Sunday, March 19, 2017

Once Upon a Time 6.13: “Ill-Boding Patterns”

“I embraced darkness for good but I never became a hero because once you give in to darkness it’s almost impossible to resist its call.”
- Rumple

After a trip down David’s memory lane, we are back on track with Gideon and Emma trying to face off. I really hope someone points out to Gideon that if he just asked Emma for help in defeating the Black Fairy then maybe she’d say yes. Speaking of someone else hoping for a “yes”, Hook is sitting at Granny’s downing rum at 9am when Archie stops by. Hook is torn about what to do on the proposal front. He could keep what he realized to himself and take it to his grave but he also wants to tell Emma the truth. But he also worries if he does, she’ll spurn his advance. Archie tells him he should at least try. In the end, while he gets a fiancée out of the deal, he doesn’t spill the beans on murdering Emma’s grandpa in cold blood.

We also find Rumple and Belle (with a brief assist from Blue) trying to find Gideon. But he’s after the sword he thinks he’s destined to use on Emma. Rumple finds him at the Sheriff station having just robbed the same. Rumple doesn’t want to lose another son so he magically puts Gideon to sleep. Gideon wakes up in the clock tower to get a lecture from dear old papa about the risks of embracing dark magic, even for good intentions. I mean if ever there was a cautionary tale, it’s Rumple. His actions were motivated by the love for his son but look where’s gotten him! I am a little miffed Rumple only referred to Bae as “my first son” rather than “your brother” but that’s just me. They have a little chat where Gideon explains why he wants to be a hero. And then things get dicey when Rumple tries to dose him with a memory potion. Gideon gets the upper hand and snags papa’s dagger. So now he can force his father to help him, even if he doesn’t want to. Rumple shows Gideon the spell he needs to repair the sword and tells his boy he needs his fairy godmother’s blood to restore its magic. All the while, Rumple is pleading with him to stop and not go through with it. Where the hell is Belle in all of this? I mean she managed to somehow remind him to try and stay good! Girl needs to pull her weight! Gideon finds the Blue Fairy and is about to take her blood (and her magic) when Rumple appears. He’s going to do the deed for his son to keep his heart pure (or at least as pure as it can be when he was raised/tortured by the Black Fairy). I mean, this all has me wondering if the Black Fairy didn’t want a kid, couldn’t she like magically give herself a miscarriage or an abortion or something? But hey, at least the Blue Fairy isn’t dead and it looks like Rumple’s act of sacrifice is bringing him and Belle closer together.

We get to jump back pretty far into the past to the Frist Ogre War where we meet Beowulf (yes that one) who has the same sword Gideon is after. He wields it in battle and survives while everyone else dies. And then Rumple shows up (newly minted as the Dark One) and puts an end to the war. But Beowulf remembers Rumple as the coward from years ago and calls him on using dark magic in front of teenage Bae. I guess if we can’t get Michael Raymond James back as adult Bae we can make do with the younger one. He begs his father not to use magic anymore, especially since the war’s over. Rumple promises no more magic but I can’t see him keeping it. Well, he at least tries to keep his word, even when people show up begging for his help to defeat Grendel (man, I was not a fan of either of those epics when I had to read them in high school). Bae thinks his papa can defeat the beast even without magic (and hey he can show up Beowulf again!). Rumple and Bae set off in search of the beast when Rumple reveals he brought the dagger because he needed it. Much like his crutch, he’s come to rely on it. He feels he can’t live without it. Basically, as I’ve said for seasons, he’s addicted to magic. But he hands over the dagger to Bae, insisting that his boy stop him if he tries to use dark magic. Unfortunately, Beowulf is a total tool and has tricked them into coming. He gets hold of Rumple’s dagger and he’s going to make it look like Rumple killed all the villagers so that Beowulf can be lauded a hero. Hmm, sound familiar? Things go from bad to worse though as Bae tries to face off with Beowulf. In the end, Bae darkens his heart by forcing his father to kill Beowulf. Rumple then uses the same memory potion we see him try on Gideon on Bae and we see Bae hate his papa for using magic. Poor Rumple. He was trying to protect his son and it still backfired!

The other drama going on is Regina and Robin. She finds him hiding in the woods (he manages to secret away her box of potions) before she finds him. He promises to let her show him some more of the town a bit later and then pops by Zelena’s for a chat and an offer. He wants out of Storybrooke so he can be a major dick and thief and he suspects she wants out, too. But he needs her magic to break the protection spell around the town. I do not like this version of Robin at all! Regina somehow gets hip to their escape plan and catches them at the town line before they can leave. The potion Zelena whipped up doesn’t work though. Despite the fact that you can see Regina is breaking inside, she agrees to find a way to take down the protection spell so Robin can find his happiness. God it reminds me of Neal’s death and I so didn’t need that writers! Regina and Zelena have kind of a bonding moment in the vault until they find that the snake Evil Queen is gone. She’s followed Robin and managed to turn herself back to human. See, I knew this Robin would be a better fit for the Evil Queen! I still am uncomfortable with it but hey, at least I was right on something!

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