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For the curse with a similar name, see Curse of the Empty-Hearted. |
The Curse of the Poisoned Heart is a curse featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the eighth episode of the seventh season.
History
After being imprisoned in a tower for six years as a result of a deal she made with Gothel for her family's safety, Rapunzel escapes one night and returns to her husband, Marcus, only to find that he has since remarried to Cecelia. Gothel reappears to offer her a mushroom from New Wonderland which can put a curse on Cecelia's heart to ensure Cecelia leaves or risk dying from being too close to her loved ones. At first, Rapunzel refuses, vowing not to hurt an innocent woman, but upon seeing her own daughter Drizella show favoritism towards Cecelia, she squeezes liquid from the mushroom into Cecelia's drink. After being poisoned, Cecelia flees to New Wonderland to keep her daughter Ella and Marcus safe from her. ("One Little Tear")
When Hook consents to a pistol duel with Captain Ahab, Gothel poisons the bullet that grazes him, which later places the curse on his heart. The curse later becomes active when Hook's daughter Alice tries to hug him, causing the corruption of Hook's heart whenever Alice gets close to him. Additionally, Alice gains a strange mark on her wrist resulting from the curse. Afterward, Hook is banished from the tower where Alice is confined to, leaving him unable to go to Alice without the poison in his heart increasing. ("Knightfall")
During Cecelia's time in Wonderland, she encounters Alice at a tea party and tells her about having to leave her family behind because of her cursed heart. They are attacked by a Jabberwock, and in the ensuing battle, Cecelia is killed while Alice slays the beast. Marcus, who is unaware of his wife's curse, goes to Wonderland to look for her in the Infinite Maze, but he comes to believe she has stopped loving him after his locket, which glows so he can always find her, stops shining. ("Pretty in Blue")
Learning about the true love that his other counterpart and Emma share, Hook begins traveling in search of Emma, who he believes can heal his cursed heart. Hook attempts to take his counterpart's place in Emma's life, but regrets his actions after discovering Emma is pregnant as he doesn't wish to separate a father and his child as Gothel did to him and his daughter Alice. During a scuffle with the other Hook, he receives a fatal injury from his own dagger, and as he is dying, he tells him about how he acquired a cursed heart. After being healed by Emma, Hook accompanies Henry as he continues looking for his daughter. ("A Pirate's Life")
At some point after Drizella learns how to use magic, she tricks Alice into believing she has succeeded in shielding her from the curse of the poisoned heart's effects. This leads Alice to reunite with her father Hook as she assumes nothing bad will happen from being in close proximity to him now, however, when the two hug, the poison in Hook's heart rapidly increases, especially the closer Alice is to him. Additionally, Alice receives a mark on her arm as a side effect of being touched by the cursed person. After Ella and Henry follow her to New Wonderland, Ella splits from Henry in order to go into the Infinite Maze, in an attempt to learn why her mother Cecelia abandoned her and her stepfather all those years ago. Alice reveals Cecelia's curse affliction as the reason she ran away, to which Ella realizes her mother loved her and her father but had no choice but to stay away. As for why Alice went to Hook despite knowing the curse's effects, she explains her prior encounter with Drizella. Ella, fearing Henry is in danger, rescues him just as Drizella in the process of trying to curse his heart so he and Ella can never share true love's kiss without fatal consequences. After Ella and Henry return to a recovering Hook, they give him a knight chess piece from Alice, who wants him to know that she believes they can be together one day once he is cured. ("Pretty in Blue")
Sometime after leaving New Wonderland, Alice returns to the New Enchanted Forest, where she uses a spyglass to observe Hook at a campsite. Robin entraps her in a cage and questions why she was lurking, and Alice admits she just wanted to see her father because if she got too close to him, the curse would've killed him. ("The Girl in the Tower")
As Alice finds love with Robin, she is tested by Mr. Gold, who is tipped off by Dr. Facilier that she may be the Guardian he is looking for. Hook catches Mr. Gold watching Alice and confronts him about his intentions towards his daughter. Suspicious about Mr. Gold's claims about wanting to help Alice, he demands the crocodile heal his cursed heart instead so he and his daughter can be together again. Mr. Gold cannot, explaining that Gothel used dark magic to curse him and to cure him would mean using just as dark of magic to restore him. After being sent away by Hook, Mr. Gold visits Alice in secret, persuading her that Facilier is the key to curing her father's poisoned heart. Alice goes to the witch doctor's tent, where she rips out Facilier's heart as planned by her and Mr. Gold. However, she balks when Mr. Gold explains she must crush the man's heart as only a sacrifice of another person's heart can cure her father. Alice, unable to do it, shoves the heart back into Facilier's chest before fleeing the tent. Only afterward, Mr. Gold comes clean to her about there actually not being a cure and her refusal to crush the heart proves she is pure of heart enough to be the Guardian. ("The Guardian")
Prior to the Dark Curse being cast, Hook goes to see Rumplestiltskin and notices Alice watching from nearby, but when he walks up to her, he stops a short distance away from her, still unable to get close to her because of the curse on his heart. ("The Eighth Witch")After Hook is affected by the Dark Curse and transported to a Land Without Magic, his curse becomes dormant, as nothing bad happens when he is in close proximity to Tilly. ("Beauty," "The Eighth Witch")
To make Lucy see that not all fairytales have happy endings, Victoria allows her to read the storybook. Lucy learns Victoria was once Rapunzel but is dismayed that she killed Cinderella's mother. Victoria states she could never do something like that and instead reveals she poisoned the woman's heart with a curse. ("One Little Tear")
At Gothel's hideout, Anastasia expresses little interest in anything besides being with her mother Victoria. Gothel deters Anastasia from this by hauling Victoria up from the pit in order to expose her many crimes, such as how she poisoned Cinderella's mother. ("Secret Garden")
After Gothel's spell brings magic to Hyperion Heights, Rogers tries to break Tilly from the Coven of the Eight by pulling her away from the ritual circle. However, due to the presence of magic, the poison in his heart reactivates, throwing him back as intense pain overtakes him. He then leaves but vows to come back for her. When Rogers tells Weaver about how being physically close to Tilly made him feel like thousands of knives were stabbing him in the heart, the latter explains Gothel cursed his heart to separate him from his daughter, Tilly. ("Is This Henry Mills?")After the Dark Curse is broken, Rogers comes to the Community Gardens to lend his support to his daughter Tilly by approaching her and grasping her hand, even though being so close to her causes the poison in his heart to increase. Later, he is resting on an ambulance stretcher while coping with the pain in his chest as a saddened Tilly watches from nearby. ("Is This Henry Mills?")
With Sir Henry's blood, which becomes darkened from his hatred for Roni, Wish Rumplestiltskin tries to open the portals to the storybook realms. Rogers grabs onto his daughter's hand to prevent her from being sucked in, although this gives him excruciating pain. The portals close after Roni persuades Sir Henry to turn away from darkness, however, Rogers is already on the verge of death from the toll of his poisoned heart. Weaver blames Rumplestiltskin for causing this, and in a final act of bravery to defeat the Dark One and do the right thing, he rips out his own heart, giving it to Rogers to cure him. Rogers is revived as Weaver dies and Rumplestiltskin perishes out of existence. ("Leaving Storybrooke")Effects
- Poisoning someone's heart
- Harming or killing the victim, and the people that the victim loves when they are touched by the victim
- Leaving a mark on the beloved's arm when they're touched
Ways to Break the Curse
- Someone giving their own heart willingly to the victim, in exchange for their own lives. ("Leaving Storybrooke")
Appearances
| Once Upon a Time: Season Seven | ||||||||||
| "Hyperion Heights": | "A Pirate's Life": | "The Garden of Forking Paths": | "Beauty": | "Greenbacks": | "Wake Up Call": | "Eloise Gardener": | "Pretty in Blue": | "One Little Tear": | "The Eighth Witch": | "Secret Garden": |
| Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Mentioned | Absent | Mentioned |
| "A Taste of the Heights": | "Knightfall": | "The Girl in the Tower": | "Sisterhood": | "Breadcrumbs": | "Chosen": | "The Guardian": | "Flower Child": | "Is This Henry Mills?": | "Homecoming": | "Leaving Storybrooke": |
| Absent | Appears | Mentioned | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Mentioned | Mentioned | Appears | Mentioned | Appears |