The memories Graham recovered are about him as the Huntsman. He was raised by wolves and was shunned by the others for preferring the animals’ company. He was a man of honor but who would kill if need be. The Queen ordered him to kill Snow but he couldn’t after reading a letter she wrote to the queen. Instead, he sent the princess running for her life and tried to fool the queen. It didn’t work and so she took his heart, keeping him for her own tasks…and sexual pleasure.
In Storybrooke, Graham didn’t find the answers he was looking for but did find the strength to stand up to Regina. He ended it with her and she blamed Emma. When Graham continued to choose Emma over her, Regina crushed his heart and Graham died in a heartbroken Emma’s arms.
Harsh.
We open in the Enchanted Forest as Rumpelstiltskin sits at his spinning wheel. But he’s turning wool into yarn, not straw into gold. A young boy runs and tells him that they have come for someone. Rumple grabs his walking stick and limps out of his cottage after the boy.
Soldiers pull at a young girl while her parents try to hold her back. They insist that she’s too young, that she’s not yet sixteen. The soldier replies that the Duke lowered the age to fourteen and so its time for their daughter to go fight in the Ogre Wars. Her parents continue to plead for her to stay until they suddenly can’t breath. The guard smiles, saying the Dark One thinks their daughter is going to fight. Rumple and his son turn to see a figure all in black using magic in the distance.
 |
| (Cue the dramatic music!) |
