Once upon a Time Rewatch 2.3, "Lady of the Lake"

Read the previous entry in the series here.
Read the next entry in the series here.

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2.3, "Lady of the Lake"

Written by Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg
Directed by Milan Cheylov

Synopsis

That's a face that says "Don't be stupid." It's surprisingly rare.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

After a recapitulation of series events, the episode begins with Red racing to report incoming attack to Snow White, Charming, and others as they confer. She is not much ahead of the attack, and battle is joined. Snow White's escape is noted and interdicted--by Lancelot, who notes that he is no longer of the Round Table before taking Snow White captive.

Mary Margaret awakes in captivity, tended by Cora as Emma looks on. They confer about their respective situations, and Emma learns that Cora is Regina's mother. Mary Margaret wakes and warns Emma against Cora. They are summoned out.

In Storybrooke, David and Henry confer about the work to retrieve Mary Margaret and Emma. David tries to dissuade Henry from assisting him, and Henry voices agreement--but does otherwise at the earliest opportunity.

I'm not entirely sure on the optics of this...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In the Enchanted Forest, Mary Margaret and Emma are brought before Lancelot, who leads the refugees. They meet warmly, and introductions are made. Aurora and Mulan look on, Aurora thirsting for revenge for the slain Phillip and Mulan urging caution. The urging is in vain as Lancelot confers with Mary Margaret and Emma. He notes the return of the ogres and asks Mary Margaret and Emma to remain. Mary Margaret notes a possible way out, but she refuses to elaborate, citing caution about Cora; Lancelot accedes to their request to depart, although he obliges them to take Mulan along as protection.

Some of Snow White and Lancelot's earlier interactions are detailed. Lancelot is in the service of George, who strides around a round table and confers with her about his losses and his purpose for her--the infliction of an infertility curse. And in the present,  Emma and Snow White are armed for their journey out. Mulan warns them against the threats that face them. Snow White notes to her daughter that their destination is her old home.

In Storybrooke, Henry confronts Jefferson, beseeching his aid. Jefferson notes the existence of Regina's vault, and Henry tries to offer comfort. He later calls Regina, who is at work packing up her office; they agree to lunch together, and Regina rushes off gratefully--the victim of a ruse by which Henry purloins her skeleton keys.

Party!
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Emma, Snow, and Mulan make camp, Emma querying about their situation. Snow and Mulan grow exasperated with the ignorant Emma, and Snow recalls being turned loose by George after her cursing. Lancelot comes upon her shortly after, warning her that Charming is about to come under attack. The attack comes, Charming finding himself surrounded, and melee ensues. Charming fights ably, killing and incapacitating his assailants but failing to save his mother, Ruth, who is shot in the breast by a crossbow bolt. Snow White and Lancelot arrive at that point, and greetings are tearfully exchanged.

Aurora attacks Snow White in the night, and Mary Margaret subdues her swiftly. Emma attempts to protect her mother, her gunfire attracting the ogres, who hunt by sound. The four flee, separating, and Emma trips, accosted by one of them. Snow White slays the assailing ogre, and the two proceed along their way.

Lancelot aids Snow and Charming in taking Ruth to receive aid. Along the way, Lancelot's exile from Arthur's court is glossed. Also along the way, Snow and Charming's mother confer, the latter expressing her wishes for her future children. Snow White's inflicted infertility is voiced, but hope for relief is noted.

I've said it before: always pay your contractors.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Snow White, Emma, Mulan, and Aurora arrive at Snow White's old castle, which is in ruins. In the past, Snow White, Charming, Lancelot, and Ruth arrive at the lake whose waters had promised hope, finding it dried up. And in Storybrooke, Henry breaches Regina's vault, finding her stores of hearts under her father's tomb, as well as other magical caskets. One contains a two-headed snake, from which David saves the boy, having followed him. Henry notes his dissatisfaction, and David reaffirms their shared heritage.

Charming notes his fault in drying the lake, but Lancelot uncovers a small bit of water, offering a prayer over it. It is enough for one one dose, which Ruth insists Snow White take. Snow White demurs, and Charming, knowing nothing of Snow White's condition, insists that she drink. She feigns doing so, and dies with her son in attendance--but not before seeing Lancelot officiate a wedding ceremony for Charming and Snow White.

Emma's party searches through the castle, Emma recognizing things from her son's book. Snow White reminisces about what she had had and what was lost for her daughter. The wardrobe that had transported Emma to the world of Storybrooke is present, and plans for taking it back to Lancelot's camp are discussed--with the sudden appearance of the knight occasioning surprise. The disclosure of an accurate but unmentioned detail lets Snow White know Lancelot is an impostor, Cora in disguise. Regina's mother notes having long slain Lancelot, and she acts against Snow White and Emma. Mulan and Aurora intervene, and Cora flees, but not before the wardrobe is burned.

Charming buries his mother, and he confers with Snow White and Lancelot. She moves to confess the infliction of the curse upon her, but receives a sign of its being broken. She confronts Lancelot about it after Charming trots off, but the knight does not openly admit to the ruse he and Ruth had carried out; she had feigned taking the water, and Lancelot had put it in the cup Snow and Charming had shared. His passage is mourned, and plans for how to proceed are begun, with Mulan and Aurora affirming their desire to help Snow and Emma, and Snow and Emma confer privately. After they leave, though, Cora returns to collect the ashes of the wardrobe, power still in them.

In Storybrooke, Jefferson approaches his daughter. They are reunited, and Henry looks on in sorrow. David offers to begin teaching him swordplay, and George looks on as they begin...

Discussion

Okay, so this one's got some...interesting Arthurian--thus medieval/ist--stuff going one. Aside from retconning--something in which the series indulges fairly often, moving forward, and which itself is something medieval legends tended to do through syncretism and agglutination--there is the obvious (and lampshaded) incorporation of Lancelot into the narrative, and that as a figure of Arthurian legend. In the dominant English-language tradition, Malory's, Lancelot does depart from the fellowship of the Round Table, facing opprobrium. It's not something that comes up in many folks' understanding of Arthurian legend, if the surprise on the faces of students I had is anything to go by, but it is recorded on the pages. (There is also the note that Lancelot was raised by a lake--the "du Lac" that accompanies his name in medieval legend does so for a reason--as well as reference to the Grail.) So there's that.

There're also the expected problems with the episode. The casual racism at work in the property emerges again, not only in an abusive term for the Romani / Roma / Romany* being used casually and in line with stereotypes surrounding them, but also in the portrayal of Lancelot--whose disgrace centers on "a woman"--as Black. It is good that characters be depicted as more diverse than is commonly understood because that diversity more accurately reflects the reality of the medieval that such series as the present one attempt to evoke, but that the depiction key in on stereotypes is far, far less so. Tokenism isn't exactly an improvement, after all.

*I'm trying to use the best term here, albeit with limited knowledge. If I have it wrong, please let me know, and I'll correct things.