An Update for #Kzoo2022

𝔖o it seems a sneak preview of the conference schedule for this year's International Congress on Medieval Studies is up, here. To follow up on earlier comments about the conference, it looks like the Society will be doing the following:

• Business Meeting, Monday, 9 May 2022, 7pm Eastern Daylight Time
• Roundtable: Twenty-First-Century Neo/Medievalisms, Thursday, 12 May 2022, 5pm Eastern Daylight Time
  

We hope you'll be able to join us for one or both events. At the former, there are three primary points of business to conduct:

• The determination of what panels, if any, will be proposed for the 2023 International Congress on Medieval Studies;
  
• The election of a Social Media Officer, 2022-2025; and
• The election of a Vice-President (USA), 2022-2025.

The last elections for those offices was conducted at the 2019 AGM. Duties for the offices are noted in the Society Constitution. Nominations, including self-nominations, may be sent to talesaftertolkien@gmail.com. 

Other business will be entertained as it is brought to the Society's attention. If there are points you'd like to consider at the meeting, please let us know! And, again, we hope to see you virtually at the 'zoo!

Once upon a Time Rewatch 2.9, "Queen of Hearts"

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

---

2.9, "Queen of Hearts"

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz
Directed by Ralph Hemecker

Synopsis

Hey, we're back here again!
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Following a recapitulation of previous events in the series, the episode begins with a hooded figure ascending a metal tower. Upon being challenged by the guards, the hooded figure attacks, revealing himself as Hook and defeating opposition handily. Hook proceeds to where Belle is incarcerated, and he makes to release her in the effort to hinder Rumpelstiltskin. She offers no information, and Hook abandons her back to her imprisonment. Regina interdicts his killing Belle and commissions him to ensure Cora does reach the "land without magic."

Following the title card, the episode pivots to Regina and Gold keeping vigil over David. They confer about the likelihood of success against Cora--which Gold views as unlikely. He urges preventative measures against Cora's arrival be taken. Gold's methods risk Snow White and Emma, which Regina views as unacceptable.

I'm jealous of the pen-hand, actually.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Emma, Snow White, Mulan, and Aurora reach the cell where Rumpelstiltskin had been imprisoned, looking for the squid ink they will need to interdict Cora. Aurora uncovers a scroll bearing an unsettling message.

Henry reads to his grandfather from his book. Regina goes to confer with him, asking Henry to watch David while she and Gold make ready to enable Snow White and Emma to return. Smiling, Henry agrees, and Regina joins Gold in the tunnels beneath the town to collect magic via a wand stolen from an unmourned dead fairy.

In her castle, Regina enchants Hook's hook to take a single heart, charging him to retrieve Cora, aided by the guard he killed on the way to Belle--who will be the second body he needs to effect travel via Jefferson's hat. Regina dispatches him to Wonderland, where he is soon captured and brought before Cora. Hook attacks, finding that Cora has removed her own heart--and begins to take his, pressing him for information. He reports the errand Regina has sent him on, and she begins to interrogate him.

In Rumpelstiltskin's cell, Emma contemplates the scroll as her companions find there is no ink to be used. Aurora triggers the cell door, closing it as Cora and Hook emerge and take the compass. They move off to enact their plans, and Emma pleads unsuccessfully for Hook to hold back from it.

Ruby reports to the mines, where Leroy has marked the missing magic. Henry continues reading to his grandfather until Ruby and the dwarves interrupt, asking him about Regina and Gold's whereabouts. He joins the search for them as Emma works to free herself and her companions from captivity. They confer about their prospects, Snow White offering hope as she can as Emma doubts herself. Cora and Hook proceed to an enchanted lake, there to acquire the power they need to effect magical travel.

Should help, yeah.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In Wonderland, Cora commissions Hook to work against Regina by taking her to where she can rip out her daughter's heart. Hook delivers a seemingly dead Cora to Regina in the Enchanted Forest, who is unable to attack at her daughter's protestations of love. When Hook returns to Cora, she arranges to protect both of them from the coming curse, working a magical shield to protect a small area. The shield is efficacious, allowing Cora and Hook to proceed with their machinations.

Regina and Gold proceed to where Gold expects the arrival of Cora: the well outside town, a clear analog to the enchanted lake. Meanwhile, Emma, Snow White, Mulan, and Aurora continue to consider their situation, realizing belatedly that the ink remains--in the writing on the scroll. Snow White uses it to secure their escape, although Aurora remains behind, noting her condition makes her a risk to the others. Mulan vows to restore her heart and secures Aurora. Hook and Cora enact their ritual to travel between realms, opening a portal to Storybrooke. Regina and Gold note the opening portal and begin their own working, thinking to interdict Cora. Snow White, Emma, and Mulan arrive to interdict the pirate and Regina's mother. Mulan retrieves the heart and returns to Aurora, leaving her sword with Snow White. Emma defeats Hook.

Henry and company arrive to confront Regina and Gold. Regina tries to explain her reasoning to Henry, who does not accept the argument. Cora makes to take Snow White's heart, hindered by Emma, whose heart is somehow protected and who reflexively works magic against Cora. The way clear, Emma and Snow White proceed through the portal, where Henry rages against Regina as Gold looks on. His pleas win through to Regina, and she disables the barrier Gold has placed on the portal. Emma and Snow White emerge unharmed, to Gold's surprise and Henry's relief. Henry reports Regina's aid, and Emma thanks her, noting Cora's nature. Mary Margaret rushes to rouse David, her kiss restoring him. Gold returns to his shop, and Emma confers with him about the message he had left and his machinations. He acknowledges the limits of his powers, and she begins to realize her own.

Elsewhere, Mulan restores Aurora's heart to her; the two proceed to work for Phillip's restoration. Cora and Hook take stock of their situation and resume their machinations. Henry embraces Regina, though he goes with Emma instead of with her. Gold mocks her abandonment, and a new threat approaches from the sea, Hook and Cora sailing into Storybrooke.

Discussion

Given how many times I've commented about the architecture on display in the series, it shouldn't be a surprise that I do so again--this time to note the extravagant use of metal in a pseudo-medieval construction. The seemingly iron-plated tower of the opening sequence...the mind boggles, really. And, yes, it is the case that magic might circumvent a number of material concerns, the juxtaposition of constructions, particularly in such a one-off fashion as in the opening sequence...jars.

Surprisingly for a primetime mainstream broadcast program, the present episode does offer an interesting meditation on fate. Part of Emma's distress in the series to the present point--and it is not resolved in the present episode, to be certain--is her difficulty in accepting her role, one to which she is conceived and born, one for which she might well be called fated. The revelation of as much of Gold's machinations as emerge in the present episode and earlier ones does seem to point toward a deterministic universe within the series. So, too, does the conviction, repeatedly stressed, that good will win out over evil. That fate ever goes as it must--"Gæð a wyrd swa hio scel" as the scop sings--seems to be taken as a given by many of the characters.

But.

The present episode, as well as some others before (like this one), point to the idea that a person can, in fact, change, returning from what seems a fated end, if they advance bravely--that is, without certainty of reward. Regina works, with difficulty, to do right and have faith despite her fears, and she is not rewarded (yet, although there may well be a penitential strain at work in her storyline). Emma struggles with faith and hope, yet still moves forward, albeit with encouragement. And she shows in herself that the machinations that enmesh her--the workings that might be called fated--are not complete. While the idea of fate is far from new to the medieval mind--the Morai Clothos, Lachesis, and Atropos might like to have a word, among others--it was an idea current among them. So, too, was the idea that fate will sometimes preserve the noble one who faces it bravely--"Wyrd oft nereð / unfægne eorl, þonne his ellen deah," as the scop sings it. And, as a later writer remarks, it is said of one of the greatest kings that he changed his destiny, in the end.

Once upon a Time Rewatch 2.8, "Into the Deep"

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

---

2.8, "Into the Deep"

Written by Kalinda Vazquez and Daniel T. Thomsen
Directed by Ron Underwood

Synopsis

After a recapitulation of relevant events, the episode opens with Hook descending the beanstalk, where Cora meets him. He reports his loss of the compass to her, but he reaffirms his commitment to their agreement. She rejects the affirmation and leaves him behind, returning to her collection of disembodied hearts and rekindling one to which several others respond. Those she had most recently slain rise at her command and shamble forward to do her bidding.

Beats a milk carton...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Emma presses Aurora about her dream-vision, finding that her Henry is in the sleeping-curse vision. Snow White puzzles out that the shared experience of the sleeping curse is what brings Aurora and Henry into contact, and an argument about full disclosure briefly ensues. Snow White notes that there is hope of return to Storybrooke--via communication through Henry with Rumpelstiltskin. Attempts to effect that communication ensue, and Henry reports the initial contacts via Aurora--and the coming need to best Cora.

Belle and Gold confer over lunch until interrupted by Regina. Conversation between Regina and Gold immediately grows strained as she reports the imminent return of Cora and the need to interdict it.

Work to coordinate interdiction and recovery efforts proceeds. Mulan notes that Aurora is showing the effects of the dream-realm upon her and objects to Aurora's participation, with the objection overruled. Regina and David look on as Gold attempts to work through Henry, narrating a means to subdue Cora via harvested squid ink secreted in his old jail cell. Henry attempts to pass on the message, although environmental conditions prevent its transmission; an attack demands Aurora be roused prematurely, the wights Cora sent assailing her, Mulan, Emma, and Snow White. In the melee, Mulan flees with Aurora, although they are soon separated; Snow White and Emma follow. Henry wakes and reports his failure, his own burns coming to attention.

In a hole in the ground...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Aurora finds herself Cora's captive. Cora notes her intention to use Aurora as bait for Snow White and Emma and chides Aurora for her desire to move ahead from the loss of Phillip. She also offers to resurrect the departed, occasioning only an angry outburst from Aurora. Cora casts her aside and sends a crow to inform Snow White, Emma, and Mulan of her demands. Mulan rages, and Snow White offers to travel to the dream-realm to retrieve information, and work to redeem Aurora from Cora proceeds.

Henry, Gold, Regina, and David confer about how to proceed. David recalls his wife having been under a sleeping curse and volunteers to go under one himself to effect his wife and daughter's redemption. Meanwhile, Hook redeems Aurora from captivity, citing his opposition to Cora after her refusal to take him with her. He sends her off with a message for Emma affirming that his deal with her remains in place, if she will accept it.

You're so vain, you prob'ly think this comment's about you...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

As Snow White, Emma, and Mulan proceed along their plans, Emma resolving to assign blame to Regina for events, she works on crafting a sleeping-curse draught for David. Henry asks her about her methods and her use of magic; he commends her use of it for helping people and her resolve. He also reasserts his desire to help, Regina refusing him and citing his grandparents' tendency to find one another. Gold explains the risks and procedures to David, and the sleeping-draught is completed and administered. Snow White and David enter the dream-realm together after some travail, and the needed information is relayed. That done, they are parted in sorrow, Snow White waking as Charming remains under the effects of the curse.

Henry, Regina, and Gold look on as David lingers under the curse. Snow rouses, however, reporting events in a frenzy. Emma calms and comforts her, but they realize that Mulan has stolen the compass and fled. She proceeds to where Cora had imprisoned Aurora--and Cora finds Hook has released Aurora. He notes having a gift for her, which she seems to appreciate. Aurora reaches Mulan, Snow, and Emma, and she reports events--under the influence of Cora, who holds her heart, Hook's gift. Efforts by all concerned proceed.

Discussion

The present episode, as several others working with the aftereffects of sleeping curses, works with the trope of the dream-vision to some extent. It's a point that has come up before, both in the present series and in others (here and here, for example), so it's not surprising that it manifests again--or that it would be reworked from its medieval antecedents. As in earlier cases, there is something of the deus ex machina at work in the present episode's rendering, but that's hardly uncommon for neo/medieval/ist works. So much seems to be the same as earlier treatments, though, so it's not something I can really add to at present; it's there, again, but it's there in the same way it's been there elsewhere...

Once upon a Time Rewatch 2.7, "Child of the Moon"

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

---

2.7, "Child of the Moon"

Written by Ian Goldberg and Andrew Chambliss
Directed by Anthony Hemingway

Synopsis

There's one way to get a break...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Following a recapitulation of earlier events, the episode begins with the dwarves at work in the mines under Storybrooke. They reach the end of their workday, but Leroy resists leaving work, inadvertently opening a new tunnel in his dudgeon. David rushes to the scene, along with Henry and the Mother Superior, and they find that the found tunnel contains the diamonds that can be processed into the fairy dust they need for magic to function. Hope returns that Emma and Mary Margaret can be returned. Celebration ensues, and Ruby tends to the restaurant until she is met by a local with whom she had been enamored before the curse was broken. He asks to get to know her better, and she demurs out of concern for her lycanthropy. Meanwhile, Henry voices his concerns about nightmares, David offering comfort until he is confronted by George. A tense exchange follows, as do preparations for restraining Ruby.

Peter Jackson oughta sue somebody...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Ruby recalls escapades with Snow White in the Enchanted Forest, the pair fleeing in the night to evade Regina's forces. Her hood is damaged, and Ruby, as Red, frets about the implications, sending Snow White away out of concern for her safety. She remains struck by Snow White's kindness--and she is observed as she departs from her friend.

Granny returns to the restaurant the next morning to find that Ruby has escaped restraint--evidently as the wolf. To add to matters, in the night, Henry had again suffered a nightmare of a flaming room, seeing another figure within it; he is roused from the dream by Regina, present because David is answering an emergency call. She notes a burn on his hand--as David and Granny find Ruby asleep in the woods. She has no recollection of events and panics that she has caused harm; David tries to comfort her until he is summoned away.

In a hole in the ground there lived a...pack of wolves?
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Red wakes to find her cloak still functioning. It is soon stolen from her, and she pursues the thief through the woods. The thief, Quinn, confesses being a werewolf and presses her about her experiences and attempting to recruit her into the local lycanthropic community, living hidden in the forest in what "used to be the grand hall of a castle, until it sunk underground." She is struck by the organization of the community and is introduced to the local leader, Anita--her mother.

David conducts Granny and Ruby back to town. Along the way, he stops off to address a reported illegal parking job--where the three find the dismembered corpse of the local who had expressed interest in Ruby before. David refuses to accept that Ruby is culpable, but she calls for her own incarceration against the threat of a relapse.

Regina consults with Gold about Henry's injury. Gold notes that the nightmare is a side-effect of the sleeping curse--and that the scene of the nightmare is a spiritual realm that stands between the living and dead worlds. Henry has been traveling there, and Gold offers some assistance to Henry: a talisman that will allow him to control his presence in that realm. Curiously, Gold attaches no price to his aid.

Red and Anita confer, Anita noting that Granny had stolen Red from her and explicating the nature of their shared lycanthropy. She notes, too, that embracing her lupine nature is required for controlling it, and she offers to teach her how to do it. Red begins to study the technique--but Ruby is jailed, as she requested. George intrudes, demanding the surrender of Ruby to the mob. David refuses.

Red exults in her lupine exploits, prompted by Anita and the others. She wakes at peace among them--unlike in Storybrooke, where George incites a mob against Ruby and David. They break into the jail, only to find Ruby's cell empty, David having taken her to the library and restraining her. David tries to find proof of Ruby's innocence.

Snow White makes to rejoin Red and is captured by the other lycanthropes. Red intercedes, and Snow White is spared. She tries to take Red off, but Red seeks to remain among the other lycanthropes. Surprised, Snow accepts the decision and readies to part in amity from her friend--only to be interrupted by an attack that, while handily defeated, kills Quinn.

Belle remains with Ruby, trying to comfort her. Ruby restrains Belle and departs to face the mob in an act of atonement. Meanwhile, David and Granny stalk through the town to search out the actual killer. They find Ruby's hood and a bloody axe--in George's car. Ruby's howl summons them.

Well, there's your problem...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In the wake of Quinn's death, Anita determines that Snow White is to blame and must be made to pay for his death. Snow White is restrained in favor of being eaten after the moonrise. Red refuses to participate, and Anita moves to execute her prisoner. A brief melee ensues, leaving Anita impaled. Red sorrows over the accidental matricide.

In Storybrooke, the mob George has gathered pursues the transformed Ruby. David and Granny arrive in time to intervene, saving Ruby and revealing George's perfidy. George flees, Ruby and David pursuing him. They find him on the beach with a fire burning, into which he casts Jefferson's hat. Hope for the return of Mary Margaret and Emma dims.

Red and Snow White reconcile and continue on their quest. Ruby considers David as he considers Henry and the loss of a means of inter-realm travel, offering comfort before she returns to her wolf form. Mary Margaret and Emma consider their return to Storybrooke, and Aurora dreams of terror--until Henry offers comfort and she wakes to report what she has found.

Discussion

The present episode clearly follows up on "Red Handed" from the first season, and I find it echoing or resonating with Hobb's presentation in the Realm of the Elderlings novel of the Wit (associated with lycanthropy, as I've noted) as a metaphor for homosexuality (discussed here and following). Both cases concern themselves with is an inborn quality that meets with a lack of understanding and anger, prompting sometimes-violent, sometimes-armed oppression that leads those with that quality to suppress it to the extent they can among the broader community. Both also see focal characters mentored by scarred, stern foster-parents to enact that suppression. Both also serve as uniting forces of hidden / sequestered communities that dwell in hiding in the forests, bringing in wayward members that happen their way. Certainly, there are more parallels to explicate. Just as certainly, enough time passed between the first mention of the Wit and the presumable drafting of the present episode's script that the writing staff could be familiar with it, although I'm not aware of any direct connection and am not accusing the writers of cribbing--any more than any writer ever really does. An adage about ideas under the sun comes to mind...because, again, the lycanthropy serves as a (somewhat frustrated) metaphor for homosexuality.

The episode does not frustrate the metaphor quite as much, however, in that it falls into the same problem with its stand-in for homosexuality that it does with many, many other minority groups: it reinforces stereotypes, rather than rejecting them. Hobb's Old Blood are presented with nuance and sympathy, and while there are evil people among them, they are themselves a minority within that minority. In the present episode, the werewolves are, overall, evil, with Red the token "good one," and only that because she was raised outside the community. Indeed, the episode seems to be working in the racial-essentialist paradigm that pervades fantasy literature and the RPGs that emerge from it (if less now than previously). And while that paradigm is prevalent in medieval literatures and cultures (though less than is often assumed), and some might argue that "it's how it was, so you have to show it," other arguments--including many of those linked above--rightly point out that there's a limit to how "realistic" a work that includes overt magic and such creatures as dragons and lycanthropes can be. (And, again, things were far more complex and nuanced than is often admitted by the people who want to argue "That's how it is." Funny, that.)

If it's alright to bring in magic, it's alright to move away from harmful tropes, as well.

Once upon a Time Rewatch 2.6, "Tallahassee"

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

---

2.6, "Tallahassee"

Written by Christine Boylan and Jane Espenson
Directed by David Barrett

Synopsis

After a recapitulation of events, the episode begins with Emma, Snow White, Mulan, Aurora, and Hook approaching the beanstalk that rises into the clouds. Emma questions the beans, Hook noting their history of misuse and a genocidal war against the giants who had cultivated and misused them. Hook also notes that one giant, the worst of them, remains and who must be addressed if the compass they need to get to Storybrooke is to be attained. Doubts are rightly raised about Hook's allegiances, and arrangements for the climb--which will only be done by Hook and one other--begin to be made.

Now that's a familiar face...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In the "real" world eleven years previously, Emma breaks into a yellow Volkswagon Beetle, stealing it. She is not alone, a man sitting up in the back seat behind her with the keys. As she drives, they confer, the man naming himself Neal Cassidy and propositioning her. They are pulled over by police, and Neal successfully bluffs his way out of trouble. As they recompose themselves from the near-arrest, Emma realizes Neal has also stolen the car.

At the beanstalk, the decision is made that Emma will ascend with Hook. Mulan offers Emma a powerful soporific and agrees to cut down the beanstalk if she is not back within ten hours of beginning her climb. Hook's hook is restored to him, and the ascent begins. It proceeds apace, Hook chatting amiably along the way, noting his history in Neverland and identifying her as having been abandoned and provoking Emma's reflection on her past.

In that past, she and Neal continue their criminal life together, conducting petty larcenies and fleeing shamefully. Neal suggests that they settle down and establish a more normal life together in Tallahassee. Emma voices some doubts but agrees.

Been there, done that.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

At the beanstalk, Mulan marks out time, and the three--she, Snow White, and Aurora--set up for watches. Snow White and Aurora take the first watch, conferring about their shared experience of sleeping curses. Nightmares are noted as a side-effect of such suffering, and Snow White offers to watch over Aurora against their return.

Emma and Hook reach the top of the beanstalk, entering into a ruined palatial landscape. Hook tends a wound on Emma's hand and notes the plan for retrieving the compass--which is simple enough, and amended by Emma, who stumbles into Hook's revenge plot.

In the past, Emma and Neal confer again, Neal noting that he is wanted on federal charges. He explains the theft, noting the location of the stolen merchandise to Emma and saying that he has to leave the country--alone. Emma rejects being separated from him, arguing him into her plan to stay with him amid their mutual admission of love for each other.

Atop the beanstalk, Emma and Hook bait the remaining giant into attacking them. They succeed, and Emma is able to deploy the powder she received from Mulan to put the giant to sleep. That done, they proceed towards the giant's treasures. Meanwhile, Mulan checks the time, and Snow White wakes Aurora from her nightmare, the setting of which is described--along with the presence of another within it. Snow White offers such comfort as she can, while Mulan considers what she may have to do.

There's another familiar face...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In the past, Emma makes to retrieve the stolen merchandise about which Neal had told her, successfully gathering it back in. She delivers it and herself back to Neal, who makes off to fence the goods--save for one watch, which he clasps on Emma's wrist as he gives her directions for how to proceed. Neal is followed and apprehended--by August, who begins to enlist him in his plans for Emma. Neal is convinced to go along with the plan after seeing what August carries, and he abandons Emma to capture by the police. Months later, Neal meets with August again, conferring with him about Emma. Neal tasks August with delivering some small support to Emma and with summoning him if Emma succeeds in her task.

Atop the beanstalk, the search for the compass continues, hastened by the giant having reawakened. Emma and Hook attempt to take cover against the giant's angry entrance. The giant makes to crush Emma, and she flees again, successfully restraining him and retrieving the compass. She lets him live, the last of his kind, and he lets her escape--but not Hook, whom she restrains against the risk that she has misjudged him. Meanwhile, Mulan begins to fulfill Emma's charge to her, beginning to cut down the beanstalk and provoking an attack that is stopped only by Emma's return with the compass. The four head out.

In the past, Emma receives the keys to the Volkswagon and the news of her pregnancy. In Storybrooke, Henry wakes screaming from a nightmare, and David attends to him as he had been described as doing for Snow White before. The nightmare Henry describes echoes that Aurora had described to Snow White...

Discussion

Feels like Otranto...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

I find myself once again struck by the architecture on display, the present episode making substantial use of Gothic tropes in its presentation of the giants' domain. I'd very nearly lay money that the writers or illustrators had recently read Walpole, honestly--but that would itself be an example of a somewhat distributed neomedievalism, with Walpole's novel and the genre it inspires both making much of the crumbling walls and towers of centuries past. That the present episode deploys such tropes--though it does not fully engage with them, using them more as window-dressing than in any structural way--reinforces the prevailing neomedievalism at work in the series. It also suggests. that mainstream presentations of the same (and how much more mainstream can a thing be than a Disney-produced primetime broadcast serial?) are necessarily shallow--which is not much of a surprise, really.

It is tempting, given the persistent misuse of neo/medieval/ist tropes and figurations, to decry popular audiences as "not getting it." It's easy enough to do, certainly, even from so far "inside" academe as I remain, and I find that I have to work to avoid doing it. But that's work that needs doing no less than the work of getting things right or the work of creating a more just and equitable world. With shallow presentations being the norm, and people constrained by material conditions, it is not to be wondered at that prevailing understandings are cursory even when they do align with fact--though, given rampant compression of ideas, that's not so often as can be hoped.

Once upon a Time Rewatch 2.5, "The Doctor"

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

---

2.5, "The Doctor"

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz
Directed by Paul Edwards

Synopsis

Well, that'll ruin your day.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

After a recapitulation of series events, the episode begins with Snow, Emma, Mulan, and Aurora returning from the ruins of Snow's castle, conferring about Lancelot's end and Cora's escape. Reaching the campground whence they had come, they find it ravaged, its inhabitants slain and buildings ruined. It is clear that the ruination is Cora's doing, and a single survivor is found--Hook, whom the four do not know.

Following the title card, Whale confronts David in Storybrooke, which does not go well for him. Whale asks after David's intentions, and David notes his work to return to the Enchanted Forest. Whale inquires about other lands, piquing David's interest. Regina meets with Hopper, conferring about magic until interrupted by Whale and his demand to be returned to his own land. Hopper chases Whale out, and he asks Regina about who was brought over by the curse.

Washed up? All wet? Poured out?
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Regina recalls training in magic under Rumpelstiltskin, practicing by immobilizing a black unicorn. She balks at removing its heart, citing the animal's innocence. Rumpelstiltskin removes the animal's strangely-human heart himself, opining on the process and its implications. He presses her to kill the beast by crushing the heart in her hands; she refuses again, and he chides her for her hesitation before asking what holds her back. Regina muses on her slain beloved, preserved by enchantment--as she reports to Hopper. He notes that her retention of the dead holds her back from her stated intent of healing and redemption, and she departs in annoyance, driving out into the rain and seeing her late beloved standing on the side of the street in the downpour--briefly.

David drives Henry out to a horse paddock, Henry noting a lack of sleep. David introduces Henry to a horse, beginning with upkeep and maintenance.* David leaves Henry to the work, and Regina returns to her mausoleum, where the casket that had held her beloved stands empty.

Attended by Regina, Rumpelstiltskin works at his spinning. She asks if she can begin her study, and he quizzes her about her motivations. She asks if the dead can be resurrected; Rumpelstiltskin notes that "Dead is dead." Jefferson intrudes, delivering a crystal ball and reporting that access to Rumpelstiltskin's goal is unavailable. After, he dismisses Regina, citing her folly as a waste of his time. Jefferson, however, makes an offer of transport to another realm where she may be able to find a way to bring back the dead. He offers to deliver that way in exchange for a writ of free passage across her kingdom.

Snow and Mulan discuss the surviving Hook, Mulan reporting his alias in the now-ruined camp. Emma doubts him, citing earlier deceit from Cora. She asks after events, and Hook reports cowardice--which Emma disbelieves. Plans to depart are noted, and Emma presses forcefully for confession from Hook.

It's not too hard to piece this together...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Regina stalks through the Storybrooke hospital in the night, searching for Whale. In the Enchanted Forest, Jefferson begins to take Regina on a similar search, seeking out the "wizard" who can bring back the dead. Jefferson notes the differences between worlds that will be in play and introducing her to Whale's alter-ego. They discuss the resurrection of Daniel, Whale's alter-ego noting that his procedure is experimental and requires a strong heart--such as are found in the Enchanted Forest. Regina's reticence to take hearts is noted, and she is told that only her doing so will allow Daniel to return. And in the hospital, Regina finds Whale maimed on the floor, having worked his procedure on Daniel to his own harm.

Regina takes Jefferson and Whale's alter-ego to Cora's estate, where a chamber of hearts awaits. Taking them inside, she offers the alter-ego his choice of hearts. He picks one. And in Storybrooke, David reports to the hospital, asking about events. Regina reports Daniel's return at Whale's hand, and she purposes to go to Daniel; David refuses to allow her to go alone, and the two proceed to the stables--where Henry is tending his horse. The animals there grow agitated at Daniel's approach, and the erstwhile stable boy advances on Henry.

Snow, Emma, Mulan, and Aurora tie Hook up, Emma summoning an ogre to prompt his confession. It is, at that point, forthcoming. He notes his own espionage mission and Cora's intent to travel to Storybrooke. He bargains for his life, ultimately successfully.

Daniel attacks Henry as David and Regina arrive. Henry flees, and Regina tries to reason with Daniel. She pleads with David for the chance and recalls an earlier attempt to effect Daniel's resurrection. It fails, the purloined heart being insufficient to the task. The resurrected Daniel attacks Regina until dissuaded; he begs for death against the pain of his artificially renewed existence. In tears, she accedes to his demand, dismissing the spell that had preserved his body.

No symbolism here, nope.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Snow, Emma, Mulan, and Aurora follow Hook into what they understand to be a trap. They are presented with a towering beanstalk, at the top of which lives a giant. No other options available, they proceed thence. Similarly, Regina pushes ahead, and in the Enchanted Forest, she kills Rumpelstiltskin's new apprentice, resuming her place in his tutelage. In Storybrooke, she seeks counsel with Hopper. And Whale's alter-ego, Jefferson, and Rumpelstiltskin confer about what they have conspired to do with Regina, the alter-ego and Rumpelstiltskin debating about the value of magic as Whale calls in at Gold's. There, Gold reattaches Whale's arm after grilling him about his actions and his earlier disbelief. And Whale--Victor Frankenstein-recalls another failed attempt to effect a resurrection...

Discussion

It occurs to me as I watch the present episode again that Lancelot is changed from his late medieval iterations. In Malory, at least, Lancelot dies...poorly. At the end of Le Morte d'Arthur (21.19 and following), Lancelot goes to the widowed Guenever and seeks to return to an amorous relationship with her, only to be refused (rightly) on the grounds of now wanting to resume a love that led to ruin; Lancelot pines to death. While it might well be argued that being killed--likely murdered--by a heart-ripping witch isn't a good death, either, it is more in line with the popular image of Lancelot as a fighter (or a paladin in D&D terms) than is the death in Malory.

I've often thought about the prevailing disregard for or disinterest in the end of Malory's work and Lancelot's death within it. I quip about it, I admit, although I should note that Lancelot manages to die in a state of grace in Malory, and he is mourned by many of his erstwhile comrades; it is not a bad death, really, by the standards of the work's context of composition or initial reception. It becomes a bad death only in an anachronistic view of knights as warriors of faith, rather than as warriors of faith, of combat as the only worthy end of life (with "end" meaning both "conclusion" and "method" here), of what is ultimately toxicity. Thinking on it, I wonder why it should not be appropriate for Lancelot to mourn the loss of love--a loss that he accepts; when Guenever rebuffs him in the cloister, he (largely) accepts it and goes away. It's imperfect, of course--Lancelot is, even in the end, flawed--but it is far, far better than it might be. It is far, far better than is usually recognized or acknowledged, and I have to wonder what it says about prevailing popular culture that it is so often elided.

It occurs to me, too, that Regina's work with the unicorn in the episode is...somewhat loaded. Disney's writers are aware of the association between unicorns and virginity, as noted here, and there's little reason to expect that the writers on the present series are ignorant of something that is made a significant point in another series. At the same time, Regina is long-established in the series as being not only sexually active, but illicitly so, conducting clandestine affairs that reek of abuse and openly attempting seduction. (There is some implication, too, that she was physically intimate with her beloved stable boy, although that remains implication, and "the old loue was not so" [Malory 18.25]) Assuming that Regina was virginal as she begins her studies with Rumpelstiltskin, the presence of the black unicorn marks a particular point in her character progression; she is clearly engaging with evil as evil--Rumpelstiltskin's presence marking it no less than the unicorn's color, the show engaging in both Manichean allegory and physiognomic fallacy--but has not gone over yet. If she is not, however, the symbolism becomes more fraught, and in ways that likely exceed what present discussion will bear... 

*As a Texan, and one connected with a long-time ranching family, I find myself pleased that the first lesson Henry gets about riding is taking care of the horse. There are some things the series gets right.

Once upon a Time Rewatch 2.4, "The Crocodile"

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

---

2.4, "The Crocodile"

Written by David H. Goodman and Robert Hull
Directed by David Solomon

Synopsis

Gold attempts to woo Belle with fineries from his shop, offering to take her out on the town. Leroy interrupts, demanding the return of his axe and chiding Belle. Gold erupts in anger at the insult to Belle and assails Leroy, reverting briefly to his Rumpelstiltskin form--and prompting Belle to wake in the night and stalk through the house she and Gold share. Snooping about, she finds him spinning straw into gold, working magic.

Be it ever so humble...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Back in the past of the Enchanted Forest, Rumpelstiltskin returns to his home, calling for his wife, Milah, and son. The latter greets him, the former is absent, and Rumpelstiltskin takes Baelfire out to find her. She is carousing with pirates in a tavern, making mock of him until Baelfire's appearance shames her into returning home. There, she pushes Rumpelstiltskin to relocate, and he argues against it.

In Storybrooke, Gold and Belle confer about his magic use. She rebukes him for his lack of courage with her.

In the past, Rumpelstiltskin is summoned to the nearby docks, where the pirates are taking Milah. He proceeds there as swiftly as he may, only to be refused and ridiculed by the ship's captain, Kilian Jones.

In Storybrooke, the dwarves attempt to mine fairy dust, David aiding them. Their efforts are unproductive, and David proceeds to take on law enforcement duties. Gold tries to talk to Belle, finding her fled from his home. He goes in search of her, seeking her at her father's; he is, understandably, greeted unkindly. Gold challenges him for information, receiving none.

In the Enchanted Forest, the empowered Rumpelstiltskin meets with Smee, who offers a realm-jumping magic bean. After a tense exchange, the two reach an agreement, and Smee leaves--as Jones arrives, and Rumpelstiltskin purposes to observe him.

Good advice. When in doubt, to the library!
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In Storybrooke, Belle finds herself at the diner, and Ruby talks with her there. She offers to help find family, and the idea of Belle taking over the town library is raised. She heads there, inspecting it until confronted by Smee--who abducts her.

Rumpelstiltskin confronts Jones in the street, receiving the sobriquet "Crocodile" before challenging him about Milah. Jones notes Milah's long-ago death, and Rumpelstiltskin sets up a duel between them.

Gold calls on David, reporting the disappearance of Belle. David reluctantly agrees to help find her.

The duel between Rumpelstiltskin and Jones begins and is swiftly concluded, Jones getting the worse of the exchange. Milah, whose death had been falsely reported, calls for Rumpelstiltskin to stop before killing Jones.

Smee delivers Belle to her father, and the two are happily reunited. They exchange news, and Belle's father challenges her about Gold and his depredations; when she refuses to cut ties with Gold, her father has Smee take her away again. Meanwhile, David continues to search for Belle, fruitlessly. He also advises Gold that hard work and honesty support love, discoursing on the difference between precise wording and "honesty of the heart."

Rumpelstiltskin confronts Milah about Jones and her abandonment of her husband and son. She notes having fallen in love with Jones, and she offers Smee's bean in exchange for Jones's life and hers.

Forth, the Three Hunters?
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

David asks Ruby after Belle, disbelieving her denial of information about her. She relents and notes that Belle's interest in the library. She also notes her ability to track by scent, and moves off in pursuit, accompanied by Gold and David. They have to give off pursuit, Ruby discommoded by the flower shop Belle's father runs (and which puns off of Martin's series for its name). Gold confronts Belle's father again, and he notes her safety will be secured by sending her across the town line, with its concomitant memory loss. David realizes she will be sent out through the mines, and the three speed thence.

Rumpelstiltskin confronts Jones and Milah aboard their ship, where she shows him the bean. He mocks them and upbraids her for leaving Baelfire. He kills her and takes Jones's hand. Jones tries to kill him, in turn, failing and swearing vengeance. He takes up a hook after Rumpelstiltskin departs.

Smee sends a restrained Belle down the mineshaft, and she attempts escape without success. Gold's magic saves her from passing the town line and forgetting all. She thanks Gold but does not agree to return to him. Nor yet does she return to her father, citing his misdeeds. Later, Belle and Ruby confer again, and Belle takes lodgings at Granny's inn, receiving the key to the library, which she soon moves to use. Entering the library, she finds Gold, who admits his cowardice to her and reports his failures and his need and inability to leave to find Baelfire. His magic use is an attempt to allow himself to leave Storybrooke, and Belle offer a possibility of reconciliation.

Rumpelstiltskin finds Jones's hand empty, the pirate having retained the magic bean for himself as he sails away and Milah is buried at sea. Smee is conscripted into Jones's service, and they make for another realm: Neverland.

Gold returns to his basement, where Smee is restrained. He presses him for information about Jones--who is with Cora, the two conferring about how to proceed to Storybrooke, where they will find Regina and Gold.

Discussion

Hooray, anachronism!

As the effective introduction to the series of Captain Hook, the present episode necessarily makes much of stereotypical depictions of eighteenth-century pirates. I've noted on several occasions and in relation to several properties--including others from Disney--that the collapse and compression of the pre-modern (and I'll admit to using a fuzzy definition of "modern," here, but periodization is slippery at best, as I've noted) tends to attract a lot of attention to the putative Age of Piracy. Like the medieval, or conceptions of it, "traditional" piracy is easily and often romanticized (something I've touched on in other writing I've done), a seemingly removed and far-away thing onto which much can be projected. And there is some justification, certainly; I recall readings and lectures that associated the early modern English privateers with neochivalric movements occurring in the late Tudor and early Stuart courts, among others, and the clear parallels between eighteenth-century piracy and the Viking raids of a millennium before are, well, there. What purpose is served, what effect achieved, is less clear to me, although that may well just be me--but I think it's another example of the overall compression of all that came before. It remains a dangerous thing, a pernicious one, but how to address it...I do not know.

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.

---

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.

Once upon a Time Rewatch 2.2, "We Are Both"

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

---

2.2, "We Are Both"

Written by Jane Espenson
Directed by Dean White

Synopsis

Drawing straws should differ for dwarves.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

After a recapitulation of series events, the episode begins with the seven dwarves determining what happens if someone leaves Storybrooke, something noted as problematic early on in the series. Meanwhile, Storybrooke works to clean up after the attack of the wraith, and its people begin to search out their loved ones from the Enchanted Forest, there being much to do in both regards. Relief efforts begin to be organized, largely under Ruby. David confronts Regina, questioning her about Jefferson's hat and pressing her about her lack of access to the present magic.

In the Enchanted Forest, Regina rides down carefully tended roads, fleeing unsuccessfully from her mother and her magics. Regina is magically constrained to remain in particular proximity to Snow White's father, and she complains to her mother about it.

Terrible news, indeed: he sells drugs.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

David returns to the town square, searching out the Blue Fairy for information, and he is immediately inundated by requests for direction and assistance. Henry notes that there is hope, and the dwarves arrive in haste to report what they have found about the town border; crossing it strips people of their memories of the Enchanted Forest, although they retain their "real world" identities. The announcement occasions tumult, and David finds himself pressed into leadership and manages to buy himself two hours to determine a course of action. Meanwhile, Regina attempts to work magic, finding it frustratingly difficult to do so, and she attempts to stalk off. She is confronted by Hopper and leaves.

In the Enchanted Forest, Regina tends to an adolescent Snow White, who asks after jewelry she had received from Daniel. Regina imagines rebuking Snow White for her indiscretion again, fatally, and she complains to her father about her mother, Cora, and purposes to flee. He offers such counsel and comfort as he can, and he explains some of the history involved with Cora's turn to magic, citing a book.

Regina calls in at Gold's shop, looking through the books he has on display. He confronts her about her lack of power, chiding her and making to send her away. She notes their shared secret, that the Enchanted Forest remains, and he provides the requested book--and a warning.

Someone's not a happy camper.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In the Enchanted Forest, Regina purloins Cora's book, rifling through its pages and summoning Rumpelstiltskin. The two confer, Rumpelstiltskin implying that he has long known her, and Regina mulls over the text in Storybrooke again as Charming tries to determine how to proceed. Henry notes the provenance of Jefferson's hat, and David stalks off to see to things, leaving Henry and proceeding to confront Gold and asking to purchase a detection spell and teasing Gold somewhat as he dickers for the spell. They agree not to interfere with one another, and David notes the effects of leaving the town, which news Gold takes poorly.

In the Enchanted Forest, Rumpelstiltskin continues to confer with Regina. He offers to teach her magic, and she demurs. He presents her a portal to another realm, one to which Regina can condemn Cora with but "a little push."

In Storybrooke, Regina opens the book and begins to draw power from it, while David attempts to locate Jefferson via magic. He is drawn through town to a crushed vehicle, from which he extricates Jefferson and missing the meeting. Regina does not miss it, however, and announces the resumption of her power emphatically. Henry volunteers to accompany her if she will leave the rest alone, and the two depart. David confers with Jefferson about his hat, to be met with Jefferson's psychic torment. As David gives chase to a fleeing Jefferson, Ruby interdicts him with news of events and a warning that matters are degrading.

Henry attempts to flee as soon as he arrives at Regina's home, but her magic interdicts him just as she had been interdicted by Cora before. As they confer, Henry upbraids and rebukes Regina for her conduct towards him and others, and Regina tries to woo him with magical power, unsuccessfully.

In the Enchanted Forest, Cora confronts Regina in anticipation of her wedding. They talk together, Cora's words speaking to her machinations. Regina gives Cora the aforementioned push, sending her into the mirror, which shatters.

Well, this imagery's certainly saying...something.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

David interdicts the in-process exodus from Storybrooke. Giving a stirring speech, he persuades the people to remain and attempt to integrate their original and curse-made personalities.

Regina rides out again, Rumpelstiltskin confronting her. He asks her about her use of magic, and she confesses having enjoyed doing so. He offers to teach her to use magic, and she agrees to his terms.

No whistling this time...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

David confronts Regina again, demanding to see Henry. Regina sends him home with David, acknowledging her error and apologizing for her failures. As Henry moves to retrieve his goods, David presses her about the continued existence of the Enchanted Forest; she acknowledges that it does, and David purposes to travel there to retrieve his loved ones. They leave Regina alone, and life in Storybrooke begins to return to normal--a new normal. Some reconnect who had been long parted, while others long for the resumed connection...and other reconnections are foreshadowed ominously.

In the Enchanted Forest, Emma and Mary Margaret languish as Aurora and Mulan's prisoners, taken to a rough village. They attempt escape without success and are imprisoned more straitly--where they encounter Cora.

Discussion

I note that the horse upon which Regina flees is named Rocinante--and there's some neomedievalist movement in that. Those who know, or who perform a quick Google search, will find that Rocinante as a horse is a reference to Don Quixote; it is the name of the titular Don's horse, in fact, an underfed and overworked beast that is dragged into the characters delusions of chivalry that derive from excessive reading of romances and books of arms--from what amounts to obsession with the medieval if not an early instantiation of medieval studies. (I am aware of the irony of my pointing this out, given my doctoral work in Malory and my ongoing attention to medieval studies despite being a lapsed or expatriate academic.) Admittedly, de Cervantes is not a medieval writer, though he is a medievalist one, looking back to accounts of the medieval for his inspiration; reference to him is therefore a more explicitly neomedievalist gesture--which is, admittedly, wholly in keeping with how the series operates. It doesn't look back to the medieval, but to later presentations and idealizations of the medieval--although the recourse to de Cervantes is an interesting and unusual move.