The Breakdown
Once Upon a Time opens with Rumpelstiltskin using his dagger to cut what appears to be his soul outside of his body. He gives the shadow his dagger and tells it to hide the object where no one, including him, will find it.
Hook, Regina, Emma, Snow White and Prince Charming continue their journey. They reach a cliff that shows how the jungle has overgrown since Hook was last there. Hook warns that they need to go around the dark jungle and rest if they hope to both survive and find Henry. Snow White tells Emma that it’s never too late, which takes us to a flashback of Charming finding her under the sleeping spell. Charming kisses her, and she awakes.
The mirror shows Regina what happened. White and Charming embark on a mission to take back the kingdom. They try to convince the townspeople to fight back, but Queen Regina shows up. She has a deal for Snow White: give up her claim to the throne or she will kill one of her people each day.
Back in the present, Emma wakes up after hearing noises. She follows the sounds until meeting Peter Pan. Emma holds him at knifepoint, but Pan chooses to give her a map that leads to her son. Pan then disappears.
The group tries to decode the map, which is blank. Emma tells them that Pan told her that it needs to be her alone. Snow White reminds her that she can do it.
Back in the Enchanted Forest, Charming fails to convince Snow White to fight back against the Queen. The dwarfs then accuse of him of only being in it for the power of being a royal. They won’t help him convince Snow White to fight. Charming goes to Rumpelstiltskin for help.
The episode moves back to Neverland, where Belle steals Rumpelstiltskin’s doll. He catches her and finds out that he is the one who conjured an image of her in his mind.
In the flashback, Rumpel argues that if Snow White doesn’t want to fight the Queen, then nothing will change her mind. Charming refuses to give up and claims that Rumpel must have something he can use. Later, Charming meets up with Snow White. He says that there’s a weapon hidden half a day away that can help them win the kingdom.
Emma is still at work at decoding the map. Regina takes the map and casts a locater spell on the parchment once Emma fails. The map leads them into the forest.
Rumpel and Belle continue to talk about the problem. He admits that he’s a coward, like his father. Rumpel tells Belle that Pan offered him a deal: give up the chase for Henry, and he will live. Belle tells him it’s time to let go of the past. Rumpel lets go of the doll that represented his father.
The map stops at spot in the forest, which is where the group begins searching for Pan.
Prince Charming admits during a flashback that the dwarves were giving him a hard time. They believe he’s a gold-digger. Charming and Snow White come across Excalibur, which is stuck in a stone. She pulls it out of the stone, and Charming tells her that she’s the rightful ruler of the kingdom.
In Neverland, the group reaches Pan’s camp. He tells them that cheaters never win, and a group of his boys surround them. A battle ensues between the two sides, but Pan calls an end to it. He tells Emma that the map will lead her to Henry once she believes in who she really is.
The show flashes back to Snow White’s meeting with Regina. She tells the Evil Queen that she will not give up on her people, which prompts Regina to choke Grumpy. Snow White uses her sword to cut Regina, who stops her attack. Snow White tells Regina that she will fight for her people.
Emma confesses all of things that were holding her back, including how she feels like an orphan. Her willingness to be true to herself causes the map to decode.
Snow White goes to Rumpel and asks how to repay Prince Charming’s debt. He says there was no debt because he had nothing to offer. Rumpel then tells her that the sword was fake, and he takes her necklace as payment for wasting his time. Snow White confronts Charming over his deception. He confesses that he was just trying to show her what he already knew: she’s capable of standing up to the Queen.
The group embarks on their mission to find Henry. Pan later encounters Emma, who promises that when he’s done with her, she’ll be an orphan too. The scene moves to David, whose wound from the battle is festering. Meanwhile, Rumpel’s doll comes back to him, despite his attempts to get rid of it. He chooses to hold onto it in the end.
Analysis
I must admit that I was turned off by the idea of Captain Hook being a good guy and Peter Pan a villain, but the show’s writers are doing an excellent job of selling the story. It’s also becoming clear that Rumpelstiltskin’s days on the show are numbered, which makes sense. There isn’t much left to tell of his story. Hopefully, Once Upon a Time finds a way to send him out in a blaze of glory.
Overall, that was yet another riveting episode of Once Upon a Time. I don’t really have any complaints with this episode. The episode flowed together well, and there weren’t any noticeable plot holes. In short, this was a great episode. In truth, I’d say this is a must-watch episode.
