Rock Trolls Valley

Grand Pabbie? I know you're here. Why aren't you showing yourself? Grand Pabbie?

—Anna^src

The Rock Trolls Valley is an Arendelle location featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the first episode of the fourth season.

The Rock Trolls valley is based on the Valley of the Living Rock from the Disney movie, Frozen.

History

Before First Curse

In Arendelle, the rock troll known as Grand Pabbie listens to the plight of one of the royal princesses, Gerda, as she expresses sorrow at losing her sisters, Ingrid and Helga. He consoles her and asks how it happened, but she refuses to speak of it out of grief. Due to the unknown tragedy, Gerda requests a memory potion powerful enough to wipe everyone's memories of her sisters. Pabbie agrees to help her, but he warns the truth has a way of coming out one way or the other and that there will be a magical price extracted at her expense. ("The Snow Queen")

Years later, Gerda becomes Queen of Arendelle and has two daughters, Elsa and Anna. When Elsa exhibits ice powers, she and her husband decide to visit Mist Haven to find a solution. They take the voyage under the guise of a diplomatic mission to the Northern Isles, but before they leave, the royals seek out Pabbie and reveal to him where they are actually headed. On their homebound trip, Gerda and her husband die in a storm as Elsa becomes the next Queen. Five years later, Gerda's daughters discover their mother's diary ambiguously referencing their reason for travelling out of Arendelle was due to their eldest daughter's powers. Anna suggests to Elsa that they seek out the rock trolls, who are practically family, since her fiance Kristoff grew up with them. The sisters go to the valley of the rock trolls and consult Pabbie for answers. Pabbie admits their parents were going to Misthaven, though their reason for it is not known to him. Wishing to solve their family's mystery, Anna wants to go there with Elsa, but her sister refuses to consent. The two of them leave while Pabbie goes back to sleep. ("A Tale of Two Sisters")

Anna is introduced to her aunt Ingrid, but finds it strange the Snow Queen isn't in any of the family portraits or records, so she decides to ask Grand Pabbie. While stopping for supplies at Wandering Oaken's Trading Post, she meets a young woman from the Enchanted Forest, Belle, who wishes to reclaim lost memories of her mother's death and is looking for the rock trolls. The two women travel to the valley together. Anna introduces Belle to Grand Pabbie, who uses memory magic to extracts the missing memories from Belle's mind and transforms it into a stone. Pabbie instructs her to return to the place where she lost her memories, boil the stone in a tea and drink it to remember what was lost. With Belle's matter settled, Anna privately asks him about her aunt Ingrid. Anna believes her mother has no sisters, but Pabbie reveals Ingrid is not lying. He explains that her mother, Gerda, is the youngest of her two other sisters, Ingrid and Helga, and the three often played together as children. To his knowledge, he doesn't know how Ingrid and Helga disappeared, but it was a tragedy that prompted the two sisters to be erased from everyone's memories. Pabbie informs Anna of this, but he obscures that it was Gerda who requested her sisters' existences to be wiped clean. Worried for Elsa's safety and suspecting Ingrid is up to no good, Anna abruptly leaves with Belle. ("Family Business")

Trivia

Set Notes

Filming Locations

The scenes in the Rock Trolls valley were filmed in an abandoned rock quarry in North Vancouver's Greenwood Park.^[1] The same quarry doubles as Neverland for some of the scenes in "Quite a Common Fairy,"^[2] as the Enchanted Forest for the scene where the Pied Piper of Hamelin and the future Lost Boys are dancing around the fire in "Nasty Habits," and as Wonderland in the scene where Alice slays the dragon in the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode "Bad Blood."^[1]

Appearances

Once Upon a Time: Season Four
"A Tale of Two Sisters":	"White Out":	"Rocky Road":	"The Apprentice":	"Breaking Glass":	"Family Business":	"The Snow Queen":	"Smash the Mirror":	"Fall":	"Shattered Sight":	"Heroes and Villains":
Appears	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Appears	Appears	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Darkness on the Edge of Town":	"Unforgiven":	"Enter the Dragon":	"Poor Unfortunate Soul":	"Best Laid Plans":	"Heart of Gold":	"Sympathy for the De Vil":	"Lily":	"Mother":	"Operation Mongoose Part 1":	"Operation Mongoose Part 2":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Gittins, Susan (October 20, 2013). SHOOT: ONCE UPON A TIME's Pied Piper Sequence in North Vancouver Rock Quarry. Hollywood North Buzz. “Unlike most of this season's Neverland scenes, Once Upon a Time filmed this earlier encounter with Pan in the abandoned rock quarry at North Vancouver's Greenwood Park, not on its vast sets in studio.”

Gittins, Susan (September 22, 2013). YOUR SHOOT: ONCE UPON A TIME in Vancouver as Neverland. Hollywood North Buzz. Archived from the original on August 1, 2021. “Larry and other fans did find a couple of temporary sets in public parks around Vancouver but filming happened after dark. For example (...) in this quarry in North Vancouver's Greenwood Park, where one of the '"gang" is held captive. The logs are lightweight props.” (Compare this image from the filming location used for the Enchanted Forest scene where Pied Piper of Hamelin and the future Lost Boys are dancing around the fire in "Nasty Habits," to this screenshot of Rock Trolls valley and notice the shape the stone between Anna and Elsa and the lines on it; it is the same quarry. Also compare said screenshot to this screenshot from "Bad Blood" and notice the shape, cracks and other details on the cliffs; this is also the same quarry.)
↑ Gittins, Susan (August 25, 2013). WEEK: August 19-25, 2013. Hollywood North Buzz. “Friday, August 23rd – Once Upon a Time films Neverland scenes overnight in the quarry at North Vancouver's Greenwood Park.”

[ValleyHabits-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Gittins, Susan (October 20, 2013). SHOOT: ONCE UPON A TIME's Pied Piper Sequence in North Vancouver Rock Quarry. Hollywood North Buzz. “Unlike most of this season's Neverland scenes, Once Upon a Time filmed this earlier encounter with Pan in the abandoned rock quarry at North Vancouver's Greenwood Park, not on its vast sets in studio.”

Gittins, Susan (September 22, 2013). YOUR SHOOT: ONCE UPON A TIME in Vancouver as Neverland. Hollywood North Buzz. Archived from the original on August 1, 2021. “Larry and other fans did find a couple of temporary sets in public parks around Vancouver but filming happened after dark. For example (...) in this quarry in North Vancouver's Greenwood Park, where one of the '"gang" is held captive. The logs are lightweight props.” (Compare this image from the filming location used for the Enchanted Forest scene where Pied Piper of Hamelin and the future Lost Boys are dancing around the fire in "Nasty Habits," to this screenshot of Rock Trolls valley and notice the shape the stone between Anna and Elsa and the lines on it; it is the same quarry. Also compare said screenshot to this screenshot from "Bad Blood" and notice the shape, cracks and other details on the cliffs; this is also the same quarry.)

[2] Gittins, Susan (August 25, 2013). WEEK: August 19-25, 2013. Hollywood North Buzz. “Friday, August 23rd – Once Upon a Time films Neverland scenes overnight in the quarry at North Vancouver's Greenwood Park.”

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