Rocky Road

"Rocky Road" is the 69th episode of Once Upon a Time.

Summary
When an icy spell is cast on Marian, which will ultimately freeze her heart and kill her, the Storybrooke residents place the blame on Elsa. But unbeknownst to anyone, a mysterious woman who runs the town's ice cream parlor has the same powers as Elsa and is trying to frame her. Emma and David find former Merry Men member Will Scarlet rummaging through Robin Hood's tent, and Regina teams up with Henry to try and discover who the author of the fairytale book is, while Mary Margaret is having trouble balancing her duties as leader of Storybrooke and mother to young Prince Neal, and Hook begins to suspect that Mr. Gold is still in control of the dagger that calls upon him to be the Dark One. Meanwhile, in Arendelle of the past, Elsa and Kristoff set off to stop Hans from attempting to take control of the kingdom.

Plot
"Previously on Once Upon a Time..."

Emma meets Elsa inside of the ice wall, who reveals she is searching for her sister. Rumple confesses the the departed Neal that he has started his marriage to Belle with a lie, having given her a fake dagger. Robin Hood introduces Regina to his recently resurrected wife, Marian, who soon learns her husband is with the formerly Evil Queen. Grumpy, Granny, and Happy tell ask what Mary Margaret plans on doing about the power outage, as she is the new mayor. Elsa tries to melt her ice wall away, but realizes she is unable to. The Snow Queen leans against a wall in her ice cream parlor, but it starts to magically freeze.

Teaser
On the streets of Storybrooke, Robin Hood walks with his wife, Marian, and son, Roland. "I know this town might seem strange at first," Robin says to his wife, "but you do get use to it." He adds on that Roland loves it there; he gets to see the boats at the harbor, eat at Granny's Diner, "and ice cream," Roland adds. "Ah, yes, how could we forget about ice cream," Robins exclaims. Roland asks if they could get some now, but Robin thinks Marian has seen enough of "strange things" for one day, and that they should get back to the camp. "Please mom, Regina let me," Roland pleads. The mention of her husband's former girlfriend puts Marian in an awkward position, but she tells him "sure," and they then head into the ice cream parlor, Any Given Sundae.

"Rocky Road for the little man," the ice cream vendor says as she hands Roland his ice cream. This puts a smile on the little boy's face; he thanks the woman. "You're welcome," the vendor tells him, "And his dashing father," she says, handing Robin his Rocky Road ice cream, "And I don't believe I've met the beautiful mother," the vendor says to Marian. Robin introduces her to the vendor, who states that it is lovely to meet her, and shakes her hand. Having learned of what Marian has gone through, she offers Storybrooke's newest resident something on the house, and proceeds to ask what flavor she'd like. Marian doesn't know, however, as she has never had or even heard of ice cream before. "In our world, the flavor choices for ice were dirt and mood," Robin tells the vendor. The woman tells Marian that in this world, they've made some improvements. "Trust me, there is no problem that cannot be solved with a bit of ice cream," the vendor says as she scoops Marian a cone. However, as she turns around to put extra toppings on it, the vendor uses magic to put a mysterious spell on the ice cream. She proceeds to hand the cone to Marian. Robin thanks the vendor. "No, thank you," she says, "seeing a happy family like your's in here really warms my heart." Robin and Marian smile as they each take a bite of their ice cream. The two of them, plus Roland, leave. The vendor watches them.

ONCE UPON A TIME

Act I
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I've never seen her before in my life," Gold tells Emma, at his pawn shop. Belle, Hook, and Elsa watch a the heated confrontation between Gold and Emma takes place. The latter asks if Gold is telling the truth, then how did Elsa end up inside the urn that was locked in his vault of terror. Gold says that if Emma wants to know how Elsa ended up there, then to ask her herself, as she is standing right there. "She did," Elsa interrupts, "but I don't remember. Something happened to my memories." Gold points out that many objects fall into his position, referring to everything he has in his shop, and that he cannot know the history behind all of them. "Only if there is something in it for you, right mate?" Hook says. Gold replies that that may have been true once, but recently his life has been turned upside down. He lost his son, gained a wife, "So you might say, I've decided to turn over a new leaf." Emma reminds the Dark One of her "super power", she can tell if he is lying. Gold suggests a better idea, however, simply have Belle use the dagger to command the truth. Belle refuses, stating that Rumple does not have to do this. "No, no, Ms. Swan wants proof, and I'm happy to cooperate," Gold insists. Belle reluctantly agrees, grabbing the dagger and holding it up, "I command you, Dark One, to tell them the truth." Gold replies, "The truth is just as I said. I had no idea there was someone inside there, I know nothing about Elsa, or her sister, but I wish you the best of luck finding her." Elsa sighs, having gotten no where.

In Arendelle of the past, Elsa walks around her castle nervously, wondering if anyone has heard signs from Anna, or if anyone has any clue where she could be. "Since you asked me ten seconds ago? Nope," Kristoff says, "She's gonna be fine. I've seen Anna fight wolves and snow monsters and that idiot from the Southern Isles." "Hans." "Whatever his name is. The point is, she can take care of herself, so stop worrying." Elsa tells her future brother-in-law that she can't just sit there, and that she is going after her. Kristoff reveals that Anna told him Elsa would try that, and she told him to stop her. "Well you can't, I'm the Queen," Elsa replies, grabbing her things to leave. "Which is exactly why you need to stay in Arendelle, as you told her," Kristoff says. Elsa stops and looks at the future Prince. Kristoff comments that Anna was right, logic and reason do work on Elsa, "Right now your kingdom needs you more than Anna." Elsa states that her sister knows her too well. Kristoff tells her that it's not hard to see: she's a softy beneath that "obey me, I'm the Queen" thing. Elsa asks why Kristoff's compliments are always so aggravating. "Well I start out that way, but you'll warm up to me," he replies. Elsa smirks.

A general bursts through the doors. He apologizes for barging in, but he has received news from one of his scouts. Elsa asks if they have found Anna. The general tells her no, but that they discovered something else on their search. He hands Elsa a letter; the Queen reads it, and her expression appears to be upset. "What does it say?" Kristoff asks. "There's an army massing in the Southern Mountains heading for Arendelle, led by Prince Hans." Kristoff appears worried, but assures Elsa that he knows every inch of those mountains and to let him sneak up there and see what the prince is up to. "I didn't realize the official Arendelle ice master and deliverer got a say in matters," the general remarks. "He doesn't," Elsa replies. She then tells Kristoff that he is not going anywhere, as it is too dangerous. "Ah, there you are warming up to me. You do care," Kristoff says. Elsa replies, "My sister wants a wedding, it's probably best the groom be alive." Kristoff says he'll be real careful, but Elsa won't hear of it, she tells him he is staying right there in the castle, "As you said, I am the Queen of Arendelle, so let me be Queen and handle it."

Production

 * The title of this episode was revealed by executive producer/co-creator Adam Horowitz, via his Twitter account, on July 30, 2014.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills used to promote the episode.