OUAT: Going Rogue

Last time on “Once:” They killed Robin. They killed my ship. And Hades. But above all, they killed Robin and let Sean Maguire go. They. Are. Morons.

Oh, Zelena killed Hades and Zeus brought Hook back to life.

But still, THEY KILLED ROBIN AND OBLITERATED HIS SOUL!

Yes, I’m still PISSED! So there may still be rants ahead. You have been warned.

We open at the repast following Robin’s (sob) funeral. There’s a picture of him in his Enchanted Forest gear which…has to be up there with the random Outlaw Queen screencap had in a picture frame back in Season 4A. Little John, Granny and a few Merry Men toast him along with Roland, who has chocolate milk. Regina sits in a booth, looking lost as the the Charmings approach her. Snow tells her she doesn’t have to go through this alone and Zelena pops up to say she’s going to be there for her sister during this time.

(Even Roland is there, toasting with chocolate milk. I'M NOT OKAY)

Violet is back and she approaches Henry. She tells him that she’s sorry about Robin and then tells him she was worried while he was in the Underworld. He says he was worried too and they have a sweet moment.

I’d appreciate it more if it wasn’t at Robin’s funeral.


Emma and Hook head toward Granny’s but she stops them before they head in. She asks him to stay outside while she goes to talk to Regina. Emma’s worried about how she’s going to handle it since the last time Regina lost love, she cursed an entire realm. Hook though argues that she’s changed and they shouldn’t worry. But he agrees, letting Emma go in without him.

In the clock tower, Rumple puts down Pandora’s Box. He says he’s going to need more power to wake up Belle and pulls out the piece of the Olympian Crystal he rescued from Hades’ ashes. It starts to glow and float in front of him.

(Well, this can't be good)

Emma enters Granny and asks to speak to Regina alone. She says there’s something they need to discuss and she says she has to be delicate. Regina assures her that she’s not going to go all Evil Queen on them. Before Emma can implore her more, Granny’s begins to shake as we see several beams of light fill Storybrooke. Hook bursts inside to check on Emma, surprising everyone. Emma reveals that Zeus sent him back and Regina looks ready to burn the place down with Hook inside.

(I think that look says it all)

But there’s a bigger problem—what caused the shaking. They take stock and realize that Rumpelstiltskin is the one person not in the diner. And he’s also the only major practitioner of magic in the town. They need to figure out what he’s doing.

Everyone gathers at the clock tower and figures out what Rumpelstiltskin did. They realize he stole a piece of the Olympian crystal from Hades’ remains and bound all the magic of Storybrooke to it in order to wake up Belle. So they have to stop him. Emma thinks that maybe Regina should go home but she’s having none of it. Regina lays down some truth when she points out that when Emma feels bad, everyone goes to hell for her. When Regina does, she gets put in a timeout. She’s going to stop Rumple, grieving or not. And no, the Evil Queen is not coming back.

(Preach, Regina!)

Henry is concerned and wants to help. Emma tells him that Rumple is dangerous and it’s best if he goes to her house. She says they’ll handle everything.

But of course Henry doesn’t go home. He goes to Gold’s and has Violet meet him. He explains that magic has brought nothing but sorrow to his family. Emma became the Dark One and Robin died. He is worried magic will drive a wedge between his mothers now. Henry says he realizes that magic is just evil and goes around the store to prove it, even bringing up the demonic marionettes that were once Gepetto’s parents. Violet reveals that her mother died because of magic.

Henry says he has a plan and invites her to come with him on a road trip. He then hilariously and awkwardly tries to explain what a road trip is. Violet says her father will kill her but she she agrees to go. Henry is thrilled and dubs their road trip “Operation Mix Tape.”

(Team Teens!)

He says there’s just one thing more they’ll need. Going behind the counter, he picks up his pen. He tells Violet that he promised to only use it to record but he’s going to break his promise this once. He writes about the Olympian Crystal appearing in his hand. It does and Violet is confused about how a crystal with all of Storybrooke’s magic tied to it will factor into their quest. Henry explains that they are taking it away from Storybrooke to destroy all magic.

Damn, Henry.

The next morning, Regina goes to the loft with Zelena. She and Emma try to puzzle out the texts Henry sent when they realize he didn’t spend the night with either of them. They start to worry when Rumple storms in, revealing that Henry stole his Olympian Crystal. He wants it back and he doesn’t care if he has to hurt his grandson to get it. Especially once they figure out he’s going to destroy it—and Storybrooke’s magic.

(I am a jerk still willing to hurt my only grandson)

Emma and Regina try to track down their son. Pulling out her phone, Emma says that she has a tracking app on it since he kept running away. She’s also had it on his phone since Season 3B which wasn’t that long ago judging by the timeline clues we are given. Using it, Emma reveals that Henry went to Boston.

(Team Moms away!)

As Team Moms begin their latest road trip, Merida approaches the others with the Camelot Crew. They are worried that if Henry succeeds in destroying magic, they’ll be trapped forever. So they ask if there’s a way to send them home now. Zelena pulls out the Apprentice’s wand and says she’ll open a portal for them.

(Behold! A portal!)

Emma and Regina grill the bus driver but she didn’t see Henry. Emma finds Henry’s phone on the bus and realizes he led them on wild goose chase. Regina tosses the phone in a trash can and it bursts into flames. The two are surprised, realizing their magic now works outside of Storybrooke because Henry left with the crystal. They decide they really need to find him before Gold does.

(Well that was unexpected)

So where are Henry and Violet? They get off a bus and Henry welcomes her to New York City.

(Looks like a J.J. Abrams' lens flare snuck on set)

Back in Storybrooke, Merida says her goodbyes before leading the Camelot Crew back home. Little John approaches with Roland, asking if Regina will be okay with them leaving without saying goodbye. He says Robin would’ve wanted Roland to be raised in the Enchanted Forest. And while I’m okay with the Merry Men and Little John especially taking in Roland, I’m not okay with them saying that. I can’t imagine a concerned father like Robin wouldn’t have realized that despite the shenanigans that occur there, Storybrooke is still far safer than the Enchanted Forest but whatever. They killed Robin, got rid of Sean and so they’re writing off Raphael Alejandro and Jason Burkart. I get it.

Boo, writers, boo.

(Let's say goodbye to this cutie)

Wait, wait. It gets worse. ZELENA then gets to say goodbye to Roland. Yeah, the woman who violated the boy’s father, tormented Robin and had his daughter is the one who gets to share Roland’s last moments. She tells Roland that they’ll visit him soon so he can see his baby sister and THANK GOD the show left it open for a Roland return. Roland kisses Peanut (I can’t bring myself to call her Robin) and then asks Zelena to give Regina a feather from his father’s favorite arrow, so she has something to remember him. Zelena promises to do so and then Little John escorts Roland out of Storybrooke.

(This is just so wrong)

I hope something comes of that feather and it’s not just some throwaway. Season 6B: Finding Robin!
Zelena goes to close the portal but has difficulty doing so with the magic gone from Storybrooke. It reaches out and pulls her, Snow, Charming and Hook through the door before it disappears.

They find themselves in the middle of a field. Zelena reveals that the wand broke and David asks if she can fix it. She makes a snide remark about duct tape before snapping that fixing a wand isn’t like fixing a truck. They are going to need some help and hope they can find it at the ominous hospital building across what appears to be a crevice.

(Well, that's ominous)

Back in Boston, Emma and Regina sit in the yellow bug. Emma tries to clean up while Regina rags on her for her messy car but she shoots back that it was Regina’s decision to stop for Hardee’s. Regina finds a map and pulls out a pin. She asks Emma for her hand. Emma hesitates and Regina assures her she’s not going to put her under a sleeping curse. She’s going to use Emma’s blood and magic to find Henry. The blood forms a little path to where their son is—New York City. Both want to get there before Rumple finds him.

(Eww)

We then see Rumple pull up to a tollbooth by a sign for the Pulaski Skyway. The toll collector gives the current toll for NJ-NY crossings—$15.00—so is it now 2016? And if so, we got a problem with the Pulaski Skyway. The lanes into Manhattan have been closed since 2014 and have not yet been reopened.

Oops.

Anyway, Rumple uses his magic on the toll collector and the bar raises. He drives on without paying the toll.

(These are not the droids you're looking for)

I wouldn’t mind knowing that trick.

Henry and Violet wander the streets of New York with hot dogs. He explains that Neal, his dad, told him about his attempts to destroy magic. Henry thinks there might be answers at Neal’s old apartment, since he left some of his things there. Violet is game.

(Enjoying those dirty water dogs?)

Snow, Charming, Hook and Zelena wander the grounds of the creepy hospital building looking for someone to help them. They come across a gardener, taking a trimming from a plant. He is pretty jumpy and says he’s not allowed to talk to strangers. Charming just wants to know where they are and if the man knows how they can get back to Storybrooke. He continues to panic and be unhelpful. An orderly approaches but offers no help. Instead, he zaps them with a wand or an industrial strength taser. Not sure which. Either way, they’re down for the count.

(Umm, hi)

When they come to, they are in a cage. They meet the Warden and try to convince him they are harmless. All they want to do is get back home to their realm, to Storybrooke. Hook riles up the Warden, who tries to choke him. Hook’s like “Been dead already, not trying it again.” The Warden lets him go but says it’s best to keep them locked up until they can understand them better.

(Not sure if I should be attracted to him or scared of him)

In New York, Emma and Regina are in Neal’s apartment but there’s no sign of Henry and Violet. However, Emma realizes that they had been there and that Henry wiped the history. But she has a way to retrieve it, hoping it will give them a clue to where he is.

Regina wanders the apartment, no doubt remembering that Robin spent a few months there. She finds a book of Robin Hood legends and handles it reverently. Emma asks about it and Regina reveals she gave it to Robin. They used to laugh over the things it got wrong about him. (WHY COULDN’T WE SEE THAT, WRITERS? HMM?) She is touched that he took it with him when he left Storybrooke.

(This hurts so much)

She opens the book and finds a letter addressed to her from Robin, no doubt written while he was living in New York. Regina holds it and wonders what she should do. Emma tells her to read it, so she does. We get a Sean voiceover, thankfully, as Robin tells Regina that he’s proud of her and the heroine she’s become.

Regina then unloads on Emma, revealing that the Evil Queen is never far from her. She admits that she wanted to rip Hook’s throat out when he showed up alive at Granny’s because it wasn’t fair he lived but Robin died. But she also knows that’s wrong so she didn’t do it. She resists going dark because while it would solve some of her problems, it would cause more—namely, it would cost her her family.

She also is starting to realize she is experiencing karma. That she did so many horrible and unspeakable things, she still has to pay for them. That she’ll never really be happy and that she’ll always be fighting against the Evil Queen.

(I just want to give her a hug)

After Regina’s moments of self-realization, Emma tries to reassure her friend. But it’s not what Regina needs at that moment. So Emma goes back to her laptop and discovers that Henry went to the public library. She and Regina agree to head over there before Rumple can find him.

Except he’s listening outside the door. 

Uh oh.

A librarian escorts Violet and Henry into a research area, saying they don’t get many young people these days. But Henry says the information they need for their research paper can only be found there. She gives them some rules and then leaves them alone, wishing them luck. Henry explains that his father had never been able to figure out how to destroy magic but was certain the answer was there. So he and Violet start looking through the books, hoping to find the answer that eluded Neal.

In the process, they discover several books that look like the storybook. When Henry opens them, he finds stories that aren’t in his. It seems that there are more books than he thought despite the fact that August told him that there were many other authors. So I guess they had to put the books somewhere, right? Anyway, I spot Don Quixote in the book and there are a few others there as well. It seems we’ll probably be meeting some of these characters in Season 6A.

(It's even labeled Volume II!)

The heroes not in New York are still trying to break out of the jail, pleased that Zelena still has the wand—even if it’s broken. When they hear someone coming, Hook and Charming arm themselves just in case it’s the Warden again. But it’s the gardener. He offers to help them get out and get back to their dimension. The man explains that he’s a doctor and that the hospital used to help people before the Warden arrived, locking people up. Including him. So he’ll help them, if they take him back to their world as well. They agree and entrust him with the wand, with several warnings not to lose it.

(Heroes in a cage)

Back in the library, Henry is hitting dead ends and growing frustrated. However, Violet has found a clue. She says Neal couldn’t solve the mystery because he had never been to Camelot. Violet calls Henry over to a display case and points out a chalice. She says that it looks like the Holy Grail, which Henry reminds her was turned into Excalibur. But she doesn’t think it’s the Holy Grail, but might be related to it.

(Lo! A clue!)

Henry breaks the glass and takes the chalice, placing it next to the crystal shard. It starts to glow, proving that the chalice is important. He gathers it up and tells Violet they have to leave. But Rumple is there already. He puts them under a sleeping spell and takes the crystal.

(Grandparent of the year, right there)

I thought it was said last season that sleeping spells don’t affect Henry because he was under a sleeping curse once? Show?

The Gardener takes the wand to a workshop and welds it back together. Once it’s whole, he prepares to leave. But the Orderly catches him and says it’s time for a visit from the Warden. The Gardener puts up a fight and the Orderly cuts his cheek. He injects the Gardener with a serum and I think it’s pretty obvious now who these characters are. The Gardener morphs into the Warden, standing there with a fresh cut on his cheek. 

(Mr. Hyde?)

The camera zooms out past the world filled with people and several buildings, as well as dirigibles, before returning to the books in the library. Pages flip in one book until it comes to one particular title:

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Emma and Regina come across the knocked out teenagers and know Rumple was there. They talk to him about his desire to get rid of magic and he says it’s brought nothing but pain into their lives. Regina assures him that she’s not turning into the Evil Queen and he says he wasn’t worried. Emma was doing that for everyone and Emma admits that she shouldn’t have thought Regina would turn so easily.

As Rumple has a classic walking the streets of New York shot, Regina uses Henry’s blood to try and find Rumple. But nothing works. They realize that since Rumple has the crystal, he has their magic and so it can’t work. They need to find him—ASAP!

Back in the other world, Hyde takes the wand and decides to use it. He wants to go some place new and I presume terrorize the people there. Most likely Storybrooke, unaware those folk are probably numb to it by now. However, nothing seems to happen when he attempts to use the wand.

Rumple checks into a hotel and places Pandora’s box onto the bed. He takes out the crystal and tells Belle that they’ll be together soon. But then light flashes and the box disappears. Rumple sinks to his knees, looking through the sheets like someone who can’t find their phone in the bed. He lets out a cry of despair.

Hyde is confused but not deterred. He comes up with a plan to make his escape as the episode ends.
So that’s part one. I’ll sum everything up in my recap of the second half of the finale. Well, everything I haven’t already ranted about.

Next time: Dual natures and magic! 

Screen caps from here.