Will Scarlet

The Knave of Hearts, also known as Will Scarlet, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. He débuts in the first episode of the first season and is portrayed by starring cast member Michael Socha.

The Knave of Hearts is based on the character with the same name from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". He also takes the place of Will Scarlet from the ballad "Robin Hood".

History
In the Enchanted Forest, Will Scarlet and his love, Anastasia, want to find a way to another world. After helping Robin Hood's band of Merry Men steal riches from a wealthy man traveling on the road, he is accepted into the group as a new recruit. He suggests the next looting location in Maleficent's castle, which has enough gold to feed the entire kingdom. Robin Hood is evasive to the plan since the expedition is incredibly dangerous, but is tempted into accepting by both the amount of gold they will receive to help the poor as well as Maleficent's absence from the castle. With the plan is set into motion, Will rushes back home to Anastasia to inform her everything went smoothly and they will be getting what they need from the castle. Once inside the castle, Robin Hood warns the Merry Men they will only be taking what is necessary and nothing else. Will ends up wandering to a different section and steals a looking glass mirror. The Merry Men procure the gold and they return back to their base to celebrate. Suddenly, the displeased voice of Maleficent booms all around the camp site stating she cares little if they keep her gold, but demands the other item be returned immediately or there will be consequences. To the Merry Men, Robin Hood angrily calls out the thief among them to step forward, but Will remains silent along with everyone else.
 * -|Before the Curse=

Later that night, Will attempts to make a hasty leave, but Robin Hood catches him. Having knowledge of his theft, Robin Hood furtively questions him on his reasons for doing so. Will does not answer and only looks away guiltily at Robin Hood's mention of a woman. Severely disappointed, Robin Hood gives the worst punishment he can think of, which is to let him go with a warning that his penance for stealing will come in the near future. He makes a swift return to Anastasia, who has been anxiously waiting, and the two go inside their house to look at the looking glass. Will tosses it to the ground to open a portal. He asks her where she would like to go. Happily, Anastasia says a place called Wonderland and they proceed to jump into the portal.

Seconds later, their leave is delayed by the presence of Anastasia's mother, who is strongly against her daughter's wish to throw away a life of privilege for Will, a noted thief, and choosing him as a future partner. Knave interjects to say he's not a thief anymore. To her mother, Anastasia is nothing but a failure and states if she were to come home, it'd be by taking on cleaning of the chamber pots. Will comforts a hurt Anastasia and affirms he will build a life for the both of them because of his love for her, and not because he wishes her to be any different. Anastasia promptly leaves with Knave into the portal for a better life. However, Wonderland is not what they expected. They end up poor and scourging for berries. Will almost takes a piece of mushroom for enlarging one's size as a viable food source until Anastasia stops him. A wagon passes on the road with an abundance of fresh baked goods for the royal ball, to which they both decide to attend. They steal clothes from a carriage and easily blend into the crowd of party-goers. Will eyes the long table of food on display and heads over to steal some. After hiding food in his clothes, he is apprehended by the castle guards for forgery of a party invitation and hauled outside as Anastasia is also thrown out for wearing a stolen gown. Outside, Will shows her the loaves of bread he managed to nab from the table while she smiles appreciatively.

Some time passes, and they are at another pitfall. Will is uneasy at Anastasia's suggestion that they steal the crown jewels from the castle, but she insists they are doing it for a good reason due to being poor and needing money. Anastasia asks him to wait near the balcony while she grabs the jewels and drops them down into his hands. Then, they will simply go back to the Enchanted Forest, without fear of being caught, and sell the stolen goods for a large sum of money. Later, they execute the idea as planned. While Will is waiting for her, he sees the King approach the balcony and announce his new Queen. Stunned, he watches as Anastasia herself, garbed in fine clothes and a red crown, walks out to greet the public. Will briefly catches her eye, but then she pretends not to see him.

Following the breaking of the Dark Curse in Storybrooke, the Knave of Hearts lives a peaceful life free of his past in Wonderland. During a storm, he shows up at Granny's Diner just as Ashley Boyd and Leroy are leaving. Secretly, he swipes the diner key from Ashley and breaks in to have a cup of coffee. A portal explodes open from the floor as the White Rabbit pops out and informs him that Alice's love, Cyrus, is alive in Wonderland. Knave breaks into an asylum to haul Alice back to Wonderland in order to rescue Cyrus. After meeting up with the White Rabbit, a portal to Wonderland is opened in an alley, but Knave refuses to go since he left that world on bad terms, but Alice emphasizes she once helped get his heart back, so he should do the same. They land in the Mallow Marsh. The White Rabbit admits he hasn't actually seen Cyrus and the Dormouse actually said the genie is alive and at the Mad Hatter's abandoned house. As Knave and Alice begin sinking into the marsh, the White Rabbit runs off to get help. Alice gets both of them out by using a dragonfly to toast the sticky marsh into a solid form. Knave wishes to leave Wonderland as soon as possible so his past doesn't come back to haunt him, but he is convinced to stay when Alice offers him one of the three wishes Cyrus gave her. They go to Tulgey Woods where Alice takes off her shoes and climbs into a tree to get a better view of the Mad Hatter's house. Tempted, he snatches the shoes containing the wishes and runs away, but returns to rescue Alice from a hungry Cheshire Cat by throwing a piece of shrinking mushroom in the feline's mouth. Alice is upset at his betrayal, but Knave finds it redeemable that he came back to save her. Continuing on, Knave and Alice eventually meet up again with the White Rabbit and head to the Mad Hatter's house, but Cyrus is not inside. Upon exiting the house, Alice finds Cyrus' glowing necklace; indicating he is alive. Knave has doubts, but Alice professes she believes that when you truly love someone, proof is not necessary. Knave agrees to continue on the journey with Alice.
 * -|After Broken Curse=

The next morning, Alice proposes they find the genie bottle and use up the three wishes. Then, Knave will rub the bottle to draw Cyrus back into it. After that, she'll devise a method to free Cyrus permanently. She decides to trust Knave when he becomes Cyrus' new master. They head to the bottle's burial site in Mimsy Meadows under the Tum Tum Tree. As they go, they leave a slumbering White Rabbit behind. On the journey there, Knave scrutinizes Alice over the possibilities that Cyrus either knows where she is and isn't coming or has moved on from her. She shuts down the conversation by snipping that Knave would never understand their love. A riverbed blocks their path, but since Knave can't swim, Alice suggests calling the fairy to take them across. The fairy, Silvermist, gets into a dispute with Knave over their past romantic relationship. Silvermist agrees to help them over the river, but drops Knave after he makes an indecent comment towards her. He is saved and pulled onto a floating island by Alice, who then berates him for breaking Silvermist's heart and messing up their journey. She perceives something in the past caused him to be so cold about love, but he changes the subject to warn her that Cyrus may not the same as in the past. After discovering the floating island is actually a Mock Turtle shell, Alice forces the creature to take them to the other side of the river. At shore, Silvermist threatens to turn Knave into the Caterpillar. Knave tries to patch up things with Silvermist, but she takes a jab at him about Anastasia. Finally, Knave offers a sincere apology and asks her not to hinder Alice's quest due to his terrible deeds, to which Silvermist allows them to go. He avoids giving an answer when Alice asks him about Anastasia. They arrive at the Tum Tum Tree to see Jafar trying to unearth the bottle. Alice reveals the location is fake and takes Knave to the real burial site at a pasture near a dandy-lion shaped tree, however, the bottle has already been removed by someone else. That night, Knave consoles her about Cyrus since someone who truly loves another can never move on. She is saddened until a flying paper crane carrying a message from Cyrus lands in her palm. Though Cyrus wants her to leave for safety reasons, Alice writes back to affirm she'll be rescuing him.

Seeking knowledge about who dug up Cyrus' bottle, Knave suggests fetching a special item the Caterpillar called the forget me knot, which allows the user to see a past event when placed in a specific spot. The Caterpillar states that Grendel of the Whispering Woods now possesses the item. Additionally, he promises to forgive all of Knave's debts if they get the knot for him. The two fall into a pit hole outside Grendel's house and awaken bound up in a kitchen. Grendel, a hideously disfigured man, begins to prepare his dinner, which will include Knave and Alice. Knave sees the knot hanging over the kitchen table as an image of a happily married man and woman interact. From this, Knave gathers that was Grendel's old life and attempts to convince him the only way to move on from the past is to let go of it, but he is not interested. While he is away, they escape from their constraints and open the front door just as Grendel comes back, but an angry Bandersnatch awaits them outside. Alice closes the door, but the beast tears right into the house. After the Bandersnatch is tricked into charging into the forget me knot's loop, Alice pulls the rope to secure the creature as Knave kills the Bandersnatch with a knife. In sheer gratitude for saving his life, Grendel gives them the knot. The two go back to the pasture near the dandy-lion tree and use the forget me knot to see their culprit is the White Rabbit, who in turn, handed the bottle over to the Red Queen. Knave changes his mind about giving the knot back to the Caterpillar, as it is a stolen object, and returning it will make himself a thief. On the other hand, letting Alice keep the knot will be helpful, but he chooses to burn it out of existence.

When Alice suspects the Red Queen has the bottle and perhaps Cyrus as well, she intends to face off with her, but Knave thinks it'd be a better idea to force answers out of the White Rabbit. They are alerted to nearby shouts of the Caterpillar's henchmen, the Collectors, looking for Knave. Though they run, Knave splits up from Alice with the promise to meet her at Tugley Woods. He witnesses the Collectors being taken out by someone, who he thinks is Alice until the Red Queen kidnaps him to her castle. She belittles Knave for coming back to Wonderland and thinks whatever Alice, dubbing her his "girlfriend", offered him must have been worth the risk. The two proceed to throw personal insults at each other. He is satisfied to know that despite her exterior as queen, he knows the real person hiding underneath. A short while later, the Red Queen returns with a an escape plan for Knave to leave Wonderland with the White Rabbit. Knave suspects she is faking it and only wants to catch him while he's leaving as a reason for capital punishment. She, however, wants an excuse not to kill him as it is also a way of making up her betrayal to him. He refuses to comply and blames her for making him a fool because she has committed inexcusable, terrible deeds. The one thing he thinks she can't do is kill him, and dares her to try. She assumes the challenge and goes ahead to order his public execution. Knave is put on the chopping block, but Alice disguises herself as the executioner to save him. They escape by launching themselves into the catapult and land in a maze. Lizard, Knave's longtime friend, regroups with them and leads the way to the exit. They are swiftly cut off by the appearance of Jafar and the Red Queen. With Lizard knocked out, Knave is strangled by Jafar and only let go when Alice makes a wish; asking for her own death if he were to die as well. Next, Jafar exerts physical pain on Alice to force her to make another wish, but she refuses. After she is dropped, he and Alice begin leaving, but then Jafar turns Knave into a stone statue.

By some magical force, Knave is freed from stone and collapses on the ground in pain. He manages to get a bottle of water from a passing peddler to alleviate the side effects and then meets two camp-goers who direct him to Alice in the Dark Forest. Assuming it was Alice who saved his life, he chases her down to repay the debt. Knave makes it through the Dark Forest into the Boro Grove to discover Alice has completely forgotten anything of importance to her. He is disturbed by the sight of the only other person there, a Carpenter, and believes the man harmed her. After some interrogating, Knave realizes the man is turning into a tree, which is the same fate Alice will have if she doesn't leave. She even starts to forget her own name, which is all the more reason he presses her to depart with him. Annoyed, she swings the sword at him as Cyrus' necklace drops to the floor, and continues to refuse to go anywhere as vines and branches flourish to trap her in place. Knave almost confesses something relating to when Alice helped him get his heart back, which she ignores. At one point, he shows her the necklace, but loses his grip as vines trap him in place, to which it lands in Alice's hands. The necklace helps her to remember and she cuts both herself and Knave free. They make it outside as Knave mentions owing her since she unfroze him from stone, though Alice attests that she did no such thing and guesses it must have been Anastasia. This leads her to recall what he said earlier about a confession, and Knave's full disclosure that he never put his heart back in to avoid feeling heartbreak over Anastasia.

He and Alice approach Jafar's floating lair and begin making a basket out of bird bark branches to carry themselves up to the island. While doing so, Alice's father, Edwin, stumbles out of the forest. Despite that Edwin went to great lengths to find Wonderland and now believes everything Alice once spoke of, she can't forgive him for having treated her like a obligation, and not a daughter, for years. Edwin consults Knave for advice on how to gain Alice's forgiveness. Though Knave thinks Alice needs a good father, Edwin can start by helping her find the man she loves, Cyrus. Though Alice herself is unsure whether or not to forgive her father, Knave thinks she eventually will because it's the right thing to do. In an surprise attack, a dragon spits out fire as Knave and Alice use the branch slants to shield themselves. All three attempt to flee, though Edwin is nearly swiped away by the dragon until Alice kills the beast. Following a father and daughter reconciliation, the trio share a meal out of the slain dragon's meat. After supper, Knave goes with Alice to fetch wood, but once they are alone, she relates her suspicions that the man claiming to be her father is not him. They reach the floating lair and walk the rest of the way up when Jafar flies by on a magic carpet and dangles Edwin as a threat. Alice sees right through Jafar's plan of using an impostor of her father. However, this person proves to be the real Edwin, and he makes amends with Alice as well as revealing Cyrus escaped the prison before being dropped into the sea. Alice saves Edwin by wishing him home. Afterwards, Knave comforts her over being forced to use another wish. Instead, she is grateful since it gave her knowledge her father understands her, and that Cyrus is free.

Trivia

 * The casting call describes him as, "The Knave is described as a sardonic adventurer, a man of action, loner and heartbreaker -- the proverbial rolling stone. His swagger isn't quite enough to disguise the fact that he is unswervingly loyal and possessed of a strong moral code."