| “ |
I'm going back to claim the life that I deserved. |
” |
—Zelena to Mr. Gold | ||
| Zelena | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Actor | Rebecca Mader |
| Gender | Female |
| Hair | Red |
| Occupation | Unknown |
| Family | Father - Jonathan Mother - Cora (Deceased) Half-sister - Regina Mills Daughter- Robin Hood |
| First Appearance | "Witch Hunt" |
| Status | Alive |
| Series Lifespan | "Witch Hunt" to present. |
Zelena, also known as the Wicked Witch of the West, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the thirteenth episode of the third season. She is portrayed by guest star Rebecca Mader, and is the Storybrooke counterpart of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Involvement[]
Season 3[]
"Witch Hunt"[]
While in Storybrooke, Zelena imprisons a resurrected Mr. Gold, courtesy of Neal Cassidy, who previously used a key on the vault of the Dark One to bring back his father. As a price of opening the vault, Neal was supposed to die, but just before he perished, Mr. Gold absorbed him into his own body. At a town hall meeting, she gets her first glimpse of the savior, Emma Swan, who is attempting to figure out who caused the new curse.
One of the residents, Leroy, openly blames the mayor, Regina Mills; an accusation that the other townspeople agree with as does Emma. In a display of frustration, Regina causes a tremor and magically dissipates out of the room. Zelena, sitting at the end of one aisle, watches the situation with interest. Under the disguise of a midwife, she strikes up conversation with Mary Margaret at the diner. The mother-to-be is ecstatic to have found someone who has expertise in childbirth and jokingly remarks that she might still need Zelena even after the baby is born. With Mary Margaret's permission, she is allowed to touch her pregnant belly.
Hours later, Leroy announces to the town's citizens that Emma caught Regina making a memory potion, which will apparently allow whoever drinks it to recall who cursed them. To protect herself from exposure, Zelena teleports into the mayoral office during the night to steal the potion, but disappears in green smoke when Emma and Regina burst in to apprehend her. Luckily, they do not catch a glimpse of her face, which is shrouded by the smoke.
That same night, she magically opens a cellar door outside her house and carries a tray of food to a ragged and disheveled Mr. Gold, who grabs her arm to hiss that she should have never brought him back. She laughs, roughly kicking the tray into the cell, snidely telling him to "eat up" since they've got work to do and then strolls out of the cellar with ease.
"The Tower"[]
Paying Mr. Gold another visit in the cellar, she walks in on him furiously spinning straw into gold. Purposely, Zelena unlocks the cell door, daring him to harm her, though well aware he cannot since she possesses the Dark One's Dagger. She forces him to sit still while giving him a facial shave using the dagger as a razor. During the task, Zelena sourly recounts how her drunken father often made her shave him. She recalls him telling her to "put on her best face", which was impossible since the outside always shows what is rotting on the inside. On purpose, Zelena nicks Mr. Gold to get a droplet of his blood.
Later, she goes to the pawnshop, which is now run by Belle, to ask for a baby gift for Mary Margaret, but quickly freezes the girl, and uses Mr. Gold's blood on a locked compartment behind a wall painting to retrieve a plant called night root. On her first day as midwife, Zelena is introduced to Mary Margaret's husband, David Nolan, and makes the couple chamomile tea at their apartment.
Without their notice, she spikes David's tea with night root, later causing the man to fight a physical manifestation of himself as his greatest fear. He manages to kill it with his own sword hilt, which Zelena magically pockets in her handbag. While leaving the apartment, Zelena gushes enthusiastically about Mary Margaret's charming husband and reassures the expecting mother that with her around, she won't need to worry about the baby.
"Quiet Minds"[]
Discovering Mr. Gold has broken out of the cellar, Zelena exerts power of the dagger to summon Mr. Gold, which doesn't work due to Neal, in his father's body, resisting the weapon's power. Angry at the failure, she sends a flying monkey to search for him. Mary Margaret phones her, panicked about not feeling the baby move as of recently, to which Zelena hurries over to the apartment with groceries. She calms her down, stating it's normal for babies to move infrequently as the labor date nears, and offers orange juice. Mary Margaret brushes off the baby's current state as due to her own worries, though Zelena knows the Wicked Witch, which everyone in town is talking about, must also be giving her stress.
After Mary Margaret downs all of the orange juice, she is surprised to feel the baby kick. Delighted, the dutiful midwife happily remarks that Mary Margaret could have the child any day now. Disguising sinister words in a cheerful tone, Zelena even says that she simply won't allow Mary Margaret to have the child without her.
Later, she excuses herself to the bathroom and escapes the apartment through an open window. As luck would have it, Zelena disappears in time just before Emma and David discover, from Mr. Gold, her identity as the Wicked Witch. They burst in to apprehend Zelena, but she is gone.
In the woods, she meets up with a stoic Mr. Gold, who is watching over the corpse of his dead son, after their bodies were magically separated by Emma. He attempts to attack her, but she subdues him with the dagger. Despite that her real persona has been exposed, Zelena claims she'll have much use for Mr. Gold's brain.
"It's Not Easy Being Green"[]
Zelena storms the town diner threatening anyone who gets in her way will have to deal with the Dark One. She announces herself as Regina's half-sister and forces her into a showdown on Main Street after sundown. Before the deadline, she catches Mr. Gold's lover, Belle, enter the cellar and attempt to guide him out of the prison. Once the girl flees, Zelena magically induces Mr. Gold to give a message to the rest of Belle's allies, David, Emma and Tinker Bell, outside the cellar, that anyone who attempts to hinder her quest to take down Regina will die.
At nightfall, Zelena shows up, with Mr. Gold in tow, though Regina is absent. When challenged by Emma, who she sees as an unworthy opponent, Zelena has Mr. Gold magically fling her away. Regina arrives to the confrontation, having accepted they are sisters, but doesn't understand the grudge Zelena has against her. Zelena wickedly remarks that it's because Regina was born, and she receives a slap in retaliation.
As they trade blows in magic, Zelena furiously declares that Regina had everything even though she didn't appreciate or deserve it. Eventually, she magically chokes Regina and sends her flying into the clock tower. Then, Zelena attempts to rip out her sister's heart, but discovers it is hidden elsewhere.
Before taking off on a broom, she savagely promises to take everything Regina has. Locking up Mr. Gold once more, Zelena informs him that what she is planning to cast isn't a curse, but something to give herself a second chance to change her own past.
"The Jolly Roger"[]
Despite her easy defeat of the savior the prior night, Zelena knows she can't kill Emma, who has powerful magic within her and could be a threat. She makes use of Hook, the sole person that regained his memories from the past year, and is also aware he is in love with Emma. Devising a scheme to take down the savior, she disguises herself as Ariel, a mermaid who once had Hook's aid in finding the man she loves, Prince Eric, only for him to selfishly choose to reclaim his ship over helping her. As Ariel, she tricks Hook into believing since the new curse, Eric hasn't returned and asks for his help locating him.
They track down Eric's cloak at the pawnshop and pour a potion on it, which leads them straight to the harbor and then sinks into the water. "Ariel" pretends to be distraught; believing this is a sign Eric is dead. Overcome with guilt, Hook confesses having met Ariel during the missing year in the Enchanted Forest in which he chose to save his ship over Eric's life; hoping it would fill a void left in his heart from having to leave the woman he loved. To prove he still believes in love, "Ariel" makes him swear on the woman's name, but no sooner do the words "Emma Swan" come out of his mouth, Zelena places a curse on him.
Revealing her true colors, she explains that the real Ariel already found Eric on an island outside the boundaries of the curse and they are now together. Zelena also declares she has cursed him so he can kiss Emma, which will remove all of the savior's magic. Though Hook refuses, she promises to kill all of Emma's loved ones should he fail.
"Bleeding Through"[]
While distracting Regina with a visit to her house, Zelena has Mr. Gold fetch her sister's heart from Robin Hood. Then, she dolls Mr. Gold up by making him wear an extravagant suit and later sit down for a meal with her. Over dinner, she fills him in on her motives for collecting various ingredients, like David's sword and Regina's heart, in order to cast a time spell to change her own past.
At first, Mr. Gold has doubts Zelena can actually do it, but she sweetens the deal by offering to take him along with her so he can be reunited with his son again. Impressed, her former teacher admits he was wrong to have not chosen her in the past and makes up for his errors by engaging Zelena in a heady make-out session. Zelena falls under his alluring spell, but not for long, especially when she realizes he is only toying with her long enough to grab the dagger. Seizing control of the weapon before he can reach it, she angrily berates Mr. Gold for his lost chance of ever seeing his son again and orders him back to his cell.
"A Curious Thing"[]
On the town roadside, Zelena awaits Mr. Gold, who drives up and unveils a kidnapped Hook inside the trunk. She warns Hook for the last time to get a move on her plan to eliminate Emma's magic, or Henry Mills will pay the price. He fails to follow her orders and even attempts to take the boy out of Storybrooke in secret. Zelena sends several flying monkeys after them, but all are destroyed.
While Henry, his memory loss cured by touching the fairytale storybook, is basking in a reunion with Regina, Zelena grabs and proceeds to choke him. Regina's attempt to defend her son is overturned when she is knocked unconscious as Zelena continues to aggressively suffocate Henry. However, she is caught off guard when Emma uses magic to scald her. This moment of distraction causes her to let go of Henry and retreat from the fight.
After the battle, Regina breaks the new curse by giving Henry a kiss of true love.
"Kansas"[]
Proceeding with her plan to enact a time spell, Zelena takes the gold strands Mr. Gold has spun and transforms it into his brain; another needed ingredient. She then has him dig a symbol into the ground of the barn. The last spell component—the baby—is missing since Mary Margaret is in labor, but also because Emma situated a protective barrier around the delivery room to keep Zelena out.
She catches Emma and Hook approaching the barn and quickly wins the situation in her own favor by drowning the pirate until he is unconscious; therefore forcing the savior to resuscitate him and be stripped of her magic. In doing so, Emma's protective spell fades. On her way to claim the last ingredient for the spell, Zelena subdues the Merry Men, Belle and Regina before stealing Mary Margaret's newborn son. Returning to the barn, she begins the spell only for David, Emma, Hook, Regina and Robin Hood to intervene. While everyone else is no match for Zelena, Regina overpowers her with light magic. Regina snatches Zelena's pendant, rendering her powerless without magic, and takes away the dagger as well.
Simmering with rage, Mr. Gold attempts to kill Zelena for enslaving him, but Regina spares her sister's life. Imprisoned in a jail cell, Zelena grudgingly accepts her current dilemma, but fails to understand why she is still alive. Regina sympathizes with her since they both suffered as Cora's daughters and having lives they didn't want. She also knows what it's like to be fueled by vengeance and gives Zelena a second chance to reshape a better future for herself.
Later on, Mr. Gold, wielding the dagger, seeks payback for his son's death by stabbing Zelena to death. Her body transforms into a statue, which he then shatters into pieces. Unseen to his eyes, the remains of her body turn into powder and vanish. Tucked away in the vault, Zelena's pendant airs out a greenish smoke, joining with her life force, before traveling to the barn, where it engulfs the time spell symbol on the ground.
"There's No Place Like Home"[]
Once the time portal is activated, and Emma and Hook have gone through into it, Zelena unknowingly goes with them.
Upon discovering the pair are going to bring Maid Marian to present-day Storybrooke, she kills the woman and assumes her form with the help of a six-leaf clover from Oz. Thus, Emma and Hook end up bringing her home with them.
As Marian, Zelena reunites with Robin Hood, which puts a wedge in his budding romance with Regina. Deciding to honor his marriage vows, Robin Hood breaks up with Regina, who schemes to travel back in time and kill Marian.
Season 4[]
"A Tale of Two Sisters"[]
When Storybrooke is under attack by an ice monster, Regina saves Marian's life.
"Rocky Road"[]
While getting accustomed to town, Marian goes to an ice cream parlor with Robin Hood and Roland. There, Ingrid gifts her a free ice cream cone, which she secretly infuses with a curse. After consuming the frozen treat, Marian attends a town hall meeting, where she collapses and begins freezing to death. Since true love's kiss doesn't work, Regina takes out Marian's heart to keep her from dying.
"Heroes and Villains"[]
Once Ingrid is defeated, Marian unfreezes, and with the return of her heart, she regains consciousness. Later, she arrives to the diner and thanks Regina for saving her life. Knowing that Regina and Robin Hood have feelings for each other, Marian states her intent to step away as she does not wish her husband to be with her out of obligation.
While playing with Roland at a park riverside, she passes out from remnants of Ingrid's magic re-affecting her body. As there is no magic outside the town line, Regina recognizes Marian can only survive by leaving Storybrooke. Due to leftover fragments of Ingrid's curse, however, those who go out of town can never return. Knowing Marian will be in an unknown land outside of Storybrooke, Regina pushes Robin Hood to take Roland and depart with his wife, which he does.
"Heart of Gold"[]
After leaving Storybrooke for New York City, Zelena continues to pretend to be Marian until she and Robin Hood cross paths with Mr. Gold, who has a heart attack stemming from the poison of all his dark deeds. Robin Hood retrieves a magic elixir to heal him, but Zelena switches it out, before revealing her true form to Mr. Gold. As Zelena gleefully explains how she survived her own death, Mr. Gold suffers another heart attack that stops his heart, but the doctors manage to revive him.
Later, she promises to give him the elixir if he stops trying to kill her and makes the Author write her a happy ending, which he agrees to. As Marian, Zelena confronts her husband about finding Regina's phone number on his mobile. She gives him an ultimatum to make a choice between her or Regina, and Robin Hood eventually chooses her, citing that they were once happy together and he wants to regain that happiness again.
Upon Mr. Gold's return to Storybrooke, he has Regina call Robin Hood's phone, in which she discovers Zelena is alive and has been masquerading as Marian this whole time. With this shocking truth, Mr. Gold hopes to blackmail Regina into helping them with the Author. As parting words, Zelena vows she and her sister will see each other.
"Lily"[]
Continuing to pose as Marian, Zelena comes home to find Regina revealing the truth about her to Robin Hood. When Regina threatens her, she feigns ignorance and looks to her husband for protection.
After Robin Hood manages to make Regina stop, Zelena grins wickedly before pulling out the six leaf clover and reverting to her true self. With the truth out in the open, Regina urges Robin Hood to get Roland and leave with her, but he declines. Zelena smugly states that he'll want to stay, to which Regina presses him for an answer. After a moment, Robin Hood admits Zelena is pregnant.
"Mother"[]
Taken back to Storybrooke, Zelena is imprisoned by Regina into a cell in the hospital psychiatric ward, where she taunts her sister about being unable to kill her without making her child motherless.
After obtaining magic ink from Lily, Regina brings the Author, Isaac, to the cell so he can rewrite Zelena out of existence. Learning what will happen to her, Zelena compares Regina to the same level of cruelty that Cora once showed her. As Regina takes in her words, Robin Hood walks in. Backtracking against her plan to hurt Zelena, Regina considers how they are each their own worst enemy, before deciding she will move forward with Robin even if her sister remains in the picture.
"Operation Mongoose Part 1"[]
After Isaac rewrites new lives for everyone, he sends Zelena and every former Enchanted Forest native to an alternate reality inside his book, Heroes and Villains.
"Operation Mongoose Part 2"[]
Once Henry reverts all of Isaac's stories and returns everyone to Storybrooke, Regina checks in on Zelena and confirms to Robin that she is still locked up and still pregnant.
Powers and abilities[]
Magic: Zelena possesses very powerful natural magic powers amplified by her pendant. She was able to beat her sister Regina in a duel and be feared by Rumplestiltskin.
- Teleporting: Zelena can disappear and reappear elsewhere in green smoke. It can also teleport objects or people.
- Pyrokinesis: Zelena can control the fire at will. She was able to handle a chimney fire to severely burn Hansel.
- Fire ball: Zelena can generate a green fireball from her hand as her main attack.
- Telekinesis: Zelena can control, lift and handle objects or people with great power.
- Telekinesis choke: She may concentrate her telekinesis on a person's neck to cause suffocation.
- Telekinesis push: Zelena can push people back with a hand gesture to attack.
- Metamorphosis: Zelena can change the appearance of other people or persons, as when she changes the Wizard of Oz into a flying monkey or takes on the appearance of Ariel.
- Energy blasts: Zelena can generate green energy rays to attack her enemies.
- Healing: Zelena can heal people in a green halo, like when she heals Regina or when she heals herself when her hand was cut off.
- Duplicate: Zelena can create copies of herself whose limit of createable clones is not known.
- Sleep charm: Zelena can put anyone to sleep with a hand gesture.
High magic knowledge: Zelena has a great magical knowledge, being well informed about the spell of time travel.
High intelligence: Zelena possesses great intelligence, being able to set up a complex plan to manipulate Baelfire to take control of the Dark One, manipulate events and heroes to create his spell and after his false death use Mr.Gold and only reveal himself at the appropriate time.
Allies[]
- Mr. Gold
Enemies[]
- Robin Hood
- Emma Swan
- David Nolan
- Belle
- Hook
- Mary Margaret
- Henry Mills
Appearances[]
Season 3[]
- "Witch Hunt"
- "The Tower"
- "Quiet Minds"
- "It's Not Easy Being Green"
- "The Jolly Roger"
- "Bleeding Through"
- "A Curious Thing"
- "Kansas"
- "There's No Place Like Home"
Season 4[]
- "A Tale of Two Sisters"
- "Rocky Road"
- "Heroes and Villains"
- "Heart of Gold"
- "Lily"
- "Mother"
- "Operation Mongoose Part 1"
- "Operation Mongoose Part 2"