Once Upon a Time: Storybrooke Has Frozen Over is a special recap episode of the fantasy drama television series Once Upon a Time created by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz detailing important events leading up to the first part of the show's fourth season.
The special explores the show in a way that will bring new viewers up to date - but which current viewers will also find illuminating – in anticipation of the fourth season premiere.
It takes a look at the role that family plays in the show and never giving up on the ones you love, our heroes' journey from breaking the curse to the ramifications of magic in our world, travelling to Neverland to save Henry from an evil Peter Pan, their battle with The Wicked Witch of the West upon their return, and the upcoming presence of Elsa, the Ice Queen from Arendelle, in Storybrooke.
The special features interviews with executive producers Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz to help tell the story. John Rhys-Davies narrates the special.
Welcome to Storybrooke, Maine, a small town that probably won't show up on your GPS, but it's a magical place to visit. Reality and myth merged after Emma broke Regina's curse, which had deprived the fairy tale characters of their memories and trapped them in our modern world.
When they finally regained their identities, our heroes were dismayed to discover that they weren't transported back to Fairy Tale Land. To make matters worse, Rumplestiltskin – aka Mr. Gold – decided to escalate his power struggle with Regina by introducing magic into the town.
But this is our world, and magic always has a tendency to yield unfathomable consequences.
After defeating Zelena - the Wicked Witch of the West - Emma and Hook were pulled into her time portal, which brought them back to the Enchanted Forest of the past.
When they accidentally thwarted the initial meeting of Snow White and Prince Charming, Emma and Hook had to find a way to fix the timeline and get them together, or risk altering their futures and possibly obliterating Emma and Henry's existence - not an easy task to undertake.
When Emma was captured by The Evil Queen, she met a female prisoner scheduled to be executed. Upon finding a way to escape, Emma saved the prisoner's life by taking her along. But Hook believed the woman's fate was to die and feared that things could be altered by her continued existence.
After successfully getting her parents back on track, Emma, Hook and the prisoner found themselves captured by Rumplestiltskin and imprisoned in a room that contained his most unpredictable magic. With no way to escape, Emma discovered that her own magic had returned, and she was able to whisk herself, Hook and the prisoner back to present day Storybrooke.
Upon their joyous return, Emma learned that the prisoner was none other than Robin Hood's wife, Marian, who was presumed dead in the previous timeline. Regina and Robin Hood had begun to fall madly in love with one another, but with Marian's return, their relationship could be in danger.
And, unbeknownst to anyone, Emma and Hook also brought back Elsa.
The Storybrooke residents do not know what Elsa has in store for them. Back in the past, in Elsa's kingdom of Arendelle, we will discover what happened to her, her sister Anna and Kristoff, and how and why Elsa became a prisoner of Rumplestiltskin.
And now that Emma has brought back Robin Hood's wife, Marian, and possibly sparked the end of Regina's relationship with him, will she return to her old, evil ways and do everything in her power to get even?
And newlyweds Belle and Rumplestiltskin continue to be deeply in love with each other. But Rumple is hiding a secret from Belle; one that, if found out, could destroy their happiness – he continues to be the master of the dagger that calls upon him to be the Dark One.
Can Emma and Hook commit to one another, and can these two damaged people take their love to the next level?
Mary Margaret and David have a new baby, Prince Neal, and are looking forward to raising him into a proud, brave and loving adult. But they are still sad that they were not able to do this with Emma, instead helping her escape the curse when she was first born and not meeting her again until she was 28 years old.
Henry is very happy to have both of his mother's back in Storybrooke. But with biological mom Emma and paternal grandfather Rumplestiltskin's blood running through his veins, he will be tested by both the light and the darkness.
Finally, Will Scarlet (Michael Socha), a former member of Robin Hood's band of Merry Men, has traveled across many lands to make his way to Storybrooke. He finds himself intertwined in the goings-on in town for the first time as his mysterious past pushes him to an unknown future.
As the season continues, new fairy tale characters will be revealed and old acquaintances will be revisited. But not everyone can be trusted.
Once Upon a Time stars Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret, Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan, Lana Parrilla as the Evil Queen/Regina, Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David Nolan, Emilie de Ravin as Belle, Colin O'Donoghue as Hook, Jared S. Gilmore as Henry, Michael Socha as Will Scarlet and Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold.