Once Upon A Time: A Land Without Magic

YOU GUYS, THAT WAS THE BEST SEASON FINALE I'VE EVER SEEN, EVER!!!!

My brain is like mush right now, that's how amazing that was!!! I sobbed, I laughed, I freaked out, I screamed...Aside from my theory about Emma's kiss waking Henry because it's a kiss of true love (posted that on my Facebook page), I had NO idea what to expect, and I was SO impressed with every single thing about this episode!

Because this episode switched back and forth so often, and because the two worlds overlapped quite a bit, instead of posting the recap of one timeline, then the other like I usually do, I'm going to recap it all at once.
Forgive me if it's a bit messy looking! ;)

Here we go!

We begin in Fairytale Land, with Charming still locked in his cell. The guards come and take him and while they're walking down the hall, Charming fights back, knocking two of them out.
Unfortunately, he runs into two more. Fortunately,one is THE HUNTSMAN!!!! (Did anyone else squeal and tear up when they saw him? No? Just me?)
He kills the second guard and helps Charming escape.

Flash to Storybrooke.
Henry is in the hospital with Dr. Whale checking him out.
He's unconscious, and Emma tells Whale he was poisoned. Whale disagrees because Henry's showing no signs of it.
Whale tells Emma he needs something to treat. That what's wrong with Henry 'It's like..."
"Like magic.", is Emma's reply.
Emma takes the book out of Henry's bag. As she's holding it, she remembers everything Henry's told her about Fairytale Land. All of the stories flash through her mind.
And she believes.

Regina walks in and Emma drags her out of Henry's room.
Regina finally admits that it IS real. The stories, Fairytale Land, all of it.
She tells Emma that she can't wake Henry because she has no magic left, and she has no idea what the sleeping curse will do to Henry.
Regina realizes they need help, and the two go to Mr. Gold.
"Actually, he goes by Rumpelstiltskin."

Back in Fairytale Land, the Hunstman enters the Evil Queen's chambers. He tells her Charming has escaped. He promises to find him, but Regina can see the prince through her magic looking glass.
Charming suddenly finds himself in the woods. The camera pans back and we see he's in the same woods where poor Hansel and Gretel were--Miles away from anything.

Luckily, Charming runs into Rumpelstiltskin.

Rump offers a deal. He'll give Charming his now-enchanted mother's ring that will help him find Snow--Before we can find out what ol' Rumpy wants in exchange, Charming says no and the two do battle! (Who knew Rumple was so good with a sword?!)
With the help of his magic, Rumple wins, of course.

Charming finally agrees to help Rumple when the sorcerer tells him that they want the same thing--For Charming and Snow to be together.

Back to Storybrooke--
David finds Mary Margaret and tries to apologize to her again. And again, he tells her he loves her.
And AGAIN, she turns him down.
He tells her he's leaving Storybrooke.

And back to Fairytale Land!
Rumple tells Charming that he needs help to hide his bottle of true love magic.
He explains that he'd once been in love and so he's not as ignorant on the subject as Charming thinks.
He wants the magic protected inside 'the belly of the beast', because he's 'saving it for a rainy day'.
Charming agrees to help.

In Storybrooke, Regina and Emma go to Gold's shop.
He can see that Emma believes as soon as she walks in.
He agrees to help, and explains about the true love magic.
It seems that when he created the Queen's spell, he put a single drop of true love on the parchment, which is why Emma is the saviour. She was CREATED through true love. The same true love in Rumple's magic potion! (BOOM, there's a HUGE answer to one of the many questions we've had since the pilot!)


Gold tells Emma she has to get the rest of the potion. The bottle that he'd 'saved for a rainy day'.
Dancing around the 'who', exactly, Gold helps Regina figure out where the potion is.
Emma, still clueless, is told she needs to be prepared.
Gold opens a case and tell her she'll need 'this'.
Emma asks what it is.
"Your father's sword." is Gold's reply. (I squealed in glee at that line!)


Back at the hospital, Emma tells the still-sleeping Henry that he was right and leave the book beside his bed.
Regina comes in to see the boy and Emma leaves.
As she's at the bedside, she apologizes aloud, and in walks Jefferson.
He wants Regina to hold up her end of the bargain. He wants his daughter back.
Regina refuses and Jefferson walks away after Regina calls his bluff.

Meanwhile, Emma goes to Granny's to see August. He can't open the door, so Emma breaks in.
She can now see that he's Pinocchio, and that he's turning to wood.
She asks for help because she doesn't think she can do it alone.
He gives her a confidence boost--and then completely turns to wood before Emma's eyes.
(I really hope he's not dead and is able to return next season!)


Regina and Emma meet at the abandoned library and Emma goes down in the hidden cage elevator.
In the 'basement' (it's more a cave, really), Emma spies a glass coffin (*gasp*) and a HUGE fire-breathing dragon!

In Fairytale Land, Charming is in Maleficent's castle looking for the 'beast'.
It turns our Maleficent IS the beast, and she turns into a HUGE fire-breathing dragon! (*gasp*)

In a series of EPIC, wonderful, parallel scenes, we watch father and daughter battle the same dragon, with the same sword (well, mostly) in two different timelines and two different worlds.
I LOVED everything about this part of the episode!!

Finally, Charming stuffs the jeweled egg containing the true love potion into the dragon's..er...gills?

And in the Storybrooke timeline, Emma THROWS her father's sword into the dragon's heart and kills it, then finds the jeweled egg in its ashes. (Please forgive me if I'm wrong. It's been years since I've seen it, but doesn't Prince Charming kill the dragon the same way in Disney's Sleeping Beauty?)


At the hospital, Mary is reading the Snow White story to the unconscious Henry when he takes a turn for the worse.
Alarms beep and Doctor Whale rushes in to start CPR.

Also in the hospital, Jefferson, now wearing the white scrubs of an orderly, gives the basement nurse a drugged tea.
When she passes out, he rescues Belle (who now lives next door to Sidney Glass, apparently!) and tells her to 'Find Mr. Gold and tell him Regina locked you up.'
He tells her Gold will protect her and he sends her off.

In Fairytale Land, Rumple is waiting for the now-wet (wet leather pants...Oh my) Charming as he climbs out of the water after fulfilling his part of the bargain.
Gold gives Charming the ring--and changes his clothing into something a bit more regal. ;)
When Charming asks why Rumple is doing this, Rumple replies, "I'm a fan of true love, dearie. And more important, of what it creates."

Charming finally finds Snow, but he's too late. She's dead in her coffin, surrounded by her dwarfs.
He leans in to say goodbye--and kisses her.
She wakes, as we already know. :)

Charming proposes, Snow accepts, and she then suggests they take back the kingdom. (EFF YEAH!)

In Storybrooke, Emma is almost to the top of the elevator when it stops.
Gold calls down to her that is's been sabotaged and that Regina has left her. He convinces her to throw the egg up to him. Emma does and Gold takes off.
Emma climbs to the top and spies Regina tied and gagged. The two go off after Gold, but they're stopped when both get calls from the hospital.
They arrive at Henry's room and they're told he's dead.

Back at Gold's shop, he now has the potion--And in walks Belle. (HIS FACE! OMG HIS FACE IS PRICELESS!!)
Of course, she doesn't know him...but he knows her. :)
Belle tells him what Jefferson said, and Gold hugs her and promises to protect her.
She asks if she knows him and he replies, "No. But you will."
(Was anyone else completely fooled into thinking ol' Rumpy would change now? Become a good person? Just me again? Bah!)


Back at the hospital, Emma and Regina are in tears. Emma leans in to kiss Henry and tells him she loves him.

As her lips meet his forehead, THE CURSE IS BROKEN!!!!!!!!!

The WHOLE TOWN remembers! Snow on the street, Charming on his way out of town, Archie in front of his office, the Blue Fairy in the hospital--THEY ALL REMEMBER!!!
(Oh, God, did I SOB!!!)


Before she flees, Regina tells Henry that she DOES love him.

On the street, Charming, now back in town, spies his love.
"Snow!"
"Charming! You found me!"
"Did you ever doubt I would?"
And the two kiss in the middle of the street.
(And I cried even harder, if that's possible)

At the same time, Gold and Belle are walking through the woods when the curse breaks.
"Wait."
"No, no, we're very close."
'Rumpelstiltskin, wait."
He realizes the curse is broken and she remembers.
The two hug and declare their love for each other, but first, there's something he must do.
They arrive at the magic well. The well who's waters have the power to restore that which has been lost.
Rumple drops the true love potion in the water....and a purple smoke drifts across the town.

Regina, looking through her window, smiles.

Magic has once again returned to Storybrooke--And magic is power.

The town clock once again ticks to 8:15.





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So...
HOLY CRAP THAT WAS THE EPICEST MOST EPIC THING OF EPICNESS, EVER!!!!

I was SO worried about how they'd answer all the questions, how they'd NOT leave us hanging regarding Snow/Charming and how'd they'd close out the season...WHY was I worried?!
I'll never doubt you again, OUAT writers! I swear!

Best lines:

"Actually, he goes by Rumpelstiltskin."--Regina

"It was a brief flicker of light amidst an ocean of darkness."--Rumple

"What is that?"--Emma
"Your father's sword."-Gold

"You can see it now. You believe."--August

"Now you're ready for your big moment!"--Rumple

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"--Belle
"No. But you will."--Gold

What questions do we have after this episode?
-Is the magic only in Storybrooke?
-Are the townsfolk still trapped?
-Is Emma now trapped, too?
-How will they get back to Fairytale Land?
-What does this mean for Regina? Is she once again in control of the town?
-Will Rumple go back to his ugly old self?
-Will Belle stay with Rumple?
-Will August survive now that there's magic in the town?
-Now that they all remember, what does that mean for the town? Are there consequences? Repercussions?
-Will Jefferson reunite with his daughter?
-How did Jefferson know Belle was being held prisoner?
-How will Snow and Charming relate to their daughter, who's now all grown up?
-Why does Rumple want to bring magic to Storybrooke instead of going home?
-What will season two bring???


Let's Talk Theories!
It's obviously REALLY early for anything but guesses, but here are my thoughts!

It's going to be the town against Regina, with a bit of Rumple thrown in. ;)

Regina will once again be the scary Evil Queen with control over the land, but I think that, somehow, Emma will  now have magic to rival the Queen.

I think August will be okay...but he'll still be wood. At least for a little while.

And I think that we'll meet Henry's father...who will turn out to be Rumple's son, Bae.

Speaking of Rumple, he'll be conflicted. He'll want the power he once had, but he'll also want Belle. There will be many episodes showing his conflicting sides.
And he'll declare an all out war against the Queen for what she did to Belle.

If my theory about Henry's father is right, I believe Henry will turn out to be the most powerful of them all...but he'll have to grow into his power.
And, of course, the Queen and Rumple will fight over Henry and that power.

What Stories Would I Like To See Next Season?
-Alice in Wonderland from Alice's point of view
-The little mermaid!
-Sleeping beauty!
-Peter Pan!
-More Pinocchio, with Jiminy
-More of the dwarfs stories
-Grumpy and Nova in Storybrooke now that they remember!
-Who is Dr. Whale?


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And now a note from me. :)

You guys, there are no words for how much you've all meant to me during this amazing, awesome OUAT season.
Because of you, this little blog has grown into exactly what I dreamed it would be.
A place for me to geek out. A place for me to 'talk' about my crazy little obsessions. A place of comfort and fun and friendship.

While I don't get a ton of comments (I'm okay with that!), I can SEE that you guys DO read these posts, and my OUAT recaps have quickly become my most popular posts, getting hundreds of views each week.

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU.

I've made a bunch of new friends with the help of this little blog (Hi, Laurie and Mary!), and I look forward every week to my 'regulars' posts (Hi, EB, Sheena-Kay, Deborah, Sophia!), and to all the newbie posts I do receive.

I'll still be here, reviewing books, movies and summer shows (yet to be determined), and I hope you'll all join me again in the fall when season two of our beloved show begins.

Now, lets hear YOUR theories on season two! What do YOU think will happen now that magic has returned? What did you think of A Land Without Magic? What stories do you hope to see next season?


And with that, I sadly bid you adieu for the last time this season, Oncers. Thank you for making this show such fun for me to watch.
I heart you all. :)

Once Upon A Time: Heart of Darkness

I love this show. Have I mentioned that before? I FREAKIN' LOVE THIS SHOW!
Seriously, this show could not be any better. Perfect writers, perfect cast, perfect directors, perfect acting...If this show was a person, I would marry it!

Okay, lets begin!


In Storybrooke, poor Mary Margaret is sitting in jail.
Regina and Emma question her about the heart. It's revealed that the box the heart was in is Mary's jewelery box! That's not at all good.
In a very cryptic statement, Regina reveals to Mary that she knows what it's like to lose someone you love and be publicly humiliated. She says it 'put me in a very dark place. It changed me'. This is obviously a reference to whatever it was Snow did to her in Fairytale Land! She also says to Emma that having your heart broken can 'make you do unspeakable things.' This makes me believe we're getting closer to the reveal, folks! I'm thinking the next Regina/Evil Queen episode will explain all! (Which I believe is episode 18, but don't quote me on that)

Emma returns to Mary's apartment where she's looking for signs of a break-in. Henry shows up and they find a hunting knife hidden in a heating grate. Coincidentally, it was a hunting knife that carved the heart out of the chest of whoever it was in before it was put in the box.
This is DEFINITELY not looking good for Mary.

Henry runs into August at the diner. And in a big reveal, August tells Henry he believes the book is real! And after tonight, I'm ready to reveal something myself! Keep reading...My thoughts are posted below, as always!

David goes to see Regina, and in another bit of foreshadowing, Regina tells him, "Evil isn't born. It's made." Again the writers are throwing us little tidbits of Regina's episode to come! Exciting!

Back at the jail, Emma tells Mary that she believes her but she should think about hiring a lawyer.
Who walks in at that perfect moment? Why, Mr. Gold, of course!
Apparently he's a lawyer, too! How convenient!
Snow accepts his services but tells Gold she can't pay him. Gold explains that he'll defend her for free because, "I'm invested in your future."

David goes to see Archie (Yay! I missed Archie!) to see if he can help remember what happened during the blackouts.

Henry shows up at Mary's apartment and shows Emma a ring of keys he stole from Regina. Emma tries a key and it fits, opening the door. And now Emma agrees...Regina MUST be the one framing Mary!

Archie puts David under hypnosis and we actually SEE flashes of David remembering when he was Charming!! That was AMAZING!
Archie wakes him up quickly because he was too far under and David runs off.
He goes to see Mary at the jail and tells her what he remembered.
....Which wasn't a good thing. At all.
He remembers being in the woods with her and saying, "Don't kill her."...So of course, he thinks he was talking about Kathryn. David has lost faith in Mary and Mary is devastated.


Mary decides making her bed might be a good idea....even in jail she's neat and tidy...and while she's doing that she finds a key. The key just happens to open her cell door.
Emma walks in and Mary hides the key from her. Emma tells her that the results are back and the heart does indeed belong to Kathryn. Oh, no!
Emma tells Mary that she knows Regina is the one framing her but she has no proof. She tells Mary to have faith in her and she'll find a way to prove that Regina is behind everything.

Emma then goes to see Mr. Gold and tells him her thoughts about Regina. She asks him for help and he agrees, telling her, "Regina is powerful but something tells me...you're more powerful than you know."
AGAIN with the vague references! I love this show! ;)

And in the last scene we see Mary's cell door wide open...with Mary nowhere to be seen.
Dun dun DUN!


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Over in Fairytale Land, we start with Red and Charming taking on some of the Evil Queen's men. Red, in an awesome moment, tells Charming to find Snow and she gives him a head start...and give a quick glance to the full moon. GO RED!

Flash to Snow, who's actually humming one of Snow White's Disney songs! Nice touch!
Er...but this isn't the Snow we've come to know and love! Apparently old Rumpy's little potion has changed Snow into a not-so-nice person! Even Happy isn't at all happy with her!
The dwarfs decide to have an intervention... and call in dear Jiminy to help! Aw, I love Jiminy!
Of course, the intervention doesn't work and Snow decides she needs to kill the Evil Queen.

Grumpy follows Snow into the forest and convinces her to go to Rumple.
Rumple explains that Snow has changed because she has a hole in heart where love used to be....and there's no cure for her. There's no potion that can bring back true love. Love can't be bottled.
Snow then asks Rumple for help killing the Queen. He gives her a bow and a map of the route to the Queen's summer house.
Rumple giggles like a maniac...which will always make me giggle along with him. I've said it a billion times, and I'll say it a billion more...Robert Carlysle is AMAZING in this role!!! I just adore Rumple!

Snow asks Rumple what he wants for payment. Last time she took a strand of her hair. This time Rumple says he wants nothing because, "I'm invested in your future." Deja vu!

Charming tracks Snow to Rumple's, but arrives after she's left. Rumple tells him that true love's kiss will break the spell on Snow. Then, in exchange for Charming's cloak, Rumple tells him that Snow is on her way to the Queen's Highway and gives him the same map he gave Snow.
Rumple tells him to hurry because if Snow kills the Queen, she'll become as evil as the Queen herself. Charming says Snow could never become that evil and Rumple replies, 'Evil isn't born, dearie. It's made.'
Again with the deja vu!


Next we see Snow in the forest, preparing to kill the Queen. Charming comes up from behind and plants a kiss on her...but it doesn't break the spell. Snow bashes Charming in the head and knocks him out cold.
He comes to...tied to a tree. Charming tries to convince her that they're in love, but she leaves him there and goes to wait for the Queen to arrive, ripe for killing.

Jiminy finds Charming and gnaws him free. Jiminy tells him that Snow can't remember him because she can't remember HERSELF. I love Jiminy.

Snow spies the Queen and as she shoots, Charming jumps in the way and takes the arrow to the shoulder.

She realizes that he took the arrow to save her from a life of darkness. She kisses him and.......SHE REMEMBERS! AND I CRY! ;)
The Queen's soldiers find them and take Charming away in a cage. "I will find you! I will always find you..."
Man, they just can't get a break!

In an absolutely beautiful scene, Snow goes back to the cabin and apologizes to the dwarfs. Again, Lee Arenberg is at his best when Grumpy stands with a look of pure adoration on his face and simply says, "It's you." Yes, that got me bawling again.
The seven crowd around Snow and welcome her back, but she can't stay. She has to rescue Charming.
And in another frickin' AWESOME scene, Grumpy tells her she can't do it alone....and luckily she doesn't have to! "Let's show that king what Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs can REALLY do!" YEAH! I can't wait to see some dwarfs kick-butt!

And in the last scene, we see my darling Rumple searching David's cloak for the exact thing I KNEW he wanted it for.
One single hair.
He drops it into the beaker with Snow's hair and, voila! He's bottled love!
Whoa!

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Yet again, another BRILLIANT episode! Wonderfully strong performances by all, especially Team 7 and Robert Carlyle!
I loved the similarities...Rumple and Regina both saying, "Evil isn't born. It's made." and then both Rumple and Gold saying to Snow and Mary, "I'm invested in your future."
I also loved the opposites in the timelines. Charming having complete faith that Snow would never do anything evil, but David losing that same faith in Mary.

We also learn that very deep hypnosis can bring memories of Fairytale Land out. Very interesting!

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Now, as mentioned above, here's my reveal:
I believe August is Rumple's son, Baelfire, all grown up.

I don't know how he's grown or how he left Fairytale Land or how he found Storybrooke, but my money is on Baelfire, especially after the line, "As real as I am". That leads me to believe that he knows the stories are real because he was IN the stories.

Why Baelfire? Well, he kind of looks like the child we saw, for one.
Secondly, I think whoever he is has to be someone close to Rumple...perhaps with a little grudge against him, which his son would certainly have, but also would want to help him and make him 'normal' again.
Third, who would have grown up on that book? We've seen Gold's shop. Did the book originate there? If so, did Bael read it as a child? Did he even possibly have a hand in writing it? Who would know all those stories? Rumple. Would he tell them to his son as bedtime stories, perhaps?

Of course, I'm probably way off...but you asked! ;)



And now, what questions do we have after this episode?(So, so many!)
-Who is August?
-What does August have to do with Emma?
-How does August know Emma?
-How will August make Emma believe?
-How did August know Emma was in Storybrooke? (Assuming that's what brought him there)
-What did Regina do to Kathryn?
-Who put the key in Mary's cell?
-What does Gold/Rumple mean by, "I'm invested in your future"?
-What will Rumple do with the bottle of love?
-Where's Mary?
-How will Team 7 and Snow get Charming out of jail?

Highlights: 
-Red's scene at the very beginning. I LOVED that they tied the last episode with this one like that!
-Jiminy!
-David remembering Fairytale Land!
-Rumple. Every single scene with Rumple.
-The last scene with Snow and the dwarfs. That was so perfect!
-Grumpy's face when he realized Snow was herself again.

And now I'm going to do something a bit different!
Here's the promo for next week's episode, 'Hat Trick'!

Alice in Wonderland? The Mad Hatter?! Oh THIS is going to ROCK!

See you back here next week, Oncers!