Rocky Road

"Rocky Road" is the third episode of Season Four of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by David H. Goodman & Jerome Schwartz and directed by Morgan Beggs. It is the sixty-ninth episode of the series overall, and premiered on October 12, 2014.

Synopsis
When an icy spell is cast on Marian, which will ultimately freeze her heart and kill her, the Storybrooke residents place the blame on Elsa. But unbeknownst to anyone, a mysterious woman who runs the town’s ice cream parlor has the same powers as Elsa and is trying to frame her. Emma and David find former Merry Men member Will Scarlet rummaging through Robin Hood’s tent, Regina teams up with Henry to try and discover who the author of the fairy tale book is, Mary Margaret is having trouble balancing her duties as leader of Storybrooke and mother to young Prince Neal, and Hook begins to suspect that Mr. Gold is still in control of the dagger that calls upon him to be the Dark One. Meanwhile, in Arendelle of the past, Elsa and Kristoff set off to stop Hans from attempting to take control of the kingdom.

Recap
The episode starts out with the Hood family walking through Storybrooke. Robin Hood is attempting to explain things to Marian while Roland begs for ice cream. The trio goes into Any Given Sundae where The Snow Queen serves them all ice cream and is introduced to Marian. In the next scene, Emma, Hook, and Elsa interrogate Gold. Belle uses the dagger on him and proves to the trio that he's not lying

In the next scene, Mary Margaret is holding a town meeting while also taking care of Neal. The town is upset over Elsa's mayhem while Snow, David, and the Hood family defend her. As they speak a strand of white begins to frost into Marian's hair and she collapses, causing a panic.

At Granny's Diner, Regina buys Henry a mug of hot chocolate and questions him about the writer of his storybook. He agrees to help her find the writer and they decide on the name of the mission to be "Operation Mongoose". Robin bursts in to the diner and request that Regina help Marian. Henry, Regina, and Robin rush to town hall where Regina observes Marian. She informs them of True Love's Kiss which Robin tries and fails at.

Emma and Killian set off to find who has hurt Marian.

Starring

 * Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret Blanchard
 * Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
 * Lana Parrilla as Regina Mills
 * Josh Dallas as David Nolan
 * Colin O'Donoghue as Hook
 * Emilie de Ravin as Belle
 * Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills
 * Michael Socha as Will Scarlet
 * Robert Carlyle as Mr. Gold

Guest Starring

 * Lee Arenberg as Leroy
 * Beverley Elliott as Granny
 * Scott Michael Foster as Kristoff
 * Georgina Haig as Elsa
 * Christie Laing as Maid Marian
 * Sean Maguire as Robin Hood
 * Elizabeth Mitchell as Snow Queen
 * Tyler Jacob Moore as Hans
 * Raphael Sbarge as Archie Hopper

Co-Starring

 * Raphael Alejandro as Roland
 * Nils Hognestad as Franz
 * Marcus Rosner as Jurgen
 * Charles Raahul Singh as General

Uncredited

 * Jack as Sven
 * Mark Goldman as Sven (Voice)
 * Unknown baby as Neal Nolan

Production Notes

 * The title card features Any Given Sundae.
 * This episode shares its name with a type of ice cream, which was mentioned by David when he offered to give Regina a ride home in the first season episode "The Stranger".
 * When Elsa touches the magic urn, Elder Futhark runes appear:
 * Laguz (L), meaning "water" or "lake"
 * Isaz (I), meaning "ice"
 * Kaunan (K, C), which, ironically, means "ulcer" or "torch"
 * Elsa recognizes the inscription as "ancient Futhark runes", but is unable to read them. Ironically, in "A Tale of Two Sisters", her mother's diary contain Elder Futhark characters, which she could read perfectly.
 * The Snow Queen is barefoot as she walks, which was Elizabeth Mitchell's decision. She described herself as a "gazelle in galoshes", and otherwise, she would be "tripping over everything."
 * For the scene where the Snow Queen freezes Hans, Tyler Jacob Moore had to be 3D modeled, and stand with his hands up and a frozen look on his face.

Event Chronology

 * The Arendelle events take place after "A Tale of Two Sisters".
 * The Storybrooke events take place after "White Out".

Episode Connections

 * The ice cream shop, Any Given Sundae, was first featured in "White Out".
 * Emma informs Mr. Gold that Elsa was trapped inside a urn he stored in his vault. She saw this relic in "There's No Place Like Home".
 * Mr. Gold insists he is a changed man since losing a son and gaining a wife. These events occurred in "Quiet Minds" and "There's No Place Like Home".
 * Emma warns that she can tell when someone is lying by using her superpower. She first noted this in "Pilot".
 * Mary Margaret welcomes townspeople into her office since becoming mayor, which she first took on in "White Out".
 * The ice wall surrounding the town was created in "White Out".
 * Leroy mentions Elsa freezing his car in "A Tale of Two Sisters".
 * Granny's recollection of Elsa creating the snow monster and the creature attacking Marian are events from "A Tale of Two Sisters".
 * Regina conceives the plan to change Henry's storybook in "A Tale of Two Sisters".
 * At Henry's suggestion they undertake a mission together, Regina recalls "Operation Cobra" that he had with Emma, which began in "The Thing You Love Most".
 * When Robin Hood fails to wake his wife with true love's kiss, David remembers Frederick, a knight, who was accidentally turned into golden statue. Frederick's fate is further explored in "What Happened to Frederick".
 * Breaking into Any Given Sundae, Emma once again performs a lock-picking trick, which she used to escape the Evil Queen's dungeon in "There's No Place Like Home". How Neal taught her the trick is also featured in the same episode.
 * The reason behind Any Given Sundae's missing cooling system is explained in "White Out".
 * Graham and Neal's deaths occurred in "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" and "Quiet Minds". Walsh's death occurred in "New York City Serenade".
 * Emma's reason for distancing herself from Hook is revealed in this episode, and was previously alluded to in "A Tale of Two Sisters".

Disney

 * This episode features Elsa, Kristoff, Sven and Hans from the Disney movie Frozen, as well as their homeland Arendelle.
 * The Arendelle soldier refers to Kristoff as the official ice master and deliverer; a reference to his character in Frozen.
 * Dr. Hopper advises Mary Margaret that it's okay to let go of her child. This is a reference to the song "Let It Go" from Frozen.
 * Elsa talks about making a living snow man with the Snow Queen, which is a reference to Olaf from Frozen.

Fairytales and Folklore

 * This episode features the Snow Queen from the fairytale of the same name, Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story, as well as Maid Marian from the ballad of Robin Hood.

Popular Culture

 * Robin Hood buys Rocky Road ice cream for himself and Roland at Any Given Sundae.
 * Regina gives Henry a set of comics, which includes issues of the Marvel Comics "Thor" and "S.H.I.E.L.D."
 * Emma calls the Snow Queen "Dairy Queen", a reference to the ice cream franchise of the same name.