Well, things have certainly taken an interesting turn in the world of Once Upon a Time. Last week we spent a decent amount of time in both present day Storybrooke and Camelot, and this week’s episode was no different. As we learned at the end of the previous episode, Emma is on a mission to vanquish the light by pulling Excalibur from the stone and reuniting it with the Dark One’s dagger. But, like the legend states, not just anybody can pull out the sword. Emma’s going to need to find a hero.
After leaving fans with that revelation, “Siege Perilous” picks up in present day Storybrooke. With Excalibur part of her current objective, Emma decides to steal Happy’s axe–which is supposed to be able to cut through anything–and tries to use it to free the legendary sword. But, seeing as there’s magic involved, it doesn’t work. Â Aside from that we don’t see much from Emma this week until the final scene, which we’ll get to later.
During the rest of our time in Storybrooke, Hook and Emma discuss their feelings for each other. Emma still has feelings for Killian (or says she does), bringing up Rumple and Belle’s relationship as one that worked while he was the Dark One. But this isn’t enough for Hook, who is wary about Emma’s intentions and her refusal to tell him what’s behind a particular door in her new house. When given an option to be rid of Emma by stating he doesn’t love her anymore, he does just that and she vanishes. Still curious about the door, Hook later reaches out to Robin, explaining that he’s in need of a thief. We don’t know what they’re planning, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the scheming duo finds a way to get it open next week.
We also get to see Charming and Arthur team up in similar ways in both Camelot and Storybrooke. There’s something really off about the King, and while I don’t think he’s evil, his quest for making Excalibur whole again has consumed him, and makes him commit terrible acts. For starters, he takes advantage of Charming’s feelings of inadequacy and thirst for adventure this week. When team Storybrooke figures out that they can talk to Merlin with the Crimson Crown mushroom, David and Arthur embark on a bro quest to find it. But, despite being able to grab the mushroom, once they locate it, it disappears.
Though the mushroom that could have saved them all is gone, Charming is given Lancelot’s former spot at the roundtable for his bravery. But while the celebration is going on, Snow encounters a very not-dead Lancelot, who informs her that nothing in Camelot is as it seems and that Arthur is a villain potentially worse than the Dark One. As it turns out, Arthur swiped the mushroom while he was saving Charming from a band of zombie knights. It seems he didn’t appreciate the Storybrooke heroes’ decision to conceal the fact that their former savior was the Dark One.
This quest was somewhat mirrored in present day. After telling David that the magical bean that could have taken all of them home was stolen from the reliquary, the two set out as a pair once more to find the magical item and the culprit who nicked it. A few schemes later, they catch the thief and learn that he didn’t know anything about the missing bean. Much like the mushroom, it’s revealed a few scenes later that Arthur planned it all as an attempt to build his own Camelot in the real world. To keep his role it it all a secret, he convinces the thief to drink poison, essentially dying in service to the King.
At the very end of the episode, Belle notices that the petals of the magical flower tied to Rumple’s life are reattaching, and realizes that he’s waking up. But, once she makes it to where his body has been all this time, she discovers that someone has moved him. It turns out that Emma is the one who took him. When he finally wakes up, Emma explains that since he is no longer the Dark One, his purified heart means that she will be able to change him into the pure hero she needs to pull the sword from the stone.
What did you think of this week’s episode? Let us know in the comments below.
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Image Credit: ABC
