ONCE UPON A TIME returns to ABC tonight and we are being treated with a retrospective called, “The Price Of Magic.” Tonight we are going to take a look back at how the residents of Storybrooke have fared since their Fairytale memories have been restored. Did you watch the last episode before the hiatus? We did it and we recapped it here for you.
On last episode Mary Margaret went off on her own in an attempt to come to grips with what she did to Cora and how her deed had affected her, she stumbled upon August, who had hidden himself away from the others and was completely made of wood — ashamed at the actions he had taken in life; and Emma was shocked when Neal invited his fiancée, Tamara, to come to Storybrooke. Meanwhile, before the curse was cast, August was introduced to a man of magic who might have been able to prevent him from turning back into wood — but at a steep price.
On tonight’s show “The Price of Magic” will explore the series in a way that will bring new viewers up to date — but which current viewers will also find illuminating – in discovering the consequences the residents of Storybrooke have had to endure since magic was introduced into the town, and whether Mary Margaret’s path has been tainted since learning that her heart has been darkened after she killed Regina’s mother, Cora. Series creators and executive producers Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz will provide some inside scoop on the importance of family, the characters’ journeys and the mythology of the show. They will also tease what’s upcoming in the exciting final four episodes of the season.
Tonight’s episode retrospective is going to be exciting, and you won’t want to miss it. So be sure to tune in for our live coverage of the season 2 episode 18 of Once Upon A Time — tonight at 8PM EST! While you wait for our recap, hit the comments and let us know how your excited you are about Once Upon A Time being back! Check out a sneak peek of tonight’s episode below!
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page for Updates
Tonight’s Once is a retrospective of what has happened since magic came back to Storybrooke as well as some inside scoop on the show and the mythology of the characters.
Co-creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis start out talking about how the town was created when the curse came about – in the 1980s in our world – which explains some of the technology we see such as rotary phones. Edward reminds us that at the end of last season, Emma broke the curse by kissing Henry after he ate the poisonous apple tart. Adam reminds us how Mr. Gold changed the playing field once he started using magic once the curse was broken.
They remind us that Gold brought the wraith back to Storybrooke – they call it a fairy tale terminator. But it was sent to another world with the hatter’s hat and took Snow and Emma with it. Edward talks about the present-day enchanted forest that they call “post-apocalyptic” – that part of the fairy tale land that wasn’t touched by the curse. Aurora, Hook and Cora were all left behind in the forest.
Adam talks about how Emma was trying to cope in the magical realm she never believed in before. They talk about Emma attracting the ogres by firing her gun and how Snow saved her daughter. This showed us the real Mary Margaret – a kick butt fighter – the alter-ego of the shy school teacher mom she’s accustomed to.
They talk about Emma going back to her birthplace and finding things from her birth that she never knew about – her cradle – what would have been her playroom… They recap how Cora trapped them in Gold’s old cell and took away the compass that would have taken them back home to Storybrooke.
We see again how Cora shows Hook the enchanted lake – all dried up – that connects the realms. We get another look at the black and white world of Dr Frankenstein again. They talk about all the devices that can move you between worlds such as the magic beans and the magic hat.
The revisit Cora’s past as the miller’s daughter and her disrespect at the hand of the royals that sparked her whole revenge theme. We see again the first meeting of Cora and Rumplestilskin and it’s revealed he was her only love – her soul mate.
Next, we talk about the theme of the hearts and how they can be ripped out and used to control the other person – or to kill them. We see Dr Frankenstein getting a tour of Regina’s heart crypt. We see how Cora took her own heart instead of the king’s – she did it to rid herself of love for Gold and to fulfill her ambition.
The creators talk about Cora’s love for Regina and how it’s dysfunctional and twisted – but still love. Cora always wanted Regina to be queen and would stop at nothing to make it happen – starting with killing her true love – the stable boy. This led Regina to send her mother into wonderland through the mirror. She sent Hook to wonderland to kill Cora but he failed and they joined forces. It was Cora that set up the shield over their corner of the enchanted land to protect them from the curse.
Cora found the remnants of the wardrobe that sent Emma to our world and was going to use it to get to Storybrooke. When Emma and Snow tried to stop her, Cora attempts to pull out Emma’s heart but finds she can’t – that’s how we discover Emma has some magical abilities.
Henry pushes on his mother to stop blocking the well portal with magic so Emma and Snow can get back through safely. Emma thanks Regina for saving them and they seem to be having a détente. Cora thinks she and Hook are stuck – but he’s got a dried old giant bean in his back pocket and uses it to sail them to Storybrooke on his pirate ship.
The dwarves are at the city line and are ready to investigate the curse. They toss someone over and find out that you can leave, but you’ll lose your memory. They alert the tow. Gold is crushed because he wanted to leave to go find his son.
We are reminded that Gold was branded a coward because he left the army to come home and see his first-born. His wife too branded him a coward. We also see Gold’s first interaction with Hook where he covets Rumple’s wife. He loses his wife and to protect his son, he kills the dark one and transforms into the Dark One. We see his son get the last magic bean from the Blue Fairy and they make a deal to leave and go to the new world together. Rumple can’t go and he lets his son go, but can’t leave and lose his magic.
Gold finds a way to cross the city line by enchanting an object near and dear to him. He gleefully shares his news with Belle. But then Hook is back!
We see back in the old realm where Gold as the Dark One comes upon Hook. He goes after vengeance and as he rips out Hook’s heart, he sees his wife Mila beg for Hook’s life. She’s no captive. She offers him a bean to get to their son. He can’t choose love and takes Mila’s life and Hook’s hand. Hook swears revenge and Rumple magically disappears and sends his ship into a maelstrom.
At the city line, Gold is ready to test his magical artifact – it works. But Hook shows up, shoots Belle and sends her reeling across the town line where she loses her memory. Just then, the mysterious stranger skids across the town line in his car before Gold can throw his fireballs at Hook – but did the newcomer see the magic in his hands?
The creators explain that Storybrooke is now visible. The townfolk fear what this means for them and how the outside world might treat them. The newcomer reassures Emma that he saw nothing untoward. Emma was the only one – besides Pinocchio that came to the town – but they had travelled together through the wardrobe and she never knew he was in the orphanage with her.
We see Emma with Neil – her future baby daddy – and kindred spirit – as they meet while both trying to steal the same car. They fall in love and pick a place to be together – Florida. Emma and Neil plan to run away with ill-gotten booty from stolen watches.
But Pinocchio shows up (now he’s August) and reveals to Neil his true identity. Neil leaves her to be caught by the authorities to get her back on track for her destiny. We later see her tell Henry that his father was a hero firefighter who died in the line of duty.
But then Gold tasks Emma with helping him find her son. Henry tags along and they head out of town. We see how uncomfortable Gold is with the modern world – the airplane, security checks and city life. In NYC, they find Baelfire (aka Neil). Emma chases him down and is shocked to find that her baby daddy has Gold for a Daddy. So Henry is Gold’s grandson.
Neil and Henry discover each other’s existence and are both hurt by Emma’s lies. Charming and Snow are stunned to find out that Gold is part of their family tree. Henry and Neil begin to get to know each other as Gold begs her to smooth things over between him and Neil. But then Hook shows up and fatally wounds Gold. Just as Emma finds she has more family than she thought, fate seems destined to take Gold away from her and Henry.
We see Snow as a young girl watching her mother die and her loyal servant Joanna comforting her. We see Cora masquerade as the Blue Fairy offering a magic candle that would take someone else’s life but save her mother. Snow couldn’t use it. Ava dies and Cora shows up to tell her corpse that Snow will never be queen because Regina will be. We see Snow defeat Regina who refuses to surrender.
We revisit how much Snow loved Regina growing up. Snow shows her mercy rather than be executed and lets Regina go. But Regina won’t go quietly or nicely.
We see Cora turn into Henry to get in with Regina. Cora knows Regina must need her to let her back into her life – she promises to help her get Henry back and Regina takes her up on the shortcut to fast track getting Henry back. They plot to get control of Gold with the dagger – Cora wants to take the form of the Dark One. Regina pulls out loyal Regina’s heart and Snow hands over the dagger. But Regina kills her anyway.
This is the straw for Snow – as she stands at Joanna’s grave – she swears to take out Regina but Charming pulls her back from the brink (he thinks.)
Gold and his family travel back to Storybrooke on Hook’s ship. Gold tells Snow the candle is the only way to save him – he tells her their interests are aligned. She curses the candle with Cora’s name and gives her heart to Regina. Regina returns the heart to her and they have a moment of mother and daughter love before Cora collapses in exchange for Gold’s life.
Regina cries out as her mother dies. She realizes Snow killed her mother and hatred fills her eyes (and heart.)
The stranger who came into town did in fact see Gold using magic and he sticks around to check it out. We see him back as a child camping in the forest in Maine with his Dad when the curse landed. The father and son wander into town and eat at Granny’s diner where they encounter Regina. We see Regina happily touring around town seeing all of the oblivious enchanted people.
Regina decides the young boy is the key to her happiness and wants to keep him. He tells her that he doesn’t want to be there with her. She lets him go, but once he grows up he searches for the town – he wants to find his father. As an adult, Regina tells him he left not long after he did when he was a child
We see Emma meet Tamara – Neil’s fiancée! She’s upset that he’s in love and asks him if he’s revealed his true identity to Tamara. He tries to be honest with her and she fakes a fit. Then we see that she’s not just a normal mortal.
We see August in Thailand – and he’s turning to wood. He didn’t fulfill his destiny so he can’t stay a real boy. He goes to see “the dragon” – a mage who could cure him. He finds Tamara who is also looking for the dragon – says she needs a cure for cancer. He steals the potion from her – even though he thinks she’s terminally ill. She tells him he deserves his fate. She only wants the dragon’s magical abilities and kills him to keep her secret. Tamara is very interested in the magic in Storybrooke as a result.
We see Snow find August in a trailer in the woods in Storybrooke – turned to wood. She tells him he doesn’t have to hide. Then Tamara shows up and once he figures out what she’s doing – he tries to redeem himself by warning Emma. But Tamara uses her dark magic on him. He dies warning them and get a fresh start from the Blue Fairy. He’s a real boy again – literally a young boy – and Gepetto is thrilled.
They talk about the power of both light and dark magic –and tell us that both are in Storybrooke.
Turns out Tamara and the stranger that Regina tried to steal as a child are in cahoots!
We get a look at the next episode where light magic may be destroyed for good and Robin Hood shows up!
THE END!
