As September 28 draws closer, it’s time to refresh on the particulars of the Season 3 finale in preparation for Season 4.

The season left off with “There’s No Place Like Home.” After the defeat and demise of Zelena, Regina’s really evil green half-sister, our favorite blonde Savior and her one-handed pirate (almost) boyfriend are thrown back in time by the witch’s final curse.

As the second in a two-parter, the episode begins with Emma in the Evil Queen’s dungeon, where she meets a mysterious woman that has gone against Regina. While Killian procures the help of Prince Charming, Snow White, and Red to break Emma out of the castle, Emma picks the locks and frees herself as well as the woman, meeting up with Killian and company.image

Emma’s sense of independence often leads to her acting as a lone wolf, but in the case of breaking out of her cell, she gets to show off a little of the more modern ideas of being a woman:

“Swan!”

“Hook.”

“What the hell are you doing? You’re depriving me of a daring rescue.”

“Sorry. No one saves me but me.”

What’s great about Emma’s character development is that she gets to remain independent and self-sufficient while finding that she can develop lasting relationships and connections with other people. Her continuing struggle of learning to trust has finally come to fruition by the end of Season 3.

Through the course of the episode, Emma finds a way to put her parents back on track to fall in love again, including an ingenious escape rigged by Snow while the Evil Queen attempted to burn her at the stake.

The real beauty of the episode is Emma’s self-discovery, making leaps and bounds in development as she and Killian are stuck in a vault by Rumplestiltskin. Shefinally admits that she wants to stay in Storybrooke and be a part of her family rather than run, as she has her entire life. She realized what she had been doing to her parents by pushing them away and distancing herself, and that when she thought Snow had died, she realized that she had a sense of belonging with her family and she didn’t want to give it up.

Towards the end of the episode there were a lot of beautiful moments, with Rumplestiltskin and Belle getting married and the Charmings finally giving the baby a name. Despite the love in the air at the end of the season, the show still managed to throw us for a loop. The mysterious woman turned out to be Marion – as in Maid Marion – and Regina’s newfound goodness is in jeopardy. Not only is her relationship with her True Love thrown into chaos by the return of his wife, she had only recently begun to turn towards the side of the good, with the help of Emma’s family. One thing to look forward to in the upcoming season is Regina’s development or regression. Either way, it’ll be a hell of a ride.

Not only is Regina’s fate up in the air, fans are very excited about the future of Emma and Killian’s relationship, which takes a step in the right direction at the end of the episode when he tells her that he traded his ship to bring her back to Storybrooke.

The big reveal at the end of the episode was the suggestion that next season’s Big Bad will be Frozen’s Queen Elsa. Whether or not she’s friend or foe is yet undecided, though in recent casting news the roles of Anna and Kristof have also been filled.

All in all, Season 4 of Once Upon A Time looks to have an exciting turn of events, with marketing for the show featuring snow and ice taking over the town of Storybrooke.

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Christina Casano is a TV & Film writer at Girls in Capes, with a focus primarily on TV shows.  Spanning cult favorites and current series, her favorites include Buffy: the Vampire Slayer and Once Upon a Time.  Christina is a recent graduate of Miami University and is now based in Chicago. 

Love OUAT? Christina’s also compared OUAT’s Captain Hook to the original J.M. Barrie Hook; talked about her favorite character in the series; and also talked about how pretty and shiny all the people in OUAT are and what that means for the rest of us.

Got Frozen fever? Staff Writer Lorraine Acevedo Franqui talks about Elsa and Anna in A Strong Independent Woman: Part III.