The season finale of Once Upon a Time aired on Sunday and it was a doozy. The first half of the two-hour long episode was just a setup for the back half. Here is what happened in the latest episode of Once Upon a Time:
Emma is in a mental hospital
After the Black Fairy's (Jaime Murray) curse is unleashed all over Storybrooke, Henry (Jared Gilmore) wakes up and remembers everything. Emma (Jennifer Morrison), along with everyone else in the town, have no recollection of the past two years. Emma was placed in a mental hospital for believing Henry the first time he said they were fairytale characters.
All of that happened, of course, because of the Black Fairy. The Black Fairy wants to destroy Emma’s hope, which will in turn destroy everything and everyone. Henry though, is on a mission to restore his mom’s belief.
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Some of them are in the Enchanted Forest
Hook (Colin O’Donoghue), Regina (Lana Parrilla), Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) wake up in the Evil Queen’s castle. They remember everything and just want to get back to Storybrooke. Right on cue, Zelena (Rebecca Mader) walks in holding one of the Mad Hatter’s hats. The hats can transport people to other realms. They try to use the hat and it takes them to a room with all of the portals, except the portals are disappearing. It turns out that as Emma’s belief diminishes, so do the realms.
Hook and Regina have plans to find another method of transportation — Regina wants to use her magic and Hook goes searching for a magic bean. Regina’s powers aren’t strong enough, so the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) shows up and offers to help. Fans will be happy to know she brought Robin Hood (Sean Maguire) to this land with her. Charming follows Hook to the magic beanstalk and both of them narrowly escape death.
Everyone’s efforts are moot though, because what happens in Storybrooke takes over.
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Emma burns the Storybook and leaves
The Black Fairy is up to her own mischief. She convinces Emma that if she wants Henry to get better and stop believing in fairytales, she has to burn the sacred Storybook. When Henry ends up in the hospital — an injury inflicted by the Black Fairy — Emma decides to burn it.
When she throws it in the fire the other realms start disappearing, putting her family in danger.
After she burns the book, Emma leaves for Boston. In her bag she finds a book Henry wrote for her. It tells about their adventures. Maybe this will play into something later in the episode — wink, wink.
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Rumple is awake
The Black Fairy has everyone wrapped around her finger, including Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) and Gideon (Giles Matthey). Belle (Emilie de Ravin) supposedly left and is traveling the world, but this is just a smoke screen the Black Fairy composed. Rumple doesn’t believe the Black Fairy and when Henry visits him, Henry discovers Rumple is still awake.
Henry wants Rumple’s help defeating the Black Fairy, but his only mission is finding Belle who he believes is still in Storybrooke. Rumple does give him two things to help him defeat her: the mirror to communicate to people in other realms and the sword that Emma was supposed to use to defeat Gideon. Henry, wielding the sword, goes to City Hall to find the Black Fairy. As he approaches the mayor’s office, Emma comes up behind him. She says she doesn’t remember anything, but she believes she used to be the hero Henry knows her to be.
The moment between the two is an ode to the first season. When Henry arrived at Emma’s apartment in season one and told her he was her son, it was the beginning of the story. It’s touching to see the moment between the mother-son duo.
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The Black Fairy is killed and everyone returns
The Black Fairy is not in City Hall, though — she’s at Rumple’s shop. The only one there is Gideon because Rumple is tracking Belle, who he finds hidden in a house. The Black Fairy is searching for her wand and orders Gideon to find it. He does what he is told, but against his will. It turns out the Black Fairy still has his heart. When the wand is located, the Black Fairy uses it to translate the runes Henry drew not too long ago.
The camera cuts away to a different scene, but when it comes back to the Black Fairy, she is still in Rumple’s shop. Rumple is also there, and he hints at the fact he was not affected by the curse. She is shocked, but reveals she told Gideon to kill Emma. Rumple takes the Black Fairy’s wand and turns her to dust. The curse is broken because the Black Fairy is dead, and everyone return to Storybrooke with their memories intact.
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Gideon and Emma duel
While Emma and Gideon prepare to duel, Rumple and Belle look for their son’s heart. Rumple knows exactly where it is located. He picks up the heart and is prepared to tell Gideon not to kill Emma, but a figure appears behind him — his Dark One self. His dark side tells him to let Gideon kill Emma so they can have love and power. Rumple stands there and debates for the longest time, but he decides to tell Gideon to stop and it doesn’t work. Rumple was finally able to put his desire for power aside and help people, and it wasn’t successful. Rumple has, by far, become one of the most dynamic characters on the show.
That leaves Emma and Gideon to the duel. With a sword in hand and her family watching, Emma and Gideon battle. The fight seems evenly matched, but Emma realizes fighting isn’t her thing and doesn’t want to kill Gideon. She puts down her sword and Gideon says, “Sorry, Emma. I was hoping you would save us both.” Then he stabs her and light bursts from her chest. Very dramatic.
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True love’s kiss
When Emma falls to the ground, her family runs to her side. They are all upset to see her body laying there. Henry kneels down and gives her a kiss on her forehead. And what do you know, she wakes up. True love’s kiss has saved yet another person. This brings the show full circle. The first time Emma believed in her real-life fairytale was when she woke Henry up with true love’s kiss. This is a beautiful moment, and you’ll have to excuse me while I bawl my eyes out.
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The ~almost~ satisfying ending
When Emma wins, Gideon is reverted back to a baby. Kind of weird, but also very sweet because Belle and Rumple can now raise him. There is a whole montage of people living their happy lives in Storybrooke. The Charmings own a cute little farmhouse where their dog can roam freely. Regina is the mayor again, but the dwarves put the title “Queen” on her door. In the Enchanted Forest, Robin proposes to the Evil Queen. Emma and Hook are still happily married and keeping the town safe.
It’s a very satisfying ending, until the scene changes a little bit. A girl is sitting on a train in Seattle. In her lap is a book with the name “Once Upon a Time” on it. She gets off at a train station and goes to an apartment building. She approaches a door and knocks on it. A handsome man, probably in his late 20s or early 30s answers the door. The girl says, “Are you Henry Mills?” “Yes,” he responds. “My name is Lucy. I’m your daughter. Your family needs you.”
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Oh. My. God. The show has come completely full circle. Once Upon a Time is heading in a new direction, and, honestly, it’s exciting. The series has become more and more of the same. This will allow for a fresh start and let them explore different aspects. Hopefully Once Upon a Time comes back bigger and better than ever.
