Dark Castle

The Dark Castle is an Enchanted Forest location featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the fifth episode of the first season.

Before the Curse
The Dark Castle is inhabited by Rumplestiltskin, who lives there alone for a long time. He is spinning thread when Jiminy comes to see him with his collection of stolen goods. As Rumplestiltskin gives him the gold thread in return, he asks Jiminy what else he wants. Jiminy admits that he wants to be free to be someone else, but something keeps holding him back. Rumplestiltskin asks if it is something or someone, and Jiminy admits that someone are his parents, Myrna and Martin. The Dark One offers him a potion, but points out that Jiminy has nothing to pay him with. He tells Jiminy to leave his parents for him as payment for the potion. Jiminy wonders what will become of them and Rumplestiltskin assures them that they will be in safe hands. After a moment, Jiminy takes the potion and departs.

Rumplestiltskin informs witch trainee Regina that "dead is dead" and even he does not have the power to bring back her beloved Daniel. Regina is heartbroken and ready to give up, but Jefferson, who had been in the room doing business with Rumplestiltskin, offers her the chance remedy that disappointment by offering the services a “wizard” who has the power to bring back the dead. She is only too eager to attempt to bring him back and gives Jefferson a royal passport to roam the kingdom freely.

Rumplestiltskin makes a deal with Sir Maurice to stop ogres from invading his land, and in exchange for his daughter, Belle, to leave her home and become a servant at his castle for an eternity. She agrees. Belle is thrown in the dungeon of Rumplestiltskin's castle. He lists all of Belle's tasks, and when he jokes about one of the duties, she accidentally drops a tea cup, and chips it.

The Queen, Regina, previously made a deal with Rumplestiltskin so he could put a magical disguise on her so she could get close enough to kill Snow White. He informs her to say his name when she wants the disguise off. Though she called him twice before, Rumplestiltskin never responded. After a run-in with Snow White, and failure to execute her own plan, the Queen treads on foot and angrily storms into his castle. He disregards what he said earlier as he never mentioned whether he would respond if she called. She wants the disguise off right this minute, and sees a reflection that is not hers. Regina is frustrated, and ponders if Rumplestiltskin wants her to admit he was right about how the commoners feel about her--they will never love her. To his glee, she says he was right. He asks what she will do now, and with a tone of bitterness, Regina vows to punish them all. Only then does Rumplestiltskin reverse the spell, and Regina can see her own reflection again. She smiles wickedly; commenting the Queen is dead, and "Long live the Evil Queen".

After being taken as Rumplestiltskin's servant, Belle misses her family very much, and spends every night in the dungeon crying. One night, Rumplestiltskin cannot tolerate her weeping anymore, and bursts in to question her about it. He conjures a pillow for her, which she thanks him for the gesture so she can sleep more comfortably, but he replies it's for muffling her noisy cries. Suddenly, a loud thud is heard, and both rush into the main room to see a hooded thief trying to steal a wand. The thief smugly boasts about the ability of his bow and arrow to never miss, and though Rumplestiltskin teleports away again and again, the arrow eventually hits him in the chest. But as Rumplestiltskin is immortal, the arrow has no effect. He stops the thief and imprisons him in a dungeon. Belle constantly overhears Rumplestiltskin torturing the man. She does not believe the thief has bad intentions, and while Rumplestiltskin is away, she frees and allows him to run away with the wand. When Rumplestiltskin finds out, he is furious and makes Belle tag along as he sets out to find the man. They return to the castle after a long journey, in which Rumplestiltskin is convinced by Belle to not kill the thief, and allows the vagrant to escape. As Belle bids him goodnight, he shows her to an extensive library room. He mentions he expects the whole room to be spotless while Belle is pleased because he did all this for her. She happily lets him know he does have good in him, which catches Rumplestiltskin off guard.

While cleaning his drapes, Belle questions why he spins straw so much. She tries opening the drapes but falls, and he catches her. He agrees to leave the drapes open.

Belle asks Rumplestiltskin why he wants her there. She asks him about some clothing she found upstairs, and he tells her of his son. She asks to get to know him, and he calls himself a monster. She tells him he is not a monster. Belle's fiancé, Gaston, shows up to fight Rumplestiltskin, and but is turned into a rose, which Rumplestiltskin gives to Belle. He asks her about her choice to come live with him. She tells him she did it to be a hero and be brave. He asks her about Gaston, and she tells him that she never cared for Gaston and that their marriage was arranged. He allows her to go to town although he expects to never seen her again. By now, it seems he has fallen in love with Belle.

Belle returns to the castle, much to his surprise. She makes him hold true to tell her about his son. He asks her why she came back, and the two kiss, taking away the curse. He knows the Queen helped her, and he thinks she is working for her. He says that no one can ever love him and throws her back in the dungeon. He smashes things and picks up the cup with the chip but stops and sets it down.

Sitting in the dungeon, Belle awaits her fate. When Rumplestiltskin enters and allows her to go free, he tells her he does not want her any more. She insists him that he could have had happiness and calls him a coward. He tells her his power means more to him than she does, which she says is not true and that he will regret his choice. She tells him that he will have an empty heart and a chipped cup and leaves brokenhearted.

The Evil Queen shows up and asks Rumplestiltskin to make a deal with her. She wants to talk about a mermaid. He says that she will never be more powerful than him. She tells him she had nothing to with Belle's death. She reveals that because of her time with Rumplestiltskin, Maurice treated her with cruelty when she returned home and was locked in a tower for an "exorcism," which resulted in her throwing herself off the tower. She mocks him by telling him he should get a new girl because the place is getting dirty. After the Evil Queen leaves, he takes out the chipped tea cup and uses it to replace a gold chalice, quietly sobbing afterwards.

Previously, Snow White had come to meet Rumplestiltskin in the hopes of finding a way to make herself forget about Prince Charming. She has fallen in love even though he is set to marry another woman. Rumplestiltskin gives her a forgetful potion to use to wipe out her feelings for Prince Charming. After Snow White drinks the potion and not only loses her memory of Prince Charming but becomes cold and heartless, Grumpy takes her back to Rumplestiltskin to figure out a way to undo it. Rumplestiltskin says that the effects of the potion cannot be undone. Snow White asks for his help to kill the Queen. He gives her a bow and arrow that "always hits its mark" and shows her on a map the best location to shoot. When Snow White inquires about payment, Rumplestiltskin says that he does not want anything and is simply invested in her future.

Prince Charming goes to see Rumplestiltskin and wants to know what did he do to Snow White that she forgot her memories. Rumplestiltskin explains that Charming himself is the cause of her pain, and he just gave her a way to get rid of it through a forgetful potion. He warns him that if Snow White kills the Queen, Snow White herself will become evil. Rumplestiltskin admits that true love's kiss can break the potion's effects and gives Charming Snow White's location in exchange for his cloak.

Rumplestiltskin collects a hair from Prince Charming's cloak and drops it into a bottle containing Snow White's hair. The two strands of hair react to each other. He places the bottle above in his reserved place for "true love" on his shelf of potions.

Items Seen
Many of the objects seen in this castle are transported by the Dark Curse to Mr. Gold Pawnbroker & Antiquities Dealer.
 * A candelabra and a clock.
 * On display together, a scythe, a bow, and The Genie's lamp.
 * A tapestry hanging on the wall showing a captive unicorn inside a fence. The tapestry is the seventh and final in the tapestry series "The Hunt of the Unicorn" created between 1495-1505, entitled "The Unicorn is in Captivity and No Longer Dead".
 * A trident.
 * A golden chalice.
 * Geppetto's parents in puppet form
 * Some type of sorcery hat with stars and moons.
 * Rumplestiltskin's Spinning Wheel.
 * A shelf of various potions.
 * Golden Fleece
 * The True Love Potion.
 * The Enchanted Bow.
 * Mjolnir - Thor's hammer.

Trivia

 * The scythe seen on the wall is similar to one seen in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
 * The tapestry is similar to one seen in the Harry Potter films.

Appearances
Dunkles Schloss