Once Upon A Time: Broken

Welcome back, Oncers! Did everyone have a great summer? I'm so glad to see you all again!!

So, what a premiere, right?! The mysterious man in the opening?! The big reveal at the end?!? God, I missed this show!!

We begin in...Central Park?!
A 'mysterious man' is walking home from work.
Y'know, I was going to get into the whole thing with this guy, but then I read this post by TVLine.com.
There's NO way I could do it any better than they did! They have pictures and links to the exact album that is playing through his headphones and everything!
So PLEASE click that link, have a look, be awed, then come back here and finish this recap. Okay? Good.
I'll wait.

You back? Pretty trippy, right?! Okay, ready? Here we go again, Oncers! Season 2!

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In Storybrooke, we come back to the EXACT point where we left off last season. THANK YOU, OUAT writers!

Snow and Charming are reunited with Granny and Red...and then Snow with her Dwarfs, as I laugh through my happy sobs....And then with their daughter, Emma.
I'm so, so glad the writers gave this to us. That they allowed us to be a part of the reunions and realizations.
What amazingly touching, emotional scenes!

The Blue Fairy arrives and tells everyone that magic has been brought to Storybrooke.
Emma wants to confront Gold about the purple smoke, but Snow wants to talk about Emma.
Luckily, they're interrupted by an angry mob who's on the way to kill Regina!

Jiminy runs up and explains that Dr. Whale has whipped the townsfolk into a frenzy, and Emma has to try to stop them from killing the Evil Queen!
Henry begs Emma to help, "Please. She's still my mom!"

Meanwhile, in the forest, Belle tells Gold that Regina had her locked up for the last 28 years. Belle makes Gold promise not to kill Regina, and that they'll be together.
As always...there's a loophole...

Gold brings her back to his shop to find her some clothes. While he's there, he brings out a mysterious gold amulet and holds it menacingly.

Back at Regina's, the mob, with Whale leading, is out for blood.
Regina threatens them with magic...but it doesn't work. Her magic is broken!

Just as Whale is about to wrap his hands around Regina's evil little neck, Emma and company come to the rescue.
Emma is still the sheriff, and Regina is thrown in jail.

Interesting little reveal here--The curse IS broken, but that doesn't mean that everyone knows who everyone else is.
Charming has no idea who Whale is, and Whale ain't telling! Ooooh!


Regina tells Snow and Charming that Fairytale Land no longer exists, and that's why no one returned when the curse was broken.

By the way, I found it adorable how Charming no longer even speaks like David. He's ALL Prince Charming now, right down to his speech!

At the jail, Emma and company go off to find Gold...who walks in just after they leave.
Gold tells Regina that 'magic is different here...dearie.'
He's TICKED about what she did to Belle, and he shoves the gold amulet against her hand..but nothing appears to happen.

Gold goes back into the woods and summons...something, with the gold amulet!
And in her cell, Regina wakes up in pain and sees a strange mark on her hand.

Back in town, Snow and Emma finally talk.
Snow desperately wants to know about her daughter. She wants to be a mother and she wants her daughter's love.
But Emma...can't. At least not yet.
Emma had a very hard life. She was alone. They abandoned her. And while she does understand why...She feels that she should have been with her parents, curse or not.

They finally head to Gold's shop and the confront him about everything. Gold says they should be thanking him instead, for reuniting the family.
The town suddenly quakes and Rumple tells them that it's his gift to them. That's what's going to get rid of Regina.

They leave (but not before Gold reminds Emma that she still owes him a favor!) and Belle comes in. She's overheard everything and she's upset. He broke her promise with a loophole...
"You lied to me."
"No, no, I kept my word! I will not kill her."
"You toy with words like you do with people"
(What a brilliant exchange!)
She leaves his shop as he yells apologies after her.

At the jail, a wraith attacks Regina and starts to suck her soul out!
Charming, Snow and Emma arrive and scare it off with fire....but it will return.
They prepare to get rid of it by sending it elsewhere with Jefferson's hat.
The wraith returns but the hat won't work....at least not until Emma touches Regina and her magic...er...magically returns!

The wraith is sent to another land, but it takes Emma with it!
Not about to lose her daughter again, Snow dives into the portal with her, and it closes just before Charming can dive in as well.
Charming is angry and goes after the Evil Queen...but she uses her magic against him. She makes trees on the wallpaper (LOVED that!)  bind and choke him!
Luckily, Henry enters with Red and begs Regina to stop. He tells her to leave everyone alone, and Charming takes Henry to stay with him at Snow's.
He promises Henry that he'll find Emma and Snow. That he'll 'always find them'.

Back at Gold's shop, Belle returns.
She notices that he still has the chipped teacup.
"There are many, many things in this shop. But this? This is the only thing I truly cherish. And now you must leave."
"What?"
"You must leave because despite what you hope, I'm still a monster."
"Don't you see? That's exactly the reason I have to stay."
(LOVE SO MUCH!)

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In Fairytale Land, we meet Prince Phillip, Aurora and Mulan.
Phillip wakes and rescues Aurora.
The three are suddenly attacked by a wraith, but Phillip fights it off. He also cuts a very familiar-looking amulet off the wraith, and picks it up.
He doesn't realize that this is how the wraith marks their prey...which is what Phillip has now become.

Phillip doesn't tell Aurora and Mulan that he's been marked. He brings them to a safe spot to camp, and then disappears while gathering firewood.
Of course, the women go after him (and Aurora figures out that Mulan is also in love with Phillip), but they're unable to save him and can only watch helplessly as the wraith sucks the soul from Phillip's body, killing him (or is he only 'mostly' dead?). ;)

Mulan gives the charm to Aurora and the two prepare to leave Phillip's body in the castle.
Mulan finally tells Aurora the truth.
That something happened while she was asleep...
"Are you familiar with Regina the queen? She cast a curse on this land. A terrible, terrible curse. It ripped everyone away to another world. This corner of the land was untouched. No one knows why, but something saved us. And for 28 years, we were frozen. And then..time started again."
And now Fairytale Land is full of beasties and bad things.
Those that remain are in a 'safe haven', and the two have to go there.

Just then, they hear a noise. They go to investigate and discover exactly what brought the wraith to them...They see Emma and Snow lying unconscious in a pile of rubble...With Snow gripping Emma's jacket tightly in her fist.

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Epic premiere of epicness or what?!?

Highlights:
--That wonderful, touching scene when everyone reunites. I lost it with the dwarfs!

--"I assume this is all your doing?" (Regina)
"Most things are." (Gold)

--"One night stands and the like." (Snow)
"One night stands?!" (Charming)
"Whale." (Snow)
"WHALE?!?" (Charming)
"We were cursed." (Snow)
LOL!!

--Henry calling Charming, "Grandpa."

--The Gold/Belle kiss. *swoon*

-That amazing opening with the mysterious man! SO MANY DETAILS in that apartment!!


What questions do we have after this episode?

-Who is the mysterious man in the opening?!

-Who is Whale?

-Will there be any kind of mental issues with Belle being in an asylum for 28 years?!

-Why did Gold bring magic to Storybrooke? He had it planned way before he found Belle!

-What's up with Emma seemingly 'powering up' Regina's magic?! Is she a kind if link to it?

-Is Jefferson's hat destroyed? Charming smooshed it!

-How did some get left behind in Fairytale Land? What protected them??

-Who was left behind in Fairytale Land?

-Where's the 'safe haven' in Fairytale Land?

-Aurora mentions making a sacrifice? What was it?

-Will we learn more about how Mulan and Phillip met?

-And about Aurora and Phillip's past?

-Is Phillip truly dead?

-Mulan says, "Those are the sounds of the souls it's trapped, trying to escape." CAN the souls escape the wraith? How?

-Are there TWO gold amulets?! How??

-How does Mulan know the others were sent to another land?

-How will Snow and Emma get back to Storybrooke?

-Will they find a way to bring the others to Fairytale Land, or vice versa?
-Who sent the postcard to the mysterious man?

My theories so far:

First, I love that the Storybrooke timeline and the Fairytale Land timelines are almost equal! The wraith was sent through from SB to the exact moment we saw FTL!
I believe that Mulan and Aurora (and the rest of the FTL folk that were left behind) will be our 'eyes' this season in that world. I think we'll get to see exactly what's going on there in the present day since the curse broke through them, just as we're seeing exactly what's going on in Storybrooke.

I think there will be a rocky road ahead for Gold and Belle. There's no way he'll change so quickly. He's STILL Rumple.

And the 'mysterious man' in New York?
Yeah, I'm going with everyone else and saying it's Rumple's long-lost son, Baelfire.

Next week's episode looks awesome! Jefferson is back!

Almost forgot! The opening was a wraith!

Okay, your turn! Let's hear your theories, your questions, your opinions and thoughts! Did you like the premiere? Who do you think is the mysterious man? And who is Whale?

I'm SO happy you're back with me again, Oncers! Here's to a fabulous season!

See you next week!