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The Dark Castle is a Wish Realm location on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the eleventh episode of the sixth season. It is the Wish Realm version of the Dark Castle.
History
After Third Curse
In the realm created by the wish of the Evil Queen the Dark Castle is owned by Rumplestiltskin before he is imprisoned. When Regina Mills frees him he takes back the castle but gets angry at her once he realizes that Belle has died. He kidnaps her and Robin of Locksley after freeing them from the Sherrif of Nottingham and locks them in the Dark Castle. Robin is able to pick the lock and free them after they learn about each others past.("Tougher Than the Rest")
Trivia
Production Notes
- An establishing shot of the Dark Castle in "Leaving Storybrooke"[1] is stock footage from the background plate used for the view of the Dream World version of the original Dark Castle in "The Savior,"[2] and from an establishing shot of the same building in the Enchanted Forest in "Changelings".[3]
Biblical
- The Cross of Saint Peter (an inverted Latin cross) is pictured in a book sitting on the bench where the snow globe is sitting.[6] The Cross of Saint Peter was traditionally used as a Christian symbol, but in recent times, it has also been used as an anti-Christian symbol. ("Homecoming")
- When Henry is doing research in Wish Rumplestiltskin's castle, an open book on the table[7] contains verse 19 – 21 from Job 36 in the Bible. Note that some of the words are obscured on-screen; the following is the excerpt in its entirety:[8] ("Homecoming")
20 Desire not the night, when people are cut off in their place.
21 Take heed, regard not iniquity: for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.
- A book that he opens as he continues doing research[9] contains verse 1 – 3 from Isaiah 47 (there is additional text underneath, presumably additional verses, but they are too blurred to read). Some of the words are illegible due to a fold in the page; the following is the excerpt in its entirety:[10] ("Homecoming")
2Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.
3Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.
13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.
Props Notes
- The table which Rumplestiltskin places the snow globe (where Jacinda and Lucy are trapped) onto is a modified version of the rack,[11] a well-known medieval instrument of torture. This rack has spiked rollers designed to slice into the skin and muscles of the victim's back, an "improvement" made by the French.[12] ("Homecoming")
- The same torture device was sitting in the Underbrooke Sheriff's Department in "The Brothers Jones".[13] The black cage in the great hall,[14] where Cruella is trapped, is another re-used prop from the episode, where it was sitting in the corner of the sheriff's station.[15]
- The cage and the rack could also be seen in Dream World version of the original dark castle in "The Savior".[16]
- Two hanging cages can be seen in Wish Rumplestiltskin's basement.[17] The hanging cage was a medieval torture device in which the victim was either displayed and later freed from, or locked inside and left to die.[18] ("Homecoming")
- The same props were sitting on the floor in the Black Fairy's chambers in "Mother's Little Helper".[19]
- One of the cages also appeared in the Underbrooke Sheriff's Department in "The Brothers Jones"[13] and the Dream World version of the dark castle in the Season Six premiere "The Savior".[20]
Set Dressing
- When Wish Cruella is guarding the castle, two dalmatian-spotted cushions are sitting on a piece of furniture in the great hall.[21] ("Homecoming")
Garland of flowers around a cartouche with Jesus and St. John the Baptist as children
- Two modified versions of Garland of flowers around a cartouche with Jesus and St. John the Baptist as children, a 1630s painting by Flemish painter Daniel Seghers and the Dutch Flemish Baroque painter Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert, are hanging on either side of the exit of the great hall.[22] The painting has been edited for the show; the most noticeable differences are the two children in the middle, who have been replaced with a different motif, and a large skull which has been added to the bottom. ("Homecoming," "Leaving Storybrooke")
- The same paintings appear in the Dream World version of the real dark castle in "The Savior".[23]
- When Henry is doing research, an illustration in one of the books[24] shows the Sigillum Dei, a late Middle Ages magical diagram. ("Homecoming")
- The same illustration appears in Cora's spell book in "We Are Both".[25]
- When Henry sits down to use the Author's pen in Wish Rumplestiltskin's castle, a book on the table (seen upside-down)[26] contains pages 3652 and 3653 of The decisions of the Court of Session: from its first institution to the present time: digested under proper heads, in the form of a dictionary, Volume 5 by William Maxwell Morison and the Court of Session (the supreme civil court of Scotland), published in 1802.[27] ("Homecoming")
Filming Locations
- The scenes in Wish Rumplestiltskin's great hall in "Homecoming" were filmed on a television set at The Bridge Studios,[28] as were the scenes in Wish Rumplestiltskin's basement.[29] The basement set was a redressed version of Gothel's tower from previous episodes.[30]
- The basement set[17] previously doubled as the Royal Castle's wine cellar in "A Bitter Draught".[31] This can easily be seen from the identical chandelier, the shape of the walls and the door.
- A redressed version of the basement also doubles as Dr. Jekyll's laboratory in Mr. Hyde's hospital in "Only You".[32]
- Moreover, the hospital scenes with the cage in "Only You" were shot on the same set as the scenes in Dr. Jekyll's laboratory. The cage was removable, and the set was redressed as the laboratory. Some of the walls were removed, and windows put in.[33]
Appearances
Reason: Check special appearances
| 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 | Appears |
| "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 | Absent | 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 | Absent | 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 | Appears | 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 | Absent | Absent | ||||||
| "Secrets of Storybrooke": | "Dark Swan Rises": | "Evil Reigns Once More": | "The Final Battle Begins": | |||||||
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | |||||||
