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She really is the kindest woman I've ever met. [...] That's not to say Guin doesn't have her fierce side. With a bow and arrow, I've seen her take out the eye of a dove in flight.

King Arthur to David Nolan src

Queen Guinevere, also known as Guin, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the second episode of the fifth season. She is portrayed by guest stars Joana Metrass and Dalila Bela.

Guinevere is based on the character of the same name from the Arthurian legend.

History

Before First Curse

As a child, Guinevere lives in the village of Camelot with Arthur, who has dreams of becoming king. He shows her a tree, which Merlin is trapped in, and that this man prophesied that he'll be king one day after pulling a sword from a stone. Furthermore, he wishes to make her his queen, and he promises for her birthdays, he'll fill the kingdom with middlemists for her. To prove a point, Arthur gives her a middlemist flower, which she is pleased at. He then leads her to show her a meadow of middlemists, but he stops shortly upon seeing a sword stuck in a stone, which Guinevere mistakes as the sword from the prophecy. Instead, Arthur realizes the sword belongs to Kay, who promptly arrives to bully him about being an orphaned stable boy and looking down on his prospects as king. After Kay leaves, Guinevere encourages Arthur to find the sword in the prophecy by following his heart. ("The Broken Kingdom")

Years later, Arthur frees Excalibur, and returns to Camelot, proving himself as king by partially unsheathing the sword. Happy at his success, Guinevere runs into his embrace, but she soon senses something is wrong. She learns from him that Excalibur is not whole, and its blade tip is missing. ("The Broken Kingdom")

During his reign, Arthur becomes consumed with finding the sword's missing half, the Dark One's dagger, so much that he begins neglecting his wife. On her birthday, she tries to coax him into leaving his research to dance with her. As she waits for him, Guinevere sits alone, until Lancelot dances with her. Suddenly, a villager announces that Arthur has a gift for Guinevere, before showering her with a flurry of pink rose petals. She is pleased, but then, she realizes Arthur hadn't prepared anything, and Lancelot was the one who did it. She thanks him, shortly before Arthur rushes to them, exclaiming that he discovered the dagger is only a day's ride away. Lancelot prepares to leave to go there, but Arthur insists he stay to protect Guinevere, while he himself goes instead. That night, Guinevere finds a magic gauntlet in Merlin's tower that reveals the dagger's location as Arthur's greatest weakness. Intending to get the dagger, she tries to leave, before Lancelot agrees to accompany her. The gauntlet takes them to the Vault of the Dark One, and after entering into it, Guinevere saves Lancelot from the Darkness. Relieved to not have lost him, she kisses him, before apologizing and stating that it can never happen again. From one door, they find the dagger on a table stand, but it's protected by a barrier. In exchange for the gauntlet, the Dark One offers Guinevere enchanted sand to give the illusion that Excalibur is whole. Lancelot begs her not to, but she accepts the deal. On their return home, Lancelot bids her farewell, deciding to leave Camelot. When Arthur confronts her, Guinevere lies about getting the dagger and almost sprinkles the sand on the sword, but then, she comes clean. Though she had hopes making Excalibur whole would bring back the old Arthur she loved, Guinevere asks him to make a choice between his quest or his marriage or she'll follow her heart. Believing she'll go to Lancelot, Arthur throws the sand on her, causing Guinevere to begin supporting his endeavors, much to his relief. With her looking on, Arthur tosses more of the sand on the village of Camelot, transforming it into a castle. ("The Broken Kingdom")

Before Third Curse

Guinevere, while still under the enchanted sand's influence, is introduced by King Arthur to Emma and her allies, who are prophesied to reunite them with Merlin. To welcome the newcomers, an evening ball is held in their honor, in which Guinevere and Arthur are present during the festivities. However, things take a a tragic turn when Percival, one of King Arthur's knights, suddenly attacks the savior, Regina, before Robin Hood intervenes, only to get injured. As Percival moves to deliver a final fatal blow to Robin, David saves Robin by stabbing Percival, killing him. After the ball, Guinevere visits Arthur, who is sitting at the Round Table with Percival's shield. She expresses wariness about their guests, and although they know what will happen because of Merlin's prophecy, they don't know how it will occur. Arthur insists they will have to see it through since the newcomers want to destroy the Dark One, and while it'll be difficult to do, it's the only way to obtain the Dark One's dagger and finally unite Excalibur with it. He reasons that if Excalibur is not made whole, they'll lose the kingdom they worked so hard to build. As a show of acceptance of what they must do, Guinevere places her hand over Excalibur, while Arthur puts his hand over hers. ("The Price")

To find a way to communicate with Merlin, Arthur goes with David to retrieve a toadstool, the crimson crown, from the Forest of Eternal Night, however, they come back without it. That night, Arthur makes David a knight of the Round Table and bestows him the Siege Perilous seat, Guinevere is present for the ceremony. As David goes to take his seat at the table, Guinevere pulls out the chair and places David's coat of arms on it. Later, after the ceremony is long over and everyone has left the Round Table room, Guinevere sees Arthur take out the toadstool, which he stole from David. She is surprised he lied to David, but Arthur reasons that, while he didn't enjoy being dishonest, he must do it for the kingdom's sake. ("Siege Perilous")

Overhearing Arthur and David talk about Lancelot being alive, Guinevere enters the Round Table room, angrily demanding to know his whereabouts. She, still under the enchanted sand's influence, recalls the past, except she blames Lancelot for wanting more than a kiss from her. David agrees to comply with Arthur's plan to unite Excalibur with its missing half, and he takes out a box to show Guinevere and Arthur the dagger, only to realize it's empty and that Mary Margaret must have taken it. However, Arthur falls into their trap, as David and Mary Margaret were working together to misled him. After Arthur is taken prisoner by them and Lancelot in the diner, Guinevere storms into the building with soldiers to rescue her husband. Lancelot tries to talk her out of helping Arthur, telling her none of what she feels is real because of the magic sand, but she snatches Excalibur back from him and orders the guards to take him to the dungeons. With some of the enchanted sand, Guinevere blows it onto David and Mary Margaret to gain their help to obtain the real dagger. ("The Broken Kingdom")

After Merlin is freed by the heroes, Arthur frantically works to stop them from taking Excalibur from him. In the tower, an unsure Guinevere watches her husband dump several spell ingredients into a cauldron. To prove the concoction's potency, Arthur pours some of it on one of the guards' helms, which melts and eradicates it completely. He then orders the soldiers to throw the cauldron potion on the intruders and bring back what's left of them. Guinevere wordlessly looks at him with fear and dismay, while Arthur contends that it's war now. ("Nimue")

Following Arthur's failure to obtain the magical helm from DunBroch, he returns to the castle. In the Round Table Room, as Arthur notices Excalibur has somehow been returned to its stone, Guinevere gazes out the window, seeing large purple clouds of smoke descend upon Camelot. She calls for her husband's attention to the strange phenomenon, which he recognizes as dark magic. Soon, the purple smoke engulfs all of Camelot, sending Guinevere, Arthur and the other residents in the castle to another realm. ("Broken Heart")

After Third Curse

As an effect of the curse that Emma added, she wipes everyone's memories of the last six weeks, in the hopes of finding a way to get rid of Hook's darkness without his knowledge. Shortly after arriving to Storybrooke, while the Camelot natives are setting up camp in the town woods, Guinevere happily reunites with Arthur, but she is aghast to see that Excalibur is missing, though David assures the couple that the sword is likely to be found soon. ("The Price," "Broken Heart")

Guinevere joins her husband and some of the Storybrooke folk in the sheriff's station, where they discover the previously imprisoned Grif has mysteriously vanished from his cell. Arthur deducts that Grif must have been lying about not stealing the magic bean and used it to return to Camelot on his own. Upset at Grif's selfishness, which prevents her people from going home, Guinevere believes they must do something to raise everyone's spirits before they fall into despair over the situation. Henry suggests throwing a dance, and after the group leave the sheriff's station together, Belle runs up to them, reporting that Mr. Gold is missing. Later that night, during a town carnival, Hook and his allies reveal to Arthur, Guinevere, David and Mary Margaret that they searched Emma's house and found Excalibur hidden in her basement. After some questioning by Hook, Arthur confesses to knowing the Dark One's dagger is Excalibur's missing blade, and that if the sword is made whole again by uniting them, the combined weapon can extinguish the darkness, but in Emma's hands, she may use it to snuff out the light. ("Dreamcatcher")

Once the Storybrooke group figure out that they can use the crimson crown to communicate with Merlin, they call in Arthur, as only someone who was chosen by the sorcerer can harness the toadstool. Guinevere joins him at the vault to enact the spell, but before putting the crimson crown in, Arthur suggests he has to talk to Merlin alone because the sorcerer has only appeared to him when there were no people around. Guinevere leaves the room with everyone else to wait outside, and when Arthur eventually comes out, he states that the spell fizzled out. ("The Bear and the Bow")

As Guinevere is enjoying a candlelit evening with her husband in their tent, David enters to confront Arthur about his attempt to destroy the crimson crown. The spell, however, was successful, giving David reason to question him about Nimue, someone Merlin mentioned who can defeat the Dark One. No one says anything in response, to which Guinevere stands up and signals a look to her husband. As David continues to wait for an answer, Arthur flips the table on him and cuts an opening in the tent with his sword, escaping into the woods, while Guinevere is left behind. ("Birth")

Guinevere's state after Arthur's death, and whether she remains under the sand's influence, is not known. Along with other Camelot natives, she eventually returns home through a portal in Storybrooke after hugging David goodbye. ("Only You")

Trivia

Character Notes

Production Notes

  • The casting call describes her as "a Latina in her mid-20s to mid-30s to play a headstrong queen who fell in love with her husband's most trusted knight, the dashing Lancelot. She now must balance her own happiness with the well-being of Camelot".[1]
  • For her portrayal of Guinevere, Joana Metrass did a lot of research in how Guinevere had been portrayed before and how a queen should act. She also discovers that "there is a balance between being delicate but at the same time powerful".[2]
  • Dalila Bela, who plays young Guinevere in "The Broken Kingdom", is the sister of Raphael Alejandro, the actor who plays Roland on the show.
  • According to the casting call for Lancelot, Guinevere is his true love.[3]

Prop Notes

Costume Notes

  • The outfit she wears for her birthday celebration is the same dress that Rapunzel wore in "The Tower". ("The Broken Kingdom")
  • The outfit Guinevere wears for the quest for the dagger is the same outfit that Jack wore in "Tiny". ("The Broken Kingdom")

Appearances

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.

References

  1. Mitovich, Matt Webb (June 9, 2015). Once Upon a Time Season 5: Get Details on Merlin and Other New Roles. TVLine. “The casting call for GUINEVERE, meanwhile, seeks a Latina in her mid-20s to mid-30s to play a "headstrong queen" who fell in love with her husband's most trusted knight, the dashing Lancelot — previously played on Once by Teen Wolf's Sinqua Walls (at right), but (supposedly) dead in the current timeline. She now must balance her own happiness with the well-being of Camelot.”
  2. Williams, Last (January 17, 2016). 'Once Upon A Time' ABC Season 5 Spoilers: Joana Metrass Hints More Queen Guinevere [EXCLUSIVE]. Fashion & Style. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016. “How did you prepare for the role of Guinevere? "I did a lot of research in how Guinevere had been portrayed before and the different versions of the story. I researched a lot about movement - a queen doesn't move the same way as other people- She doesn't rest her hand in her lap the same way for example. There is a balance between being delicate but at the same time powerful."”
  3. Once Upon a Time - Episode 2.03 - Knight being cast. SpoilerTV (July 9, 2012). “For episode 2.03 of Once Upon a Time, an African American knight with a British accent is being cast. He's a sword for hire who lost his true love (Of course he did - who hasn't on this show?) and was banished from his kingdom.”
  4. File:504TakingTheDagger.png
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  7. File:706HenryElla.png
  8. File:708WontFightDirty.png
  9. File:710APrincess.png
  10. File:712WhoAreYou2.png
  11. File:716GoldSilver.png
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