Alice (Down the Rabbit Hole)

Alice is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. She débuts in the first episode of the first season. She portrayed by starring cast member Sophie Lowe and guest star Millie Brown.

Alice is based on the titular character from Lewis Carroll's novels "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There".

History
In England, Alice visits Wonderland as a young girl after following the White Rabbit down a hole. After returning home, she runs to inform her father of these adventures. Her long absence has proved to be a trying time for her father, who believed she had died. When her father thinks she is making things up about Wonderland, Alice sets out to find proof. On one such adventure, she steals pieces of mushroom from the Caterpillar and captures the White Rabbit. While being chased by guards, Alice enters a maze, takes a bite of the mushroom to shrink herself. Seeking a place to lay low, she slides into a bottle and unexpectedly meets a genie inside. At first, she is on her guard; threatening to use the mushroom to grow big and smash his bottle. He proves to be an ally; introducing himself as Cyrus and welcoming her into his home. She clarifies her reason for being in Wonderland, which is to obtain proof the world is real by showing her father the White Rabbit. He thinks it's sad she is risking her life for someone who doesn't believe in her, and gives words of wisdom; when you really love someone, proof is not necessary, and it's all about trusting in one's own belief. Sadly, Alice knows that isn't how love works in her world, but Cyrus says anything is possible and offers to grant her three wishes.
 * -|Before the Curse=

They leave for the outside where Alice returns to normal size and Cyrus gives her three red jewels, which are the wishes. After freeing the White Rabbit, she learns from Cyrus about certain wish restrictions. He stresses they are the four laws of magic, which include the inability to wish for someone's death, bringing a person back from the dead, changing the past or making an individual fall in love. She ponders using a wish to free him, but he explains that has never ended well for either side because the bigger the wish, the larger the consequence. Still unsure what to wish for, they take a walk through the maze so he can give her some suggestions and end up at a tavern at night. Cyrus tells her about a man, Jafar, who has been chasing after him. Despite that she is a human and he a genie, they find common ground by both having been in prisons. For Alice, her old home felt like one while Cyrus finds the outside world a fresh stroke of freedom from his bottle. She hears more about the different lands he has been to and shows an interest in swordplay. Though she doesn't know how to use a sword, she mentions there are other ways to fight by being creative. For her, he conjures an origami flower scented like a real rose bud and later turns it into a blossom. She requests for a sword lesson, and the next day, proves to be a fast learner in the art of dueling. Alice mentions a sad incident in which she tried to make her father happy, but he was still too saddened over her mother's death. With her guard let down, her sword is stolen by Cyrus in the match. Cyrus prompts her to be creative, though she ends up backed up against a tree as he blocks her escape at every turn. Going by his words of knowing who she is up against, Alice uses Cyrus' weakness to her advantage and kisses him, which he happily returns. At dawn, Alice awakens after spending the night under the Tum Tum Tree with Cyrus. She gushes about going to the Boiling Sea next, but he interrupts to suggest it's time for her to make the wishes. She is saddened by his response until he confesses to falling in love with her, which is all the more reason he can't bear to be apart from her. Alice feels the same about him and promises to never move on from him if he does the same. Choosing love over the wishes, the two bury the bottle in a pasture near a dandy-lion sculpted tree.

While camping out one night, Cyrus tells Alice about a compass once gifted to him by his mother, which, up until recent years, always pointed him in her direction. Alice is surprised to learn Cyrus wasn't always a genie. Abruptly, Cyrus is threatened at sword point by three bandits, who greedily desire three wishes from him. Alice jumps in to fight them and soon they have no choice but to retreat. She is pleased that it didn't take much to drive the hooligans away, but suddenly collapses from an abdomen cut she sustained during the battle. Cyrus carries Alice to the White Rabbit's house where Mrs. Rabbit makes a elixir to heal her. After she is well on her way to full health, Cyrus relates his fears that Alice will always be in danger because of him. Alice convinces him that she can handle herself no whatever what life throws at them. The only thing she doesn't wish is to be apart from him. Since she is willing to stay, he leads her into an invisible hideout at the Outlands that can serve as a home for both for them. She is slightly concerned when he admits giving up something in exchange for the hideout, but Cyrus assures her that the sacrifice was worth it.

Later, Alice and Cyrus arrive at the cliff of the Boiling Sea after many adventures together. In distraction, Alice nearly slips, but he catches her in time. Both express happiness at having met the other, to which Cyrus uses the moment to talk about the thousands of years spent granting the wishes of humans, and his only wish was for freedom, but now he has another. Then, he bends down to one knee to propose to Alice, but in her delight, she says yes immediately, even though Cyrus protests that he had a whole speech planned. Happily, she pulls him up into a romantic kiss. As they part, Cyrus shows Alice his necklace is pulsating a bright red, emanating gleam. He states it glows to show their hearts are entwined and allows both of them to know when the other is near. Suddenly, they are interrupted by the untimely appearance of the Red Queen and her guards. Alice and Cyrus are forced to battle them. Eventually, two guards grab hold of Alice while several others attempt to drag Cyrus away, but he breaks free of their hold to rescue her. However, before they can escape together, the Red Queen uses magic to push Cyrus off the cliff to his death while a horrified Alice watches helplessly.

After returning to her world, Alice is left despondent at Cyrus's death. She reunites with her father, Edwin, though many years have passed. Alice discovers he has since moved on from her mother and remarried another woman, Sarah, and has a second daughter, Millie, so she attempts to reconfigure herself into their lives. During an evening dinner, Sarah suggests for Alice to start thinking about her future and attending to "social obligations" by having tea with a young man. Alice is so upset at the notion that she crushes a glass cup and accidentally cuts herself. Though quick to apologize, she pleads to not being ready to move on. That night, Alice dreams about how she lost Cyrus and wakes up with a start. As Millie comforts her and asks to know who Cyrus is, Alice divulges knowledge on him, though Edwin and Sarah interrupt. They do not look kindly on Alice filling Millie's head with nonsense and claim she is not trying hard enough to change. At breakfast the following morning, Alice is stunned that Edwin and Sarah brought the young man to force her into engaging with him. She storms outside as her father follows. Seeing as Alice is not getting better, Edwin decides to send her to an asylum. Alice is heartbroken that her father doesn't believe in anything she is saying and stiffly follows through with going to the asylum. On the day of her departure, she waits outside the house alone with her belongings and is picked up by a doctor, Dr. Lydgate. As they leave in a carriage, Alice sadly looks on to see her father, Sarah and Millie by the window as a family while she is left out.
 * -|After Broken Curse=

At the asylum, Dr. Lydgate and two other doctors attempt to coax Alice into admitting all her tales of Wonderland and love for Cyrus are lies. Alice insists they are, but the doctors do not believe her. When offered a special procedure to help her forget, she signs it and is escorted back to her cell. Alice is startled by the appearance of Will Scarlet, the Knave of Hearts, who she believes is a delusion until he shouts that Cyrus is alive. 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 was the one who said the genie is alive and currently 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. They land in the Mallow Marsh. 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. At Tugley Woods, Alice decides to get a better look of the Mad Hatter's house taking off her shoes and climbing into a tree. She calls to Knave upon spotting the house, but receives no response, and instead faces a rather large and very hungry looking Cheshire Cat. She is pinned down by the feline and almost becomes his lunch until Knave tricks the Cheshire Cat into swallowing a piece of shrinking mushroom. Alice angrily chastises him for both leaving and stealing the three wishes, but Knave finds it redeemable that he came back to save her. The twosome regroup with the White Rabbit and reach the Mad Hatter's house, but Cyrus is not inside. Depressed, she exits the house and discovers Cyrus' glowing necklace. Alice is certain he is alive as truly loving someone needs no proof. The three begin traveling together.

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. In truth, Alice discloses a false location so whoever is also after the bottle will be misled. 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. Alice is stunned as the fairy, Silvermist, slaps Knave and the two squabble over their unpleasant history. Silvermist agrees to help them over the river, but drops Knave after he makes an indecent comment towards her. Alice breaks free of the fairy magic to pull him onto a floating island, and proceeds to berate Knave for incurring Silvermist's wraith and making their journey so dismal. 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. Alice takes a backseat as Knave attempts to reconcile with Silvermist. Curiously, she hears the name Anastasia brought up. 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. Alice questions him about Anastasia, but he avoids giving an answer. They arrive at the Tum Tum Tree to see Jafar trying to unearth the bottle. Alice 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, she is consoled by Knave about Cyrus since someone who truly loves another can never move on. Alice concludes that all the people she's loved, Cyrus and her father, have all moved on, just when a flying paper crane carrying a message from Cyrus lands into her palm. Though Cyrus wants her to leave Wonderland for safety reasons, she writes back, "I'm coming for you!" and sends the crane back.

Seeking knowledge about who dug up Cyrus' bottle, Knave suggests they fetch a special item from 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 Alice and Knave. While Grendel 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. Unable to find him, she goes back to the Caterpillar's place to search, but is told by a Collector named Lizard that he is not there. Lizard admits chasing after Knave, but she herself was knocked out by the Red Queen. Alice sets off to rescue him as Lizard tags along, citing that Knave owes her debts, but in actuality, the two are long time friends. Alice is, however, surprised to hear Knave pick pocketed for fun, which Lizard explains was due to Anastasia breaking his heart. Alice is left more curious than ever about who exactly is Anastasia. Soon, they discover Knave will be facing a public execution at the Red Queen's castle. Once there, Alice saves Knave and they escape by launching themselves via a catapult into a maze. Lizard regroups with them and leads the way to the exit, but they are shortly blocked by Jafar and the Red Queen. Jafar knocks out Lizard and begins choking Knave to death. In the midst of it, Knave gasps out Anastasia's name in the Red Queen's direction as Alice figures out her true identity and begs for help. Instead, the Red Queen snaps at her to make a wish. Desperate to save a friend, Alice uses a wish to ask for her own death if Knave dies. Jafar lets Knave go, but then exerts physical pain on Alice to force her to make another wish. Alice's adamant defiance causes him to drop her, to which she and Knave take their leave. As a last stand, Jafar cruelly turns Knave into a stone statue. After he is gone, she angrily slaps the Red Queen for not doing anything to aide Knave. The Red Queen states that Alice can help him by making another wish. She moves to strike her again, but the Red Queen blocks with magic and chides Alice to "grow up" and use more common sense. The Red Queen warns that Wonderland is a prison and it's only going to get worse for Alice until she does what must be done.

Alice returns in the morning to cover the stone Knave with a jacket and apologize to him for the trouble. The Red Queen appears and requests Alice's help for gathering some special dust as protection against Jafar. In return, she'll lend a hand in leading her to Cyrus. Since Alice is out of options, she agrees and rides in the Red Queen's carriage to a cliff. Once there, the Red Queen shows her a tablet on the floor that reads, "The pure of heart shall make the leap" and to reach the dust, Alice has to cross towards the ravine by walking on thin air. Alice is wary of trying and failing, but then cracks the riddle as needing a firm trust and belief in the purest feeling in her own heart—Cyrus. This allows her to walk on air for a few steps, but suddenly, she falls straight down into a cave pit. Visited by a younger, more vengeful child version of herself, Alice must face the dark emotions that plagued her after watching Cyrus' supposed death. The child Alice brings the Red Queen down to the cave as well, and pushes her older self to choose to take revenge. Alice moves to slash the Red Queen, but instead, stabs her sword into the ground. Though she believes the Red Queen deserves punishment, Alice doesn't want to be the one doing it. Happily, the child Alice congratulates her for making the right choice and turns into magic dust. Alice collects all of it in a bag. Upon returning to the cliff, she refuses to hand over the dust until the Red Queen tells her where Cyrus is. Instead, the Red Queen snatches the bag, having lied to Alice, and leaves her with nothing. However, Alice still has a small amount of the dust tucked in her palm. She uses it to uncover Jafar's lair in the distance and begins making her way to Cyrus.

Alice travels west to cut through the Dark Forest after taking care of two foolish camp-goers who attempt to make her pay a fake toll fee. She is guided through the darkness of the forest with a torch stick, which quickly dies out, but to her relief, the path ahead is a lighted area. Unbeknownst to her, the journey is far from over, as she enters into the Boro Grove, containing trees with flower appendages giving out puffs of aromatic scents. Alice quickly falls under the spell of the sweet smell and struggles to explain to the only other person there, a Carpenter, her need to rescue Cyrus until having a memory lapse. After taking off the necklace and putting it on her sword, Alice basks in whimsical happiness decorating them with a flower wreath. She becomes excited when Knave comes along, but doesn't understand his reason for asking her about Cyrus and has no recollection of this "Alice" person he brings up. When he presses her to leave, she swings the sword at him as the 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. Though Alice claims the Boro Grove makes her happy, she is snapped back to reality when the necklace lands in her hands. She cuts herself free and they make their way out as the weight of her burdens, which the Boro Grove flower took away, come back one by one. 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.

She and Knave 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 he 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. Alice avoids speaking to her father for the rest of the day, but expresses curiosity when she sees Knave talking to Edwin. Alice is undecided whether or not to forgive her father, but Knave thinks she eventually will because it's the right thing to do. In an surprise attack, a dragon spits out fire as Alice and Knave 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. Finally, she reconciles with her father. They share a meal out of the slain dragon's meat, though Alice finds it odd that her father doesn't say grace as he usually does before eating. After supper, she leaves Edwin alone under the pretense of fetching wood with Knave. Once they are alone, she relates her suspicions to Knave that the man claiming to 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. She is unimpressed by Jafar's latest trick by using a impostor of her father. However, Edwin proves to be her father when he gives a painful admission to having blamed Alice for all the unhappiness in his own life, such as her mother's death, and is deeply regretful for not believing in her. He asks not for forgiveness and compassion for his actions, and instead discloses that Cyrus escaped the prison before being dropped into the sea. Alice saves her father by wishing him home. Despite having used her second wish, she is grateful that her father now understands her, and knowing Cyrus is no longer a prisoner.

As they make their way to a place Alice is certain Cyrus would go, a stop is made at the White Rabbit's house. They learn that the White Rabbit has only been obeying the Red Queen's orders because she kidnapped his family. Alice and Knave both sympathize with his plight and decide to rescue them. Knave has an idea of where the Red Queen might have taken them, and they arrive at an abandoned wagon, which he and Anastasia once lived in. Inside, the White Rabbit's wife and two children are found safe and sound. While the White Rabbit's family venture to a secure place to stay, Alice leads her remaining two party members to the Outlands and enters into an invisible hideout, but Cyrus is not there. Despite that, she refuses to give into the possibilities that Cyrus either was captured again or died trying to escape, and firmly declares they are not leaving Wonderland without him. While peering outside, Alice sees Cyrus in the distance and joyfully runs out to be with her beloved. However, she is upset upon seeing that the Red Queen also came along. Though Cyrus states that the Red Queen helped him, Alice doesn't trust her. The Red Queen proceeds to urge Alice and everyone else that they must leave Wonderland before a dangerous storm cloud Jafar summoned reaches them all. Alice refuses to go without an explanation for the Red Queen's actions thus far, including her reasons for taking away Cyrus and desiring the bottle. In an emotional outburst, the Red Queen admits to Knave that she wants him back, and by breaking the laws of magic, they can go back to the past and resume their relationship, but he wants nothing more to do with her. As the storm cloud closes in, the Red Queen uses the bottle as a shield against a lightning bolt, which then bounces off and fatally wounds Knave. As he is near death, Alice, too, begins to die as her first wish comes into full effect. Alice is unwilling to use the third wish to save herself and trap Cyrus in the bottle again. In the end, Cyrus gives Knave the third wish, which he uses to "end Alice's suffering". Alice is revived as Cyrus' servitude as a genie ends, however, she is horrified to learn Knave has now taken his place in the bottle as a price for the wish.

Trivia

 * The casting call describes her as, "Alice, a British twenty something, is young but has already had a hard life and carries some emotional scars. Though she tries to hide it, she has a generous heart."
 * The casting for Alice's younger self is, "12-year-old Caucasian girl with a British accent who is feisty and adventurous."