gold to get a droplet of his blood. Later, she goes to the pawnshop, which is now run by Belle, to ask for a baby gift for Mary Margaret, but quickly freezes the girl, and uses Mr. Gold's blood on a locked compartment behind a wall painting to retrieve a plant called night root. On her first day as midwife, Zelena is introduced to Mary Margaret's husband, David, and makes the couple chamomile tea at their apartment. Without their notice, she spikes David's tea with night root, later causing the man to fight a physical manifestation of himself as his greatest fear. He manages to kill it with his own sword hilt, which Zelena magically pockets in her handbag. While leaving the apartment, Zelena gushes enthusiastically about Mary Margaret's charming husband and reassures the expecting mother that with her around, she won't need to worry about the baby. ("The Tower")
Discovering Mr. Gold has broken out of the cellar, Zelena exerts power of the dagger to summon Mr. Gold, which doesn't work due to Neal, in his father's body, resisting the weapon's power. Angry at the failure, she sends a flying monkey to search for him. Mary Margaret phones her, panicked about not feeling the baby move as of recently, to which Zelena hurries over to the apartment with groceries. She calms her down, stating it's normal for babies to move infrequently as the labor date nears, and offers orange juice. Mary Margaret brushes off the baby's current state as due to her own worries, though Zelena knows the Wicked Witch, which everyone in town is talking about, must also be giving her stress. After Mary Margaret downs all of the orange juice, she is surprised to feel the baby kick. Delighted, the dutiful midwife happily remarks that Mary Margaret could have the child any day now. Disguising sinister words in a cheerful tone, Zelena even says that she simply won't allow Mary Margaret to have the child without her. Later, she excuses herself to the bathroom and escapes the apartment through an open window. As luck would have it, Zelena disappears in time just before Emma and David discover, from Mr. Gold, her identity as the Wicked Witch. They burst in to apprehend Zelena, but she is gone. In the woods, she meets up with a stoic Mr. Gold, who is watching over the corpse of his dead son, after their bodies were magically separated by Emma. He attempts to attack her, but she subdues him with the dagger. Despite that her real persona has been exposed, Zelena claims she'll have much use for Mr. Gold's brain. ("Quiet Minds")
Zelena storms the town diner threatening anyone who gets in her way will have to deal with the Dark One. She announces herself as Regina's half-sister and forces her into a showdown on Main Street after sundown. Before the deadline, she catches Mr. Gold's lover, Belle, enter the cellar and attempt to guide him out of the prison. Once the girl flees, Zelena magically induces Mr. Gold to give a message to the rest of Belle's allies, David, Emma and Tinker Bell, outside the cellar, that anyone who attempts to hinder her quest to take down Regina will die. At nightfall, Zelena shows up, with Mr. Gold in tow, though Regina is absent. When challenged by Emma, who she sees as an unworthy opponent, Zelena has Mr. Gold magically fling her away. Regina arrives to the confrontation, having accepted they are sisters, but doesn't understand the grudge Zelena has against her. Zelena wickedly remarks that it's because Regina was born, and she receives a slap in retaliation. As they trade blows in magic, Zelena furiously declares that Regina had everything even though she didn't appreciate or deserve it. Eventually, she magically chokes Regina and sends her flying into the clock tower. Then, Zelena attempts to rip out her sister's heart, but discovers it is hidden elsewhere. Before taking off on a broom, she savagely promises to take everything Regina has. Locking up Mr. Gold once more, Zelena informs him that what she is planning to cast isn't a curse, but something to give herself a second chance to change her own past. ("It's Not Easy Being Green")
Despite her easy defeat of the savior the prior night, Zelena knows she can't kill Emma, who has powerful magic within her and could be a threat. She makes use of Hook, the sole person that regained his memories from the past year, and is also aware he is in love with Emma. Devising a scheme to take down the savior, she disguises herself as Ariel, a mermaid who once had Hook's aid in finding the man she loves, Prince Eric, only for him to selfishly choose to reclaim his ship over helping her. As Ariel, she tricks Hook into believing since the new curse, Eric hasn't returned and asks for his help locating him. They track down Eric's cloak at the pawnshop and pour a potion on it, which leads them straight to the harbor and then sinks into the water. "Ariel" pretends to be distraught; believing this is a sign Eric is dead. Overcome with guilt, Hook confesses having met Ariel during the missing year in the Enchanted Forest in which he chose to save his ship over Eric's life; hoping it would fill a void left in his heart from having to leave the woman he loved. To prove he still believes in love, "Ariel" makes him swear on the woman's name, but no sooner do the words "Emma Swan" come out of his mouth, Zelena places a curse on him. Revealing her true colors, she explains that the real Ariel already found Eric on an island outside the boundaries of the curse and they are now together. Zelena also declares she has cursed him so he can kiss Emma, which will remove all of the savior's magic. Though Hook refuses, she promises to kill all of Emma's loved ones should he fail. ("The Jolly Roger")
While distracting Regina with a visit to her house, Zelena has Mr. Gold fetch her sister's heart from Robin Hood. Then, she dolls Mr. Gold up by making him wear an extravagant suit and later sit down for a meal with her. Over dinner, she fills him in on her motives for collecting various ingredients, like David's sword and Regina's heart, in order to cast a time spell to change her own past. At first, Mr. Gold has doubts Zelena can actually do it, but she sweetens the deal by offering to take him along with her so he can be reunited with his son again. Impressed, her former teacher admits he was wrong to have not chosen her in the past and makes up for his errors by engaging Zelena in a heady make-out session. Zelena falls under his alluring spell, but not for long, especially when she realizes he is only toying with her long enough to grab the dagger. Seizing control of the weapon before he can reach it, she angrily berates Mr. Gold for his lost chance of ever seeing his son again and orders him back to his cell. ("Bleeding Through")
On the town roadside, Zelena awaits Mr. Gold, who drives up and unveils a kidnapped Hook inside the trunk. She warns Hook for the last time to get a move on her plan to eliminate Emma's magic, or Henry will pay the price. He fails to follow her orders and even attempts to take the boy out of Storybrooke in secret. Zelena sends several flying monkeys after them, but all are destroyed. While Henry, his memory loss cured by touching the fairytale storybook, is basking in a reunion with Regina, Zelena grabs and proceeds to choke him. Regina's attempt to defend her son is overturned when she is knocked unconscious as Zelena continues to aggressively suffocate Henry. However, she is caught off guard when Emma uses magic to scald her. This moment of distraction causes her to let go of Henry and retreat from the fight. After the battle, Regina breaks the new curse by giving Henry a kiss of true love. ("A Curious Thing")
Proceeding with her plan to enact a time spell, Zelena takes the gold strands Mr. Gold spun and transforms it into his brain; another needed ingredient. She then has him dig a symbol into the ground of the barn. The last spell component—the baby—is missing since Mary Margaret is in labor, but also because Emma created a magic barrier around the delivery room to keep Zelena out. She catches Emma and Hook approaching the barn and quickly wins the situation in her own favor by drowning the pirate until he is unconscious; therefore forcing the savior to resuscitate him and be stripped of her magic. In doing so, Emma's protective spell fades. On her way to claim the last ingredient for the spell, Zelena subdues the Merry Men, Belle and Regina before stealing Mary Margaret's newborn son. Returning to the barn, she begins the spell only for David, Emma, Hook, Regina and Robin Hood to intervene. While everyone else is no match for Zelena, Regina overpowers her with light magic. Regina snatches Zelena's pendant, rendering her powerless without magic, and takes away the dagger as well. Simmering with rage, Mr. Gold attempts to kill Zelena for enslaving him, but Regina spares her sister's life. Imprisoned in a jail cell, Zelena grudgingly accepts her current dilemma, but fails to understand why she is still alive. Regina sympathizes with her since they both suffered as Cora's daughters and having lives they didn't want. She also knows what it's like to be fueled by vengeance and gives Zelena a second chance to reshape a better future for herself. Later on, Mr. Gold, wielding the dagger, seeks payback for his son's death by stabbing Zelena to death although she was smiling. Her body transforms into a statue, which he then shatters into pieces. Unseen to his eyes, the remains of her body turn into powder and vanish. Tucked away in the vault, Zelena's pendant airs out a greenish smoke, joining with her life force, before traveling to the barn, where it engulfs the time spell symbol on the ground. ("Kansas")
Once the time portal is activated, and Emma and Hook have gone through into it, Zelena secretly goes with them. ("There's No Place Like Home," "Heart of Gold")
Upon discovering the pair are going to bring Maid Marian to present-day Storybrooke, she kills the woman and assumes her form with the help of a six-leaf clover from Oz. Thus, Emma and Hook end up bringing her home with them. ("There's No Place Like Home", "Heart of Gold")
At some point after turning into Marian, Zelena uses magic to learn everything she can about her.[1]
As Marian, Zelena reunites with Robin Hood, which puts a wedge in his budding romance with Regina. Deciding to honor his marriage vows, Robin Hood breaks up with Regina, who schemes to travel back in time and kill Marian. Instead, when the town is under attack by an ice monster, she saves Marian's life. While getting accustomed to town, Marian goes to an ice cream parlor with Robin Hood and Roland. There, Ingrid gifts her a free ice cream cone, which she secretly infuses with a curse. After consuming the frozen treat, Marian attends a town hall meeting, where she collapses and begins freezing to death. Since true love's kiss doesn't work, Regina takes out Marian's heart to keep her from dying. Once Ingrid is defeated, Marian unfreezes, and with the return of her heart, she regains consciousness. Later, she arrives to the diner and thanks Regina for saving her life. Knowing that Regina and Robin Hood have feelings for each other, Marian states her intent to step away as she does not wish her husband to be with her out of obligation. While playing with Roland at a park riverside, she passes out from remnants of Ingrid's magic re-affecting her body. As there is no magic outside the town line, Regina recognizes Marian can only survive by leaving Storybrooke. Due to leftover fragments of Ingrid's curse, however, those who go out of town can never return. Knowing Marian will be in an unknown land outside of Storybrooke, Regina pushes Robin Hood to take Roland and depart with his wife, which he does. ("There's No Place Like Home", "A Tale of Two Sisters", "Rocky Road", "Heroes and Villains")
After leaving Storybrooke for New York City, Zelena continues to pretend to be Marian until she and Robin Hood cross paths with Mr. Gold, who has a heart attack stemming from the poison of all his dark deeds. Robin Hood retrieves a magic elixir to heal him, but Zelena switches it out, before revealing her true form to Mr. Gold. As Zelena gleefully explains how she survived her own death, Mr. Gold suffers another heart attack that stops his heart, but the doctors manage to revive him. Later, she promises to give him the elixir if he stops trying to kill her and makes the Author write her a happy ending, which he agrees to. As Marian, Zelena confronts her husband about finding Regina's phone number on his mobile. She gives him an ultimatum to make a choice between her or Regina, and Robin Hood eventually chooses her, citing that they were once happy together and he wants to regain that happiness again. Upon Mr. Gold's return to Storybrooke, he has Regina call Robin Hood's phone, in which she discovers Zelena is alive and has been masquerading as Marian this whole time. With this shocking truth, Mr. Gold hopes to blackmail Regina into helping them with the Author. As parting words, Zelena vows she and her sister will see each other. ("Heart of Gold")
Continuing to pose as Marian, Zelena comes home to find Regina revealing the truth about her to Robin Hood. When Regina threatens her, she feigns ignorance and looks to her husband for protection. After Robin Hood manages to make Regina stop, Zelena grins wickedly before pulling out the six leaf clover and reverting to her true self. With the truth out in the open, Regina urges Robin Hood to get Roland and leave with her, but he declines. Zelena smugly states that he'll want to stay, to which Regina presses him for an answer. After a moment, Robin Hood admits Zelena is pregnant. ("Lily")
Taken back to Storybrooke, Zelena is imprisoned by Regina into a cell in the hospital psychiatric ward, where she taunts her sister about being unable to kill her without making her child motherless. After obtaining magic ink from Lily, Regina brings the Author, Isaac, to the cell so he can rewrite Zelena out of existence. Learning what will happen to her, Zelena compares Regina to the same level of cruelty that Cora once showed her. As Regina takes in her words, Robin Hood walks in. Backtracking against her plan to hurt Zelena, Regina considers how they are each their own worst enemy, before deciding she will move forward with Robin even if her sister remains in the picture. ("Mother")
After Isaac rewrites new lives for everyone, he sends Zelena and every former Enchanted Forest native to an alternate reality inside his book, Heroes and Villains. ("Operation Mongoose Part 1")
After Isaac rewrites everyone's stories in the Heroes and Villains book, Zelena becomes Robin Hood's bride-to-be, as they plan to marry soon. One day, she enters a tavern to find him talking to a famed thief, Regina, who she gushes over upon meeting. Zelena invites Regina to their wedding ceremony, but Regina declines, deciding to make haste since the Queen is looking for her. Following Henry's plan to reverse Isaac's stories, Regina rushes to stop Robin Hood's wedding. Sidetracked by Rumplestiltskin, Emma duels him while Regina hurries on. Inside the church, Zelena stands at the altar with Robin Hood as the officiant asks her husband-to-be if he will take her in marriage. He hesitates, briefly locking eyes with Regina, who abandons her plans of intervening in order to save Henry from being killed by Rumplestiltskin. After the ceremony concludes, Zelena walks out with her husband. He, upon seeing an injured Regina, rushes to her side. A puzzled Zelena follows, questioning him about what's going on, before noting that Regina is getting blood on her dress. Robin presses her to consider that someone is dying, but she angrily asserts that today was suppose to be her day. As Zelena's jealousy grows, the skin on her hand turns green, causing her to run off in distress. Once Henry harnesses the quill and becomes the next Author, Isaac's stories are undone and everyone returns to their old lives in Storybrooke. ("Operation Mongoose Part 1," "Operation Mongoose Part 2")
Template:During Camelot Quest Template:After Camelot Quest
Family
| Miller | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jonathan | Cora † | Henry † | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Robin Hood | Zelena | Evil Queen/Regina Mills | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Daughter | Henry Mills | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes:
- Solid lines denote blood parent-child relationships
- Dashed lines denote marriage, adoption relationships, and relationships that result in offspring
- † denotes the deceased
- Henry Mills is Regina's adoptive son
Trivia
Etymology
- The name "Zelena" means "green" in various Slavic languages.[2] "Zelena" is also of Old Greek origin derived from the word "selene" that means "moon".[3]
Character Notes
- After Regina takes back her mother's old spell book from Mr. Gold, he warns her against the potential effects of the book's magic. She responds, "I don't care if they turn me green"; an early reference to the Wicked Witch of the West.[4] ("We Are Both")
- Zelena is featured in the title card for "Witch Hunt".
Production Notes
- The role of the Wicked Witch of the West was written specifically for Rebecca Mader.[5]
- Rebecca Mader's scenes as the Wicked Witch were filmed with a blue background screen rather than the typical green screen, which used for other characters during filming, because her green make-up blends too much into the green screen.[6]
- At least five different shades of green are used to make Rebecca Mader's skin green for her role as the Wicked Witch.[7] Incidentally, Rebecca Mader also later stated in another interview that seven shades of green are used.[6]
Props Notes
- The chest where she keeps David's sword and Regina's heart has "To: W. B S[image ends] 14-25-27th West" written on the lid. ("Bleeding Through")
- Alchemical signs for the four elements[8] are carved into the table[9] and the stone pillars where Zelena and her fellow sister witches are gathered. Fittingly enough, the element of Wicked Witch of the West (downward-pointing triangle) is water, which is also associated with the west [10] ("Kansas")
- The design on Zelena's compass[11] is the same as the witches' table[12] in Oz except that the colors are different. ("Kansas")
- The book Zelena is reading at the psychiatric ward, is What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff.[13] ("The Bear and the Bow")
Appearances
| 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": |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| "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 | Mentioned | Appears | Mentioned | Mentioned | Mentioned | Mentioned | Mentioned | Mentioned | Mentioned | 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": |
| Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Mentioned | 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 | Appears | Appears | Absent | Absent | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | 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 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Once Upon a Time: Specials | ||||||||||
| "Magic is Coming": |
"The Price of Magic": | "Journey to Neverland": | "Wicked is Coming": | "Storybrooke Has Frozen Over": | ||||||
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Archive | Archive | ||||||
| "Secrets of Storybrooke": | "Dark Swan Rises": | "Evil Reigns Once More": | "The Final Battle Begins": | |||||||
| Archive | Archive | Absent | Absent | |||||||
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.
References
- ↑ https://twitter.com/AdamHorowitzLA/status/625803181352579072
- ↑ http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/zelena
- ↑ http://www.babynamespedia.com/meaning/Selina
- ↑ http://abc.go.com/shows/once-upon-a-time/news/storybrooke-secrets/secrets-episode-202-we-are-both
- ↑ https://twitter.com/AdamHorowitzLA/status/490623989270589440
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3e7F4HOLgY
- ↑ http://www.onceuponafans.com/interview-with-rebecca-mader
- ↑ http://altreligion.about.com/od/westernocculttradition/ig/Elemental-Symbols/
- ↑ File:320Witches.png
- ↑ http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/wiccaandpaganismbasics/a/elements.htm
- ↑ File:320Compass.png
- ↑ File:320Witches.png
- ↑ File:506PregnancyBook.png
