Once Upon a Time Episode Analysis (The Dark Swan)

WHA!?  What kind of an ending was that?!  Although, interesting hint surrounding the origins of the Dark One.  The dagger is actually the tip of Excalibur.  Didn’t see that one coming.

After merging with the Darkness, Emma was instantly transported into the Enchanted Forest, to the Vault of the Dark One, which we last saw in ‘Quiet Minds.’  Apparently, this happens to all Dark Ones.  So, was Rumple transported there after he killed Dark One Zoso?  It would certainly explain why it took him a while to return to his home village, only arriving just in time to stop the soldiers from taking Boy Baelfire to the Ogre Wars’ frontlines.  Upon arriving in the Enchanted Forest, Emma is immediately greeted by a familiar face.  More specifically, the Darkness’ consciousness is projecting a hallucination of Dark One Rumpelstiltskin to ‘instruct’ Emma on the finer points of being the Dark One.  This hallucination is basically serving as the little devil sitting on Emma’s shoulder, and is taking on Dark One Rumple’s appearance because it was a form Emma would recognize.  After all, Emma had previously gotten a first-hand look at Dark One Rumpelstiltskin’s Enchanted Forest appearance during her impromptu trip into the past.  (Although, I do have questions about this Gorgon the Invincible.  Was a previous Dark One a shapeshifter?  Or can an animal be possessed by the Darkness as well?  What are the limitations of this?) 

The presence of the Dark One Rumpelstiltskin Hallucination also makes sense from a filming standpoint.  They couldn’t very well have actor Robert Carlyle’s only appearances this story arc be of him lying in his coma, could they?  Incidentally, there is a short scene where we see Belle being torn between keeping vigil at her wayward husband’s bedside in case his condition suddenly took a turn for the worst or doing something to help the Nevengers save Emma from the Dark One’s curse.  Blue, being the walking plot point she is, presents Belle with an enchanted rose that will keep her updated on Rumple’s current condition.  As long as the rose keeps its petals, it’s a sign that Rumple still lives.  Obviously, this was meant to be another Beauty and the Beast reference, which I’m okay with.  Although, at this point, I’m not too invested in this particular pairing.  Maybe I’ll be interested again when Rumple wakes up and we get to see how Belle will react to him possibly being back to his pre-Dark One personality.  That remains to be seen.

Emma is doing her best to ignore her evil conscience and focus on what the Apprentice had told her, about how Merlin could get rid of the Darkness for good.  The Dark One’s Consciousness, taking advantage of Emma’s determination to find Merlin, convinces her to teleport herself to some previously unexplored region of the Enchanted Forest fairy tale land and directs her attention to a passing will-o-wisp, saying that the small ethereal creature could help her achieve her desired goal.  However, someone manages to capture the will-o-wisp before Emma can reach it.  That someone is Merida, straight out from Disney’s Brave.  Much like with the Frozen cast, Merida is exactly how she was portrayed in the actual movie.  Which really makes you wonder how the ‘older’ Disney characters in the show are so different from their animated counterparts.  Maybe it’s just this whole ‘lost through constant retelling of the story’ thing.  Anyway, it comes out that Merida’s father, King Fergus, has passed away, which is a shame to hear.  Because the other clans don’t think a woman can be a proper leader, they’ve kidnapped Merida’s brothers, Hamish, Hubert and Harris.  Which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.  If their whole issue was having a female in charge of the clan, why would they get rid of the three princes?  ‘Yeah, we don’t want a woman running things, so let’s go and get rid of the three male heirs.  That’ll fix the problem.’  Were they holding the triplets hostage to try and force Merida to give up the throne?  Again, I’m failing to see the logic behind this, but for the sake of the episode’s plot, I made an attempt to just go with it.  In any event, the plight of her three brothers has given Merida her own reason for needing the will-o-wisp, as it could help her find out where they’re being kept.  (Although, wouldn’t it make an interesting twist if the triplets managed to escape their kidnappers on their own?  The movie did suggest those three were certainly crafty enough.)  Merida eventually decides to try and help Emma upon seeing how she was willing to be completely selfless and simply allow Merida to keep the wisp instead of trying to fight her for it.  But then, the Dark One Rumpelstiltskin Hallucination starts whispering into Emma’s ear during the night, informing her that the will-o-wisp cannot be shared, and the only way Emma can get the wisp to lead her to Merlin is if she takes it from Merida.

Meanwhile, back in Storybrooke, the Nevengers are left reeling from Emma’s sudden disappearance.  But while it might be my bias speaking, it’s Killian’s reactions that are the most noticeable to me.  While everyone else is  just yammering on about what just happened, he is standing stock still, simply staring at the Dark One’s dagger that was left lying on the ground after Emma vanished.  It only makes sense he’d have this sort of reaction.  Emma had only just told him she loved him for the first time, and now she’s gone, being snatched up by the curse of the Dark One.  It’s a rather chilling parallel when you remember ‘I love you’ were Milah’s last words before she was killed by Dark One Rumpelstiltskin.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Killian was once again feeling the worst sort of Deja-Vu.  When he finally snaps out of it, he was the only one who actually attempted to do something, by using the dagger to command Emma to return.   Of course, his plan failed, as Emma is now in the Enchanted Forest.  And again, I find it quite notable that he’s the only one who seemed to show concern for Henry, as he turned to look right at him when his attempts to call Emma back with the dagger failed.  I realize that everyone was in shock at the time, but if Killian can spare a thought to how Henry might feel about how his mother has just became the new Dark One and subsequently vanished, why can’t Henry’s grandparents or his other mother who has claimed to love him?

To try and find a way to follow after her, they return to the Apprentice, who turns out is alive after all.  The Apprentice informs them that Emma has been transported into the Enchanted Forest, and if they want to go after her, they need to use his wand to open up a portal, also stating that the wand can only open the portal if it’s wielded by someone who possesses light and dark magic.  With those words, he once again appears to die.  I think.  So is he actually dead this time?  Or was this another fake-out?  (And why am I once again side-eyeing Blue, who just happened to be hovering over the Apprentice when he apparently died for real?  I’ve got my eye on you, Shady.)  When Regina attempts to wield the Apprentice’s wand, nothing happens.  Even though Killian states that Regina can’t use the wand as she no longer contains darkness in her on account of her doing too much good, I have to humbly disagree with that.  Yes, she has done some good things, but the impression I keep getting is that every time she does something good, it’s because she’ll benefit in some way.  There’s a significant difference between performing a good deed simply because it’s the right thing to do and doing good in order to get some commendation or reward out of it.  The motivation behind doing good deeds is vitally important.  Hate to say it, but Regina’s actions during most of season 4 were a bit too self-centered for me to believe she no longer has enough darkness in her.  I personally think it’s the exact opposite- she doesn’t have enough light in her to make the wand work.  Either way, Killian suggests that they try having Zelena wield the wand instead, something Regina is not at all pleased about.  But when Killian reminds her that she once again owes Emma her life, Regina begrudgingly agrees.  Of course, when they actually go to Zelena’s cell, Regina ultimately decides against allowing Zelena to wield the wand, as it would require them to remove the magic-nullifying wrist cuff. 

Speaking of which, did they ever actually explain how Zelena got her magic back?  Because I got the impression she was automatically stripped of her magical abilities when they took her green gem from her.  Did she reabsorb the magic during that astral projection stunt she pulled after Gold tried to kill her at the end of season 3?  If so, they could have explained that a bit better.  While I do feel there are many times when it’s better to show not tell, sometimes a bit of exposition can be beneficial to the viewing audience.

Even though Regina is now dead-set against having Zelena’s assistance in this, Killian is not willing to go along with her decision.  Watching him in this episode is really painful, as you can clearly see that Emma’s absence, and the implications of it, have shaken him to the very core.  Much like what we saw during ‘The Jolly Roger’ flashback, being separated from your True Love leaves you at your worst.  But it’s even more than that.  He has no way of knowing what Emma’s doing or what trials she’s facing at that very moment.   All he knows is that wherever she is, she’s facing her new status as the Dark One alone.  And he knows better than most how easy it is to be lured into the darkness when you don’t have anyone there to pull you back.  He’s lived through that experience twice.  In addition, he knew Rumpelstiltskin before he killed Dark One Zoso and took on the mantle himself.  Killian is the only one among the Nevengers who has seen what the Dark One’s curse can do to a person.  The very knowledge that Emma could lose the battle against the darkness while she’s separated from the people she loves has him simply wrecked and restless in his determination to get to her before it’s too late.  Many times, you get the impression he can barely even breathe with Emma gone, so of course he’d be willing to do whatever it takes to get to Emma, even if it means striking a deal with Zelena.  This is the same man who actually went to his bitterest enemy out of a desire to be worthy of Emma back in ‘The Apprentice,’ after all.  In what I hope is a testament to things to come, Killian teams up with Henry to execute his cockamamie plan.  Much like with what we saw in the ‘Operation Mongoose’ two-parter, which Killian actually references by mentioning the ‘Wookie prisoner gag,’ it’s so awesome to see Killian and Henry interacting, particularly when it involves saving Emma.  Even though it's not official yet, those two really are displaying a great stepfather-and-stepson dynamic.  And to those viewers who are saying that Killian was being irresponsible by putting a kid like Henry in danger, let me remind you that not only did Killian enter Zelena’s cell by himself, thereby leaving Henry out of the line of fire, Henry was completely right when he said ‘I’m not a kid anymore.’  We’re talking about the same character that ventured into Isaac’s warped Alternate Universe to fix things, masterminded the plan to rescue Emma from her tower, and singlehandedly took out a Black Knight and that nasty piece of work, Blackbeard.  The person who had the chance to have vast cosmic power to control and manipulate reality, but chose to forever turn his back on that opportunity because he knew it was too much power for anyone to have.  This is the same boy who frequently snuck out of the house, sometimes in the middle of the night, to ensure the success of Operation Cobra, and even willingly ventured into a collapsing mine tunnel just to find proof that Storybrooke was cursed and everyone in town was a fairy tale character.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg in regards to everything he’s gotten up to since the show began.  Henry stopped being a kid when he was ten years old, from the moment he stole his teacher’s credit card, hopped on a bus and traveled across three states by himself to track down his birth mother.  So don’t even try telling me Henry’s just a child who needs to be kept away from dangerous situations.

Minor rant aside, while Henry distracts the administrative nurse, Killian swipes the keys and enters Zelena’s cell, while the seemingly mute janitor looks on.  (Speaking of whom, who exactly are Nurse Gertrude and the silent janitor?  Unless I’m mistaken, they’re the only recurring characters whose Enchanted Forest identities remain a mystery.  It would be interesting if they touched on that at some point.)  Of course, Killian’s plan ultimately backfires when Zelena gets her hands on his knife and uses it to cut off her hand to get the wrist cuff off.  Of course, she magically reattaches it immediately afterwards, but even so, this show sure does love making us watch characters getting dismembered.  Isn’t this supposed to be a family show?  With the wand in her possession, Zelena is able to escape from her cell.

There is a slight possible plothole here.  While confronting Zelena in her cell, Killian pours a potion on his hook to once again grant him the ability to remove someone’s heart, planning to take Zelena’s heart to ensure she wouldn’t try anything.  During the scene, Killian refers to the moment in time when Evil Queen Regina gave him that ability to remove Cora’s heart.  However, when you go back to watch that episode, it appears Regina placed an actual spell on his hook.  There didn’t seem to be a potion involved.  If there had been, she certainly didn’t seem to give it to Killian at the time.  Unless Killian had obtained the potion after Evil Queen Regina used it through the act of pickpocketing.  After all, Killian was a full-blown pirate captain during that point in time.  I can see him being all ‘hmmm, that could come in handy at some point.  Mine!’  Minor inconsistency aside, the fact that Killian has once again failed to use the heart-removal spell for its original intent is an interesting turn of events, especially since it means Killian might still have the ability to remove a heart.  I wonder if that will come up again at some point in the near future. 

Also, why would Killian bring a knife with him when he was going to face Zelena to begin with?  He has to remember how psychotic this woman is.  Then again, maybe he felt a bit safer/more comfortable with some manner of blade on hand.  Did he ever get back his sword?  You know, the one he seemed to lose when Dark One Rumpelstiltskin transported him and Emma into his forbidden vault back in the season 3 finale?  Perhaps he started carrying around the knife because he was getting tired of constantly reaching up to touch the sword only to keep finding it missing.  Sorta like the way someone would keep looking down at their wrist to check the time even after they lost their watch.

So, now Zelena’s on the loose and her first act is to take Robin hostage, demanding the Apprentice’s wand in exchange for his safe return.  Zelena intends to use the wand to return to Oz, stating that she’s tired of Regina getting everything and wants to escape her shadow, blah blah blah.  Okay, it’s official.  I am so sick of Zelena.  Never mind the fact that she’s now claiming she just wants to go back to Oz so she can finally be happy.  Because don’t blame us for that, Greenie; you’re the one who decided to leave Oz.  No one in Storybrooke made you leave.  She’s just so annoying with her constant whining about how Regina gets everything.  It makes me wonder why they brought her back and didn’t just leave her dead.  Because I don’t see how anyone could possibly be interested in this whole pregnancy-through-deceit subplot.  What makes it even worse is that I’ve got a really nasty feeling they’re going to try and make another half-baked redemption story for Zelena.  If they do, I’m not going to be too happy, since I don’t think they did a very good job with Regina’s redemption story.  I mean, seriously.  Regina became a villain when she started off blaming a 10 year old for her boyfriend’s death.  And even after she ‘redeemed’ herself, she still has a tendency to cast blame on everyone else every time something didn’t go her way, completely ignoring how much pain she’d inflicted on others.  And now, we’re seeing a similar pattern with Zelena’s constant wining about how her half-sister, who only just learned of her existence less than a year ago, has taken away everything from her.  Seriously Zelena!  Shut up, already!

Anyway, though a bunch of magical what-not, Regina ends up giving Zelena the wand to ensure Robin’s safety, but then it’s revealed that Regina was also simultaneously setting a trap, since she knew the wand would injure Zelena the instant the portal was opened, (how’d she figure that out?) allowing the Nevengers to recapture her.  Now that Zelena is once again restrained, they decide to redirect the portal and use it to locate Emma in the Enchanted Forest instead of Oz.  To make sure the portal brings them to Emma, Regina produces Emma’s old baby blanket.   How Regina managed to get access to the baby blanket is not actually explained.  I don’t think Emma ever showed Regina the blanket, as she always seemed to keep it under close guard.  In fact, I think the only people who Emma actually showed her old blanket to was Snow, back when she was still just Season 1 Mary Margret, Nick and Ava/Hansel and Gretel, Henry and Killian.  Come to think if it, did Regina even KNOW about the existence of the baby blanket?  Eh, whatever.  It gets the plot rolling.

In an interesting turn of events, when the Nevengers all decide to make the trip to the Enchanted Forest with Granny’s Diner in tow, (possibly to ensure they had a roof over their heads, as they had no way of knowing how far they’d be from an actual village), Grumpy/Leroy volunteers himself, Happy and Doc to go along as well, stating that he’s sick and tired of always being left out of their adventures.   (Although, seeing Grumpy take charge makes you wonder who really is the leader of the dwarfs.  Because the animated Disney movie would make you believe Doc was the one in charge.  Obviously, that’s not the case in OUAT’s reality.)  As a result, this is the biggest outing the Nevengers have had to date.  Just look at the list of people going on this adventure: Snow and Charming (who are actually taking responsibility for their son by bringing Baby Neal along, so kudos to them), Killian, Henry, Regina, Robin, Roland, Belle, Granny, Grumpy, Doc and Happy.  (Also, Zelena is also being dragged along, which I don’t fully understand.  Maybe there wasn’t enough time to return her to her cell before the cyclone portal hit?)  I gotta admit, it’s really fitting that such a big group is going along, as this time, the stakes are arguably at the highest they’ve been to date.  Although, I do wonder what the rest of Storybrooke is going to do with Granny’s Diner gone, as it’s practically the town’s centerpiece.  Also, wasn’t Ruby supposed to be coming back this season?  Why would Granny leave for an extended period of time without at least saying goodbye to her granddaughter first?

The Nevengers touch down in the Enchanted Forest at just the right time, as Emma is starting to lose her internal battle against the Dark One Rumple Hallucination, who is currently talking her into crushing Merida’s heart in order to gain control of the wisp.  Killian is just on fire in this moment.  While he spent the majority of the episode fuming and crazed in his desperation to get to Emma, the moment he’s at her side again, he’s immediately back to his collected, rational self as he tries to talk her down.  And on a personal note, I adore how he responds to Emma’s questioning how he managed to reach her by saying ‘it doesn't matter how. Has anything ever stopped me before?’  In all honestly, Emma really shouldn’t have been surprised.  We’re talking about the same man who found a way to cross realms to find her again, fueled by nothing but her ‘good.’  The same man who willingly followed her through a time portal that would take them who-knows-where-and-when after an ‘of course I care.’  What did Emma expect him to do after she gave him an actual ‘I love you?’

Also, this scene once again gives us another example of how Killian is more of an anchor for Emma than her own mother is.  Snow is fully prepared to use the dagger to force Emma to stand down, but Killian immediately steps in and dismisses Snow’s plan, knowing that Emma has to choose to resist the Darkness, otherwise it won’t count.  There he goes again, not only respecting Emma’s agency, but also showing his complete faith that Emma is strong enough to beat this on her own.  This is Killian ‘I’ve yet to see you fail’ Jones, after all.  He even goes so far in ensuring her ‘we can find another way together.’  Which is a possible callback to what he told her back in ‘Smash the Mirror,’ after Emma chose to not give up her magic.  ‘We'll find another way to defeat the Snow Queen... together.’   In the end, Killian’s reassurance does the trick, and Emma is able to return Merida’s heart without crushing it.  Although the effort involved must have been physically trying on Emma, as she just falls into Killian’s arms so hard, he nearly stumbles backward.

In the aftermath of this trial, Emma tasks the responsibility of wielding the Dark One’s dagger to Regina, stating that she’ll be the only one who’d be able to do what is necessary if Emma loses control.  And as much as I disagree with the statement that Regina can actually be considered a hero now for the reasons I’ve previously gone over, I do agree with Emma here.  I don’t doubt for an instant that Regina wouldn’t hesitate to destroy Emma if it came to that.  As for Merida, she sets off to locate her brothers, thanking Emma for allowing her to see her struggle against the Darkness, as it has inspired Merida to resist against it herself, by not killing the people who kidnapped her brothers like she originally intended.  Instead, she plans to show them mercy, the way Emma had mercy on her.  After Merida sets off, and the Nevengers take Emma back to Home Base Granny’s to show her in person how many people are now standing behind her, they are immediately approached by King Arthur himself, who states Merlin had once prophesied that the Nevengers would appear there one day, and when they did, Merlin, who had apparently been missing for years, would also return.  With King Arthur and his knights providing escort, the Nevengers all make their way into Camelot, with Emma and Killian leading the way, arm-in-arm.  And how could you not love their new level of intimacy, which has undoubtedly been brought about by Emma’s verbal love confession?  Even though they have yet to get the chance to actually discuss the matter, that ‘I love you’ has really lowered a lot of barriers between them.  At one point, you even see Emma and Killian swinging their arms as they walk while holding hands.  Could those two kill me more with the high levels of cute?  And of course, there was Killian’s ‘well, you don't look like a crocodile.’  Because of course he would comment on that.  Those two just have their own brand of flirting, and it is beyond precious.

And this is when things take a sudden U Turn.  The Nevengers are suddenly transported back into Storybrooke, all wearing Enchanted Forest garb.  According to Sneezy and Sleepy, who arrive on the scene seconds later, they’ve all been gone six weeks.  But none of the Nevengers have any memory of that- the last thing they remember was entering Camelot with King Arthur.  Oh, goody.  Another round of amnesia/lost memories.  By now, you’d think they’d all be keeping personal journals to ensure they’ll have a way to instantly figure out whatever they’ve forgotten.   Besides, Henry's the Author now.  His entire job requires him to chronicle stuff that's been happening.  So what's his excuse of not recording everything that's gone down during that six week period?  Of course, you gotta love Killian’s sense of priorities.  While everyone else is wondering what happened and why they’ve suddenly got new wardrobes, Killian’s first question is about Emma’s whereabouts.  In fact, just watch him when the camera pans to him when the Nevengers first return to Storybrooke.  The very first thing he does is look down at his good hand.  Because the last thing he remembers was that it was holding Emma’s.  So of course, he’s going to immediately notice she’s unaccounted for.

And that’s when we all get kicked in the teeth, when Emma makes her appearance.  Somehow, during the six week gap, she’s gone full –on Dark One on us.  And while I know the new look she’s sporting is meant to be shocking and intimidating, it still makes me hope that Dark Swan will only last until the end of the season at the very latest.  On the other hand, her take on the Dark One is a striking difference to Dark One Rumple.  While Rumple was all giddy about utilizing his Dark One powers and fully relished in them, Emma comes across as cold and aloof. (And I tell you now, if she starts calling people ‘dearie,’ I’m gonna vomit)  Hopefully, this will be a good thing in the long run- it could suggest that even though she’s fully Dark One, she’s not enjoying it the way Rumple did.  Which could mean she’ll be more willing to eventually give up the power than her predecessor did, once they find a way to do so.

Dark One Emma’s first act is to turn Sneezy into stone upon seeing he’s donned her trademark red leather jacket.   Okay, does anyone actually think for a second that that’s going to be permanent?  Because I’m pretty sure the dwarfs are immune from any permanent damage.  Like the way they fake-killed Doc in Isaac’s alternate world.  That was just done for shock value, and wasn’t a permanent thing.  Oh, could this be an indication that they’ll actually go to Narnia in the next story arc?  After all, Aslan was able to return people who were turned to stone to their original flesh and blood state.  And The Chronicles of Narnia were seeped in Christian undertones.  Isn’t redemption and forgiveness of sins a major aspect of Christianity?  Or am I just reading too much into this particular moment?  Anyway, Emma then proceeds to inform the Nevengers that they all failed to take the Darkness out of her, and because of some currently unknown wrong they inflicted on her, they will be punished.   Which of course, leads to the question of what exactly happened in those missing six weeks that led Emma to this point, and what exactly did the Nevengers do?  At the moment, we have no way of knowing, but I’m pretty sure Snow once again played a part in it.  While she did have a bright spot in this episode when she stepped in to break up the fight brewing between Killian and Regina after Zelena escaped, she has a long history of dropping the ball in regards to Emma.  Deciding she wanted another go at being a parent because her current relationship with her daughter wasn’t matching her expectations, being willing to stay in Neverland with Dreamshade-poisoned-Charming, even if it meant never seeing her daughter and grandson again, reacting in fear to Emma’s magic to the point of not letting her hold her baby brother and then scolding her for an accidental magical surge.  Not to mention the fact that she more-or-less performed the magical equivalent of genetic pre-selection to make sure Emma would be born ‘right.’  (Because manipulation by Author Isaac or not, that was pretty messed up.)  And Dark One Emma was looking right at Snow when she stated the Nevengers failed.  The fact that she didn’t hesitate to try using the dagger to stop Emma from crushing Merida’s heart could have been a foreshadowing of things to come.  (Is it too much to ask that Emma and Snow finally get to share a good relationship for once?  With each passing season, I miss the dynamic between Emma and Season 1 Mary Margret more and more.)  And while I know it might be my personal bias kicking in, I don’t think for a moment Henry and Killian had a part in this misdeed Dark One Emma mentioned.  If you look back at the scene when Emma was reunited with everyone, when Emma hugged Killian and then Henry, the Dark One Rumpelstiltskin Hallucination vanished.  At present, I think this was the writers’ way of hinting that Killian and Henry are the keys to Emma keeping the Darkness at bay.  So how could they have played a part in failing Emma?  Not to mention Killian had previously stated ‘I don’t intend to let you down.’  And we’ve seen Henry has unparalleled faith in his mother, so I have a hard time believing that those two played a part in whatever it is Dark One Emma’s talking about.

I’m also wondering how Excalibur is going to play into this.  We already know the Dark One’s dagger is actually the end of Excalibur’s blade, so there is the question of what would happen if the two parts are made whole again.  Also, that small flashback scene of Little Emma at the start of the episode suggests that at some point, Emma might have the opportunity to wield Excalibur.  Which doesn’t make much sense right now, as this episode also showed us that Arthur has already pulled it out of the stone, which lead to the reveal about the connection between Excalibur and the Dark One’s dagger.  Speaking of the flashback, I have one minor grievance with it.  So, in this flashback, we see Little Emma, who I guess is about 6 years old at the time, being taken to the movies to see The Sword in the Stone with her current foster family.  However, when they enter the theater that’s playing the movie, anyone who has actually watched Sword in the Stone can tell that it’s at the start of the final act.  Really, I don’t get it.  If you’re going to take your kids to the movies, be it a foster kid or not, why would you only enter the theater when the movie is almost over anyway?  Where’s the logic to that?  Not only will the kid have no idea what’s going on, but you’ve essentially wasted your money by paying full ticket price and only getting the final few minutes.  Eh, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that this foster family wasn’t that with it.  After all, they clearly weren’t keeping a close watch on Little Emma, as she was able to slip away on her own, after swiping a candy bar from some woman’s pocket.  Another thing about this flashback was how this guy is able to approach her and give her a warning about something that’s possibly going to happen at some point during this story arc.  I’ve more or less have been told that this mysterious person is going to eventually be revealed as Merlin, who is choosing now to give Emma the warning.  This kinda makes a bit of sense.  From what I remember about the original legend of King Arthur, Merlin aged in reverse.  So he could remember stuff that was going to happen in the future, but not what had already happened in the past.  In an unrelated story, was it bad that I thought that the person warning Emma in this scene was Lancelot at first?  I realize that doesn’t make a lot of sense, since Lancelot is supposed to be dead in the present-timeline, and it would beg the question how he even got there to begin with.   But in my defense, I had seen there was talk about Lancelot somehow coming back this season, so I figured they might end up revealing that Cora had been lying about killing him.  After all, she’s been known to lie about quite a lot.  Plus, I really don’t know the actors who portray the Camelot cast outside of this show, and it had been a while since we last saw Lancelot.  Top that off with the fact that, before I saw this episode, I hadn’t come across any promotional images of OUAT’s portrayal of Merlin, so I had no clue what he was going to look like ahead of time.

Once Upon a Time Episode Analysis (Operation Mongoose Part 1 & 2)

I freaking LOVE this two-part episode!!!!  In fact, it’s tied with ‘Snow Drifts/There’s No Place Like Home’ for my absolute favorite episode to date.  Maybe it’s just seeing a whole adventure in the Enchanted Forest that makes it so appealing to me.

Before the main action begins, we get a quick flashback that shows how Isaac became the Author.  It’s revealed he was actually from our world, where he worked as a salesman at a store that sold TV sets in the 1960s.  However, he wasn’t that great of a salesman, with his boss not hesitating to say so, and his dream of becoming a writer wasn’t going anywhere, as all he ever got were rejection letters.  But on one fateful day, he gets a letter from the Apprentice, which instructs him to come to a certain address for a meeting.  Upon going to the meeting, the Apprentice presents Isaac with a test by showing him five different writing utensils, instructing him to pick one.  This test was designed to determine who would be the next Author, as only the person best suited to the task would be ‘called’ to the magic quill.  When Isaac passes the test, the Apprentice explains about the importance of the Author’s job to record the stories from all the different realms.  To prove his words, he shows Isaac a magical portal door that leads to one of the realms, stating that the fact that Isaac can see the door is proof that the role of the Author was his.  This scene also contains a blink-and-you’ll miss it inside ‘joke,’ if it can be called a joke.  The Apprentice explains to Isaac that he is being selected as the next Author as the previous one has just died.  Notice the date on the letter Isaac got from the Apprentice states that this happened on December 15, 1966, which was the day when Walt Disney died from lung cancer.  (Remember what August said, about how the Author before Isaac was ‘a man named Walt?’  Well, played OUAT!)

As we’ve left off last episode, Isaac is currently creating a new story entitled ‘Heroes and Villains,’ which will ensure the villains will be the winning side.  But the Nevengers are at a loss as to how to stop him, let alone figure out what exactly he’s planning to do to them.  Not really sure why they’re looking through the Sorcerer’s hidden library, however.  I admit I don’t know much of the intricate rules of magic, but I doubt whatever Isaac tried to write would appear in those other blank books.  That’s when August shows up, explaining that while he never met the Sorcerer, he has met the Apprentice during his time in Phuket.  It turns out that was how August learned all about the book, and possibly knew Neal was Baelfire.   My real question is why he didn’t mention this before.  Anyway, August shows them a drawing of the Apprentice so they’ll know who they should be looking for, which helps Killian figure out exactly who Gold had trapped in the hat in ‘The Apprentice.’  Using one of the broomsticks at the Apprentice’s cottage, Blue is able to free the Apprentice, who somehow already knows that Isaac is on the loose.  Is someone who is trapped in the hat able to remain conscious of what’s going on outside?  Because the Apprentice’s brief pause when he saw the visibly remorseful Killian standing there gave the impression that he was possibly not aware of his presence until that moment, even though Killian was speaking regretfully about the unwilling part he played in the Apprentice’s entrapment half a minute ago.   Either way, the Apprentice announces they must once again trap Isaac inside his illustrated prison before he can do even more damage.  To accomplish this, Snow, Charming, Henry and Killian head back to the loft apartment to retrieve the page while Regina, Emma and the Apprentice start making their way to Gold’s shop to stop Isaac from completing his new story.  Although, why no one thought to go right to Gold’s shop to begin with is beyond me.  They already knew that Isaac and Gold are in cahoots, and Regina clearly saw last episode that Gold is in no condition to stop them, so there was nothing preventing them from going up and physically restraining Isaac earlier.  Maybe if they had done that instead of messing around in the Sorcerer’s secret library of blank books they might have gotten to Isaac in time.  But because of their delayed action, Isaac is able to complete ‘Heroes and Villains.’  The moment he completes the book, everyone in Storybrooke instantly vanishes.  All except Henry, because unlike everyone else in Storybrooke, he was conceived in the Land Without Magic.  This is a potentially creepy scene, seeing Henry walking around the completely deserted town.  It’s like a scene out of a rapture movie.  Remembering the one driving lesson he got from Grandpa Charming during the Wizard of Oz arc, Henry commandeers a car and drives to a diner outside of Storybrooke, hoping someone there had some idea of where his family is.  However, while the waitress was not much help (and I’m not sure why she thought Henry was a runaway, as he was clearly looking for his family) Henry does see something that provides a clue- multiple copies of the book Isaac was writing is on full display on a sale rack inside the diner.  Finding this book leads Henry to New York, where Isaac is having a book signing.  Basically, when he wrote the original copy of ‘Heroes and Villains,’ Isaac made it so his book would be an instant bestseller with a huge fanbase.  When Henry goes to the book signing, he confronts Isaac, demanding that he fixes things and brings everyone back from the Alternate Universe Isaac has trapped them in.   Isaac insists that he can’t do anything, because he automatically stopped being the Author when he used his position to secure his own happy ending, something that’s always been against the rules.  But Henry has inherited a stubborn refusal to give up from his mother’s side of the family, and despite Isaac’s ridicule, he enters the book to save his family himself.  That’s right, it’s Henry’s turn to be the hero, which I consider the show’s way of apologizing for how Henry has been utilized during this entire story arc.  Ever since the Author arc began, Henry has pretty much done nothing except stare at a page, eat doughnuts and get kidnapped by Cruella.  It’s about time they gave him something worthwhile to do.

It doesn’t take long for Henry to get acquainted with how topsy-turvy this AU version of the Enchanted Forest is, as Isaac has followed him into the book and, after knocking Henry out for a short time, has him tied up as a sacrifice-of-sorts for an attacking ogre.  Henry is saved at the last minute by a knight who wields light magic.  This knight is quickly revealed to be AU Rumpelstiltskin, who not only defeats the ogre, but also frees Henry and sends him on his way.  And this is where I raise an eyebrow.  Oh, not because of Rumpelstiltskin being a great, brave hero who wields light magic, as I was already aware that things were going to get weird.  It’s the fact that no one ever acknowledges the fact that Henry is wearing modern-day clothes.  Back in ‘New York City Serenade,’ Henry was able to vocalize the unusualness of Killian wearing full pirate regalia in the Land Without Magic.  But no one is doing the same for Henry now, even though his modern-day clothing is just as out of place in the Enchanted Forest as Killian’s pirate look was in our world.

Once Henry is free, he sets off to set things right.  Believing that everything can be fixed with True Love’s Kiss, Henry uses his copy of ‘Heroes and Villains’ to locate AU Regina, who is essentially filling the runaway bandit role that Snow did in Pre-Curse Enchanted Forest.  Despite Henry’s best efforts to convince her, AU Regina refuses to believe his story that she’s actually his adopted mother and that nothing is supposed to be this way.  When he shows her his copy of ‘Heroes and Villains,’ AU Regina just dismisses it as some sort of dark magic and proceeds to scoff at Henry’s insistence that everything should be set right if she finds Robin and utilizes True Love’s Kiss.

Meanwhile, Isaac has been bumbling around, trying to stop Henry from setting things right.  In his attempts, he gets captured by the AU Dwarfs who take him prisoner and bring him before Evil Queen Snow (*GiggleSnort* Nice hair, Snow) and AU Charming.  In this version of the Enchanted Forest, Evil Queen Snow’s True Love had been Charming’s twin brother, James, and when he died tragically, Evil Queen Snow had forced AU Charming into the same fate Evil Queen Regina had inflicted on Graham.  Isaac convinces Evil Queen Snow that Henry is a threat to her and must be eliminated.  To make sure to cover all the bases, he also pays a visit to AU Rumpelstiltskin, who is living in a cottage with AU Belle and their baby (who might be the AU Baby Neal.  It’s never really determined).  He tells AU Rumple that Henry and AU Regina pose a danger to the realm, and if he wants to continue living happily with his family, he must get rid of them both.

To eliminate the ‘danger’ Henry poses, Evil Queen Snow sets a trap for AU Regina, on account of how Isaac told her that Henry would most likely be with her.  AU Regina’s life is saved just in time by AU Robin.  They end up at a tavern and, after sorta ripping off the Captain Swan hand-bandaging scene, the two begin to talk, with AU Regina feeling an obvious instant connection with AU Robin.  But it doesn’t appear as if anything could ever come of it, as AU Robin is to marry AU Zelena later that day.  (And if you listen carefully, you can hear me violently throwing up in reaction to that.)  When Henry hears about the wedding, he realizes that that must be their deadline, and the only way to set things right again is to stop the wedding.  Earlier, Isaac made a rookie mistake by practically informing Henry that when they hear the church bells toiling out, they will have reached the last page of the book, and will no longer be able to fix things.  But AU Regina refuses to even consider listening to Henry any longer, and tells him to try finding the other mother he mentioned.  The problem is Isaac had claimed that he didn’t write Emma into the story, but when Henry states that Emma was supposed to be the Savior in the true reality, the title clearly strikes a chord with AU Regina.  Reluctantly, she tells Henry that there used to be rumors of someone who called herself the Savior, but Evil Queen Snow had her thrown into prison in an impenetrable fortress.  Now knowing that Emma is in this alternate reality after all, Henry sets off to find her, using a map he ended up finding in his copy of ‘Heroes and Villains’ before Regina had burned it.  (That was a little too convenient, but I can live with it.)  When he figures out the impenetrable fortress is located in the Bottomless Sea, he realizes that he needs a ship to get there and therefore seeks out AU Killian so they can venture out to save Emma with the Jolly Roger.  But upon finding AU Killian and the Jolly Roger, Henry learns the hard way that Gold had gotten Isaac to turn Killian into a cowardly deckhand who has to answer to Blackbeard (ugh, him again).  If Henry was disappointed by this, he doesn’t let it get to him, and he cleverly deals with Blackbeard pretty quickly, allowing him and AU Killian free reign of the Jolly Roger.  He convinces AU Killian to help him sail the Jolly Roger to where Emma is being kept.  It’s here we get confirmation that Killian had been spending quite a lot of time with Henry off-screen, as Henry had gotten enough sailing lessons to aid AU Killian in manning the Jolly Roger.

They eventually reach the impenetrable fortress where Emma is being held, and after dealing with the solitary guard by utilizing the ‘Wookie prisoner gag’ (even in the alternate universe, we still get a great Killian vs. the Modern World moment), Henry manages to locate where Emma has been chained up.  Upon finding her, it’s revealed that Emma is essentially this world’s version of Jefferson, in the sense that she has maintained her memories of how things are supposed to be.  So she is able to instantly recognize Henry, resulting in a really sweet reunion scene between them.  But even though Emma admits she doesn’t have her magic in this Alternate Universe,  Henry is quick to reassure her that they can still put things right again if they manage to stop AU Robin from marrying AU Zelena.

Before they can do that, however, we get the meeting between AU Killian and Emma.  And it is just so ADORABLE!  Remember how Past!Hook was all taken aback when he saw Emma?  Well, AU Killian is so flabbergasted upon meeting Emma, he can barely string two words together.  You really get the impression that, unlike the real Killian, AU Killian has had absolutely no experience with women prior to this.  So as you can imagine, his encounter with the woman who is his True Love in the true reality really floors him.  Even in this completely warped version of reality, Killian is just so besotted with Emma, especially after seeing how quick she is to rely on him when the solitary guard is revealed to be AU Lily, who transforms into Dragon Lily to try and stop their escape, an effort that ultimately fails because of Emma and AU Killian’s joint effort.  I’ve recently became aware of a story called The Chaos of Stars.  While I’ve never actually read it myself, I am familiar with a particular line from that book.  “And I’d choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I’d find you and I’d choose you.”  After seeing how quickly AU Killian seems to fall for Emma, I really feel that quote just fits these two so wonderfully.

Now, I gotta discuss something about AU Killian which makes me appreciate the real Killian even more.  Throughout this whole adventure in the alternate universe Isaac created, every time Henry and Emma try and tell someone that this world isn’t real and that things are supposed to be completely different, they’re met with skepticism and disbelief.  Everyone just thinks they’re completely bonkers.  All except AU Killian.  It’s clear in the scene following the defeat of Dragon Lily that Emma and Henry has told him about how things are supposed to be.  And he completely accepts their story, and even asks Emma to tell him more about that other reality after Emma gives him a brief sword fighting lesson.  Despite the best efforts of Isaac to make things different, it’s clear that at his core, Killian is still the same man, right down to his complete faith in Emma and her son.  It’s just like how Killian is one of the only people who have never doubted Emma’s superpower.

Okay, now the thing with the sword fighting lesson.  Watching it play out is a complete treat for any Captain Swan fan, as the sexual tension is just off the charts.  But you wanna know what makes this scene even more enjoyable for me?  Think about all the other times we’ve seen Emma wielding a sword on-screen.  I think the last time we’ve seen her using a sword was in ‘Dark Hollow,’ and she was more or less just swinging that thing around like a club.  The fact that she’s now giving AU Killian lessons suggests someone had given HER some sword fighting lessons at some point.  Now, who do you think covered those lessons?  I’ve now got a head cannon of Emma and Killian standing in those exact same positions at one point, only with the roles reversed.  Think of that and smile like a loon.

Unfortunately, things start going downhill when Evil Queen Snow and AU Charming shows up, because AU Lily, who apparently survived getting hit with a cannon, helped them find Emma, Henry and AU Killian.  Wanting to make sure Emma and Henry can escape capture or death, AU Killian decides to stand and fight AU Charming and Evil Queen Snow, despite knowing that doing so would most likely cost him his life.  And that’s just one more reason why I like Killian so much.  I’m sure everyone remembers how Rumple reacted when he was given the opportunity to fight for the chance to get his wife back and keep his family intact.  In a glaring contrast to that, AU Killian had only just met Emma and Henry a few hours ago, and here he is, completely ready to risk his very life for them by fighting a battle he can’t possibly win, just so Emma and Henry can get their chance to escape and restore things to how they were supposed to be.  Even in a world where they tried to make Killian a coward, he’s still a braver man by far than Rumpelstiltskin was.  Of course, this leads to one of the episode’s heartbreaking scenes.  For one brief moment, it looks like Emma’s talk of ‘muscle memory’ might be truer than even she knew, as AU Killian’s swordsman skills come to the surface, helping him defeat AU Charming almost effortlessly.  But when AU Killian turns his attention to Evil Queen Snow, AU Charming literally stabs him in the back.  (I believe the real Killian would say that was ‘bad form.’)  Emma’s reaction of watching AU Killian dying is just devastating, and it really gets you in the feels when you notice how AU Killian keeps his eyes focused on Emma right up until the moment he collapses.  But Emma is unable to stick around to mourn, as she and Henry have to hightail it out of there to avoid getting hit with Evil Queen Snow’s fireball.

Henry brings his two mothers together, hoping that Emma can convince AU Regina to have a bit of faith in what they’re telling her about how everything in this world is supposed to be completely different.  At first, AU Regina is just as skeptical of Emma, but in the end, Emma is able to convince AU Regina to open herself up to the possibility of finding love with AU Robin.  To drive her point home, Emma finally verbally admits that she’s in love with Killian, but voices her regret that she was always too afraid to come out and say it to his face.  She urges AU Regina to not make the same mistake.  Her words do the trick, and Henry, Emma and AU Regina head off to the church to stop AU Robin from marrying AU Zelena.  But before they can do anything, AU Rumpelstiltskin appears to stand in their way.  Keeping him busy so AU Regina can stop the wedding, Emma engages AU Rumpelstiltskin in a duel.  Watching this duel only solidifies the possibility that Emma learned how to properly wield a sword from Killian.  She even utilizes that same overly-flashy twirl move that Killian did during their fight at Lake Nostros way back when.  But much like with his duel with Killian back in ‘The Crocodile’ flashback, AU Rumple ends up cheating, and uses his magic to push Emma backward.  When Henry steps in and picks up Emma’s fallen sword, AU Rumpelstiltskin very quickly overpowers him as well.  But right when he was making the killing blow, (because that’s totally the act of a real hero; cutting down an unarmed 14-year-old) AU Regina jumps in, choosing to save Henry instead of stopping AU Robin’s wedding.

So it looks like Emma and Henry has failed to fix things, as the church bells start to ring out, signifying that they’ve reached the end of Isaac’s book.  As if to pour salt on the wound, they can do nothing to save Regina, and have to simply watch as she dies in Robin’s arms (while Zelena runs off after starting to turn green upon seeing how the dying AU Regina was ruining her day).  Emma angrily rounds on Isaac, who chose that moment to appear and gloat, demanding he fixes things.  Again, Isaac says he can’t as he’s no longer the Author.  But that’s when Henry’s attention seems to be drawn to the magic quill that Isaac dropped when Emma punched him.  In the episode’s big reveal, it’s shown that Henry is the new Author.  I can’t really remember if I actually saw this coming, but I do remember that it didn’t catch me by surprise.  Using some of the blood from Regina’s fatal wound as ink, Henry uses his new position to hit the magical reset button, restoring everyone back to Storybrooke.  And, after a brief scare when Emma races into the loft apartment to find Killian seemingly unaccounted for, it’s revealed that everyone who died in the alternate reality was restored to life after all, including Killian.  And how sweet was it that the moment he woke up back in Storybrooke, his first instinct was to try and locate Henry?  That man is so ready to officially be Henry’s stepfather. 

The reunion scene between Emma and Killian is played out really well, and it’s made even better when you realize the moment when Emma throws them onto the bed was not only ad-libbed, but, much like how actress Jennifer Morrison hadn’t realized actor Colin O'Donoghue was going to tighten the makeshift bandage with his teeth in ‘Tallahassee,’ actor Colin O'Donoghue reported that he had no prior warning that the throwing on the bed thing was going to happen when they did the actual filming of that scene.  Anyway, Emma is presented with the perfect opportunity to finally tell Killian she loved him.  And she very nearly says it, too.  But in the end, her nerves fail her, and she instead thanks him for sacrificing his life for her and Henry in the alternate universe.  But the moment isn’t totally ruined, as you can see in his face that he knew what Emma had wanted to tell him, and even though she wasn’t ready to actually say the words, he knows how she feels and therefore is not going to push her.  Like always, he’s simply going to wait until she’s ready.  And just to throw a cherry on top of this moment, we also finally get to hear Killian refer to himself as a hero, which his such a satisfying moment considering how long it’s taken him to overcome his deep-rooted feelings of self-loathing, which made him always view himself as the worst person imaginable.  So great to get an indication that he’s grown past that negative view of himself.

Meanwhile the Apprentice has a friendly chat with Henry, who seems to be processing the fact that he’s the new Author.  Henry admits he’d considered trying to use his new position to resurrect Neal, but the Apprentice gently informs him that not even the Author can bring back the dead, and the best way for Henry to honor his birth father is to simply record his story.  Henry, deciding that the ability to manipulate lives is too much power for anyone, breaks the magic quill.  Which leaves me wondering if Henry destroying the quill is putting an end to the lineage of Authors or simply means no one will be able to manipulate anything the way Isaac did.  It’s not really explained too well.  But this scene is also noteworthy to me because it’s the second time in this two-part episode someone discussed the possibility of the Author resurrecting Neal.  I might get flamed for this, but I’m really hoping that this isn’t them foreshadowing someone finding a way to actually bring Neal back.  Because that would just be overkill.  He’s, dead, he’s alive, he’s dead, he’s alive; quit yanking our chains!  If they absolutely HAVE to bring that character back, please, please, PLEASE bring him back as Boy Baelfire.  I’d be perfectly fine with that.  Just no more Adult Neal.  I’m begging you.

As for Isaac, his attempt at escaping Storybrooke is cut off by Snow and Charming, who take him into custody.  They ask him why he was so determined to cause everyone harm, and he then reveals that he was just going postal.  Isaac’s essentially that kid who got picked on a few times in high school and now thinks the whole world is out to get him.  With him taken care of, everyone heads off to Granny’s, just like every other time a crisis is averted.  Robin and Regina are happy and decide they can deal with the whole issue of Zelena’s pregnancy together before heading off for a moonlit walk.  Snow and Charming (who finally are shown with Baby Neal in tow) apologize to Killian for killing him in the AU world, Emma once again emphasizes the fact that she forgives her parents for what they did in the past, and Lily voices a desire to locate her father, whose identity is unknown even to Maleficent because their copulation occurred when they were in dragon form.

But of course, this is Storybrooke.  Nothing can stay happy for long.  While all this was going on, Belle had marched into Gold’s shop to confront her estranged husband, only to learn that the man Rumpelstiltskin was going to die any second, and once Rumpelstiltskin died, there’d be nothing to stop the Dark One from having unparalleled control.   When Gold loses conciseness, Belle races over to Granny’s and storms in, saying ‘hey, Rumple’s about to die, and that’ll just give the Dark One unbridled reign.  We should do something about that, or stuffs gonna go south pretty quickly.’  They go back to Gold’s shop and the Apprentice decides the best option would be to syphon off the darkness in Rumple’s heart into the Sorcerer’s Hat.  At first, it seems to work, even though Rumple’s heart is now bleach white, which doesn’t look the least bit healthy, and the Apprentice places Rumple’s body in a state of suspended animation until they can figure out a way to revive him.  But then, the Sorcerer’s Hat starts to reject the Dark One’s essence, because it’s apparently too much darkness for the hat to contain.  I can’t be the only one who finds this questionable, as we’ve seen that hat was able to contain Chernabog.  Are you telling me that the hat could handle Chernabog’s dark power but not the Dark One’s essence?   That sounds a bit iffy to me.  But in any event, the Dark One’s essence escapes from the hat and tries to enter the Apprentice until Emma drives it away with her light magic.  While Snow and Charming head off after the Darkness, Emma, Killian and Henry stay behind to try and tend to the Apprentice, who instructs them to track down the Sorcerer, who is finally revealed to be Merlin.  Turns out the Darkness is this ancient entity that Merlin fought against eons ago.  To stop the Darkness from pretty much wiping out everyone and everything, Merlin had the Darkness tethered to a living vessel, which was how the very first Dark One came to be.  Only Merlin can stop the Darkness once and for all, so the Nevengers are going to have to seek him out.  (Oh, does this version of Merlin have Archimedes?  Please say yes.  Owls are awesome.) 

Once the Apprentice gives Emma, Killian and Henry the task of seeking out Merlin, he dies.  I mean, I think he dies.  It’s not very clear.  While Henry, I guess, stays behind with the Apprentice, and possibly to help Belle with the comatose Rumple, Emma and Killian hurry out to join Snow and Charming, who have had no luck in locating the Darkness.  (The fact that it’s nighttime during this scene probably doesn’t help much.)  Regina and Robin appear as they’re returning from their walk, and they’re quickly filled in on what’s just gone down.  Although, Regina shouldn’t have acted so surprised, as Gold pretty much had warned her that this was going to happen back in ‘Mother.’  In a related story, one has to ask why Regina hadn’t let anyone else know that Gold had informed her he was dying.  Oh, that’s right; she was too wrapped up in her own problems to even think about how Rumpelstiltskin dying would mean the Dark One would be unleashed in full force.  For someone who has previously griped about Snow and Emma never thinking of the consequences of their actions, she sure doesn’t do much of it herself.

That’s when the Darkness makes its presence known again, as it essentially attacks Regina.  Emma, realizing that the Darkness is just going to continue attacking everybody until everyone’s life has been snuffed out, decides to sacrifice herself to save everyone.  Remembering what the Apprentice said, about Merlin tethering the Darkness to a living vessel, Emma volunteers herself to be the new vessel for the Darkness, despite Snow, Charming and Killian beseeching her not to.  However, Emma knows there’s no other choice and, after reassuring her parents that they’d be able to figure out how to take the darkness out of her, and finally confessing her love to Killian, Emma allows the Darkness to absorb into her, becoming the new Dark One.  However, the only evidence there is of Emma’s new status is the fact that the Dark One’s dagger now bears her name, as Emma vanishes from sight.

And thus ends season 4 of Once Upon a Time.   And I honestly, don’t know how to take the thought of Emma being the new Dark One.  I refuse to believe she’s going to be dragged down to Dark One Rumpelstiltskin’s level of ruthlessness.  After all, this is Emma we’re talking about here.  But then again, Rumple’s the only Dark One we’ve ever actually seen in action.  We never saw enough of Dark One Zoso to actually gain an understanding of what he was like.  There’s no way of knowing what the Dark One’s essence will do to Emma, or if it will make her do something that can’t be overlooked.   I’m also wondering how long this plotline is going to go on for.  I don’t believe for an instant that Emma is going to be the Dark One for too long, but are they going to follow the current pattern and have it resolved half-way through season 5, or is Emma’s stint as the Dark One going to continue all season or longer?

As we prepare for season 5, which will air this Sunday, please enjoy this list of things I want to see happen in Season 5:

• Reappearances of old favorites.  It’s already been confirmed that Ruby and Mulan are returning this season, and while that’s awesome to hear, especially if they’ll give an in-show reason for their unexplained disappearances from the show, I’d love to see more old faces coming back.  Like more of Jefferson.  The fact that they’ve brought in Will Scarlett from the Wonderland spinoff really gives them a perfect setup for Jefferson to come back.  Maybe with Jefferson helping Will find a way back to Wonderland, which he was clearly trying to do in the Frozen arc but seemed to have forgotten about during the Author arc.  Plus, having Jefferson come back also means that Grace would, too.  I think it’s about time we get to see Henry making friends his own age.  Season 1 made a point in saying Henry didn’t have friends in Storybrooke.  I imagine he purposely kept himself from making any once he noticed none of the other kids were actually aging because of the curse.  Now that the original curse is broken and time is moving again, the other children must be aging now, too.  So nothing’s preventing Henry from making friends with his classmates.  So it would be great to see him hanging out with Grace sometime.  Or with Nicholas and Ava/ Hansel and Gretel, who we haven’t seen in AGES.  Also, how about Anton?  What exactly happened to him after his beanfield was destroyed at the end of season 2?  I know he’s still around; they mentioned him in one of the Frozen arc’s deleted scenes.
• More new locations.  So far, we’ve visited the Enchanted Forest, Wonderland, Neverland, Oz, Sherwood Forest, Arendelle, and now we’re going to see Camelot.  Are we going to Narnia, next?
• More of the friendship between Killian and Belle.  I can just picture Belle becoming something of a rock to Killian during the upcoming Dark Swan arc.  After all, Belle knows all too well what it’s like to have your True Love be the Dark One, so she’s perfectly placed to help Killian through the tormenting times he’s about to face now that Emma’s been possessed by the Dark One’s essence.  I can also see a lot of potential for more interaction between Killian and Henry as they work together to save Emma.  After all, both Henry and Killian share a True Love connection with Emma.  Those two teaming up to save their shared True Love would be the perfect stepfather/stepson bonding moment.
• A little less Regina, please.  I know she’s got a pretty big fanbase, but I’m starting to get tired of how she seems to be taking over the show’s limelight.  The main character of this show is supposed to be Emma, but as of late, Regina seems to be becoming the focus and stealing Emma’s thunder.  And just look at most of season 4.  While there were a few moments when I was able to approve of Regina’s actions, she always turned right back around and bugged me again soon afterwards.  At the very least, let her actually have the lessons she learns stick.  Because one moment, she’ll be saying ‘I can’t go back to my old ways if I want my happy ending’ and the next, she’ll be back to saying ‘as long as I get what I want, I don’t care about what happens to anyone else.’ Which makes me ask if Regina is supposed to be an actual character or simply a human yo-yo.
• I’m also wondering what’s going to happen to Gold if/when he regains consciousness.  Do you think he’s going to remember what he did during his reign as the Dark One?  Or is everything he did after killing Dark One Zoso going to be permanently erased from his memory?  Just imagine what that would mean!  It would mean he’d have forgotten all about what happened to his son.  While that would be a bit tragic, a part of me does feel like it would be poetic justice.  Sorta like forgetting all of that is his punishment for every horrible thing he’s done as the Dark One.  Actions do have consequences, after all. Also, would he go back to how he was before becoming the Dark One?  You know, that whimpering, weak-willed coward who couldn't even try to fight for his wife's return?  It would be interesting to see how Belle would respond to that old/new personality.
• More of Killian’s backstory.  So far, out of all the main characters on this show, he’s the one whose backstory has been explored the least.  (Unless you count Henry, but seeing how he was 10 in the pilot episode, he doesn’t have much of a backstory to explore anyway.)  And that kinda bugs me as Killian really has become my all-time favorite character on this show, particularly since he’s the only star player who has yet to do something that considerably irked me in some way.

Once Upon a Time Episode Analysis (Mother)

With their road trip/mission of mercy complete, Emma and Regina return to Storybrooke, bringing Lily, Robin, Roland and the captured Zelena with them.  (They’ve once again utilized the magic-nullifying wrist cuffs we last saw at the end of the Neverland arc to keep Zelena’s magic in check, which was pretty clever, but didn’t Zelena lose her power when her emerald amulet got taken away?)  And Killian cannot resist going up to Gold directly to tell him his plans to turn Emma’s heart dark had failed.  While it could be argued that Killian was being overly-cocky or immature by gloating, I say he’d earned this, particularly after everything Gold’s done to him and the people he loves.  While there’s really no question that Killian has moved on, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’ll always feel a certain degree of resentment over what happened to Milah, but more importantly is what Gold’s done recently.  Gold tricked and manipulated Killian into helping him imprison the Apprentice within the Sorcerer’s Hat and then blackmailed him into helping him in the future, attempted to also trap Emma inside the hat, magically captured Killian’s heart when he arrived on the scene to try and save Emma, turned him into a puppet and made him do his bidding, was perfectly willing to sit back and do nothing when Storybrooke was nearly wiped out by Ingrid’s curse, came THIS close to crushing his heart, and then tried to corrupt Emma’s heart with darkness.  And then there was the issue of him repeatedly lying to and tricking Belle, who has pretty much become Killian’s new BFF.  After all that, I really feel Killian rubbing Gold’s failure into his face was warranted.

When Emma and Regina return to Storybrooke with their list of passengers, we see there is still a dark cloud over the reunion.  Emma is still not ready to forgive Snow and Charming, and Lily, even though Maleficent is visibly overjoyed at seeing her daughter for the first time, is not really receptive to her mother.  Now that they’ve been reunited, Maleficent is so grateful, she’s willing to put her grievances with Snow and Charming behind her and simply focus on building a future with her daughter.  Lily, however, cannot get past her grudge, and this places a giant wedge between the two, with Lily refusing to stick around town, even though she and Maleficent might never see each other again if Lily leaves Storybrooke.  If Lily leaves, she can't come back without Ingrid's scroll.  Maleficent can't leave at all, because if she tries, the magic keeping her alive will be severed, and she'll return to ash.  

So, how does all this family drama get resolved?  Well, to explain that, I’m going to have to go off on a brief tangent, so please be patient with me.  Okay, I said in my analysis of ‘Sympathy for the De Vil’ that I would discuss my thoughts on Regina getting her happy ending later, and this is the episode when I feel I can properly discuss my feelings on the subject.  For some time now, people have been saying she’s not a villain anymore and deserves to get a happy ending and what not.  From time to time, I do agree she seems to have improved her attitude and I can get behind her efforts to aid Emma and the Charmings.  But then, we get episodes like this that proves she hasn’t really changed at all, and still acts like everything revolves around her.  We’ve just found out that Zelena is pregnant with Robin’s child because she’d been impersonating Marian for weeks, and Robin’s realized he was essentially being raped by Regina’s psycho B-word of a sister who knows how many times.  Imagine how he must feel about that.  I suspect he’d possibly be feeling betrayed, violated, unclean, and all the other emotions rape victims would experience.  But Regina doesn’t even consider what Robin might be going through.  No, all she can talk about is how Zelena’s pregnancy inconveniences her, and how hurt she is at the proof that Robin had moved on and slept with someone else.  Lady, come on!  You really need to remember that not everything is about you.  As cute as their scenes together can be, I sometimes wonder what Robin sees in Regina.

And then we have the flashback story, which makes me disappointed with Regina on a whole different level.  In this flashback, we see Evil Queen Regina getting into a funk on the anniversary of Daniel's death.  So much so, she takes it out on a hapless young couple who are about to get married and ends up killing the groom-to-be.  But things get worse when we see that Cora has somehow gotten back from Wonderland, because she got help from a ‘white rabbit.’  (Then why did she seem to be otherwise trapped there during the ‘Hat Trick’ and ‘Queen of Hearts’ flashbacks?  Both times, it was suggested that she could only return to the Enchanted Forest with the aid of Jefferson’s hat.  Now you’re telling me she could have just recruited the White Rabbit again?  So why didn't she just do that?)  Anyway, Evil Queen Regina is reasonably ticked off upon seeing her mother again, and even more so when she sees Cora actually placed a rose on Daniel’s grave (which really was impudent of her, I must say).  Cora goes off on her usual spiel of how she now sees she was wrong and now wants to help Regina.  Yeah, like we haven’t heard that one before.  But this time, Cora has somehow met up with Tinkerbell and learned of the Man with the Lion Tattoo/Robin.  To try and prove to Evil Queen Regina that she’s changed, Cora attempts to locate Robin, but instead meets the Sheriff of Nottingham.  Deciding that the Sheriff would be a much more suitable match for Regina, Cora attempts to pass him off as Regina’s fated soulmate, but upon their meeting, the Sheriff proves he can’t fake his attitude, and his poor choice of words tips Regina off.  After learning from the Sheriff that Cora’s ultimate plan was to get Regina to produce a child, Evil Queen Regina surmises that this was actually an elaborate plan to help Cora take over the throne by means of her biological grandchild.  To make sure this never happens, Evil Queen Regina drinks a potion that will forever leave her barren.  Which explains why she ended up needing to adopt a son.  And it sorta explains why she’s taking Zelena’s pregnancy so hard- because she knows she will never experience that with Robin.  (Although, that’s no excuse for completely ignoring the fact that Robin is just as much of a victim in all this.  Plus, it could be possible for Regina to get her magical hysterectomy reversed.  I’m pretty sure Lake Nostros is filled with water again.  If they found a way back to the Enchanted Forest, Regina could just drink some water from that lake, and have the potion's effects nullified.  After all, it helped restore Snow’s fertility after she was cursed to remain barren back in 'The Lady of the Lake' flashback.  For all we know, the same could work for Regina.) But the thing that makes me disappointed with Regina after seeing this flashback is the fact that, even AFTER she went through the experience of having her mother try and set her up with a fake soulmate because the real soulmate wasn’t suitable enough, Regina STILL allowed herself to fall back into believing her mother’s phony claims during the second half of season 2.  Hate to say it, Gina, but that’s really pathetic.  It’s like that scene from Animals are Beautiful People when the baboon keeps looking under the same exact rock and constantly fainting when he sees the snake is still beneath the rock.

But getting back to the episode, Regina is so focused on how Zelena’s pregnancy inconveniences her, she decides to force Isaac to simply write Zelena out of existence, without even taking a moment to think of the consequences her actions could bring about.  Remember how Gold’s heart is now almost entirely black, and the only thing that can save his life is if Isaac writes him a new happy ending?  When Regina finds out that Gold’s heart is starting to give out, and once it does, the man Rumpelstiltskin will be dead, resulting in the Dark One to pretty much be let out of his cage, she’s all ‘not my problem,’ and teleports out of there with Isaac and his magic quill.  Even though having an undiluted Dark One running around town should be EVERYONE’S PROBLEM!  She then goes up to Lily, who’s waiting at the bus stop (how are busses able to service Storybrooke?  Because it’s not like they can come and go freely, due to the magical barrier around the town), and forcibly takes some of Lily’s blood, stating that since her body contains what should have been Emma’s dark potential, Lily’s blood would serve the job that Emma’s blood would have had she gone dark.  Yeah, it’s finally revealed that the enchanted ink Isaac needs to write requires a sample of Emma’s dark potential, which is why Gold wanted to turn her dark.  That seems to be a bit iffy to me.  What did the previous Authors use for their ink before Emma was born?  They've more or less implied the role of the Author has been around since the birth of mankind.  Seriously, what did they use for ink in the past?  Either way, Regina just up and leaves Lily without even a by your leave after taking her blood.  Regina’s actions at this moment force Lily into such a frenzy, she instantly transforms into her dragon form and runs (well, flies) amok.  So, thanks to Regina, there’s now an emotional, angry dragon on the loose.  Who must also be confused and scared, too, as this is most likely the first time she transformed in her whole life.  And this is why I’m hesitant to say Regina really deserves a happy ending.  While I won’t deny she’s made some effort to change, she just keeps going back to this whole ‘it’s all about me’ mindset, and shows no regard to how her actions in securing her own happy ending might negatively affect other people.

When Maleficent, Snow and Charming, who seem to have decided to truly let bygones be bygones, try to locate Dragon Lily and eventually track her down in a field somewhere (with Baby Neil completely unaccounted for again), Snow ends up getting hurt with a really painful looking head wound because she, for some stupid reason, decided to try running towards Dragon Lily, despite knowing full well Dragon Lily had wanted her dead.  Really, Snow.  What were you thinking?  When Emma and Killian stumble across the scene, Emma is finally able to forgive her mother for omitting the truth, because she’s taken what Killian had told her earlier to heart.

In the scene in question, Killian had taken Emma down to the coastline, feeling that sitting by the water will be calming for her.  The fact that he does this indicates that Killian has been paying attention and took note of Emma’s obvious penchant for coastlines.  When she was worried about Henry’s odd behavior, and wanted to avoid her lunch-date with Neal at the end of the Neverland arc, Emma went down to the beach to think.  After first learning about what her parents did to Baby Lily, Emma retreated down to the Storybrooke pier.  And some of her old childhood drawings that Ingrid kept depicted a coastline.  Emma really was made for an old seafarer like Killian.  Anyway, as Emma and Killian talk over sharing Killian’s flask of rum, Killian discusses the rift that has been growing between Emma and her parents, encouraging her to remember that Snow and Charming were simply trying to make sure Emma grew up happy, and even though they did a bad thing, they’ve worked hard to make up for it and become the parents Emma could be proud of.  A line I particularly enjoyed during this moment was the following exchange:

Emma: Oh, we talked about this.

Killian: I talked, you walked away.

That was such a married moment between the two, which made the scene even more believable.  In the end, Killian’s words do the trick, and Emma is able to forgive her parents.  As for Lily, she also manages to mend her relationship with Maleficent, with Maleficent offering to help Lily master her dragon form.

Now, what happened with Regina?  In the end, she decides against erasing Zelena from existence, deciding a better punishment for her sister would be to simply force her to watch Regina move forward with her life and make her own happiness that way.  But that’s when Isaac is all, ‘see you, suckers!’ and he returns to helping Gold by writing a brand new story called ‘Heroes and Villains,’ which would allow the villains to come out on top.  And so, the stage is set for the two-part finale of season 4.

Once Upon a Time Episode Analysis (Lily)

So, we’ve dealt with two of the Queens of Darkness.  Ursula has returned to the Enchanted Forest with Poseidon and Cruella is dead.  The episode even begins with her funeral, which was quite sparse in attendance.  The only people who bothered to actually show up were Gold and Isaac, which just goes to show how nobody liked this person, anyway.  They even burred her in what had to be the next step up from a cardboard coffin.  Not to be a nudge, since I really don't care either way, but you'd think Gold would have sprang for a nicer coffin.  He's certainly rich enough  But maybe he lost his access to his small fortune when Belle kicked him out.  Well, technacly, there were three people at the funeral, if you can count Emma, who was standing a short distance away, just staring at them,  Not really sure what vibe they were going for there, to be honest, but it was slightly creepy.  I don't think she was even blinking.

What makes the funeral even more pathetic is that Isaac still seemed to have feelings for her for some stupid reason.  He's even held on to that old napkin from the jazz bar they went to in last episode's flashback..  Isaac, you went on one date with her.  And she wasn't the slightest bit into you.  Get over it.

Now we've only got one Queen of Darkness to contend with.  Except Maleficent’s no longer interested in helping Gold, since she’s figured out that he’s only interested in helping herself.   Instead, she approaches the Nevengers to ask for Emma’s assistance in reuniting with her daughter, Lily.  And Emma is completely stunned at the news that Malifecent’s lost daughter was her childhood friend.  Though the episode flashback, we see that the events in the ‘Breaking Glass’ flashback wasn’t the only time their paths crossed.  During Emma’s childhood, she actually had a shot at getting a good life, as she got placed with a picture perfect family who really seemed to accept her into their home, and was even going to include her on their family camping trip.  But then Lily pops up.  While at first it looks like the two girls might be able to mend their fences, Emma then finds out that Lily was involved in a recent armed robbery and is currently wanted by the police.  Needless to say, Emma is not pleased, fearful this could mess with her chances with this new family.  She tries to tell Lily to leave, saying she’ll give her some of her allowance for a bus ticket.  But Lily says she can’t just leave town, as she’s left her prized possession, a necklace that had belonged to her birth mother, at the hovel where she’d been staying with her boyfriend.  Emma, so desperate to get rid of Lily, doesn’t question why she wouldn’t just always wear the necklace if it was so important to her, and goes off to retrieve it for her.   But when she returns, she finds out that Lily had actually sent her on a wild goose chance and had taken advantage of her absence to steal money from Emma’s foster family.  In the resulting confrontation with the foster parents, they don’t really give Emma a chance to explain her side of things and for a brief moment, they assume the worst of Emma.  Feeling understandably betrayed, Emma runs away again, and when she runs into Lily at the bus stop, she angrily lashes out at her.  And I have to say, while adult Emma seems to voice her regrets for pushing away Lily for the second time, I cannot fault her at all for it.  Emma was happy with that foster family, and Lily’s interference brought that potentially good life to a halt.  What’s more, Lily was actually acting like she did Emma a favor.  Never once did Lily stop and ask what Emma wanted.  Real friendships are supposed to be a two-way street, but Lily just seemed to primarily focus on what she wanted out of the friendship with Emma.

So, during the present-day storyline, deciding to kill two birds with one stone, Regina suggests that she and Emma leave town together, so Emma can track down Lily and Regina can go to New York to save Robin from Zelena.  After saying goodbye to Henry, Killian, Snow and Charming, the latter two Emma is still mad at, they both leave Storybrooke, taking along Ingrid’s scroll to ensure they can both return home.  The search for Lily brings them to this really run-down looking building, the kind you’d except to see drug deals and other illicit activities going down.  From the landlord, they learn that Lily died a few years ago.  But when he starts talking about how much of a horrible person Lily was, Emma lashes out and nearly punches the guy.  The thing is, when Regina questions her about it later, it’s like they’re implying that Emma’s reaction was potentially dark or something.  Again, I have to disagree with that.  What these people keep calling ‘darkness’ is really just Emma reacting like a ordinary human.  Let’s discuss that landlord guy.  If someone shows up looking for one of your former tenants, it might be possible that they’re an old friend of that tenant.   They’re probably not going to react too well if you just bluntly tell them the person they’re looking for is dead, and then immediately are all ‘yeah, let’s talk about how horrible that person was.’  That guy should consider himself lucky that he only just nearly got a black eye.

So, the mission to locate Lily seems to have ended in failure.  However, before they can continue to New York to at least save Robin, a wolf suddenly appears before them, and when Emma swerves to avoid the wolf she gets a flat tire.  They end up going to a nearby gas station to call for a tow truck, but when they get there, Emma steps into the attached restaurant for some coffee and notices the waitress currently working there  has the same birthmark that Lily had.  She immediately realizes that this is her long-lost friend, living under an assumed name of ‘Starla.’  

Okay now, I’m asking.  What is with the wolves?  Back in the pilot, Emma ended up staying in Storybrooke because a wolf was standing in the way of her car, which forced her into an accident.  They even make a point of mentioning that incident in this episode to emphasize how important that moment is.  Here, a wolf appears again, once again forcing them off the road, which leads to Emma and Regina heading to that gas station to call for a tow truck, which results in them finding Lily’s alive and well.  Is there someone commanding these wolves?  Is that something that’ll be addressed in a future episode, or is it just going to be a plot point that goes nowhere?  You can’t just say ‘oh, it’s just fate’ and expect us to go with it.

When Emma confronts ‘Starla,’ revealing who she is in the process, Lily insists that her life turned out fine and she doesn’t need Emma to try and make amends.  To make it more believable, she pretends that one of the kids getting off a nearby school bus is her daughter and pretends to walk her home, which makes me wonder what happened when that kid’s real parents showed up and saw their daughter walking off with a stranger.  Nitpicks aside, Lily apparently either never was told about or forgot about Emma’s internal lie detector.  Because Emma knows that Lily was lying about how great her life turned out.  Using the address listed on Lily’s time card from the diner, they track down her apartment, where Regina finds a room that contains this whole serial killer wall of death that revealed that Lily somehow already knew about Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest.  Turns out that the Apprentice had actually approached Lily after her second fallout with Emma and filled her in on the truth of her past.  I guess he wanted to make up for the part he played in disrupting Lily’s future or something, but his intentions of simply helping Lily understand her burden seems to have backfired somewhat, as the knowledge of the truth has only nurtured resentment  in Lily’s heart.  The moment Emma and Regina find out that Lily already knows everything, and must want revenge on Snow and Charming, they discover a little too late that Lily had commandeered Emma’s car.  Which is bad, since Regina had left Ingrid’s scroll inside the bug, meaning Lily can enter Storybrooke.  To stop her, Emma and Regina hijack Lliy’s own car, and give chase.  Which takes a bit longer that it should have.  From what I understand, bugs like the one Emma drives are not generally very fast vehicles, so Lily made a poor choice of a getaway car.  So of course they’re able to cut her off before too long.  Determined to protect her parents, Emma pulls a gun on Lily, but Regina manages to talk her down, reminding her that this is what Gold wants her to do, and once she starts down this path of violence, it’s not easy to come back from it.  (Although, Regina, for future reference?  You don’t get to call Emma ‘Swan.’  Only Killian can do that.  Unless that was a conscious choice on your part to help her remember what Killian told her before they left Storybrooke, about resisting the darkness by remembering that she has something to live for- namely the people she loves.)  In the end, Emma decides to spare Lily’s life and help her instead, inviting her to come back to Storybrooke with her and Regina.

However, there’s one last stop on this little road trip, and time is now of the essence, since Gold had teamed up with Will to get Belle’s heart from Maleficent, who had been keeping it safe for Regina.  (It really was a lucky break for Regina that Maleficent became her ally in this episode, If she hadn’t, what would Regina have done with Belle’s heart when she left Storybrooke with Emma?)  Anyway, upon making it to New York, Regina tries to tell Robin that ‘Marian’ is actually Zelena in disguise, but he refuses to believe it.  Until Zelena decides to drop the charade and reveal herself.  But even after being confronted with the truth, Robin is still unable to leave.  Because Zelena is pregnant with Robin’s child.

Okay, writing staff?   WHAT THE HEY!  Why did you think we’d be interested in this rape baby subplot!?  Because that’s exactly what this is- a rape baby subplot.  Zelena is only pregnant because she tricked Robin into thinking she was Marian.  I’m pretty sure sex under false pretenses counts as rape.  What, you think that just because the victim happens to be male, it doesn’t count?  Rape isn’t just a female-exclusive crime.  Male rape does exist.  It just doesn’t get addressed as much because males are generally more reluctant to report the crime out of fear that people will question their sexual orientation or because they live in a society that traditionally views males as strong and masculine.  While it’s great that this show has made such an effort to present women as strong, independent people, it’s not cool when they do so at the expense of the male characters.  It’s bad enough that they had Evil Queen Regina rape Graham for thirty years and then not only never address it, but kill off Graham and rarely even mention his existence again.  Now, we’ve got Robin, who is going to quite possibly have a constant physical reminder of his own sexual violation in roughly nine months, give or take.  Seriously, show writers, NOT COOL!