ONCE UPON A TIME Henry Got Friend-Zoned

Episode 505 “Dreamcatcher”

 

In this episode, there were a broken heart, a runaway horse, and an escape from a tree!

At the opening, Emma used a dreamcatcher to look into Merlin’s memories (he’s a tree) to see how he got there. Merlin tried to kill a masked Dark One (I assume it wasn’t Rumpelstiltskin yet) with his dagger (the tip of Excalibur). He said he would get revenge for what the Dark One did to the woman he loved. Then he stopped dead in his tracks with the Dark One standing in Force-choke stance. (Overwhelmed by memories perhaps? It didn’t say.) He dropped the dagger, which the Dark One picked up, wiped a tear from Merlin’s face onto the blade, and used it to turn Merlin into a tree. Interesting plot point: Merlin is the same one who told a child Emma not to pull the sword from the stone back in episode 1. And he’s less of an old wizard and more of someone who would be cast by shows on The CW.

David and Snow, still under Arthur’s spell, were still trying to convince Regina that giving the dagger to Arthur was a good idea. Then they were frozen in mid-sentence by Emma, who told Regina about Arthur controlling them. That was a pretty cool twist. One would expect for the deception to be fruitful. But then BAM!, Emma swoops in and saves the day! I love quick, unexpected twists. But then came the obligatory banter with Regina telling her that her using dark magic was a bad thing. Yes, we get it. Dark magic. Bad. It’s been drilled into our heads by this point. But when you need to fill time, I guess repetitious exposition can become necessary.

Emma was in Merlin’s workshop looking for spells to free Merlin. Regina refused to help until she knew how Emma was informed about Arthur’s curse on David and Snow. It was a dreamcatcher. But not just any dreamcatcher. It was even greater dark magic than she ever used before! Gotta one-up everything else, right? It showed not only the curse, but also that a tear from his broken heart created the tree curse. Regina believed that another tear from a broken heart could be used for a counter spell.

Henry and Violet were tending to her horse Nicodemus. When she left to get something, Henry picked up a sword (that was clearly too heavy for him) and began swinging it around and pretending to be a hero … before falling backward into the horse’s stable and breaking a wooden beam. The noise brought in Sir Morgan, Violet’s father, who dressed Henry down as not being good enough for his daughter since he was a writer and not a knight in training. Geez, hasn’t he ever heard that the pen is mightier than the sword? Sheesh!

So Henry was out in the woods swinging a sword around … poorly. Emma and Regina convinced him that it wasn’t a good idea, that he should be different as he already was. Regina used the story of her first love, Daniel. That gave her the idea that she could provide the missing ingredient. Back in the workshop, Regina used the dreamcatcher to look back at her own life and when Cora killed Daniel. She cried. Emma grabbed a tear in a bottle. Emma couldn’t grasp how a mother could do that to her own child.

At the Camelot version of Granny’s Diner, Henry set up a candlelight dinner for Violet and himself and he introduced her to soda. In the background, the song they listened to twice already was playing, because nothing says medieval romance quite like techno-pop. When he suggested catching a movie, she shot him down. Henry was friendzoned.

Emma put together the ingredients for the potion right by the Merlin tree. Regina’s tear wasn’t enough for the spell to work since her heartbreak wasn’t enough. She had found Robin and moved on. Enter Henry who cried about being shot down. Poof. Magic tears. Convenient.

Before Arthur and his henchm– … I mean “knights” could stop them, Emma completed the spell and freed Merlin who was the same robed pretty boy as before. That’s still unnerving to someone who grew up with the legends and is familiar with the likes of Gandalf and Dumbledore. No old man with mega beard, no wizard. But nooo, Merlin is young and clean shaven. Heresy, I say! But anyway, he reappeared and told Emma he was expecting her. And he was displeased with Arthur. The feeling was mutual, but a broken Excalibur couldn’t hurt Merlin.

Back at Granny’s Diner, Merlin freed David and Snow from the spells placed on them. Then he said he could cure Emma of the darkness, but only if her heart was ready to be free. It was as much up to Emma as it was to him.

Back in Storybrooke, Arthur, Guinevere, and our intrepid heroes were gathered around the jail cell where Arthur’s squire vanished. Arthur said that he probably had the magic bean on his person (which didn’t really exist). Guinevere thought their people needed a way to lift their spirits since they wouldn’t be going home anytime soon. Henry suggested a dance, which he did so he could invite Violet. It was the first time Regina had heard about Henry having a love interest, outside of Camelot anyway. Killian offered up his services to train him on how to handle women. To which Regina had the best response for him ever, “Over your dead body!” Then Belle alerted them that Rumpel was missing.

Emma had Rumpel in her basement dungeon. He tried to convince her that using the dark magic and trying to justify it would only push away those she loved most. She just called forth Merida who was still under her control. She sent the two out into the woods so she could train him to be a hero. Then she went out to the shed where a bunch of dreamcatchers were hanging up. She grabbed one and began to cry about it.

Henry asked Violet to the dance. But her horse ran off and she wasn’t feeling up to partying. Sir Morgan was out trying to lure it with pumpkin, its favorite treat. So Henry vowed to get the horse back and went to Emma for help. He wanted her to prove she was still the mother he knew by helping Violet find her happy ending. Operation Cobra was still in effect. They went to the home of one Peter Peter, and there were pumpkins all over the place (surprise, surprise). And the horse was there. It didn’t like Emma since she was the Dark One, but Henry was able to calm the horse.

While they were gone, Regina, Robin, Killian, and Belle went to Emma’s house. Regina, on Belle’s suggestion, used Henry’s scarf to touch the handle of the front door with in order to circumvent the protection spell Emma used to keep Regina out. In the basement, they found Excalibur in the stone and realized that the design on the blade was the same as on the dagger. Belle found the ropes that tied Rumpel up. Then they had to leave quickly since Henry texted Regina that Emma was on her way back. On their way out, Killian found the dreamcatcher. Regina seemed to figure out how Emma took their memories.

Merida was trying to teach a hobbling Rumpel how to sword fight. He was less than cooperative. She said that there must be a way to get him to stand and fight and she would find it. Then she knocked him out cold. Because that’s how you train a former Dark One to become heroic, apparently. Merida broke into Regina’s office and looked in the Once Upon A Time book. Then she broke into Gold’s shop, and searched for and grabbed … something.

At the block party, Arthur, Guinevere, and our intrepid heroes were seated around a picnic table for a nice round of story exposition. While generally a recap (Arthur coming clean about the dagger being the tip of Excalibur), he did make the first mention that not only could a unified Excalibur banish darkness, it can also be used to banish the light. And that likely is what Emma’s ultimate goal is. It makes sense. But can we trust him?

Sir Morgan was with Violet encouraging the moping girl to try to have a good time. Then Henry rode gallantly in on the horse. He not only made Violet happy that he found her horse, he also won high praise from her father. Then Sir Morgan took the horse back and left the two young love birds at the party.

Merida went to Rumpel in the woods and showed him what she took, the chipped teacup. She taunted him with it to get him to fight. She even commented that maybe Belle had seen the yellow-bellied coward he had become. As he began to fight back, she seemed impressed with his growing courage. Then she also said he had a ways to go before he was ready … to take on Emma? Wait … Wha–? Perhaps Emma only ordered to make Rumpel into a hero or something that could have a broader implication. But isn’t Merida under Emma’s control? What gives?

Regina and Robin activated the dreamcatcher to see what was contained. It was Violet’s memories, specifically when she found Henry’s note to meet him at Granny’s Diner. Then Emma yanked her heart out and commanded her to break Henry’s heart so she could get his tear. And who had quietly entered to see the entire memory play back? Henry.

Emma went to Regina’s to see Henry. Then came a confrontational exposition between Regina and Emma. In summary, Emma was unhappy that Regina stole the dreamcatcher, Regina was upset that Emma did what she did and that Henry saw it, Emma claimed to have good reason, Regina likened Emma to Cora, Regina had lost all faith in Emma and the move of the Dark One is always deception, Regina figured Emma let the horse out to begin with, and Regina found out that Merlin was released in Camelot but Emma is still the Dark One. Finally, Regina told Emma to leave and Henry wouldn’t want to see her. That was confirmed when Henry looked out the window at Emma then closed the curtain and shut off the light.

So all in all a pretty good episode. More repetitive exposition than I would like, but a combination of story and time constraints make it understandable. The question of whether or not Emma can be trusted has made the entire season interesting, especially in this episode. And I’m particularly looking forward to seeing Rumpelstiltskin become a hero.