‘Once Upon a Time’ Finale Teases Icy Fairy-Tale Character for Season 4

[WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Sunday’s season-three finale of Once Upon a Time]

Once Upon a Time is welcoming a chilling icon to Storybrooke.

The ABC fairy-tale drama introduced a new character from the Disney vault, as revealed in the closing seconds of Sunday’s two-hour season-three finale: The Snow Queen, also known as Elsa, will make her way to the canon in the new season.

Q&A: ‘Once Upon a Time’ Bosses on Finale: ‘Epic Wish Fulfillment’

The decision to bring the Snow Queen into the fold is a timely one, as the character was most recently featured in Disney’s Oscar-winning animated feature Frozen and voiced by Broadway star Idina Menzel. Frozen has made $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office since its November 2013 release and won two Academy Awards, one for best animated feature and the other for best original song for “Let It Go.”

Get ready… pic.twitter.com/kAo7v99yBi

— Once Upon A Time (@OnceABC) May 12, 2014

Prior to the finale, executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz were nervous about the big reveal leaking. “I hope people are as excited about it as we are,” Horowitz told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. It’s no surprise the series used the finale as a platform to tee up season four; producers have used venues like Comic-Con to announce iconic fairy-tale characters’ entrances, as they did with Captain Hook and the Little Mermaid/Ariel.

VIDEO: ‘Once Upon a Time’: Zelena and Regina Face Off in ‘Old-School Showdown’

The Snow Queen’s eventual entrance is a continued play by ABC-Disney to maintain a sense of corporate synergy. Just in the two-hour episode alone, there were mentions of Star Wars (Princess Leia was a running joke) and a Mickey Mouse cameo in the early minutes. (We also can’t forget the appropriately timed Marty McFly/Back to the Future nod.)

How exactly did the Snow Queen make her grand entrance? A time portal had something to do with it, but you can watch the tease below.

The big moments from the finale:

– Rumplestiltskin and Belle are now married.

– Regina’s quest for a happy life turned out to be temporary, as the woman Emma and Hook brought back through the time portal (who was supposed to be dead) turned out to be Maid Marian, Robin Hood’s dead wife. Let’s just say the Evil in Evil Queen came roaring back.

– Hook and Emma coupled up. He also revealed how he got to her in the first place – plus, he sold his ship for Emma. That counts for a lot.

– Snow and Charming’s newborn son’s name: Prince Neal, after the heroic Neal, who saved everyone by sacrificing himself.

Will you be tuning in for season four? Who should play the Snow Queen?

Email: Philiana.Ng@THR.com
Twitter: @insidethetube