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The Red King is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. He débuts, with his only appearance, in the fifth episode and is portrayed by guest star Garwin Sanford.
The Red King is based on the character of the same name from the novel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, and the king mentioned in the 2010 live-action film Alice in Wonderland.
History
At a royal ball in Wonderland, the Red King casually passes his many guests in the crowd. A woman he is not familiar with, Anastasia, greets him coyly, much to his amusement. They chat and share drinks until a man, Will, is hauled out by the guards for forging an invitation. To the King's displeasure, Anastasia is thrown out after she is discovered to be wearing a stolen gown. On another night, he catches Anastasia stealing jewels from his castle as a red crown catches her eye. He questions why she is resorting to stealing. She insists that he has so much wealth and it would be little matter if some of it is gone. After he explains that the hierarchy dictates who has or does not have wealth, she hands back the crown. Though he cannot put his finger on it, he is extremely drawn to Anastasia's beauty and desire to better herself and offers the jewels to her if she marries him. Anastasia's feelings for Will hold her back until the King notes that love won't get someone far and it is never enough. She accepts the marriage proposal, so the King introduces her on the balcony to the public as their new Queen. She strolls out, garbed in a royal outfit and the red crown, to greet the crowd along with the King. ("Heart of Stone")
The Red King, unlike the Queen of Hearts, disapproves of magic, and stresses to his soon-to-be wife that it separates them from their subjects. For this reason, Anastasia keeps her magic lessons with the Queen of Hearts a secret from him. The Queen of Hearts says that she was surprised to receive an invitation to the Red King's wedding, as they do not see eye to eye. ("Heart of the Matter")
At some point, the Red King becomes unfaithful to Anastasia while she becomes aware he is using the castle's underground passageways to transport his "companions" in and out without being seen. ("Heart of the Matter")
In order to let Anastasia take full control of the throne, Cora kills the Red King.[1]
Trivia
Production Notes
Disney
- The Red King is implied to have been killed by the Queen of Hearts.[1] In the 2010 live-action film Alice in Wonderland, the Disney version of the Red Queen, here an amalgamation of the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts, states that she killed her husband. ("Heart of Stone")
Costume Notes
- The crown the Red King is wearing when introducing Anastasia to the inhabitants of Wonderland[3] is the same crown worn by the character Barney Stinson in the How I Met Your Mother episode "Third Wheel"[4] and Dean Winchester in the Supernatural episode "LARP and the Real Girl."[5] ("Heart of Stone")
Appearances
| Once Upon a Time in Wonderland | ||||||||||
| "Down the Rabbit Hole": | "Trust Me": | "Forget Me Not": | "The Serpent": | "Heart of Stone": | "Who's Alice": | "Bad Blood": | ||||
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | ||||
| "Home": | "Nothing to Fear": | "Dirty Little Secrets": | "Heart of the Matter": | "To Catch a Thief": | "And They Lived…": | |||||
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | |||||
References
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