HeimrArnadalr

E is for Elsa, the Snow Queen.

Well, now that's going to be stuck in my head for the next few days. And in my twisted face there's not the slightest trace of anything that even hints at Gaaalavant! And from my tortured shape no comfort, no escape I see, but deep within is Gaaalavant!

That would mean that travel between the Land Without Magic and the Enchanted Forest would be time travel, which is explicitly against the Rules of Magic (unless you have the power of the three genies or the unholy combination of brains, courage, a heart, and a newborn). If every magic bean, mermaid, enchanted brig, magic door, and dark curse could time travel then it would make that more of a Guideline of Magic. There is another connection between the Norse of our world and theirs, though: they both use(d) the Futhark alphabet. Queen Elsa even explicitly mentions it by name in one episode and is able to read it in another.

I think it's also because they wanted a sister relationship to copy parallel Elsa and Anna, and King Agðar wouldn't have allowed for that. What's possibly even more surprising is that they were allowed to change the Queen's name, from Iðunn to Gerda, despite the former being literally set in stone in the movie.

Regarding religion, in the pilot Snow and Charming were married by a man dressed similar to a Catholic bishop. Arendelle in the movie also has a bishop and a chapel based on a modern replica of the traditional Scandinavian stave church. Although Arendelle's bishop didn't appear on Once, the chapel is seen in shots of the castle. When Ingrid was telling Anna about the shattered sight story, she (or maybe Anna, can't remember) said that the king who originally cast the spell was a Norse king. This makes sense in relation to the movie, which is somewhat based on a rather specific time and place in Norway, but less so with regard to Once's fantasy world. Then again, maybe this is another example of people traveling to the Land Without Magic while Rumple waits centuries for someone to cast the Dark Curse for him.

There's one problem with Option 1: If the Author does control everyone's fates, he's certainly not going to let Regina & co. force him to do anything. All he has to do is write that their search failed and that's that. So for this plot to happen at all Option 2 is the only credible ending, which is terrible for the reasons you've already pointed out. I have this feeling that the writers of the show are going with Option 1, though, with how they're having the villains and the heroes and Regina going after the Author.

C is for Castles.

The problem is, he can only be killed with the dagger, and anyone who kills him with the dagger becomes the next Dark One. Yes, he could kill himself with the dagger, but they'd have to give him the dagger for that to happen. The only way to effectively deal with him (without transferring the Dark One curse to someone else) is to banish him and hope that he doesn't come back, and have the dagger ready if he does. They could also try the Act of True Love route (which almost worked back in season 1), but now that Belle's seen the light I don't think there's anyone in Storybrooke who loves him enough. Now I don't have high hopes for the 'Find the author' plot but a 'Matchmake for the Dark One' plot would probably be worse.

Why do I get the feeling that all of the 'Maybe', 'Can't say', and 'Don't know' answers are really code for 'The script fairies haven't written that far yet'? At least they're not answering with the classic 'I hope so'. Anna saves the day at the last minute again, perhaps? Although it probably really means that Disney only let them have Frozen for 11/12 episodes and they haven't asked for more.

R is for Robert Carlyle's Rumpelstiltskin.

So if this guy has been cast as King Stefan then does that mean that Once's Aurora is not the daughter of the Aurora and Phillip from the animated movie?

But Ingrid's story is that she is an innately magical person (as opposed to Rumple who was cursed and Regina who was taught) and she's trying to find two other innately magical people (Elsa and Emma) to replace her sisters, and she was unable to use her magic in New York. Rules are made for breaking, indeed.

My worry is that they'll take Rumple's basic point (you're responsible for your own happy ending) and then show that this is wrong and that if you want a happy ending you have to petition the Author for one. Back when Henry got his idea to work for Rumple to see how he got his happy ending, I thought that this storyline might not end up so bad, because Rumple certainly didn't ask the Author to set him up with Belle or give him a position of power in town. Now that Rumple is recruiting flunkies to help him find the Author, though, it looks like he'll have essentially Regina's goals, just trying to achieve them in a more villainous way. I'm sure the 'Queens of Darkness' will be entertaining (and I'm particularly looking forward to Cruella) but I don't have high hopes for the story in 4B.

U is for the Unheard phone call Killian made to Emma.

Yeah, but they can't have her say that because that's what Rumpelstiltskin the villain told Regina. I'm not sure what's worse: that the Dark One is the voice of reason, or that he's being portrayed as incorrect.

Isn't the Author's mansion from Snow's curse? I seem to recall Belle saying in 4x01 that it was new in town.

V is for the Villains our heroes and Regina have to fight.

It's certainly plausible, however the only other spells I recall her casting were Shattered Sight and keeping up the ice wall (also freezing Arendelle, but she was still alive when they thawed). Considering that the ice wall was originally Elsa's work, it may be that Shattered Sight is unique in disappearing when the caster dies - once the malice of the caster is gone. Consider that Zelena's time travel spell still worked after her death.

Also, the Henry working for Gold subplot seems pointless now. Did it actually have any effect on anything? Gold even told how he 'achieved' his happy ending directly to Regina! It can't even be used in 4B now that Gold has no happy ending and is not in Storybrooke anymore. But, at least it gave Henry some goal to pursue, even if we never really saw it. Will, on the other hand, just showed up and got into random altercations with people. I've heard his Wonderland story was good, but his presence in Storybrooke had no point to it. While he may have a more directed goal in 4B, I suspect that the 'Queens of Darkness' and Regina's romance woes will take up most of that.

Henry calling Belle 'Grandma' in the 4A finale made me wonder... is she even old enough to be his mother? Leaving aside the whole 28-years-cursed thing, because they didn't really age during it, how old is Belle exactly?

Well, I liked this episode. Rumple's speech to Regina in her car echoed my thoughts pretty closely, namely, you're responsible for getting your own happy ending. Of course now there's apparently authorial fiat against that so... whoopee. A bittersweet ending to Frozen's tale on OUAT. I first saw Frozen one year ago today so this was well-timed. I was somewhat disappointed that we didn't see them actually taking back Arendelle but that's where fanfiction can come in. I didn't expect them to actually show the wedding on this show and I'm actually rather surprised they got this close. Belle... at last she sees the light. Well done there. Rumple stumbling after crossing the line was a nice touch. Marian's situation, however, was extremely contrived. It hasn't even been a minute and her heart is frozen already? I seem to recall her having more time before Regina pulled it out in the first place. Meh. She should've taken Roland and gone to Arendelle. I hear they have chocolate. I sure hope it's going to be there. As long as it is Elsa and Anna can come visit. Realistically, though, the mansion will probably never be mentioned again after the end of 4B (although Emma needs her own place...). Rumple also described it as leading to the thing the person loves most, which of course he sees as that person's greatest weakness. The fact that it lead Belle to the dagger indicated that he loves the dagger, in particular the power the dagger gives him, more then he loves her, which is the opposite of what he's been telling her. Well, here's to Galavant and 4B. Looking forward to Gin and Desperation.

K is for Killian Jones, who was able to begin again.

But Anna doesn't know that. One minute she was in a trunk on the bottom of the sea and the next she was on a beach somewhere with Elsa. She's never encountered travel between worlds before.

Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Emma, Hook, and Henry are at the town line. Some of Ingrid's magic is left over and although the ice wall is gone there's a magic shield around the town to stop people from leaving or entering. Anna tells Elsa that Hans conquered Arendelle and Elsa says to Emma that they need to find a way back to Arendelle now.

Isn't that where the Apprentice's Arendelle door is in the promo? They probably end up there and somehow unhat everyone, which is when the Apprentice makes the door so Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff can return to Arendelle. It may also be when Cruella and Ursula show up, although I doubt they'd be in the hat since Rumple didn't have it in his possession until very recently. Maybe they come through the door from the other side?