After the holiday break, Once Upon A Time comes back with a new exciting episode. Cora and Hook has arrived with vengeance both in mind--Captain Hook's croc, Rumplestiltskin; and Cora's peachy (or should I say, witchy!) daughter, Regina.
As the two alight the ship, Hook bids farewell to Cora, thinking that coming to Story Brooke is where they part ways. However, Cora thinks otherwise and tells Hook that he might want to rethink things through. Hook wants nothing to do with Cora anymore and says that they had a deal. Now that he's carried out his part of the bargain, it means that they're over. She thinks that the two should stick together as a favor to Hook. Now that magic is back in Story Brooke, Hook is helpless if he faces off with Gold/Rumplestiltskin.
Their talk was disrupted when a townsfolk interrupted them. Since no one should know of their arrival, Cora used her magic and transformed the man into a fish. Cora made Hook's ship invisible to avoid prying eyes to have an "element of surprise" before they reveal themselves to Regina and Gold. The two went on their way to explore Story Brooke.
Our resident love birds, Mary Margaret and David, are finally back in each others arms and wasted no time in making up for lost time. Henry and Emma walked in on them in bed as the two were "catching up" on the 28 years they have lost. Talk about afternoon delight huh? Good thing Henry has no idea. But yea, Emma's pretty scarred upon seeing that! Lols. David's pretty impressed though--28 years and they were still able to give Emma a traumatic glimpse of what her childhood should have been. Haha!
Flashback on Regina's past in Fairy Tale World. Her royal highness was overseeing the ogre wars from afar and was informed by one of her men that Snow White and Prince Charming has defeated King George. That the kingdom has already fallen under their hands. Now that he's done for, Regina and her men are now alone in carrying out their plans to take over Fairy Tale Land. Regina instructs her men that no matter how many lives are to be lost, they MUST keep them away from each other longer before the queen finds Snow. She is not going to let them defeat her that easily. And she makes her way to find Snow.
Regina finds Snow in the woods. Snow offers Regina the terms to her surrender. Regina's term is quite simple though--Snow's death for her to surrender. As Regina was about to charge on Snow, Blue (Fairy) flies down to disable Regina, stunning her in place. It was all a trap. Knowing that she's fixated on her revenge with Snow White, Charming and Snow devised a plan to capture her using Snow as their bait. Regina's kingdom has finally fallen into Snow and Charming's hands. Her reign of evil is now over.
Back in Story Brooke, a fully-clothed Mary Margaret and team Snow comes in Granny's diner to celebrate her triumphant come back with Emma after being trapped on the other side--what was left of Fairy Tale World.
Ruby rushes in to hug BFF Mary Margaret, ever so glad that she has come back. Archie Hopper also hugs her, happy with their return. Emma tells Granny her relief after she confides on her about how they survived Fairy Tale World by hunting for food. David makes a toast to cheer for his wife and daughter's return, and to hoping that he won't have to look for her again.
Talk about awkward entrance. Regina enters the diner to bring her share of pot luck to join team Snow in celebrating their return. Grumpy/Leroy quickly pulls a knife thinking that Regina came uninvited. Emma tells everyone that she invited her. Emma explains to her parents why she invited Regina. That they owe her gratitude for helping them come back from Fairy Tale World. She tells them that she wants to make things right with her for Henry, knowing that she's trying to change for the best, for Henry. The two then agrees with Emma's decision and lets her stay. Henry is glad too that Regina came.
Moments later, the party was a success. So is Regina's homemade lasagna. Unfortunately, as the night draws to a close, she feels that she's still not welcome in Snow and Charming's circle. She notices that
everyone else are with company except for her. She decides to leave. Emma sees her as she leaves and she asks her to come back for Archie's cake. Regina declines, but thanks Emma for being gracious enough to invite her on their party. She tells her that she did it for Henry. Regina extends her hospitality and invites her so she could come visit or even sleep over at her house some time. Emma turns down Regina's offer, saying it won't be best. Disappointed and hurt, Regina lashes out on Emma about her being a "good parent". Regina quickly apologizes for snapping at Emma. Emma tells Regina about her talk with Archie, and learns that he spilled their confidential talks to Emma, thus convincing Emma to give Regina a chance.
Unknown to Regina, she is being spied on by her mother and Hook from a rooftop, with a spotting scope.
The next morning, Regina confronts Dr. Hopper at the docks on his conversation and confidentiality breach. Archie explains that he only told her of the part where Regina consulted him, merely citing to Emma that Regina has been trying her hardest to stop using magic as part of her commitment to change for the better. That he never revealed to Emma the specifics of their consult. Ruby runs in on them and notices their "chat". Ruby stops by to diffuse the situation, but Regina slams her shut, telling her that she and Hopper are having a private conversation, thus leaving the two of them. Archie then assures Regina that he can be trusted. Regina then warns him that he's lucky she has changed and leaves him alone.
Flashback. Jiminy Cricket declares his fear that Regina may never change. He tells the council to suspense justice and they decide on what to do with the queen. Charming states that so long as the queen is alive, the kingdom is in danger. Thus, deciding that the queen must be executed.
Snow White is contemplating on Charming's decision, but he is adamant as he thinks that they have no other option. Snow then tells him that there is always a choice. That there can be another way. Charming thinks otherwise.
As Regina walks to Hopper's clinic, a suspecting Ruby sees her. Inside, it was revealed that it was Cora disguising as Regina and kills Hopper while stunning his dog. Leaving the scene, Cora changes back to her old self as she walks down a dark alley.
Over breakfast at Granny's, Emma recollects her memories of Fairy Tale World to her son. She was about to walk Henry to school when a frantic Pongo runs to them. Emma realizes something's wrong when she notices that Archie's nowhere in sight. Ruby runs to them telling them that there IS something wrong, as she listens to Pongo. Yes, wolf thing. She speaks canine remember?
Emma lets Henry walk to school alone due to the emergency, and she and Ruby rushes to Archie's. There they find his dead body lying on the floor. Ruby, seeing Regina (Cora in disguise) that night, thinks that she may have killed him.
Regina, being held prisoner in the castle, was visited by her father, Henry. He feels that it was his fault that Regina was captured. That he failed her as a father, for not protecting her enough. She says that she doesn't blame him. That she can never blame the person she loves most--her father. He convinces her to change. That they can probably spare her if she gives them a reason.
Her recollection of the past was interrupted when Emma--Sheriff Swan and her deputy-slash-daddy came into the interrogation room as Regina was summoned for questioning. She learns that Archie was killed. David tells her that Ruby saw her the night Hopper was killed. To her defense, Regina says she was home all night. Unfortunately, David does not believe her.
Once again. a flashback is being shown of Regina's execution. She declares her regret to cause more pain, death and kill Snow. As the archers were about to kill Regina, Snow cried stop. The archers have already released their arrows, but was stopped by Blue's magic, in time to spare Regina. She says that killing her is not the way, and David sends her back to her cell.
Emma is not convinced that Regina killed Archie. Upon profiling, she noticed the genuine reaction Regina showed upon knowing that Archie died. David and Mary Margaret thinks that she's lying, but Emma is adamant that she knows what she saw--Regina is innocent. And that she believes Regina. She then declares Regina is innocent until proven guilty. She decides that they should let her go, and they will find the truth behind everything.
Back at the castle, Charming and Snow were arguing about Snow sparing Regina's life. He says that he has seen her kill many innocent lives and that he thinks he will never change. But Snow knows the Regina before she became possessed by her dark powers. That she was once a good person, who saved her when she was young. That showing her mercy is the first step in rehabilitating the queen to bring her back to her old good self. Charming says that sparing her life would only put the kingdom at risk, but Snow knows that there is no going back from killing. That if the queen will be killed, there is no way to bring her back anymore, to save her soul from the dark path its taking. Charming agrees, but warns her that even if the queen is spared, there is no turning back from then on either.
Snow proceeds to the courtyard where the queen was supposed to be executed earlier that day. She was surprised when Rumplestiltskin appears sitting at the throne. Snow says she is not apologizing for sparing the queen's life as she thinks she can still change. Rumple lets out a loud laugh, finding Snow's statement amusing. He asks how she could accomplish Regina's redemption. Rumple offers Snow to give Regina a test to know if she is indeed redeemable. Snow asks Rumple how would she trust him, knowing he wants the queen dead. And that he wouldn't want to make deals without anything in return. Rumplestiltskin says that he doesn't want anything in return for the deal.
At Archie's home/office, David, Mary Margaret and Emma are searching for evidence and David notices that Regina's file is empty. Mary Margaret assumes that Regina must have wiped out her file to make sure that no one knows of her consult. Emma still doesn't agree to it. David reiterates the sequence of the story, stating that the evidences all point to Regina. She thinks that Regina must have been framed. Unfortunately, they were barking at the wrong tree--Mr. Gold that is.
They arrive at Gold's shop and walks into Belle and Gold. They then find out that Hopper had been killed and that Gold is a suspect in the frame-up. He says, he's "afraid to disappoint them" as it was not him who framed Regina. David doesn't believe him, but Gold thinks that they have a witness--Pongo. They then summoned Pongo so they could extract Pongo's memories to find out what has really transpired the night Archie was killed... but Emma would be the one to do it.
Emma agrees so they could solve Archie's mysterious death by using a dream catcher. Emma is told by Gold to will it so she can see what the dream catcher has extracted from Pongo's memory. They see Regina and they see her kill Archie. Emma rushes to arrest Regina, but is stopped by her parents. They think that coming to her without any plan may endanger them.
Back at the castle cell where Regina is being held, Snow comes to talk to her. She tries to talk some sense to her thinking that she can still bring back the good queen. That even though she tries her hardest to bury the good Regina inside of her, Snow thinks that she's still inside of her. But Regina says she's not. Snow opens her cell and lets her out. She is letting the person who once saved her life go. That she can start anew, leaving all the evil Regina behind in her jail cell. Just. Like. That. Regina then attacks her as she steps out of her jail cell, stabbing Snow White with Snow's own dagger. Regina doesn't know that it was all a ruse to test Regina. If she was still up for change, or if she's still the sinister queen that she is. Surprised that Snow was not affected by the stabbing, Charming steps in to inform her that Snow is under a protection spell Rumplestiltskin have created to help them out in testing Regina's resolve. She then was banished by Snow White and Prince Charming to live alone, outside of the kingdom. Before leaving, Snow tells her that they are now even--her life that was once spared when she was young for Regina's life spared from execution. She then warns that if Regina tries to kill anyone again in the kingdom, Snow will kill her.
At Regina's doorstep, Emma, David and Mary Margaret come to arrest her. She was then informed that Emma has seen through Pongo's memory (and magic) what has happened the night Archie died. How Regina choked the life out of him. Shocked, Regina thought it was Gold behind everything until she learns that Emma used her own magic to see what happened. Regina then told her that everytime she uses magic, there is always a price. Emma knows that there IS that stipulation and jumps into conclusion that it's Henry's heart that will cost Regina. Regina wants Henry to hear her side of the story, but a furious Emma would never let Regina near her son again.
Blue comes out from behind a tree to stun Regina, just like she did 28 years ago. This time, Regina wasn't surprised. She then uses her magic to thrust Emma away and Emma tells her that Regina will always be a evil no matter how hard she tried. Regina then uses her magic to escape in front of them.
Waiting for Henry at the bus stop, Emma doesn't know how to tell him that Archie has been killed by Regina. She is now frantic and is thinking of how to do it as well as be the sole guardian of Henry, now that Regina's out of the picture. Mary Margaret and David assures her that they will figure things out together, as a family.
Henry approaches them from the school bus and Emma breaks the news about Archie's death. Nearby, an emotional Regina watches them from her car. She sees a broken-hearted Henry crying over Archie's death. Regina tears up, knowing that Henry will never take her back again.
Rumplestiltskin visits the queen in her castle. He tells her of Snow and Charming's wedding. Regina is quite angry with Rumple's aide to Snow and Charming, making the queen unable to harm them ever again in Fairy Tale World. He then suggests that they can bring everyone to a different land, thus the loophole to the deal he made with Charming and Snow--hinting the reason behind the curse Regina created 28 years back. Delighted with the news, Regina then crashes Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding.
Back at the docks, Cora returns to Hook telling him that she has finally broken Regina, leaving her now with nothing. She also informs Hook that she has something--er someone for Hook to use against Gold. Someone who knows everything about Story Brooke--even Gold's weakness/es. It is revealed that Archie is still alive and is being held captive inside Captain Hook's invisible ship. It is implied that Hook and Cora might torture the truth out of their captured cricket.
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