WONDERLAND - Once Upon a Time in Wonderland podcast

A young boy named Jafar seek help from a Sorceress in order to get revenge from those who belittled him by learning dark magic, changing him in the process. Meanwhile, in Wonderland, Alice is faced with a complicated roadblock that forced her to do something she promised never to do.

A young boy named Jafar seek help from a Sorceress in order to get revenge from those who belittled him by learning dark magic, changing him in the process. Meanwhile, in Wonderland, Alice is faced with a complicated roadblock that forced her to do something she promised never to do.

Agrabah

It’s just the fourth episode but they are already giving us some nice backstory, and about Jafar’s staff at that (kind of like Emma’s bug in Once Upon a Time). It was also nice to see his backstory and see his flipping point. On the other hand, Amara, the Sorceress, looked the same even after Jafar grow older. How old is she really? Amara means everlasting or eternal, while Mara means bitter. Is Amara immortal?

At such a young age, Jafar appeared to already be filled with hatred; hatred towards his father, the Sultan, for abandoning him. Jafar then went to Amara to seek revenge and asked her to teach him dark magic so people will fear him like they did her. He also said that he hated his father with a fire of a thousand suns. Could he be seeking power as well? He is half-royal, after all.

On a more interesting note, is Jafar, somehow, Princess Jasmin’s half sister? Or is it another Sultan that he is referring to? Knowing the show’s creators, anything is definitely possible.

Knowing she couldn’t enact the spell by herself, Amara taught Jafar everything he must learn in order to fulfill the spell. Young Jafar seemed hell-bent on revenge, but the older Jafar looked the opposite. Jafar was also deeply grateful for what Amara did to him, but wasn’t grateful enough to turn her into what became his staff eventually.

Before Amara began teaching the Masking spell to Jafar, Amara said that they need a human liver, which they got from Akil, the man he poisoned with the wine he gave him for his good deed. Is the Masking Spell something that will allow him to somehow disguise as someone else? If not, then what is it for?

As for the Timeline, it looks like Jafar took the second bottle just a bit before Jafar went to the merchant from the second episode, Trust Me. Oh, and glad that Amara was not Jasmin; we sure don’t want to see one of our favorite princesses turning out to be evil.

As Jafar learns the dark magic, Amara showed him a book containing all the words of wisdom about genies. Amara also showed him a spell that only the power of the three genies would allow them to cast; a spell so powerful even her magic could not attempt to learn but with a partner, Jafar, would be possible. It requires both their powers because if they succeed, making them the most powerful sorcerers ever known, and allowing them to change the laws of magic and everything they desire will come true.

The book also showed the pictures of the exact lamps in Jafar’s lair. One of them looks a lot like Aladdin’s lamp. Is it the same lamp? Are each genie’s lamp different or others were kind of the same?

When Jafar succeeded in getting the second bottle, Amara turned the bar man into a fate worse than death, turning him into stone. This somehow reminded us of the Evil Queen’s Sleeping Curse in Once Upon a Time.

Moreover, Amara said that only she loved Jafar but Jafar used a potion that allowed him to steal Amara’s magical essence and turning her into a serpent staff. Looks like Amara also lives a fate worse than death.

Will the serpent staff be turned into Amara again in the future? If she does, will she be willing to help Jafar?

With the help of The Knave of Hearts, Alice's quest to finding her lost love continues by finding something that could show them who stole Cyrus's bottle. But before they could even get a hold of it, Alice is revisited with a monster from her childhood that almost killed her. On the other hand, it was later revealed that Anastasia is someone none of us expected.

With the help of The Knave of Hearts, Alice’s quest to finding her lost love continues by finding something that could show them who stole Cyrus’s bottle. But before they could even get a hold of it, Alice is revisited with a monster from her childhood that almost killed her. On the other hand, it was later revealed that Anastasia is someone none of us expected.

In the Enchanted Forest

A few years ago in the Enchanted Forest, Robin Hood welcomed Will Scarlett as the new member of his merrymen by testing him to steal bags-full of treasures. Just how long exactly is “a few years”? We think this happened before or after the “Lacey” episode in Once Upon a Time, since Robin Hood is acting kind of like a bachelor in this flashback. Plus, both creator Adam Horowitz and actor Sean M. Maguire also confirmed on Twitter that this particular event happened before Maid Marian got sick. There were also no mention of  Maid Marian and his son, Roland yet.

@RaissaDevereux yes, a sick loved one can change things

— Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) October 25, 2013

@NataliaYank2530 I think so.

— Sean Maguire (@sean_m_maguire) October 25, 2013

After Robin Hood, Will and the rest of his merrymen succeeded in their latest voyage, Robin Hood officially welcomed Will to his circle by cutting his palm using a knife, indicating that Will is now one of his “Merrymen for Life.” What does he mean? Is Will going to join them back some time?

Will Scarlett: A traditionally prominent merrymen of Robin Hood, known as the youngest member of the band.

Believing they are not a thief, Robin Hood explained to Will that they are simply helping those in need by thieving. Robin Hood also indicated that a thief only steals for themselves, and that if you steal for personal gain the first thing you lose is yourself. However, before they continue their journey, Will suggested that they go to Maleficent’s castle located at the top of the Forbidden Mountain and steal her gold. Robin Hood tried to disrupt Will’s plan, indicating that one thing they don’t want to mess with is magic because it’s too dangerous, that no matter how valuable its wealth will bring, it’s not worth it. But because of Will’s insistence, he convinced Robin Hood on coming to Maleficent’s castle despite the dangers they are heading for. As Robin Hood and his merrymen searches for the gold inside Maleficent’s empty castle, Knave searched for something else — a looking glass.

Feeling triumphant, Robin Hood, WIll and the rest of the merrymen went back at the camp. But before their celebration continues, Maleficent’s voice was heard, threatening them that they could keep the gold as much as they like, but they must return the other treasure that was stolen. Because while its power is tempting, it will only bring misery to its taker. But why the threat? Did Maleficent have her own share of that misery or was it just empty words?

Despite Will’s betrayal, Robin Hood let him go, allowing him to to let his own fate decide for him. Is that what caused his wife to get sick? Did Maleficent curse ...

Alice and Will went on a quest to find Alice's lost love. Jafar continues to search for the genie even as far back as Agrabah. The Red Queen continues to order The White Rabbit to tell her of Alice and Will's whereabouts and plans, while Will reunites with an old flame. Check out our full podcast discussion on Once Upon a Time in Wonderland's second episode, Trust Me.

Cyrus, the genie, has been wished to be gone by his former master and was thrown to a place as far away from Agrabah as the earth from the sun. But why did Jafar wants his wishes even back then? Meanwhile, in Wonderland, Alice and Will journeys to the Mimsy Meadows to retrieve something no one except her and Cyrus knows about. But are they really the only one who knows about it or would someone else get there before they do?

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland is getting better than last week; the dynamics are better, and they seem to be filling in a lot of holes this time.

Agrabah

Many years ago in Agrabah, the man with the serpent staff named Jafar visited a merchant, who Jafar thought to be well enough for someone who is just selling scarves. Jafar seemed to be seeking wishes even then, but what does he need of those wishes? How was he tracking genie? Is he just going after someone who seems prosperous, assuming they have the bottle and go from there?

Fearing for his life, Cyrus’s former master, on the other hand, wished for the genie to be gone out of Agrabah and on to a farther land as possible.

It seems interesting how they give us answers. But Wonderland and Agrabah are two distant worlds so how did Jafar knew that the bottle and the genie is in Wonderland? How did he even get to Wonderland? Alice has never used her wishes so how did Jafar found about Wonderland if the only way to find the genie is through tracking someone with a wish?

Before moving to Wonderland

The flashback in this episode looks a bit similar to how the Disney movie Aladdin started: with a merchant who was telling a tale about genie and his magical lamp. The flashbacks this time are also a bit different than Once Upon a Time and perhaps LOST; generally all part of a single story that somehow relates to current story that allows you to get the real story a bit better. Flashbacks also seem to give us extra details regarding a specific event and are not telling two separate stories (eg; the location of genie’s bottle).

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Wonderland

Will, The Knave of Hearts, woke up to the sound of Alice in training, who has been trying to come up with a plan on how to find Cyrus. Alice then realized that maybe they don’t need to find Cyrus because she knows something that only she and Cyrus knows — where to find his bottle — and has come up with a plan.

Alice’s Two-Step Plan

In the hopes of finding Cyrus, Alice suggested two steps:

* Find the bottle (which is in Mimsy Meadows beneath the Towering TumTum tree)

* Make harmless wishes — something small and innocent like wishing for a cupcake

Alice then explained that once she made her own wishes, Will has to rub the bottle, make three wishes, which should eventually summon the genie then find a way to somehow free Cyrus. But Cyrus is caged, can he even be summoned from the silver cage?

Will seem to know about care bears and TVs. Looks like we’ve got a Pop culture guy in him, whereas Alice seems to know mostly about Wonderland.

Jafar’s Lair

As Cyrus awaken, the genie felt something in his heart, calling Alice’s name. Could he be dreaming about Alice and her quest? Does it have something to do with the necklace he gave Alice? By the way, Jenny noticed a somewhat similar necklace on Jafar&...

Alice in Wonderland has finally arrived and we've a got load-full of things to talk about. Check out what we've discussed about the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland pilot episode entitled, Down the Rabbit Hole as you listen to the podcast.

Alice in Wonderland has finally arrived and we’ve a got load-full of things to talk about. Check out what we’ve discussed about the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland pilot episode entitled, Down the Rabbit Hole as you listen to the podcast.

Tying-In Alice in Wonderland

While it’s apparent that Once Upon a Time in Wonderland is going on a different direction with its story, the story has been quite true to what happened in the books as far as the looks and the things that happened that Alice said in Wonderland. They also tied-in Once Upon a Time in Wonderland with the original story in Through The Looking Glass by having The Red Queen’s castle made out of chess pieces.

The Beginning of The End

As the show opens, however, the community has been very observant about young Alice’s tea set that looks like it has been grown over as if it had been left for a while. Along with the set lays a few stuffed animals, one of which looks a lot like the stuffed rabbit that Jefferson made for his daughter, Grace.

After little Alice’s first adventure in Wonderland, Alice came running back to her father from the rabbit hole, who thought she was dead because he said that she was gone for a long time. While she was happy to be home and ready to tell her father of the fun-but-terrifying adventures she had in Wonderland, little Alice felt a bit disheartened when she found out that her father thought she made it all up, making Alice want to go back to Wonderland to search for proof.

Storybrooke

It was nice to meet The Knave of Hearts in Storybrooke, Maine. In the episode, the Storybrooke library is still closed but the sign says “opening soon.” On the other hand, Emma’s yellow bug was seen even though it wasn’t clear who was driving it. Adam Horowitz once said that the story happened pretty much around the time as when Once Upon a Time is going on, after the curse was broken.

Two characters from Once Upon a Time were also seen in the pilot episode – Ashley and Leroy. In the episode, Ashley was no longer pregnant but was seen with a baby-sized sneaker keychain, indicating of her newborn baby. Leroy, on the other hand, regarded to The Knave of Hearts as “Brother.” After their short run-in with The Knave of Hearts, it’s interesting how (and if) they are going to cross the scene with Once Upon a Time, since Granny’s diner had been trashed after The White Rabbit’s hole has been opened. We never saw a hole in Granny’s Diner, so is it going to even be explained in Once Upon a Time?

It was also interesting what The White Rabbit said to The Knave of Hearts in Granny’s Diner before they went to the asylum and help Alice. Is he part of The Red Queen’s plan? What does The White Rabbit mean when he said “She needs you”?

The Asylum

Set in London, England, Alice was kept in the Bethlem Asylum for a year. In a scene, the asylum’s gate was seen with Roman numerals MDCCCLXVII (meaning 1867). Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz said that the story takes place in fictional (Victorian) England but if that’s the case, how does it tie in with present day Storybrooke?

Kitsis and Horowitz also mentioned that this is not the same England as Baelfire went into in Second Star to the Right, but why the need to address this fact?

While the curse is still in place, it was said that Alice has been traveling between world...

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland has started and Alice is off for adventure to find her lost love, but she has no idea what Jafar and the Red Queen may have planned for her.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland has started and Alice is off for adventure to find her lost love, but she has no idea what Jafar and the Red Queen may have planned for her.

Alice returns home to her father telling her that everyone thought she was dead. Her imaginative stories about a talking White Rabbit and a mystical place called Wonderland end up getting her admitted into an asylum where Dr. Lydgate convinces her to have a procedure that will allow her to forget her pain. Right before the operation is set to take place she is rescued by the Knave of Hearts who takes her to the rabbit who informs her that her true love Cyrus is still alive. As the trio then jumps into the portal returning to Wonderland, Alice sets out on a quest to find him but the villainous Jafar and the Red Queen have other plans for her.

These are just our first thoughts about this Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode. We’ll share more about “Down the Rabbit Hole” in our upcoming full discussion live on Sunday October 13, at 6:00 p.m. (EDT/GMT-4).

Initial reactions

* The Knave of Hearts came from Storybrooke, but this really messes up our present-day timeline because Alice was in Victorian England.

* We enjoyed the Once Upon a Time references with Leroy/Grump, Ashley/Cinderella, and even Emma’s bug!

* The Genie and Jafar are from Agrabah, which is also where the Genie was from in “Fruit of the Poisonous Tree” in Once Upon a Time.

* How does time work in Neverland? Alice visited several times, and even long enough to be thought dead.

* What “bad things” did the Knave of Hearts do to be wanted “with or without his head”?

* What do Jafar and the Red Queen want with the Genie? Do they want Cyrus to be able to grant their wishes, since Alice still has hers?

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