You know, this might be the first time since season 1 where I was
more interested in the Enchanted Forest flashback than what was going on in
present day Storybrooke. But to be honest,
season 1 started off strong, got a bit weak in the middle, and then got strong
again at the end. This Author arc, on
the other hand, seems to simply be starting off kinda weak, which is a shame. Thankfully, it picks up again as it progresses. I guess it's better to start off weak and then get better than the other way around.
To figure out what the Queens of Darkness are up to, Regina agrees to
become a mole by convincing them she wants to go back to being a villain
again. As an initiation ritual of sorts,
Cruella parks her car on some train tracks with everyone inside it. The test is to see if Regina would chose to
save everyone. Okay, hold up. When has there been a train that runs through
the Storybrooke town limits? Did they
cross the town line and use Ingrid’s scroll to come back later? That can’t be it, since Regina’s magic
clearly was in working order. Anyway,
Regina apparently fails that test by magicing them off the tracks before the
train can hit them. Which isn’t what I’d
call an indication of Regina playing hero, but more of simple
self-preservation. But Cruella
obviously felt it was enough to prove Regina had gone soft. Thankfully, Maleficent vouches for her,
stating that it’s just because she’s gotten rusty. And as the night continues, Regina apparently
makes up for the failed initiation ritual, and the four women wreak havoc over
town, by trashing Granny’s Diner, and even torching a squad car. In the end, Regina convinces the others of
her sincerity and they reveal to her their plan is to find the Author as well
and force him to shift the balance so villains win and heroes always lose. Emma, wanting to help Regina out, tries to
keep tabs on their whereabouts using a GPS in Regina’s phone (which she apparently had installed off-screen at some point) so she could come
provide her backup if things went pear shaped with the undercover job. But
Regina, insisting she can take care of it on her own, rejects Emma’s assistance
and eventually ditches the phone so Emma can’t follow her. In the end, Regina finds out that the plan is
to kidnap Pinocchio in order to grill him about the Author’s identity. At First, Regina poo-poos that idea, pointing
out that she already tried that and got nowhere. And that’s when they reveal to her that Gold
is back in Storybrooke. The episode ends
with Gold, who tricked Belle into giving him the Dark One’s dagger by
impersonating Killian and taking advantage of their new friendship, turning Pinocchio back into the adult August, with plans
of torturing him for information about the Author.
The flashback in this episode was possibly the most interesting part of this episode. It’s back in
that period of time when Regina is still training under Dark One
Rumpelstiltskin but has yet to actually become the Evil Queen yet. Frustrated with how long it’s taking her to master
magic under Rumple’s tutelage, Regina decides to turn to the infamous
Maleficent, whom she learned about through one of Cora’s old books. And the backstory for Maleficent was just
incredible. From what we learned,
Maleficent didn’t just try and go after Phillip and Aurora. That feud began with Aurora’s parents, when
her mother, Briar Rose, was placed under Maleficent’s sleeping curse, until she
was awoken by Aurora’s father, Stephan.
(I guess history really does repeat itself, but are we going to actually hear that story?) After Briar Rose was freed from the effects
of the curse, Maleficent apparently lost her mojo, and pretty much became a
wasted stoner. No joke, we actually see
her shooting up with some concoction that was essentially a sleeping curse
diluted with seawater and who knows what else.
She spends a good chunk of the flashback bemoaning about how pointless
it is to try and beat the good guys and whatnot. Not even Regina bringing her news that Briar Rose
and Stephan’s daughter, Aurora, is about to get married to Phillip gets Maleficent
out of her funk. That doesn’t happen
until the end, when Regina’s attempt to help Maleficent get her internal fire
back results in King Stephan and his soldiers capturing them.
Regina manages to burn off the ropes binding her wrists together with
her signature fireball move, and then, even though she’s clearly outnumbered
and hasn’t fully mastered the fireballs, even tries to take on King Stephan’s
soldiers. Seeing Regina’s refusal to
give up apparently gave Maleficent the inspiration she needed, as she regained
her ability to transform into a dragon again.
The flashback ends with Maleficent placing Aurora under the sleeping
curse, feeling that forcing them to see their daughter in that state would be a
more satisfying punishment for Briar Rose and Stephan than simply killing
them. She also vows to have a special
curse in store for Phillip. (Yaguai time!) And with
that, the stage was set for both the Enchanted Forest subplot in ‘Broken’ as well as the flashback in ‘The Outsider.’ Again, this was a very entertaining backstory, but I would like to learn more about what Maleficent's grievance with King Stephan and Queen Briar Rose was.
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