Marian

"''My silence is the only thing keeping my family safe."

Marian is a supporting character on Once Upon a Time. Once a poor farm girl in a relationship with the Sheriff of Nottingham, Marian was willingly stolen away by Robin Hood and got led into a life as an outlaw with the aim of robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. However, Marian's life was ended early when a run-in with the Evil Queen led to her execution... that is, until Emma Swan and Captain Hook went back in time and saved her life, bringing her back to the present with them where she reunited with her husband and son, Roland, thus wrecking the new relationship Robin had going with Regina, the Evil Queen.

Before the Curse
"I know who I am and what I want, and right now... it's your head on a spike!"

- Queen Regina

Marian was once but a poor farm girl whose family had only a single horse to serve as their source of income, that is, until it was stolen by the notorious thief, Robin Hood. He felt so guilty for committing such an act that he eventually gave them the horse back, along with one of his own, and he and Marian entered a relationship with one another, thus ending her previous one with the Sheriff of Nottingham. The two soon get married and continue a life as outlaws, with Robin having formed a moral code that only allowed him to rob from the rich in order to give to the poor. Marian often finds it hard living this way, but once told Will Scarlet, one of her husband's Merry Men, that it was worth it to stay with Robin, because she saw good in him that he couldn't see himself. She soon falls pregnant, but also falls ill, and it seems as though she nor the baby is going to survive. ("Lacey"/"The Snow Queen")

When Rumplestiltskin is yelling at his maid Belle for crying too loudly, he hears a noise upstairs and goes to investigate. He and Belle discover a thief, Robin Hood, in the room attempting to steal Rumple's magic wand, to which the Dark One is very unhappy. Robin fires an arrow at Rumple from his bow, one that contains magic so that it never misses its target, however, due to Rumple's own supply of magic, he is able to pluck the arrow fired at him from out of his chest and take Robin prisoner. The Dark One spends a while painfully torturing Robin, much to the dismay of Belle, and when the wizard leaves his castle for a while, Belle sneaks down into the dungeons and gives Robin some water, before untying him so that he is able to run free. He asks her to come with him but she says that if she does that, her family will lose Rumple's protection in exchange for her servitude, and so the thief wishes her luck before fleeing the castle. Rumple grows furious at his maid for letting Robin go and even more so that the thief escaped with the magic wand, and so vows to kill him with his own bow in front of her. After gathering the information he needs from the Sheriff of Nottingham, Rumple and Belle find Robin in Sherwood Forest where the thief uses the magic wand to heal a sick Marian. As she steps out of the carriage, Rumple sees she's pregnant. As he doesn't want to leave a child without a father, he intentionally causes the arrow to miss, and Robin Hood and Marian are able to ride off with one another to safety. They go on to marry and have their child together.

When Marian is captured by the Evil Queen and ordered to give away the whereabouts of the bandit Snow White, she refuses to talk because, despite knowing what the Queen wants to know, she believes Snow to be innocent. Regina scoffs at the fact that this woman thinks silence is bravery, as opposed to stupidity, and orders that she be executed the very next day. She walks away, unable to bear the stench of peasant for much longer, when Marian yells that she feels sorry the Queen because if she had a family of her own then she'd know she shouldn't be doing what it is she's doing. The Queen, feeling patronized, tells Marian not to tell her what she does and doesn't understand; she knows what she wants and, right now, it's Marian's head on a spike. Marian then berates her for being a monster. Marian goes on to be executed by the Evil Queen.

Season 3
When a time travel is opened by the Wicked Witch of the West in Storybrooke, Emma Swan and Captain Hook inadvertently fall through and find themselves in the Enchanted Forest of the past. When the Evil Queen comes riding past, the two of them are forced to hide whilst she torments a community. She reveals that she has a prisoner - Marian, who's been tied up and had a bag placed over her head - and tells the villagers that, should any of them withhold information about the bandit Snow White, they shall be sharing Marian's fate. Marian begs for help, but none of the villagers stir. Emma attempts to rescue the poor maid, however, Hook stops her, telling her that she can't interfere with the past. Marian is then taken away with the Evil Queen and locked up in the dungeon of her Dark Palace.

Still trapped in the past, Emma finds herself locked up in Queen Regina's dungeon in a cell beside Marian's, who she recognizes as the woman she wanted to save but couldn't the previous day. Marian assures her that she holds no hard feelings, for Emma would have merely been locked up one day sooner if she tried to be a hero, and the two women get to talking. When Emma learns that she's only going to be a prisoner for one day, she thinks Regina's gone soft, but Marian tells her that it's because they're to be executed on the morrow. Marian later reveals that she wants to get back to her family, having been arrested because she aided Snow White, whilst Emma carries her parents' wedding ring in the hopes of getting them back together - having accidentally made it so they never met. When she spots a spoon on the floor, around which wire is wrapped, she uses the wire to pick the locks and frees herself and Marian from the dungeon. This angers Hook because Marian was meant to die in the original timeline, which is later put right again, and so they decide to take her back to the future with them. She is extremely reluctant and refuses to go, wanting to get back to her family, and so Emma knocks her out with a log and kidnaps her. Marian is then taken through a portal with Emma and Hook and ends up in the future, in Storybrooke, now alive. After Hook catches her up, he takes her to Granny's Diner where the Evil Queen, known as Regina Mills, is attending an event with Robin Hood and Roland. Marian is at first frightened to see the Queen, who Emma promises has reformed, but she soon spots her husband and son and shares a joyous reunion with the both of them. Regina, however, is less than happy, having recently begun a blossoming relationship with Robin which has now been ruined by Emma's escapades in the past.

Season 4
Robin tries to convince Marian that Regina isn't at all like the woman she used to be, but Marian insists that she's the Evil Queen and a monster, shocked and appalled to learn that she and Robin have been involved, and that she's been allowed near her son. Regina ends up storming off and Robin visits her the next day in order to break the news that he's to be staying with his wife because he made a vow to do so until death do they part. Marian resumes living in the town woods with her family and the Merry Men, but a giant snow monster soon attacks and knocks everyone out except for her. She attempts attacking it but that merely makes it mad, and just as it looks like she's about to die, Regina comes in from behind and melts the creature, thus saving the life of the woman who ruined hers. Marian is then forced to admit that maybe the Queen isn't a monster anymore, and Regina welcomes her to Storybrooke before leaving via magic.

Marian, Robin and Roland are out for a stroll when the latter decides he wants an ice cream, goading his mother into buying him one by telling her that Regina used to let him have it. Having never eaten ice cream before, Marian decides to try some, but the ice cream vendor - who's actually the Snow Queen - curses it and causes the amid to fall into a deep sleep during the fireside chat with the Mayor. It is explained that ice is slowly making its way to her heart (and when it finally reaches it, she will die) but that acts of true love are able to thaw such magic as this. Robin then kisses his wife, but she doesn't wake up, and Regina reveals that she might be able to stall the process with drastic measures. As they wait for Henry to retrieve a chest from Regina's vault, Robin admits to her that the reason his true love's kiss didn't work is because he's in love with someone else... Regina. Henry soon arrives and Regina rips out Marian's heart and places it in the chest, meaning that the ice is unable to reach it and they have time to find a cure for her affliction.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the character.