The Snow Queen

In this episode, we get to see Ingrid's backstory with her sisters Helga (played by Sally Pressman) & Gerda (Anna & Elsa's mother) where it reveals they were as close as ever even after Ingrid reveals her powers to them as children. When they reach adulthood, Helga falls in love with a younger Duke of Weselton & Ingrid begins to miss the life she had due to her powers which she wants to control permanently. With that, the 3 sisters go to Rumplestiltskin, where it's revealed he gave them the urn Elsa was trapped in along with the (enchanted) gloves used on Elsa in the film as failsafes in exchange for the ribbons they got as children. However, it's revealed the Duke of Weselton is in love with Ingrid & after he attempts to hit on her, she uses her powers on him which attracts Helga's attention & when he lies that she tried it on with him, she of course doesn't believe him, but in a very sad twist of fate, Ingrid accidentally freezes Helga's heart & is killed almost instantly. Gerda discovers this & calls Ingrid a monster despite her pleas that it was an accident & puts Ingrid in the urn, also requesting Grand Pabbie to erase everyone's memories of her 2 sisters. In Storybrooke, Emma successfully manages to capture Ingrid with her powers & interrogates her over her plan at the sheriff's station, but it quickly turns into a psychological test as Ingrid puts in Emma's head that her family fears her because of her powers, leading Emma to break as they spiral out of control, giving Ingrid the chance to escape & almost putting David in danger in the process, ultimately running away as she doesn't want to hurt anyone. Oh yeah, and Emma begins to feel left out as her mother has been spending all her time with baby Neal, Regina & Robin start a kind of affair & Henry starts his job at his grandpa's shop despite doing nothing involving magic (AKA sweeping the floors & using furniture polish). And Ingrid & Rumple make that deal he wanted to make with her (also revealing he may want to find a way to keep his powers outside of Storybrooke & leave with Belle AKA have everything he desires) getting her 3 ribbons back in exchange for information on how he can be free from the dagger's power which is...well, we don't know what since she whispers it in his ear, but he seems very very eager to do it!
As far as origin episodes go, this one is pretty solid showing the backstory of Ingrid & her 2 sisters. I loved the dynamic between the actresses as you could feel for all of them instead of just having Gerda & Helga be one dimensional & useless with Ingrid in the spotlight. I also enjoyed seeing a younger Duke of Weselton, with the acting being pretty solid, although I did find it a bit creepy when he tried it on with Ingrid...anyway the ending to the flashbacks genuinely shocked me as it was so heartbreaking to see Ingrid accidentally kill her own sister & Elizabeth Mitchell's performance during that scene & the outcome of it was so so painful to watch. I even enjoyed seeing Rumple as it finally showed the origins of the urn she & Elsa were trapped in along with the gloves in the film used as failsafes to control Ingrid's powers. Another thing I want to add is I am so glad her origin story didn't really involve Rumple other than the urn & gloves considering the other female villains sans Regina would have crushes/romances with him etc & it would've been repetetive if that happened again & I'm so glad it focused on the relationship between the sisters as being her primary motivation. Pretty clear Rumple & Ingrid have a deeper history than that given that he somehow helped her & already knew how Ingrid knew Emma, but maybe that'll be further explored next week! The only issue I really have is it doesn't really explain WHY Ingrid became evil since she was clearly still the same vulnerable yet loving older sister when Gerda put her in the urn, some of it felt like a rehash of the Frozen prologue along with Ingrid isolating herself & it had a few plot holes like not really explaining the origins of her powers very well. Still, the flashbacks are not bad at all (much much better than Zelena's origin story) & I can finally feel for Ingrid despite the fact I hate her in Storybrooke (for the right reasons. She's such a great tragic villain) As for the Storybrooke scenes, it felt like there was a bit too much going on, but at least they tried to even out everything like Henry finally getting his job in Gold's shop (God, the furniture polish scene had me in hysterics) & I really enjoyed seeing Aurora & Ashley again after so long for the latter (despite the plot hole involving Alexandra's age) even if they had nothing to do with the main plot. Well, nice to see they haven't been ignored & that Aurora has kind of adjusted to modern technology just fine! I even enjoyed seeing Belle contribute more with the mirror considering she experienced it first hand & I loved the scenes between Ingrid & Emma at the sheriff station as she gets into Emma's head that her family fears her...God, Elizabeth & Jennifer's acting was so good in it & it was interesting to see more of Emma's powers & her trouble with controlling them along with how her family sees her! As for Rumple's POSSIBLE plans to take over the world (just saying that cos he doesn't actually say it himself)...I have an issue with that (not just because of his regression) & it's why? Why would he want that if he has the town on the palm of his hand & surely he can't hide all of this from his wife! Yeah, at this moment in time, I'm hoping for all of this to blow up in his face so he can see what's really important in his life other than that bloody hat I just wanna destroy every time I see it onscreen! Anyway, I am very intrigued with what Rumple will do in return in their deal as it seems they are now allies, but maybe they're trying to play off against each other at the same time given they're both very cunning manipulators. Anyway, the weird part is this isn't the biggest issue I have in this episode! It's the Robin & Regina scenes! Don't get me wrong, I like Regina & Robin together, but the problem I have is Robin just selfishly giving up on his own dying wife living & embarking on an affair with Regina! I'm sorry, I just can't root for them now if it's cheating cos it's morally wrong & pretty hypocritical for a man with a code to do this sort of thing! Anyway, other than that, I still really enjoy this episode as an origin story with some great performances, a rather nice pace & visuals & some great emotional depth.

GOD, she looks just like Elizabeth! And aww, they're so sweet! Kinda remind me of Anna & Elsa as children!

Well, that's not creepy at all(!) 

OK, what's the point of putting the mirror in the clock tower?

What part of 'stay away!' & 'you need to forget me' don't you understand Robin?

Haha! 'Can you read this?' 'Elvish? No, I didn't even see Lord of the Rings...Never mind.'

Pretty cool to see more of her magic (and Belle using her translation skills to figure out the runes of the spell)

Nice to see you again Ashley! Wait, shouldn't Alexandra be at least 1 by now (she was born in late 2011 & S4 is in early 2013 before you say she should be 3!)?!

OK, they're not even trying with that Disney reference!

Nice to see you again Aurora! HAHA! 'I dare not touch that devil box! (about a TV)'

Uh...what's going on with her powers?

GO EMMA!

Kinda sad that she shut herself out like her niece would....

Now why does he seem so familiar...?

Can't help but feel sorry for Ingrid!

Nice to see Emma & Elsa stand their guard at Ingrid!

Well, Henry looks rather dapper wearing suit like his grandpa! HAHA! 'What's the occasion?' 'I'm getting married!' *death stare* 'Work. With grandpa. At the shop!'

Love seeing Henry be there for his mum!

'Family isn't about blood. It's a bound more stronger than mere genetics.' She's got a point there, but what she's doing is pretty twisted & stop putting it in Emma's head her family fears her cos it's clear they don't!

Nice to see Belle contribute more to the plot with the mirror & deducting it's fake!

Oh God...

Nice parallel with 1x07!

Nice to see Will want to make up for what he did! Oh yeah, WHAT HAPPENED TO ANASTASIA?!

HAHAHA! 'Don't you think it's time I learn something more...magical?' 'Well Henry, today is your lucky day. Because I am going to give you a potion that possesses the power to transform something old into something new.' 'What kind of potion's that?' 'Furniture polish.'

AWW! 'How could I turn down the pleas of my beloved wife?'

Nice to see all the sisters visit Rumple over Ingrid's powers!

DON'T TAKE THE GLOVES & URN, INGRID!

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE INGRID?!

OK, this scene is very familiar in that it's taken directly from Frozen when Elsa flees her kingdom!

Just a small thing, but so sweet Rumple's immediate reaction is to shield his wife from Emma's magic!

Why are you yelling at her Mary Margaret when you clearly saw it was an accident?!

That's not a tiny bit creepy that he tried to grope her(!)

I KNEW HE WAS THE DUKE OF WEASEL-I MEAN WESELTON! (if the moustache, round glasses & silly dancing didn't make it any more obvious)

Oh. My God. Poor poor Ingrid! :'(

OK, I'd gladly be fangirling over this if it weren't for the fact he has a kind of dying wife!

So now you realize how much of an idiot you've been yelling at Emma!

Poor Emma!

I hope you're happy now Ingrid!

Uh, Gerda, you do realize judging your sister's tearful & sorrowful reaction that it was all an accident?!

Pretty extreme if you ask me to ask him to erase everyone's memories of her sisters, but who am I to question one of the most unwise Disney parents ever?

Interesting that he kept the ribbons after all these years...I wonder if he enchanted them.

WHAT THE HELL DOES HE HAVE TO DO?! UGH, please tell me it's revealed soon!