Season 4, Episode 1:
A Tale Of Two Sisters
In flashbacks to Arendelle, set two years after the events of Frozen, sisters Queen Elsa and Princess Anna discover that their parents' "diplomatic mission" that led to their deaths was actually for another purpose; they were traveling to Misthaven, also known as the Enchanted Forest. Upon learning this, Anna is determined to travel there herself and find out exactly why.
In the present day, Elsa, having been freed from the urn she was imprisoned in, heads toward Storybrooke, encountering Grumpy/Leroy and Sleepy/Walter, whose van nearly hits her; she reacts by freezing the van solid. Once in town, realizing she's being followed (by Hook and Emma, who were alerted to her presence by Leroy after he returned to town, and see the trail of frost she left on the ground), a scared Elsa creates a large snowman to lure off her pursuers. While they're distracted, she discovers a newspaper with a picture of Mr. Gold, whom she recognizes, and makes her way to his pawnshop. Once inside, she discovers a necklace she had once given her sister Anna, and vows to find her.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gold and Belle start their honeymoon at an unfamiliar house, where Mr. Gold discovers a magic item he recognizes; and Regina, after freeing Sidney Glass from prison and trapping him back in the Magic Mirror, contemplates altering history by killing Marian before Emma can bring her to the future. After some words from Emma, though, she winds up rescuing Marian from the rampaging snowman, and decides on a new course of action: finding the author of the "Once Upon a Time" book and forcing them to write a happy ending for her.
Tropes
- Arc Words: "Villains don't get happy endings" and "I will find you" are back.
- Blatant Lies: So that Elsa can't stop Anna from leaving for Misthaven, Kristoff stalls her by concocting an increasingly ridiculous story about Anna going out to find cake frosting. Elsa is quick to realize he's lying through his teeth and makes him quickly come clean.
- Broad Strokes: Elsa and Anna's backstory seems to be more or less what happened in Frozen, but the removal of Olaf, and having Hans be still on the loose, gives some wiggle room for twists in it.
- The Bus Came Back: Sidney/Magic Mirror after spending several years locked up in the hospital for no apparent reason given the lifting of the original curse and Regina's Heel–Face Turn. Somewhat lampshaded in that the reason for Sidney's continued imprisonment is handwaved away (and the question of what happened to him during the year-long second curse is left unanswered).
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Regina killed so many people that she needs Sidney/the Magic Mirror's help to remember when she captured Marian.
- Cool Crown: Elsa has replaced the tiara she tossed in "Let It Go" with a snowflake-themed one.
- Couch Gag: The title card features a snowstorm with a flake that resembles the snowflake pendant.
- Dramatic Irony: Emma tries to put Killian off by telling him there's a crisis to deal with (the Regina/Robin Hood/Marian mess). He points out there's always a crisis and if Emma doesn't learn to live among them, she'll never get to have a life. Right as he says this, who should come running up (as usual) but Leroy, shouting about Elsa's ice attack near the town line.
- Establishing Character Moment: Elsa and Anna first appear on the show approaching their parents' memorial stones hand in hand and placing crocus blooms by the stones. Elsa tells Anna "They would have been proud of you," to which Anna answers, "Of both of us, Elsa." Elsa then announces that she has a surprise for Anna's upcoming wedding to Kristoff. This scene briefly spells out the sisterly bond between Elsa and Anna for those who have not yet seen Frozen, and establishes that the action is picking up about two years or so after the events of the movie.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Averted. The flashbacks are established to happen two years after the events depicted in Frozen so that Anna getting engaged to Kristoff doesn't come off as this trope.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Although this trope usually applies to animated characters resembling their voice actors, in this case the trope is inverted in that Georgina Haig is a physical dead ringer for Elsa's animated counterpart (more so than any other OUAT character to date).
- Elsa is a standout example, but all of the characters adapted from Frozen bear greater resemblance to their animated counterparts in both physical appearance and costume than the rest of the OUAT cast.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Regina considers going back in time to kill Marian before Emma can rescue her, but changes her mind.
- Mythology Gag: When Elsa expresses concern about Kristoff, Anna tells Elsa, "It's not like he grew up in a barn. Fine. Yes. He lived in one for a while, but he grew up with trolls." This might remind one of how in Frozen, Kristoff's reaction to Anna propping her feet up on the "dashboard" of his sled was to say, "Whoa, whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa! Get your feet down. This is fresh lacquer. Seriously, were you raised in a barn?" and then spit on the spot where Anna's feet had been.
- Old, New, Borrowed and Blue: Early in the episode Anna is preparing for her wedding to Kristoff, and Elsa presents her with their mother's wedding dress (the 'something old') and a silver snowflake pendant (the 'something new').
- Snowlems: A scared Elsa creates a new version of Marshmallow (the original Marshmallow she created in Frozen is probably still living in Elsa's ice palace) to draw off her pursuers; it's later destroyed by Regina.
- Shout-Out: The scene where Emma talks to Regina (who's locked herself in the mayor's office) calls to mind Anna and Elsa's situation in "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?"
- Elsa's giant snowman, as mentioned above, is a new version of Marshmallow.
- Was It All a Lie?: Regina wants to know this. Robin makes it painfully clear to her that his feelings for Regina are stronger than ever, but his marriage vows to Marian demand he go back to her no matter what his heart wants.
- Wham Line: The story takes a pretty meta turn the moment Regina announces her plan:Regina: Find the writer.
- And another when Kristoff reveals to Elsa just what Misthaven is.
Kristoff: You might know it better by what the inhabitants call it. [...] The Enchanted Forest. - Wham Shot: When Mr. Gold is able to conjure up the iconic Sorcerer's Hat from Fantasia.
- You Monster!: Marian calls Regina this in both the past and present. In the past, Elsa also believes that her parents saw her as a monster.
