![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Curse Scrolls are magical items featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. They first appear in the second episode of the first season.
History
Afraid of a prophecy that foretells her newborn son will die by the hands of a newly born Evil, recently-turned fairy Fiona goes to the Sacred Fairy Vault to create a powerful curse that will banish everyone to a Land Without Magic where they can't hurt him. Before being banished by the Blue Fairy into a dark realm, Fiona manages to write the curse's scroll. ("The Black Fairy")
Many years later, the Black Fairy's son, Rumplestiltskin, successfully locates the Dark Curse scroll deep under Bald Mountain, protected by a series of traps. He summons Ursula and Cruella De Vil to the Forbidden Fortress, where he convinces them and Maleficent to help him retrieve the curse, claiming that it will grant them their happy endings. Selecting them due to three deadly traps in Bald Mountain, Rumplestiltskin takes them to the location. There, each woman uses her magical ability to defeat an obstacle and Ursula finally grabs the scroll, which is stored inside a glass orb, with her tentacles. This triggers a small quake as the Chernabog, a demon guarding the curse, awakens to attack the intruders. Rumplestiltskin admits using the women for his own gain and escapes with the scroll, while the women are forced to fight off the beast on their own. ("Darkness on the Edge of Town")
At some point, Cora acquires a scroll for the Curse of the Empty-Hearted, a curse that tricks the user into believing she or he is loved by another person. ("Welcome to Storybrooke")
From combining the hairs of Snow White and Prince Charming, Rumplestiltskin makes a true love potion, and he adds a drop of it onto the curse scroll. By doing this he ensures that after the curse is cast only someone born from their true love can break the curse. ("A Land Without Magic")
Since one of the main ingredients for enacting the curse is the heart of the thing someone loves most, Rumplestiltskin cannot cast it himself and will need another person to do it. He gives the scroll to Regina, the Evil Queen, but instead of casting it, she exchanges the curse with Maleficent for the sleeping curse to use on her stepdaughter, Snow White. Maleficent store's the curse inside an orb on her staff. ("The Thing You Love Most")
The Evil Queen eventually decides to cast the curse and goes travels to the Forbidden Fortress. Regina finds Maleficent unwilling to part with the scroll, so she duels her and forcibly takes it from her. Although her fellow witch heeds that casting the curse will put a void within which can never be filled, Regina doesn't care. ("The Thing You Love Most")Trivia
Props Notes
- The scroll for the Curse of the Empty-Hearted is later re-used as Fiona's curse in "The Black Fairy." ("Welcome to Storybrooke")
- When Peter Pan holds the curse scroll for the Dark Curse, it is written in cursive characters from the Latin alphabet; however, the writing is flipped, to make it look more exotic. Flipping the image, however, does not reveal anything interesting. The text is gibberish. ("The New Neverland")
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": |
Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"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 | Mentioned |
Once Upon a Time: Season Two | ||||||||||
"Broken": | "We Are Both": | "Lady of the Lake": | "The Crocodile": | "The Doctor": | "Tallahassee": | "Child of the Moon": | "Into the Deep": | "Queen of Hearts": | "The Cricket Game": | "The Outsider": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"In the Name of the Brother": | "Tiny": | "Manhattan": | "The Queen Is Dead": | "The Miller's Daughter": | "Welcome to Storybrooke": | "Selfless, Brave and True": | "Lacey": | "The Evil Queen": | "Second Star to the Right": | "And Straight On 'Til Morning": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | 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 | Appears | Appears |
"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 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Four | ||||||||||
"A Tale of Two Sisters": |
"White Out": |
"Rocky Road": |
"The Apprentice": |
"Breaking Glass": |
"Family Business": | "The Snow Queen": |
"Smash the Mirror": |
"Fall": | "Shattered Sight": |
"Heroes and Villains": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Darkness on the Edge of Town": |
"Unforgiven": | "Enter the Dragon": | "Poor Unfortunate Soul": |
"Best Laid Plans": | "Heart of Gold": | "Sympathy for the De Vil": |
"Lily": | "Mother": | "Operation Mongoose Part 1": |
"Operation Mongoose Part 2": |
Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Six | ||||||||||
"The Savior": | "A Bitter Draught": | "The Other Shoe": | "Strange Case": | "Street Rats": | "Dark Waters": | "Heartless": | "I'll Be Your Mirror": | "Changelings": | "Wish You Were Here": | "Tougher Than the Rest": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Murder Most Foul": | "Ill-Boding Patterns": | "Page 23": | "A Wondrous Place": | "Mother's Little Helper": | "Awake": | "Where Bluebirds Fly": | "The Black Fairy": | "The Song in Your Heart": | "The Final Battle Part 1": | "The Final Battle Part 2": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Seven | ||||||||||
"Hyperion Heights": | "A Pirate's Life": | "The Garden of Forking Paths": | "Beauty": | "Greenbacks": | "Wake Up Call": | "Eloise Gardener": | "Pretty in Blue": | "One Little Tear": | "The Eighth Witch": | "Secret Garden": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent |
"A Taste of the Heights": | "Knightfall": | "The Girl in the Tower": | "Sisterhood": | "Breadcrumbs": | "Chosen": | "The Guardian": | "Flower Child": | "Is This Henry Mills?": | "Homecoming": | "Leaving Storybrooke": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears |
Once Upon a Time: Specials | ||||||||||
"Magic is Coming": |
"The Price of Magic": | "Journey to Neverland": | "Wicked is Coming": | "Storybrooke Has Frozen Over": | ||||||
Absent | Absent | Absent | Archive | Absent | ||||||
"Secrets of Storybrooke": | "Dark Swan Rises": | "Evil Reigns Once More": | "The Final Battle Begins": | |||||||
Absent | Archive | Absent | Absent |
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.