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"Heart of the Matter" is the eleventh episode of ABC's Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. It was written by Jenny Kao and Katie Wech and directed by David Boyd. It premiered on March 20, 2014.
Synopsis
Alice and Cyrus discover alarming information involving prisoners Jafar has under his control and changes their priorities. Meanwhile, the Red Queen is in critical danger and no one can help her except the Knave by surrendering information to Jafar that he's been desperately seeking. In flashback, Anastasia is about to marry the King and strikes up a friendship with Cora that directly impacts Will. Cora also confronts Will resulting with him asking her for a shocking demand.[2]
Recap
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Cyrus distracts the Caterpillar while Alice swipes the compass he gave him awhile back. A Tweedle reveals that the Red Queenwas forced to make all of her wishes. Jafar now has control of all three bottles and the Jabberwocky on his side. He also has the Red Queen. Alice and Cyrus use secret tunnels to make their way into Jafar's palace. The Red Queen says if they can save the Knave they can save Wonderland.
In the past, Anastasia (who would become the Red Queen) meets the current queen, Cora. A discussion of magic arises. Cora offers to teach it to Anastasia. That offer is politely declined. Cora overhears Anastasia having a chat with Will (aka the future Knave) about their past. She approaches Will to say his true love has a new life now. Anastasia doesn't need him as a distraction now.
Will is crushed. He asks Cora to take away his heart. He won't be able to love again. Will had no idea that Anastasia was heading out to meet up with him. Cora had a talk with her before she could leave. She played upon her issues with her mother to convince her that she should stay so that she can lead the life she was meant for—the life of a queen. Cora promises to teach her everything she needs to know. This includes magic.
Jafar employs magic on the genie bottles he has in his possession, but he fears he's doing something wrong. Actually, the genie is resisting his spell. The Jabberwocky offers to help. She wants to get inside the Knave's head, but she can't read him. The Red Queen put some kind of protection spell on him. It's her they need to work on. The Jabberwocky realizes the reason they can't get to the Knave is because he doesn't have a heart. She also knows there are intruders about.
Alice and Cyrus realize they need to get the Knave's heart. That'll be a challenge because it's not in Wonderland. They have the White Rabbit take them to Storybrooke. That's where he found the Knave in the first place. The group heads to his apartment. They find the Knave's heart hidden inside a wall. They return to Wonderland where the compass finds something. It's Jafar. He wants the heart. The Knave told him where it was to save the Red Queen.
Jafar tries to destroy Alice and Cyrus, but he's unable to do so. It's his staff. It's not working for him. Cyrus gets control of it, but Jafar runs off with the Knave's heart. The compass points to the staff. Cyrus knows his mother was always fascinated with serpents. This would explain how the staff fought against Jafar. If Cyrus's mother is inside the staff, they need to free her. But how?
Jafar returns to his dungeon as the Red Queen is asking if the Knave he will ever be able to forgive her. It could happen. Anything is possible in Wonderland. Jafar pops the Knave's heart back into his chest. The Red Queen yells for her true love to look at her. He does. All of the feelings these two once had for each other come rushing back.
The Red Queen and the Knave of Hearts share a passionate kiss. Actually, this kiss belongs to Will and Anastasia. Yes, anything is possible in Wonderland. This magical moment ends when Jafar pulls the Red Queen from her cell. He forces an anguished Knave to watch helplessly as he stabs his true love with a dagger.
Cast[2]
Starring
Guest Starring
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Co-Starring
Uncredited
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Trivia
Production Notes
- The title card features the serpent staff.
- ABC's press release for this episode misnames it as "Heart of the Day".[3]
- Jafar uses two incantations to try to take control over the Genie Lamps:
- "Incipio. Tres genies in utres. Ego te coniungere. Da mihi virtutem!" which is Latin for "Begin. Three genies in bottles. I join you. Give me power!"[4] [Note that there is no word for "genie" in Latin, so this word is plain English.]
- When it does not work, he tries "Magicae res tres. Vult totam!" which means "Three magic things. He wants all!"[5] However, that does not work either.
- Co-star Chad Riley, who plays Jafar's guard, also plays Black Knight #2 in the Once Upon a Time episode "Child of the Moon".
Event Chronology
- The past Wonderland events occur after "We Are Both" and "Heart of Stone" and before "Queen of Hearts".
- The present day Wonderland events occur after "Dirty Little Secrets" and before "To Catch a Thief". (For more details, see the Wonderland timeline)
- The Land Without Magic events take place at an unspecified time, sometime after "Lady of the Lake". (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)
- In "We Are Both"[6] and "Lady of the Lake",[7] there's a hole in the road between Granny's Diner and Standard Clocks, from the Wraith's attack (not the same hole as the rabbit hole that the White Rabbit makes in front of the entrance to the clock tower).[8] By the time of "The Doctor", the hole has been repaired,[9] meaning that this episode takes place either between "Lady of the Lake" and "The Doctor", or after "The Doctor": In "Heart of the Matter, the area in front of Granny's can be glimpsed in the background when Alice and her friends visit Storybrooke, and the hole is gone.
Fairytales and Folklore
- This episode features Alice, the Caterpillar, Knave of Hearts, the Queen of Hearts, and the White Rabbit from the Alice in Wonderland story, the Red Queen, the Jabberwocky, Tweedledee, and Tweedledum from the story's sequel as well as the genie, the evil sorcerer and the Sultan from the Aladdin story.
Props Notes
- Jafar's book of spells contains:
- A long Latin excerpt[10] from Ars grammatica by Aelius Donatus, a fourth century Roman grammarian and teacher of rhetoric. The excerpt is from his first Ars grammatica, known as Ars Minor, which is a brief overview of the eight parts of speech. The text in the spell book, is from the section about de praepositione,[11] preposition.
- An upside-down version of an illustration[12] from Key of Solomon, an old grimoire (textbook of magic) incorrectly attributed to King Solomon. This particular illustration is from one of the earliest manuscript of the grimoire, entitled The Clavicle of Solomon, revealed by Ptolomy the Grecian, written in English and Latin and dated 1572. The text "Jesus Salvator" (Jesus the Savior) connects the eight-pointed cross with Jesus Christ.
- Around the illustration,[12] there are characters from the reconstruction[13] of the mysterious Emerald Tablet, which is one of the pillars of Western alchemy. It has been translated by many people over the centuries, and is said to be inscribed with the secrets of the universe. One interpretation suggests that the text describes seven stages of alchemical transformation—calcination, dissolution, separation, conjunction, fermentation, distillation and coagulation.[14]
- The opposite page contains an illustration[15] by the sixteenth century Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi book History of Monsters (Monstrorum historia cum Paralipomenis historiae omnium animalium), published posthumously in 1642. The illustration, known as "Monstrum cornutum, and alatum aliudmale", shows a winged monster without arms, with animal ears and face.
- As Jafar turns the pages, he stops at an incantation:[16]
Tres genies in utres
Ego te coniungere
Da mihi virtutem
Magicae res tres
Vult totam
[illegible]
Three genies* in bottles
Give me power
Three magic things
He wants all
- *Note that the word "genie" is plain English
- This is the same incantation that Jafar uses to take control of the Genie Bottles, However, he does not say the last stanza.
- On the opposite page,[16] characters from the Emerald Tablet can be seen on the right side of the page. Note that many of them are upside-down and/or mirror-inverted.
- Another page[17] shows the Tree of Life from Kabbalah. This symbol represents, as a series of divine emanations, God's creation, the nature of revealed divinity, the human soul, and the spiritual path of ascent by man.
- The characters on the page[17] are symbols for alchemical processes, inclduing Abstraction, Putrefication, Digestion 1, Purification 1 and Reverberation 2. The symbol for Fixation is printed on the opposite page.[18]
- When Jafar tries to take control of the genie bottles, after he tries the second incantation, you can see a fourth genie bottle on the table, next to the other three.[19]
Costume Notes
International Titles
| International Titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Language | Title | Translation |
| French | "Le Cœur du Sujet" | "The Heart of the Subject" |
| German | "Das Herz Aller Dinge" | "The Heart of All Things" |
| Italian | "Il nocciolo della questione" | "Heart of the Matter" |
Videos
