Forbidden Forest
In the Forbidden Forest a long time ago, we see Ursula attack a guard and enter a room where Maleficent is. She asks who she is. They argue and she tells her she was invited there. Maleficent says she didn’t invite her. Dogs arrive and Cruella shows up asking why they are in this place and says she was invited too. Rumple shows up and tells them he invited them here because they are all villains and it is time for the villains to get happy endings. He says there is a dark curse that can get them their happy endings.
Rumple takes the ladies to where the curse is stored. He says it is protected, but if they all use their powers they can get through. Cruella uses her power of persuasion to convince the beetles to move off the door. They enter and can see the dark curse, but it is guarded by fire.
Maleficent sucks the fire into her staff and Ursula uses her tentacles to grab the curse. Rumple takes it and says he is leaving with the spell while they die. He says he forgot to mention the Chernabog, which eats evil. Chernabog stands up and we see a horned devil with wings.
The Chernabog comes at Ursula, Maleficent, and Cruella. Maleficent says she can see a crack they can fit through. She says it will have to pick one of them and the other two can run and save the third. They all step into its sight, but it picks Maleficent. She prepares to fight it.
Maleficent fights the Chernabog and is cornered. She is prepared to die when Ursula grabs her with her tentacles.
Storybrooke
Back in Storybrooke life has moved on since the winter finale. Snow White has gone back to teaching. Regina is back to being Mayor. Emma is back to work as the Sherif while Granny watches her baby brother. She heads outside and meets up with Hook to have coffee. They walk by Gold’s shop which is closed up. They meet with Belle who is opening the library and Hook goes with her while Emma heads to work.
Hook is studying a diagram of the plot and he says it has been six weeks and the fairies are still trapped in the hat. Belle turns to the internet to get some answers. Belle is upset that Rumple tricked them all and she should have seen through it. Hook says that while Rumple was a jerk he did love Belle.
Getting The Gang Back Together
Rumple, now living in NYC, is staying at Ursula’s place. He tells her that he wants to fix her problems and that right now their problems align. He gets an email and says it is time to visit an old friend. They head to Long Island to a mansion where we see a man getting dragged out in cuffs while Cruella protests his arrest.
Cruella grabs her fur coat from one of the men. She asks what Rumple and Ursula are doing there. He says their interests align and it will be better for them this time. He says he is there to put an end to them losing everything. She says she hasn’t lost everything and reveals her car. She says there is no magic in this world, but Rumple says she just needs to know where to look. He tells them about Storybrooke.
Cruella asks Gold why he thinks this new plan will work unlike the other plan they had. He says the odds are on their side now as long as they find the author before the heroes do.
Release The Fairies
Emma brings lunch to Regina. Regina says the author doesn’t want to be found. Emma goes to try to find a bottle opener when she finds a picture taped back together in a drawer. Regina says it isn’t a page from the book, that Robin found it and that he told her it appeared to him.
Belle and Hook come in and say they found an incantation that may get the fairies out. Belle explains a professor at Oxford translated it and they need Regina to enact it. Regina waves the Dark One’s knife over the box. She does the incantation and then gold light comes out and the fairies are free. Emma tells Blue that she has the Mayor to thank for their freedom. We see a black fog come out of the box.
Gold tells Cruella to stop the car. He sees his tie on a tree and says they are here. They ask where the town is and he says the town line is 100 yards up, but it is cloaked by a protection spell so they can’t see or enter it. Cruella pulls a gun on him and he asks her to put it down. Ursula kicks his cane. They want to know who banished him.
He tells them he is here for his happy ending. He says if they think they can make it in there and face it all without him then they should go ahead. If they trust him they can invite him in.
Emma tries to get Hook to get over his guilt of putting the fairies into the hat in the first place. She says it was Gold and that Hook is still a hero in her eyes.
While at the party, Henry tells Regina to ask Blue if she knows who the author is. She says the sorcerer and the author are two different people. She hasn’t ever seen him and says he hasn’t been seen in years. Blue says he left clues to his disappearance in his books. There is a loud growl and the heroes run out to find out what it is.
Chernabog
They see Chernabog atop the clock tower. Regina asks if that thing came out of the hat. Emma suggests that they should put it back in the hat, but Belle says they can’t put it back in once it’s been released. Hook says Emma and Regina should defeat it. They go out and aim their magic at it. Belle goes to research it while Snow White prepares to help people to safety.
Gold gives them his phone. Ursula makes the call and it calls Regina. She asks how Ursula got the Dark One’s cell phone. She says she stole it. Ursula tells her that she and Cruella are there for redemption. They ask to come to Storybrooke, but Regina doesn’t want to let them in. They hear the Chernabog and Ursula says she knows what it wants. Regina says if their information pans out they will consider letting them in.
Emma says they can’t be sure the beast is after Regina. She says with Rumple out of town she’s the darkest one around. Emma says they wont’ sacrifice her. Emma suggests they should lead the beast over the town line because there is no magic outside the town.
Emma drives Regina to the town line. The creature lands on the bug and starts to crush it. Regina thanks Emma for trying to save her and teleports herself to the town line. The creature keeps going after Emma, but then sees Regina at the town line. Emma speeds up and then slams on the brakes, sending the Chernabog flying. Snow White and Charming show up and say they shouldn’t let Ursula and Cruella in.
Second Chances
Regina says they deserve a second chance which Emma supports. Regina rolls the scroll over the town line and Cruella picks it up. They unroll it and see the four of them. Rumple stands by the town line and starts to walk away when he hears a sound. He sees the scroll.
He unrolls it and sees Ursula and Cruella. He tells them to make friends and be nice. He explains he was the one who translated the spell for Belle that freed the fairies and Chernabog. And he did all that without magic so imagine what he can do now.
He says they are one team member short and need to reunite the band. They ask how considering Maleficent is dead. They are worried about Regina, but Rumple tells them the Chernabog went after the person with the potential for the most evil and says it was after Emma.
Lastly, we see Charming and Snow White at the town line with Cruella and Ursula. They tell them to keep quiet about what happened in the Enchanted Forest. If they do tell they will have to worry about her coming after them not Regina.