King George


 * This article focuses on the character King George. For King George's Storybrooke counterpart, see Albert Spencer.

"Nobility was not meant to be easy. All this wealth, the power we hold over other men's lives—do you think that comes at no cost?"

- King George to Prince Charming

King George is a character on Once Upon a Time. He makes his debut in the sixth episode of the first season. He is played by guest star Alan Dale, and his Storybrooke counterpart is Albert Spencer.

History
Some time in the past, King George's wife was cursed with infertility. Eventually, he makes a deal with Rumplestiltskin to acquire a son for an unknown price.

Many years later, King George's kingdom is in need of gold. To address this problem, George has his son, Prince James, duel a Behemoth to impress King Midas. After James seemingly kills the man, George makes a deal with Midas; his son will slay the dragon terrorizing Midas' kingdom, and George, in return, will receive gold and other riches. Midas agrees, turns Prince James' sword to gold as a small payment in advance, and leaves. After Midas leaves, the Prince is killed by the brute who was still alive.

Shortly afterward, George says goodbye to his son's body as his knights take it away for burial. He tells his guards that he has already sent for someone to help them, and Rumplestiltskin arrives and makes a quip about the dead prince. The knights leave and George begs Rumplestiltskin to bring his son back. The imp concedes that not even magic could raise the dead, and tells him about the deceased prince's twin. In exchange, King George gives Rumplestiltskin the whereabouts of his family's patron, a certain Fairy Godmother.

The twin,"Charming", is brought to the castle where King George forces him to replace his dead son. Charming takes on James' identity. Charming successfully kills the dragon and presents its head to King Midas.

Midas, in return, brings forth his daughter and says that he valued her more than gold. He offers Charming her hand in marriage. As Charming is about to refuse, King George pulls him aside and threatens his farm and mother. The prince reluctantly agrees to the marriage and takes Abigail on a scenic carriage ride, where he meets Snow White. ("The Shepherd")

After the encounter with the exiled princess ("Snow Falls"), Charming noticeably begins acting strange, and King George figures out that he has fallen in love with someone other than Abigail. He threatens Charming yet again, telling him to get that woman out of his head. Charming, as a result, writes a letter to Snow White.

King George's men capture Snow White when she attempts to speak to Charming, and throws her in the dungeons. When she breaks out with the dwarves Grumpy and Stealthy, his guards kill Stealthy and are about to kill Grumpy when Snow offers herself instead. George then takes her inside the palace, close to Charming's quarters, and reveals that he knows all about the love letter.

He says that she must tell the prince that she doesn't love him, otherwise, he would kill Charming. Snow White says, "You would do that to your son?" and he roughly replies that Charming is not his son. Once Snow did as he said, he let her go free. ("7:15 A.M.")

However, when Abigail arrives to the kingdom for the wedding, he orders the search for Charming, who has run away from him. He later finds the prince at Snow's newest hideout with Red Riding Hood, and tells his men that he wants Charming's head, leading the two to escape on horseback. ("What Happened to Frederick")

Later, his men corner Charming and Red in a clearing at nightfall, shooting flaming arrows at them in order to get them to move, but they stay put. Charming blocks many arrows and Red decides to give him a head start. Charming escapes, and Red turns into a werewolf and attacks King George's men.

After Charming rekindles Snow White's memories of him when she was affected with Rumplestiltskin's forgetfulness potion, King George's men blindside them and capture Charming, intending to bring him to George's kingdom for execution. ("Heart of Darkness") However, in the middle of the execution, the Evil Queen intervenes on Charming's behalf, offering to purchase his life from George for all the gold Midas promised to give him. When George asked what Regina wished to do with Charming, she planned on using him to get her final revenge on Snow White and also promised to punish him in ways that would make him wish for a simple execution.

After accepting this deal, George's castle was later sieged by the combined forces of Snow White, the Seven Dwarves, Red Riding Hood and Granny, and an army of fairies in an effort to rescue Prince Charming before George traded him to the queen. ("An Apple Red as Blood")

Charming is imprisoned in the Evil Queen's castle, but with the help of the Huntsman, he escapes unharmed. Then, he bumps into Rumplestiltskin in the Enchanted Forest. Rumplestiltskin enchanted his mother's ring so that the closer Charming is to Snow White, the brighter it will glow. He made a deal to help Rumplestiltskin hide a potion inside a dragon, and in return he is given the ring to find Snow White. Charming is able to save Snow White after the Evil Queen put a curse on her that made her sleep for eternity. He broke the curse with true love's kiss and they lay low afterwards to avoid King George's men who are searching for them.

Snow White is captured by Lancelot, a former knight of the round table, and he brings her to King George. At his castle, King George tells Snow White about his past with his wife, and how they fell in love and married, but she was cursed to never be able to bear children. As it turns out, he curses Snow White in the same manner by having given her a cup of water to drink from, which unbeknownst to her, has poison that makes her barren. He lets Snow White leave after that, and Lancelot decides to change his allegiance and follow her.

Although King George was successful in cursing Snow White, the curse was broken by the powers of Lake Nostros's waters, and she was able to bear a child, Emma. ("Lady of the Lake")

Trivia

 * George means "farmer".
 * The fact that Cinderella's Fairy Godmother is patron to King George's family, implies that the two are somehow related.

Appearances
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