The Underworld (also known as Underbrooke) is a location featured in the ABC series Once Upon a Time. It serves as the main location in the second half of Season 5. The heroes travel to the underworld to rescue Hook. It was originally ruled by Hades before he left and King Arthur took over.
It is based on the Greek underworld and the location with the same name from the film Hercules.
History[]
After Emma, Hook, Regina, and the group return to Storybrooke after their visit in Camelot, a Fury, a dangerous creature absorbing life-force, attacks Robin Hood and tries to take him to the Underworld. A mysterious ferryman Charon waits for the soul. However, he vanishes when Regina, combining her force with her allies, eliminates the creature.
Hades' domain in Once Upon a Time
Six weeks later, after Hook is killed, Emma, Rumplestiltskin, Regina, Snow, Charming, Robin Hood, and Henry enter the Underworld to bring Hook back from the dead. The Underworld resembles Storybrooke with the exception of the broken clock tower and the charred remains of Emma's car. Cora serves as the mayor until she fails her assigned mission from Hades. After her demotion, Cruella De Vil is chosen as the new mayor.
It was revealed that Hades made the Underworld look like Storybrooke for Zelena, so she could have her own Storybrooke to rule, as she felt Regina got everything.
Regina and the group have dubbed the Underworld as "Underbrooke".
There are also some characters whose souls meet a much worse fate than being sent to either place, in the form of Acheron, better known as The River of Lost Souls. This means they can't go to a better place or the worst place, but instead their souls are destroyed and lost forever, therefore they can't ever move on. Several antagonists' souls have met this fate, like David's twin brother, Prince James, Gaston, Milah, and even Robin Hood, whose soul didn't fall into the river, but his soul got destroyed another way; by the hands of Hades using the Olympian crystal.
Places of Interest[]
- Underbooke Town Hall: Where Cora Mills works after her death and is later run by Cruella De Vil after Cora is imprisoned by Hades and goes to Mount Olympus. It is based on the same location, where Regina Mills works as Mayor in Storybrooke.
- Underbrooke Animal Shelter: Where Gaston worked. It is based on the same location in Storybrooke, where David Nolan worked during the first curse.
- Underbrooke Granny's Diner: The diner is the first place the heroes look when searching for Hook and is owned by the Blind Witch. It is based on Granny's diner from Storybrooke and where characters come frequently for lunch.
- River of Lost Souls, also known as Acheron': This river is the deepest point in the underworld, also known as Hell and the worst place. People who cannot leave the underworld, or make peace with their mistakes often end up here, such as Gaston, Milah, and David's twin brother, James.
- Hades' Lair This area is located next to the river of lost souls and is where Hades, the lord of the underworld, resides. It is also where Hades kept Hook and tortured him, before he was rescued by Emma.
- The Mines: The mines are based on the Storybrooke location, where Hades sends Cora after turning her back into a miller's daughter, planning to make her work there for all eternity. Emma, along with her family, later goes to the mines with Hercules to try and find Killian. It is also where they meet Hades and is near the dungeon where Megara is kept, before being freed by Hook.
- Fiery Cave: The cave is where it is determined for a deceased person to whether they go to a better place or a worse place, if they do not fall into the river of lost souls. Over the pit's cliff, a sea of volcanic-like fire looms below. However, in cases where if the person present clears away his or her unfinished business, the cave's surroundings will morph into a pathway leading to Mount Olympus, with the pathway's appearance depending on the person. For example, when Liam Jones fell, the surroundings hanged to a peaceful ocean with a pirate boat, allowing him to travel to Olympus with the deceased crew members he and Killian sailed with, as he was forgiven by Killian for lying to him and for forgiving himself.
- Worst Place: This is the location that is below the fiery cave and is also known as Hell. It is based on Tartarus from Greek mythology and is also below the underworld.
- Underbrooke Blachard Loft: This is an apartment based on the home of Prince Charming/David Nolan and Snow White/Mary Margret Blanchard, located in Storybrooke. When the group visits the apartment, they find that it is not furnished and appears to be waiting for the couple to die so they can move in. It is also where Emma and Regina take Megara to keep her safe from Cerberus.
- Underbooke Harbour: The harbour is where Hercules works and where Snow finds him to ask for his help. Prince James and Cruella later try to send Emma and Robin Hood over the edge of the harbour into the river of lost souls, which fails and David ends up sending his brother there instead, after the twins fight. Belle and Mr. Gold also confronts Gaston at the harbour, where he is magically held hostage by Rumple. After being tricked by Hades, Belle throws Gaston over the harbour into the river of lost souls in an attempt to protect Rumple.
- Underbrooke Pawn Shop: This is based on Mr. Gold's shop in Storybooke and is owned by his father, Peter Pan. Pan temporally gives Rumple the shop and it serves as the place where Rumplestiltskin destroys his father once and for all.
- Underworld Cemetery: The cemetery is where all the graves of the residents of the underworld are kept. The headstones have three kinds of "settings" to determine the status of the person. If the headstone is still standing, it means the person is only passing through the Underworld and is residing there until they are able to have their fate decided. If the headstone is tipped over, like Daniel Colter's, it means they have gone to a better place and are happy, but if it is cracked, it means the person has gone to somewhere far, far worse.
- Ambrosia Temple: The temple is where ambrosia is kept. It is where the true love scale is kept, which is how two people are able to test if their love for each other is true. Emma and Killian travel to the temple to try and retrieve the ambrosia in hope to bring him back to life. When Emma chooses to save Killian over her own heart, the door to the ambrosia opens, proving that their love for one another is indeed true.
- Underbooke Woods: The woods are just like the ones shown in Storybrooke. Robin and Emma agree to meet David there to make sure Robin and Zelena's daughter is kept safe from Hades. James, David's brother, poses as him and attempts to kill both Emma and Robin in the woods, while working with Cruella.
- Underbrooke Sheriff Station: This is where Prince James started working following his death and he is the sheriff of the Underworld. It is based on the building with the same name from Storybrooke. James attacks David in attempts to pose as him and keeps his brother locked up in there, although David soon breaks out as he knows how to break out of the cells.
- Auntie Em's Diner: The diner where Emily Brown, Dorothy's aunt works. The heroes, including Ruby, visit the diner to speak to Aunt Em to ask her to blow a kiss into a jar that they can then take to Dorothy, who is put under a sleeping curse by Zelena, but Emily is tricked by Hades and turns into a puddle by water from the river of lost souls, before being able to help free Dorothy from the curse.
- Underbrooke Farmhouse: The farmhouse is where Zelena resides while staying in the underworld. It is based on the location with the same name in Storybrooke. Cora Mills visits Zelena here, in an attempt to mend their strained relationship and formerly introduce herself to her daughter. Zelena also tries to keep her daughter, Robin, safe here from Hades, in fear he might endanger her.
- Underbrooke Swan House: The house is the underworld version of Emma Swan's house, which she brought in Storybrooke during the six weeks she was a Dark One. The house is used as a gateway to Hades' domain and where he keeps his dungeon. Emma, Rumple and Milah use the house with Milah's dead aura, which can be used to allow living people to get through to the dungeon.
Trivia[]
- The Underworld is designed like Storybrooke because Hades wanted Zelena to have her own version of the town and he created it for her.
- According to Cruella De Vil in "Devil's Due", there are three types of headstone meanings. If the headstone is upright, it means the person has unfinished business and can't leave until it is completed. If the headstone is tipped/flat, it means the person has gone onto a better place. Then finally, if the headstone is cracked, it means they have gone to the river of souls, known as the worst place/hell.
- According to the creators of Once, the Underworld is not Hell, but rather a place for people with unfinished business,[1] which is why characters who are not villains such as Hook[2] are there. This is explained in the second half of the fifth season, as several people such as Hercules and Liam Jones, along with many other characters - are kept in the "Underbrooke" for so long since they have unfinished business. Once the characters succeed in finding their unfinished business, they either go to Mount Olympus, known as "a better place" or Hell, known as "a worse place".
- The hands on the clock tower only move when someone has moved on from the underworld.
- The underworld is also where animals go after they die, not just humans or Gods.
- It appears that the underworld gives the person who died, their desired appearance and they do not appear to be as they looked when they died. Malcom is shown to have regained his youthful look in death, despite returning to his adulthood appearance when he was killed in "The New Neverland", and Killian Jones still has a hook while residing here, implying that he still sees himself as a one-handed pirate even in death.
- The underworld makes a brief appearance in the series finale, in the form of flashbacks. The moment where Regina Mills visits her father's grave in "Souls of the Departed" is seen.
Gallery[]
The heroes arrive at the Underworld
The graveyard
Hades' Lair.
The farmhouse at nighttime
Peter Pan's shop
The farmhouse during the day
