Love. As seductive and dangerous as magic, this potent, unpredictable force proves to be the ultimate weapon in the epic battle between good and evil in ABC’s ‘Once Upon a Time: The Complete Fourth Season.’
Soon after Emma and Hook unwittingly bring Elsa of Arendelle to Storybrooke, they encounter the mysterious Snow Queen, whose relentless obsession with both Emma and Elsa has chilling consequences. Meanwhile, it appears Regina has at last found true love with Robin Hood, but how will she react when her happy ending is thwarted yet again by a maddening twist of fate? Then, a banished Rumplestiltskin enlists the Queens of Darkness (Maleficent, Ursula, Cruella De Vil) in an insidious scheme to rewrite their own endings and corrupt the Savior by turning her newly blissful heart pitch-black. Relive all 23 thrilling episodes of Season 4. Plus, delve deeper with never-before-seen bonus features as you revel in the intoxicating magic and mystery of Once Upon a Time – spellbinding now… and forever after!
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Red's Untold Tale explores an earlier chapter in the life of one of our most beloved characters," Once Upon a Time producers said in a statement to THR. "Plagued by nightmares she doesn't understand and a temper she can't control, 16-year-old Red struggles to save Granny's troubled business and to nurture her budding romance with Peter, even as the betrayal of her classmates awakens the wolf within."
Pre-Order Now at Amazon Review by Gareth Hughes Following on from the success of Marvel's first Once Upon A Time graphic novel, 'Shadow of the Queen', comes 'Out of The Past', a collection of 4 short stories featuring long established fan favorite characters. Written by OUAT writer and co-executive producer Kalinda Vasquez and Corinna Bechko, all the stories are considered canonical and tie into official show continuity. Though with a show as sprawling in scope as Once, deciphering where in the timeline the stories fit is sometimes like cracking the Enigma Code!
Chapter One: "Dead In The Water" Art by Pascal Campion The first chapter focuses on a young Killian Jones and is set prior to his fateful encounter with the Dark One. Killian and his crew are caught in a dangerous storm surge that threatens to tear apart the Jolly Roger. Faced with the destruction of the ship, Killian has no choice but to steer the Jolly Roger into a cursed stretch of water known as the Leviathan Shoals. Leviathan is a sea monster referenced in the Tanakh, or the Old Testament. The word has become synonymous with any large sea monster or creature. In this version of the tale, the water surrounding the monsters lair is reputed to drive men into madness with horrific visions. The resulting effects of the water bring a familiar face back into Killian's life, tying into plot strands from season three of the show. Killian's actions during the story once again hint at the hero beneath the pirate, as well as revealing more about how the grief and tragedy of events in his life have impacted him. The outcome of the story is left ambiguous, leaving doubt in both Killian and the readers mind as to whether what he experienced was real or not. Chapter Two: "Truth & Daggers" Art by Betsy Peterschmidt The second story focuses on Belle and Rumple and is set during the early stages of Belle's tenure as a servant within the Dark Castle. The story touches on the sacrifice that Belle made by giving up her freedom to serve at the castle, one aspect being how Belle is now perceived by people within the local village. Many of the villagers are fearful and distrustful of her due to her involvement with Rumple. This plot thread highlights just how isolated Belle is and just how much she has given up. These small moments of realisation to her situation add layers to Belle's character that are sometimes missing from the TV show. The main thrust of the plot involves her reunion with an old childhood friend, Samuel, who has been gravely injured in the Ogres War. Turning to Rumple for help in nursing her friend back to health, Belle soon discovers that all is not what it seems with Samuel. "Truth and Daggers" is a playful, fun little story which also explains how Rumplestiltskin came to be in possession of Pandora's Box, once again tying into season three continuity. Months ago we were treated to the announcement that a set of Once Upon a Time trading cards were to be released by Cryptozoic Entertainment. After many date changes and several changes to the box content set up, they have finally arrived. In this Oncer’s opinion they were definitely worth the wait! The cards are absolutely gorgeous visually. The quality of the cards themselves is fantastic. The extras in each box are things any fan would love.
Each box contains a complete base set of 45 cards. For those of you who have collected trading cards in the past, you will appreciate not having to buy multiple boxes and make trades/purchase individual cards just to complete your base set. There are also 2 chase cards, which are special individual character biography cards, in each box. These are random, so there is no way to tell which characters you might get. Where your base set is complete, the chase set of 9 cards is not, so herein lies the “trading” part of the trading cards. The chase cards are called “The Price of Magic” set. I personally love the hunt of trying to complete a set, and the rush you get when you find that one piece you’ve been searching for. If you are incredibly lucky, you might find a sketch card, which are only placed in one out of every 25 boxes. Review by Gareth Hughes
Please Note: Plot spoilers are present in this review The long awaited Once Upon a Time graphic novel from Marvel is out now and gives us a closer look into The Huntsman’s past along with his twisted relationship with Regina, The Evil Queen. Shadow of the Queen is a hardcover graphic novel consisting of four chapters and behind the scenes bonus material. Each chapter is illustrated by a different artist: Michael del Mundo, Vasilis Lolos, Mike Henderson and Mike Kaluta. The story starts immediately following the events depicted in Episode 7 of Season One, “The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter.” The Huntsman has failed to murder Snow White and, as punishment, Regina took his heart. He is now under her direct control and Regina uses him to do her bidding, whether it's collecting tributes or servicing the highly charged vixen in her private bed chamber. Still bent on revenge, Regina devises a new plan to rid herself of Snow White by using the Huntsman's former werewolf pack to track her down. When the pack comes across Snow, they recognize Red and it is revealed that the pack is also connected to Anita, Red's mother, who Red killed in order to save her friend. A power struggle ensues, leaving Red and Snow caught between enemies on all sides. These plot points fit nicely into the canon of the series overall and help tie up some loose ends with regard to what happened to Anita's pack and the events immediately following the aftermath of her death in the Season 2 episode,“Child of the Moon. The novel, while not providing anything deep, is regarded as an official “canon” story within the series and does help to fill in the blanks, showcasing the relationship between Regina and The Huntsman. My one criticism is that the novel presents a very one dimensional portrayal of the Evil Queen. She is very much a stock villain caricature in this novel, with none of the subtleties and nuances that Lana Parrilla brings to the role so well. There is also the spark of a potential romance between The Huntsman and Red that seems to come out of nowhere towards the end of the novel, leaving you wondering how that scenario would have played out in the series had the Huntsman lived. Overall the story is entertaining, but with only 4 short chapters, the read is over far too soon. For hardcore Once Upon A Time fans however, the graphic novel is a good investment and a nice addition to any collection. By Teresa Martin
There is rarely anything more pleasantly surprising than a “sequel” soundtrack that outdoes the first. The Season Two soundtrack for Once Upon a Time achieves this and more. Not only are there superb new renderings of old favorites and new tunes, but also tracks from Season One that didn’t make the cut. Hence this release is a double treat as both a sequel and an extended addition. The first track is “Sleeping Beauty,” which mirrors the first moments of the pilot. It begins with music that signifies the sweeping scenery, urgency, and the coming of an epic scene: Prince Phillip awakening Aurora with a kiss. The theme utilizes what is now Isham’s Once signature use of stepwise melodies climbing higher and higher, while occasionally gently descending. By Lori Fitzgerald
ABC’s Once Upon a Time is a television show where every fairy tale character you’ve ever known is trapped in our world in a town called Storybrooke, and Titan Books and ABC Studios have teamed up to create more magic by turning a show about stories into a book itself. A Once Upon a Time Tale: Reawakened is a novelization of certain aspects of Season 1 of the highly popular show. Each chapter is based on an episode, although the dialogue and events are not taken verbatim from them. The tapestry of all the plotlines is too lengthy and complex to be developed in one novel, so the book focuses only on the point of view of Emma, the savior, and has Snow White/Mary Margaret as a secondary point of view. The primary setting is Storybrooke, but we see some of the Fairy Tale Land plot that does not revolve around Snow White’s love story, such as Rumplestiltskin’s backstory, through Henry as he recounts it from his book to Emma. Reawakened poignantly explores the depth of Emma’s loneliness and her struggle to take a “leap of believing” and develop relationships with Henry, Mary Margaret, and Graham, and find a sense of belonging in the town: “The wall,” Mary Margaret said. “This wall you have up around your heart.” She shook her head, shrugged. “You think it protects you. And it probably does. But there’s a cost to that.” Emma was surprised at the plume of sadness that expanded in her chest as she listened to her friend’s words. A wall. A shield. She didn’t want to risk saying anything, for fear of sounding choked up. So instead she waited, privately admiring Mary Margaret’s emotional intuition, privately resenting it as well. “It makes it hard to love,” Mary Margaret said, “when you’re defended so well.” (p.118) By experiencing events through Emma’s eyes and delving into her private thoughts, the novelization reminds us that it is Emma who is the key to this story; as the savior she set the events in motion, symbolized by the hands of the clock in the tower. Reawakened also touches upon the Once Upon a Time themes of hope, true love, and the nature of stories. Overall, Reawakened is an insightful companion to the Storybrooke plot of Season 1 by reminding us that Emma not only reawakens the fairy tale characters but also the dormant ability in herself to love, trust, and believe in magic. Reawakened is published by Titan Books and is out now in the USA in Paperback and Kindle format. Order from Amazon. UK fans can order now from Amazon UK Available at http://www.datgprints.com/once-upon-a-time
By Teresa Martin
It is a daunting task to review a soundtrack done by a composer to whom I can never even dream to aspire. But to quote G.K. Chesterton, “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.” The Season One Soundtrack is “Composed and Produced by Mark Isham” and “Performed by The Hollywood Studio Symphony,” as written in the credits. The press release for it states: Isham needed to come up with a score that spanned the entire spectrum of emotions -- not only breathing life into quieter moments, but also being romantic, sweeping, and epic. The result was a score for the series that is both beautiful and heartfelt and has become integral to the fabric of the show. For this release representing music from various episodes, Mark Isham has compiled over an hour of music carefully produced to provide listeners with a musical journey that captures the essence of the show. |
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