Did Robin Hood sacrifice himself to protect Regina and Storybrooke from the Dark One? (Photo property of ABC’s Jack Rowand)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
Last week, Once Upon A Time unleashed the Dark Swan!
Our heroes were able to track down the new Dark One before she was able to add Brave’s Princess Merida to her body count. The reunited Charming family and company were also introduced to King Arthur, who in turn welcomed them to his kingdom: the legendary Camelot.
However, the show shifted six weeks into the future where our heroes (and Granny’s Diner) returned to Storybrooke with their memories of their Camelot adventure wiped and were faced with an immediate problem: Emma was still tied to the Dark One’s darkness and she vowed to destroy them for failing her.
What does the sinister Emma Swan has in store for our heroes? Read on to find out…
Back in Camelot, the Storybrooke gang met King Arthur and Queen Guinevere and they announced that they have prepared a ball in their honor. They also revealed that Merlin was stuck inside a giant tree and they asked who was the Savior…Regina stepped up to the plate and said that she is the Savior and would free Merlin from the prison.
After Emma and Regina looked into Merlin’s Tower for clues, the former Evil Queen received a gift from King Arthur (a lovely necklace with a purple gem) and she also revealed that she could not dance. At the last minute, the Charmings helped Regina learn to dance. There was also a tender moment between Emma and Snow. LeRoy also encouraged Belle to not give up hope on the dying Rumple. As they danced, Charming helped Henry ask out his first girlfriend, Violet, and the Savior’s son brought modern technology to Camelot and had their first romantic moment.
The good times were about to come to an end as a bitter Enchanted Forest survivor was about to expose Regina’s true identity and wanted to kill her in retaliation for decimating his village. Just as the assassin was about ready to go for the kill, Robin Hood defended her and in the process brought the Fury to existence.
Back in present day Storybrooke, Henry went looking for his biological mother (and even summoned her like Beetlejuice). He begged for her forgiveness and apologized for the inability to save her in Camelot. While Emma reassured Henry that he did nothing wrong, she did not hold back on the former Evil Queen when Regina confronted them. After a brief verbal catfight, Emma revealed that she built her curse over the one thing that would not break it: a savior! Henry insisted that Regina would be a good Savior, while a furious Emma rebutted and stated that it would never happen. As they departed, the new Dark One taunted them about a problem that was heading its way to Storybrooke.
As Regina rejoined the others, she began analyze Emma’s warning. In a private moment, Regina revealed her conversation with Emma to Robin Hood and told the former thief that she has second thoughts on becoming Storybrooke’s leader. While Robin built Regina’s confidence back up, Arthur reunited with Guinevere and revealed that Excalibur was missing. Charming reassured the Camelot ruler that they would find the legendary sword in Storybrooke. He also told Arthur the legend that he is in the real world. Just as Robin collected kindling with Roland, a dark creature suddenly appeared and kidnapped the King of Thieves!
While the dark creature took Robin Hood, Hook summoned Emma and she took him to her new house. Hook tried “True Love’s Kiss” and it failed, he also walked out on her. As Hook left Emma’s new lair, Regina tried to save Robin from the dark creature…but failed! Before she tried to save her true love, Regina cursed at the comatose Gold and learned that the dark creature was an angry fury.
Regina confronted Emma about the fury and pleaded to the good version of Emma to come through. Unfortunately, Emma told her that it was time for the former Evil Queen to pay the piper! Regina arrived just in time to stop the Fury and with the help of LeRoy, Snow, Charming and Arthur…they were able to defeat the Fury and save Robin Hood. They also told her that they had her back and declared her to be the new savior.
As everyone gathered at Granny’s, Henry reunited with Violet and he taught her about jukebox. Meanwhile, Charming reassured his wife that they would save their daughter from the darkness. Back at her lair, Emma also received an unexpected visitor: the ghost of Rumpelstiltskin. He challenged Emma to raise Excalibur and wipe out all good magic!
Next week, Hook and Emma’s love will be tested to its maximum limits!
