The Yellow Brick Road is an Oz location featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the sixteenth episode of the third season.
The Yellow Brick Road is based on the location of the same name from the novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
History
A woodcutter and his wife are travelling down the Yellow Brick Road when a cyclone drops a basket in front of them. The woman discovers an infant girl in the basket. Only the husband sees the newborn use powerful magic, and out of fear, he attempts to convince his wife to leave the girl behind, but she insists on keeping the child and naming her Zelena. As they leave, the woman reminds her husband to stick to the road or they'll never make it to the Emerald City before dawn. ("It's Not Easy Being Green")
Cora tracks down her first-born, Zelena, whom she witnesses using strong magic. She's watching from the Yellow Brick road as Zelena's adoptive father prepares to beat the young teenager as punishment for using magic, but Cora intervenes by freezing him in place. ("Sisters")
Stanum chops down a tree by the Yellow Brick Road and discovers a fallen bird nest with a broken egg. He is approached by a girl, Zelena, who asks him to move the tree before someone is hurt, though he states it is too late for that and shows her the cracked egg. She muses that it must not have survived the fall and quickly uses magic to heal the crack on the egg and teleports it up into another tree, surprising him. As he asks her how she did that, they are approached by two bullies who call her a monster and admit that they used a slingshot to knock the egg out of the tree. The youngsters prepare to use the same slingshot to hit the girl, who runs to hide behind a tree trunk, but Stanum saves her by pulling out his ax and charging the bullies, threatening them into leaving. The girl is shocked that he helped her since she is considered a monster because of her magic, however, Stanum proclaims she is special due to her willingness to use magic to do good things. After Stanum introduces himself, the girl tells him her name: Zelena. ("Where Bluebirds Fly")
Years later, Glinda, the Witch Good of the South, along with the Witch of the East and the Witch of the North, protect Oz with each of their magic affinities. Their special meeting place is the Heart of Oz, on the Yellow Brick Road. Zelena is invited by Glinda to join their sisterhood of witches. Though Zelena is more interested in changing her past, Glinda convinces the unsure redhead that her destiny lies in changing her own future by becoming a good witch. While showing Zelena the western area of Oz, with the Yellow Brick Roads winding through it, they approach wreckage from a cyclone and find a girl, Dorothy. Taken in by the sisterhood of witches, Dorothy comes to view them as her family and spends time with them at the Heart of Oz. Glinda later witnesses Zelena attack Dorothy and offers Dorothy Zelena's place with the sisterhood, but the latter wishes to go home, so Glinda asks the girl to follow her down the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald Castle. ("Kansas")
On the outskirts of the Emerald City, Will Scarlet ends up restrained by a guard, who is knocked out once a portal door lands on him. From the door, Robin Hood steps out and frees Will. Robin Hood explains his intentions of stealing an Elixir of the Wounded Heart from the Wicked Witch, which he needs to secure his as well as his wife's future. Wishing to use the elixir to alleviate his heartbreak over his sister Penelope's death, Will asks Robin Hood to fetch him some in exchange for not telling the guard about him breaking into the Emerald Palace. Since Robin Hood also requires a disguise to get into the Emerald Palace, Will helps strip the uniform from the unconscious guard. Later, Robin Hood returns, having only gotten one vial of elixir, but he lies about not acquiring any of it. Akin to Robin Hood and his wife, Will relates how his own sister was once the person who understood him best, but that ended when she died. Realizing Will needs the elixir more than him, Robin Hood hugs him in farewell and secretly slips the vial in the latter's pocket. Only after Robin Hood has left through the portal, Will finds the elixir, much to his surprise. ("Heart of Gold")
Trivia
On-Screen Notes
- When Robin Hood and Will Scarlet hug, there is an overhead shot where a tin man appears lying on the side of the road.[1] ("Heart of Gold")
Filming Locations
- For the episode "Heart of Gold, the scenes by Yellow Brick Road were filmed on a blue-screen set built at The Bridge Studios.[2] While the set was dressed to look like a forest, the background and the Yellow Brick Road were added digitally in post-production.
Appearances
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 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | 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 | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent |
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": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | 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 | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Five | |||||||||||
"The Dark Swan": | "The Price": | "Siege Perilous": | "The Broken Kingdom": | "Dreamcatcher": | "The Bear and the Bow": | "Nimue": | "Birth": | "The Bear King": | "Broken Heart": | "Swan Song": | |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | |
"Souls of the Departed": | "Labor of Love": | "Devil's Due": | "The Brothers Jones": | "Our Decay": | "Her Handsome Hero": | "Ruby Slippers": | "Sisters": | "Firebird": | "Last Rites": | "Only You": | "An Untold Story": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Six | ||||||||||
"The Savior": | "A Bitter Draught": | "The Other Shoe": | "Strange Case": | "Street Rats": | "Dark Waters": | "Heartless": | "I'll Be Your Mirror": | "Changelings": | "Wish You Were Here": | "Tougher Than the Rest": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Murder Most Foul": | "Ill-Boding Patterns": | "Page 23": | "A Wondrous Place": | "Mother's Little Helper": | "Awake": | "Where Bluebirds Fly": | "The Black Fairy": | "The Song in Your Heart": | "The Final Battle Part 1": | "The Final Battle Part 2": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Seven | ||||||||||
"Hyperion Heights": | "A Pirate's Life": | "The Garden of Forking Paths": | "Beauty": | "Greenbacks": | "Wake Up Call": | "Eloise Gardener": | "Pretty in Blue": | "One Little Tear": | "The Eighth Witch": | "Secret Garden": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"A Taste of the Heights": | "Knightfall": | "The Girl in the Tower": | "Sisterhood": | "Breadcrumbs": | "Chosen": | "The Guardian": | "Flower Child": | "Is This Henry Mills?": | "Homecoming": | "Leaving Storybrooke": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |