The Castle Playground, also known as Henry's Castle, is a Storybrooke location featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the first episode of the first season.
History
Henry, when he wants to be alone, goes to a castle playground near the sea. After bringing his birth mother, Emma, to Storybrooke, as he believes she is the savior of a curse, Henry notices nothing changes and time remains frozen as usual. Disappointed, he disappears the next morning. While Emma searches for him, his teacher, Mary Margaret, suggests he might be at the castle playground. There, Emma returns Henry's fairytale book that he had left in her car. He relates his beliefs about Emma, as the savior, would change things in town. When Emma rejects this idea, Henry guesses that she is pushing him away, out of guilt, for having given him up at birth. He believes Emma did this to give him his best chance, which she confirms to be true. Desperately, Henry begs her to stay for one week to prove the curse is real. He also doesn't want to go back to his mother, Regina, but Emma reasons that her own life is worse since she was abandoned on the road by her birth parents. Still, Henry insists her real parents put her through a wardrobe to save her life, but Emma doesn't believe him. Later, she takes Henry home. ("Pilot")
Emma, distrustful of Regina, decides to remain in town for a week to ensure Henry is living a good life. At the playground, the boy announces to Emma that he found her father, Prince Charming, in the book. Believing the prince is a coma patient under the name John Doe, Henry wants Mary Margaret, who he insists is Snow White, to read to the man. He considers the fact both Prince Charming and John Doe have the same scar, and his theory that the curse is keeping the couple apart by putting the prince in a coma. Emma is skeptical, but she agrees to ask Mary Margaret. ("Snow Falls")
Following Graham's death, Henry guiltily feels responsible since he told him about his past life before the curse, and believes Regina killed him. Meeting at the playground, Emma hands Henry a walkie-talkie so they can always keep in touch during Operation Cobra. Instead, he gloomily suggests they stop with the operation since Regina murdered Graham and he does not want to the same thing to happen to Emma. ("Desperate Souls")
To keep the book from falling into Regina's hands, Henry buries it at the playground. Presumably, at some point, August takes the book just before Regina orders a demolition team to tear down the area. Henry, hearing of Regina's plans, rushes to grab his book, but he finds the castle partially damaged by a storm. As Emma suggests asking for Marco's help in fixing it, Regina arrives and cites safety reasons for removing the playground, Emma dislikes her decision and secretly teams up with Sidney to investigate. ("Fruit of the Poisonous Tree")Trivia
On-Screen Notes
- The design of the castle changes somewhat between "Pilot" and "Snow Falls": For example, the boards at the top of the towers change, railing is added to foremost tower on the left hand side, and the slide changes color from orange to green. The position of the castle also changes: In "Pilot", the castle is parallel to the sea, but in "Snow Falls", it is perpendicular to the sea.
Filming Locations
- The scenes at the castle playground were filmed in Garry Point Park,[1] a large 75 acre waterfront park located close to Steveston Village, which doubles as the town of Storybrooke on Once Upon a Time.
- This location also doubles as the Neverland beach where Lost Boys bring Baelfire to shore in "And Straight On 'Til Morning", and the Enchanted Forest beach where Neal is found in the same episode.[2]
- The same location was used to film the Storybrooke beach scene with Hook and Henry in "It's Not Easy Being Green",[3] and the Storybrooke beach scenes in "I'll Be Your Mirror".[4]
Appearances
Once Upon a Time: Season One | ||||||||||
"Pilot": | "The Thing You Love Most": | "Snow Falls": | "The Price of Gold": | "That Still Small Voice": | "The Shepherd": | "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter": | "Desperate Souls": | "True North": | "7:15 A.M.": | "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree": |
Appears | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Appears |
"Skin Deep": | "What Happened to Frederick": | "Dreamy": | "Red-Handed": | "Heart of Darkness": | "Hat Trick": | "The Stable Boy": | "The Return": | "The Stranger": | "An Apple Red as Blood": | "A Land Without Magic": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Three | ||||||||||
"The Heart of the Truest Believer": | "Lost Girl": | "Quite a Common Fairy": | "Nasty Habits": | "Good Form": | "Ariel": | "Dark Hollow": | "Think Lovely Thoughts": | "Save Henry": | "The New Neverland": | "Going Home": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Absent |
"New York City Serenade": | "Witch Hunt": | "The Tower": | "Quiet Minds": | "It's Not Easy Being Green": | "The Jolly Roger": | "Bleeding Through": | "A Curious Thing": | "Kansas": | "Snow Drifts": | "There's No Place Like Home": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Archive | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Specials | ||||||||||
"Magic is Coming": |
"The Price of Magic": | "Journey to Neverland": | "Wicked is Coming": | "Storybrooke Has Frozen Over": | ||||||
Archive | Absent | Archive | Absent | Absent | ||||||
"Secrets of Storybrooke": | "Dark Swan Rises": | "Evil Reigns Once More": | "The Final Battle Begins": | |||||||
Archive | Archive | Archive | Archive |
Other Appearances | ||||||||||
|
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.
References
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