- “Remember what we promised, Ingrid. We will never abandon each other.”
- ―Helga to Ingrid
Princess Helga is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She debuts in the seventh episode of the fourth season. She is portrayed by guest star Sally Pressman and co-star Bailey Herbert.
History[]
Helga is the second child born to Queen Sonja and King Harald of Arendelle, and she has an elder sister, Ingrid, and a younger sister, Gerda. As children, the three develop a close bond. One afternoon, they spot a punctured kite, and Helga and Gerda take a fancy to the kite's ribbons. The kite's owner arrives, but he proves to be a scoundrel when he grabs Gerda; intending to sell her for a high price. Helga rushes forward to help her sister, but she too is restrained by his grip. When the man kicks Ingrid away, she falls backwards as a stream of ice comes out of her hands, which breaks a large tree branch and knocks him unconscious. Ingrid fears hurting her sisters with her new-found powers, but Gerda and Helga are thankful for what she did earlier. Her sisters promise to help conceal the powers, and each take a kite ribbon to solidify their sisterhood. Years later, on the night of their father's birthday celebration, Gerda and Helga attempt to convince Ingrid into coming, but she doesn't want to ruin things with her presence. At the party, Helga brings her admirer, the Duke of Weselton, to meet her father and the couple later dance. After the festivity, the sisters arrive home to find Ingrid packing up as she believes with herself gone, they can have normal lives. Ingrid also passes the throne to Helga, who she thinks is a good fit as Queen. Recalling the ribbon pact they had as children, Helga reaffirms to Ingrid that they are not turning their backs on her, even if her powers are uncontrollable. Gerda mentions a Mist Haven resident, Rumplestiltskin, who can help. In exchange for their ribbons, Rumplestiltskin gives Ingrid a pair of gloves to cancel out her powers as well as an urn to entrap her if she becomes too dangerous. In the royal gardens, Helga comes across the Duke and Ingrid. The Duke claims Ingrid attacked him with magic after he did not reciprocate her feelings for him, but Helga sees through his lies and stands by her sister. Furious at being spurned, he threatens to reveal Ingrid's magic to all of Arendelle so the citizens will know their future queen is a monster. Ingrid, angered at his words, blasts him, but the Duke uses Helga as a shield and she takes the hit; turning into an ice statue and crumbling to pieces. As Ingrid cries over her sister's broken body, Gerda arrives to the horrific scene. Gerda, with grief and fear, entraps Ingrid in the urn and later asks Grand Pabbie to erase everyone's memories of her sisters' existences.
Years later, Gerda perishes at sea, but not before writing down a crucial message. Thirty-five years later, Gerda's daughter Anna stumbles upon the message and shows a long-released and embittered Ingrid that her mother wishes for Arendelle to remember her older sisters again, along with Ingrid to be freed and know she always loved her. Seeing the memories of them with Helga brings Ingrid to bittersweet tears. She then sacrifices herself to save everyone. In the afterlife, Ingrid, Helga, and Gerda are reunited once more.
Trivia[]
- Helga is similar to her niece Anna. They both had older sisters who secluded themselves from public because of their ice powers. Nevertheless, they were staunchly loyal and supportive of them. Despite threats from their scoundrel suitors, they loved them for who they were. Sadly, Anna survived accidentally being struck by Elsa's magic while Helga did not with Ingrid.
- Helga is similar to Isla:
- Both were from nobility.
- Both were had blonde hair.
- Although minor and dying in their only episode (Helga's scenes afterwards were archived or in portraits), they had a significant impact on the main antagonists.
- However, Helga was kind-hearted while Isla was mean-spirited. Helga didn't emotionally hurt Ingrid because of her powers (unlike their younger sister) while Isla humiliated Gothel and killed her kind. As such their deaths at their hands were from different circumstances.
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