For the Seattle character, see Michael Griffiths. For the Storybrooke character, see Michael Tillman. |
Michael Darling, also known as Keychain,[1] is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the twenty-first episode of the second season and is portrayed by guest stars Benjamin Cook and James Immekus.
Michael Darling is based on the character of the same name from Peter Pan story, and the character of the same name from the Disney film Peter Pan.
History
Michael lives in London, England with his parents, George and Mary Darling, as well as his siblings John and Wendy. Their family welcomes a house guest when Wendy hides a homeless orphan named Baelfire in the nursery, to which he is allowed by their mother to stay. During one night, John and Michael overhear Baelfire warning Wendy against thinking magic is fun since it destroyed his family. Despite her fascination with a creature called the Shadow, he makes Wendy promise never to open the window for it. She disobeys him and is whisked off for an adventure in Neverland, but returns with troubling news as the Shadow wants to take away one of her brothers permanently. Baelfire promises to protect them. They arm themselves with makeshift weapons on the night the Shadow breaks into the nursery and run into the cubby-hole to hide except for Michael, so Baelfire dashes out to ask the Shadow to take him instead. The Darling siblings bolt to the window to watch as Baelfire is pulled away by the Shadow and disappears into the sky. ("Second Star to the Right")
In a bid to save Baelfire, Wendy travels back to Neverland as Michael and John follow in order to bring her home. Instead, Wendy is captured as a prisoner while her brothers must do Peter Pan's every bidding to keep her alive. When Michael and John age to adulthood, Pan keeps them from getting any older by halting their aging. They work for him for over a century-long as members of the Home Office. ("Dark Hollow")After a century-long as Pan's henchman, Michael and his brother have since been halted from aging further. They are sent into the town of Storybrooke by Pan, and the two make it in just before a barrier, which was enacted to keep them out, seals off outside entry. They spy on a mermaid, Ariel, who arrived from Neverland, intending to help Mr. Gold find an item to destroy Pan. When Ariel and her accomplice Belle find a certain box, Michael and John enter to threaten them with guns and binds both women up. An interrogation to learn more about the box is unsuccessful until John moves to shoot them, to which Belle admits that the item is full of magic. Despite that Belle is under the impression they don't know who they are actually working for, John makes it perfectly clear their employee is Peter Pan. They leave to get rid of the box in the mines. As John prepares to smash it with a dwarf ax, their plans are foiled by Ariel and Belle. Both Michael and John are knocked off their feet when Belle activates a runaway mine cart. She snatches the box back as the two brothers beg and plead for her not to help Mr. Gold. Eventually, they admit to being Pan's accomplices only because he has their sister, Wendy, in Neverland. Belle convinces them that the way to get Wendy out safe and sound is to follow Mr. Gold's plan so Pan will be finished for good. Hesitant at first, they agree shortly after. ("Dark Hollow")
After a ship ascends down to the dock from the sky, Michael and John wait anxiously in the crowd of townspeople as the passengers on board begin stepping down. Finally, they spot Wendy and have long awaited happy reunion with her. She reintroduces them to the grown-up Baelfire, now under the name Neal, and they all share a group hug. Now reunited as a family, Wendy and her brothers decide it's finally time for the three of them to go home. ("The New Neverland")Family
Mary Darling | George Darling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wendy | John | Michael | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes:
- Solid lines denote blood parent-child relationship
- Dashed lines denote marriage relationships that result in offspring
Trivia
Disney
- When the children are making preparation for the Shadow's arrival, Michael carries a teddy bear,[2] similar to Disney's 1953 film Peter Pan. ("Second Star to the Right")
- When visiting Storybrooke, Michael is dressed in pink and has a teddy bear on his rear view mirror,[3] alluding to the film's version of Michael Darling. ("Dark Hollow")
Appearances
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 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Mentioned |
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 | Appears | Mentioned | Appears | Appears | 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 | Absent | 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": | ||||||
Absent | Absent | Archive | Absent | Absent | ||||||
"Secrets of Storybrooke": | "Dark Swan Rises": | "Evil Reigns Once More": | "The Final Battle Begins": | |||||||
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Other Appearances | ||||||||||
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.
See also
References
- ↑ LISTINGS: ONCE UPON A TIME: Air Date: Sunday, November 10, 2013. Time Slot: 8:00 PM-9:00 PM EST on ABC. Episode Title: (#307) "Dark Hollow.". The Futon Critic. “Guest starring are [...] James Immekus as keychain”
- ↑ File:221EveryoneToTheirBeds.png
- ↑ File:307Race.png
- ↑ File:304TheFarWall.png
- ↑ File:305FoundSomething.png