TV RECAP: Tearful Partings & Beautiful Reunions in Once Upon a Time’s “Heroes and Villains”

By Meredith Loftus

Once Upon A Time’s winter finale “Heroes and Villains” wrapped up the Frozen arc and the first half of the season while setting the stage for what’s to come. While we said goodbye to our favorite characters from Arendelle, we were introduced to the Queens of Darkness and their united quest for their own happy ending. Not only did we say goodbye to the Frozen characters but we also watched two couples separate for the time being. Tearful goodbyes and beautiful reunions, this was a great episode to leave us with while we anxiously await its return in early March.

Taking Care of Business

After Ingrid’s sacrifice and the celebration of the broken curse, Emma, Hook, and Henry accompany Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff to the town line. There, Elsa removes the ice wall. However, the town line is still cursed by Ingrid. Whomever crosses the line cannot come back to Storybrooke. Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff need a portal to their realm. Hook is then summoned by Rumpelstiltskin to inform him of their whereabouts. The Dark One has plans of his own, and he does not need Anna to reveal them to the others. After making honeymoon plans with Belle to venture to New York City, Rumple sets out with Hook to find a portal to rid Anna from Storybrooke once and for all. With the help of the Sorcerer’s walking broomstick, they find themselves at the mysterious manor. Rumple explains to Hook that this manor belongs to the Sorcerer. Once inside, they find a portal to Arendelle. Hook is manipulated by Rumple to tell Emma about the portal and where she can find it. Emma questions Hook because she knows that something is wrong with him; he tells her that he is fine. Remaining unconvinced, Emma prepares her Arendelle friends for their trip back home, and Hook prepares for his last moments alive.

Goodbye For Now

Regina places Marian’s heart back in her body, and Marian is finally awakened. It would seem Regina has lost to Marian again until, surprisingly, Marian arrives in Granny’s Diner looking for her. She gives Regina her blessing to be with Robin, and Robin verbally confirms this to Regina later. It appears as though they might get their happy ending after all, but Marian collapses yet again. Regina believes that the only way for Marian to be cured for good is if she were to cross the town line. Being a hero, Regina knows that Marian can’t be sent out into a land without magic alone; she commissions Robin to go with her. After Marian and Roland cross the town line, Robin stays behind another moment to say goodbye to his soul mate. Regina and Robin passionately kiss, and Robin begins to walk away, holding her hand until the last moment. In the process, he removes a ring from her finger, as a token to remember her. Robin and Regina are visibly heartbroken after he crosses the town line. Regina takes out her special page with Robin from the storybook out, rips it up, and leaves it at the town line. Poor Regina!

Being a hero often means making the hard choices, instead of taking the easy way out. It would have been simpler if Regina had let Marian die. However, she, unlike Rumple, has changed and puts her personal happiness aside for the sake of saving another. This kind of heroism is hard to ignore, which is why I believe that Regina’s story with Robin is far from over.

(ABC/Jack Rowand)
COLIN O’DONOGHUE

Past of Darkness

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Rumple returns from Camelot with a magical gauntlet that can reveal the weaknesses in others. He keeps Belle in the dark as to why he collected magical objects. After getting no answers, Belle continues about her chores as a servant to the Dark One when a Dalmatian puppy appears before her. She follows the puppy and she is then captured by an unknown person. Rumple later goes looking for Belle and finds a message for him. He is to surrender the gauntlet in order to save Belle. He finds Belle captured by Maleficent, Cruella de Vil, and Ursula. Rumple makes the trade reluctantly and saves Belle. This is the beginning of Rumple’s falling in love with Belle. However, he later returns to face the Queens of Darkness to take the gauntlet back, unbeknownst to Belle. The Queens of Darkness express their desire to be the victors instead of the just the villains. Rumple is unamused and too concerned with his own victory.

Frozen Farewell

Emma, Henry, Snow, and Charming take Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff to the portal in the manor. It is there that Emma and Elsa have to bid each other farewell. Emma and Elsa have bonded through similar experiences and depended on each other in times of crisis, personal and circumstantial. It’s sad to see Emma lose a close friend. After Elsa and Kristoff walk through the portal, Anna lingers behind to question the identity of Mr. Gold. When Charming tells her his true identity, she is shocked, considering her history with him. Emma then realizes that Rumple had been lying to her since she confronted him about his connection with Elsa and Anna. Anna returns to Arendelle, while Emma races to discover what Rumple is up to.

Elsa and Anna are able to reclaim Arendelle from Hans and his brothers; Anna even gets to punch Hans, again! With Elsa back on the throne, Kristoff and Anna are ready to officially tie the knot. Elsa questions Anna as to why she postponed the wedding in the first place, and Anna replies that she wanted to make sure Elsa got her happy ending, too. Anna and Elsa, hand-in-hand, make their way to Anna’s wedding. Frozen gets its happy ending after all!

(ABC/Jack Rowand)
JARED S. GILMORE, GINNIFER GOODWIN, JOSH DALLAS

Price of Power

Everything has aligned, literally, for Rumple has he begins to finally free himself from the dagger. With the hat, Hook’s heart, and the stars aligned, Rumple begins the spell to freedom. Emma and Snow come in and attempt to stop him, but he paralyzes them with magic. Rumple then begins to crush his heart but then is dismayed when he can’t seem to crush it fully. Belle then appears behind him with the real dagger in her hands. She commands him to surrender Hook’s heart, release Emma and Snow, and demands that he take her to the town line, which is forced to do.

At the town line, Belle reveals that she found the gauntlet in his shop, the very thing he gave up in the Enchanted Forest to save her many years ago. She then explained that the gauntlet revealed to her that her weakness is the real dagger, and Rumple’s real weakness is his love for power, not his love for her. Rumple tries to explain himself, but Belle is done listening to him trying to justify his actions. He has given into becoming the beast that she used to see in the past. Heartbroken, she commands Rumple to cross the town line and leave Storybrooke. Rumple pleads that he would lose her forever, which she replies “you already lost me.” He crosses the town line, and the two are seen devastated by their separation, but Belle does not look back.

It’s Not Over Yet

Emma puts Hook’s heart back where it belongs. Once back in his body, Hook thanks her with a passionate kiss in the hallway at Granny’s. Though their reunion is short, it emphasizes how much these two mean to each other. They are both survivors. They are both fighting for a chance at a happy ending with each other, and they’ve just won a major battle that threatened that happiness. With two heartbreaking separations of two major couples on the show, it was nice to see at least one couple have a victory.

After her reunion with Hook, Emma finds Regina and commends her for doing the right thing when it came to Robin and Marian. Regina is well aware of her good decision, but she would rather spend her time drinking than dwelling on her heroic act. Henry runs in and requests that his mothers come with him immediately. After sticking around the Sorcerer’s manor, Henry discovers a secret library filled with empty storybooks. The Sorcerer is, in fact, the author of Henry’s storybook. Regina fills in Emma on her plans to find the author, and Emma wants in. She is determined to help Regina get her happy ending. Operation Mongoose is back on!

Six weeks later, we find Rumple walking the streets of New York City. He enters an aquarium and finds Ursula, feeding fish to other aquatic creatures. Ursula, with her memories intact, questions why Rumple is there. He then begins to explain that he agrees that it is time for the villains to get their happy endings as well. He needs her to join forces with him to find the Sorcerer/Author and take their happy endings for themselves. She agrees, and Rumple informs her that they need to retrieve Cruella and Maleficent before they are able to take back what is theirs; and that’s their mission for the arc of 4B.

Worth Mentioning

• Rumple got the magic gauntlet from Camelot. They have teased Camelot for some time now, with Lancelot in 2×03 and the Sword in the Stone in 3×02. Could we be making a trip to Camelot in Season 5? Or is the Sorcerer/Author actually Merlin? Only time will tell!
• I didn’t realize how much I missed scenes between Rumple and Regina until the scene in Regina’s car. Even though Rumple is a villain and Regina is a hero, I really hope we get more scenes between them in 4B.
• When we see Rumple in New York, it is six weeks later from his exile from Storybrooke. This means Storybrooke goes six full weeks without any kind of curse or villain to threaten it. That has to be some kind of record! Too bad we won’t get to see any of their time of peace.
• The Merry Men do not go with Robin, Marian, and Roland across the town line. Without their leader, Will Scarlett might have to step up and take on more responsibility in 4B. Maybe then we will find out why he is in Storybrooke and not in Wonderland with his love, Anastasia.
• Thank you to the writers for making Frozen a part of Once Upon a Time! These characters seamlessly fit right in with the Storybrooke characters and the mythology of the show. They provided comic relief with the various nods to the movie. We really loved these characters and they will be missed!