The Dark Curse
What is the curse?
The Dark Curse is a powerful spell Regina cast to get revenge on Snow White for revealing a secret that caused the death of Regina's true love, Daniel.
Where did the curse come from?
Regina got the curse from Rumpelstiltskin. She traded it to Maleficent for a sleeping curse, which she used on Snow White. The sleeping curse failed, broken by true love's kiss from Charming.
Regina visits Maleficent and demands The Dark Curse back. Like a store with an infuriating no-refunds policy, Maleficent refuses to give The Dark Curse back to Regina.
And like an angry customer, Regina won't take no for an answer. But unlike the average irate customer, Regina has magic to back-up her anger, which makes things a lot more interesting...
Regina visits Maleficent and demands The Dark Curse back. Like a store with an infuriating no-refunds policy, Maleficent refuses to give The Dark Curse back to Regina.
And like an angry customer, Regina won't take no for an answer. But unlike the average irate customer, Regina has magic to back-up her anger, which makes things a lot more interesting...
How Regina handles bad customer service
What was needed to enact the curse?
To enact the curse, Regina needed hair from those with the darkest souls and the heart of the thing she loves most.
She kills her prized steed and uses its heart to enact the curse. After a lot of pomp and smoke, the curse rises then fizzles and dissipates like a wet firecracker.
Confused by her failure to enact the curse, Regina goes to the source of the curse, Rumpelstiltskin, for help. He tells her she needs the heart of the thing she loves most. He scoffs when Regina says she sacrificed her prized steed. He tells her great power requires great sacrifice, and the heart she needs has to come from something far more precious.
Regina realizes that she must kill the person she loves most—her father.
She kills her father and retries the curse with his heart. The curse rises and booms like the first try, but instead of failing, it grows, and its dark foggy tendrils sweep out to engulf all of Fairy Tale Land.
She kills her prized steed and uses its heart to enact the curse. After a lot of pomp and smoke, the curse rises then fizzles and dissipates like a wet firecracker.
FAIL! bwahahaha
Confused by her failure to enact the curse, Regina goes to the source of the curse, Rumpelstiltskin, for help. He tells her she needs the heart of the thing she loves most. He scoffs when Regina says she sacrificed her prized steed. He tells her great power requires great sacrifice, and the heart she needs has to come from something far more precious.
Dude, you need a mint.
Regina realizes that she must kill the person she loves most—her father.
Um, Daddy... I... uh... need to kill you.
She kills her father and retries the curse with his heart. The curse rises and booms like the first try, but instead of failing, it grows, and its dark foggy tendrils sweep out to engulf all of Fairy Tale Land.
Thanks dad!
The curse is born!
What are the side effects of the curse?
The curse took away the happy endings of all the inhabitants of Fairy Tale Land by separating them from everything they love. It did this by transporting them to—as Regina put it—"Somewhere horrible, absolutely horrible. A place where the only happy ending will be mine."
Where is this horrific place Regina speaks of? Why, our world, of course.
Welcome to hell a.k.a Storybrooke, Maine
The curse also locked the fairy tale characters in time and wiped their memories. They don't remember their true identities. They don't age or change and aren't aware they're stuck in time. For all eternity they must live out mundane lives in fear of Regina and apart from their loved ones. And to top it all off, Storybrooke is like The Hotel California--no one can ever leave.
Where is this horrific place Regina speaks of? Why, our world, of course.
Welcome to hell a.k.a Storybrooke, Maine
The curse also locked the fairy tale characters in time and wiped their memories. They don't remember their true identities. They don't age or change and aren't aware they're stuck in time. For all eternity they must live out mundane lives in fear of Regina and apart from their loved ones. And to top it all off, Storybrooke is like The Hotel California--no one can ever leave.
Like this, but not as cool.
What did it cost Regina to enact the curse?
Besides the deaths of her father and prized steed, the price Regina paid for enacting the curse is "a void that can never be filled."
Quotes about the curse
- Maleficent to Regina: "You must know that not even it's unholy power can bring your loved one back from the dead."
- Maleficent to Regina: "Whoever created that monstrosity makes the two of us look positively... moral."
- Maleficent to Regina: "Don't do this... this curse. There are lines even we shouldn't cross. All power comes with a price. Enacting it will take a terrible toll. It will leave an emptiness inside you. A void you will never be able to fill."
- Rumpelstiltskin: "The curse to end all curses."
- Rumpelstiltskin: "The Queen has created a powerful curse and it's coming. Soon you'll all be in a prison just like me only worse. Your prison, all of our prisons, will be time. Time will stop and we will be trapped someplace horrible where everything we hold dear, everything we love will be ripped from us while we suffer for all eternity while The Queen celebrates victorious at last no more happy ending."
Can the curse be broken?
According to Rumpelstiltskin, all curses no matter how strong can be broken even one as powerful as The Dark Curse. He said in 28 years the curse breaker would appear for the final battle. The curse breaker is Emma.
How has the curse been weakening since Emma arrived in Storybrooke?
- One of the effects of the curse is time being frozen. The frozen town clock has started ticking, signifying that time for the fairy tale characters has resumed.
- David [Charming] has awakened from his coma.
- Ashley [Cinderella] has given birth, kept her baby, and has reunited with, Sean [Prince Thomas] thanks to Emma. Happy Ending Restored.
- Archie Hopper [Jiminy Cricket] has stood up to the Mayor [The Evil Queen], he was previously intimidated by her.
- Crickets can now be heard in Storybrooke.
- Sheriff Graham [The Huntsman] remembered everything about his fairy tale life.
- A stranger has appeared in town, according to Henry no one visits Storybrooke--ever.
- Hansel and Gretel were separated from their father in Fairy Tale Land. Emma reunites them in Storybrooke. Happy Ending Restored.
- Mary Margaret [Snow White] and David [Charming] have kissed.
- Kathryn [Abigail] and David [Charming] have broken up, and Kathryn [Abigail] isn't afraid to leave Stroybrooke anymore. She attempts to leave but doesn't make it.
- Ruby [Red Riding Hood] discovered her life's purpose, and she's finally happy. Happy Ending Restored?
- Jefferson [The Mad Hatter] knows that Emma is special.
- Henry died [sort of], and Emma kissed him awake. The curse is broken [sort of].
We already know the Queen's void that could never been filled: it's the lack of love. No one loves her: Henry, Graham.. No one. Also, she can't love anybody. She tries to love Henry, but the void doesn't let her.
ReplyDeleteI completely Agree. I was thinking something similar. The void that can never be filled was because she killed the one thing that she loved (her father) which hardened her heart, making her unable to love anything. When she does try to love someone (like Henry, Emma's son) it's really twisted and she tries to make them love her by using fear instead of love because she's afraid to lose them, which jus backfires. She's unable to love.
DeleteP.S. Because they're showing 2 sides to every person, do you think Regina will get a happy ending?
She can love but no one loves her back.
ReplyDeleteBoth of you are wrong. They have not yet told us what the void is. Those are just assumptions.
ReplyDeleteThey don't need to. A void in your heart is a lack of love.
DeletePerhaps but there is no question that the act of killing her own father left a void in her heart, killed a part of her soul, however you want to say it. You can see it in her face when she kills him. That is the end of her heart/soul. So if the curse caused a further void, we haven't been told it yet. But either way, I do think the act of killing her father resulted in her hardened heart/lack of love.
DeleteCould it be not being able to give birth, as well as no love. From the looks of it, in FTL Regina had no love for anyone. It looked like her father loved her, but she didn't love. I can't say no one loves her.
ReplyDeleteShe did love her father. If she didn't the curse wouldn't have worked. Remember when she tried the horse heart?
DeleteYes, anon is right. The curse would not have worked if she did not love her father. Of course, that is not to say she didn't resent her father and wasn't angry at him for his failure to protect her from Cora. She did HAVE to love him though, the show explicitly states it.
DeleteI like that comparison of the Eagles song Hotel California and Storybrooke.
ReplyDeleteWhy did you say the curse is "sort of" broken? I thought Emma broke it.
ReplyDeleteI want to know if whos hearts regina has other than the huntsman. anyone got any ideas?
ReplyDelete