Previously on "Once Upon a Time"...
So, you're just gonna abandon this baby here?
The only way I can escape this prison
is by leaving someone in my bloodline
to take my place.
Is that what you're looking for?
But after everything that's happened,
I might just believe anything.
This is the M.E.'s report on Nick.
Our lawyer turned serial killer
was stabbed through the heart one time...
from the inside.
The question is,
what the hell is going on in this town?
Jacinda, according to that,
Lucy's been right.
I am her father.
Soon, we'll find our sisters.
And then the Coven of the Eight will be joined.
_
It'll be dark soon.
Perhaps we should turn around.
Yarrow, please.
Just trust me.
I want to show you something beautiful.
What if they see us?
We should go.
Gothel, we don't belong.
Look at them.
Have you ever seen anything like it?
I want to touch the fabric.
I want to know what it feels like.
To what end?
It'll never be ours.
That's their world.
You sound just like Mother.
If you don't want to be here,
you can go home without me.
You'll be in so much trouble.
I don't care.
Oh.
Hello?
I'm so sorry.
I shouldn't be here.
Wait!
What was that?
It was magic, wasn't it?
It was harmless.
I swear.
Please don't be angry.
Please don't tell anybody.
Why would we be angry?
We've never met anyone with magic before.
It's incredible.
Well, most people are frightened.
We're not most people.
We think it's wonderful.
Maybe someday you can teach us.
Yes.
Yes!
I'd be delighted to teach you magic.
It seems we found a new sister today.
Me?
Oh, yes.
But we should find you something decent to wear.
Tomorrow, Lord Adriel's hosting a party.
He throws the most elegant affairs.
You must come.
Oh, just what I need today...
A visit from a weirdo cult leader.
Hmm.
You're here to see Rogers and Weaver?
Actually, I'm here to see you.
Me?
Yes, you. You're going to help me
because I need someone in your position.
Sorry, lady.
Not interested.
You sure about that?
Because it seems to me you're very interested.
It seems to me you can't say no.
What do you need?
My sisters are asleep,
and I need your help to wake them up.
Time has come for the coven to return.
Now that we're alone, we should talk.
This is real.
No.
See, it's not.
'Cause you can't be Lucy's father
because you and I, we never...
Well, maybe...
You ever been to Cabo?
I know, I know.
I-I would've remembered.
But still, somehow this happened.
Okay, so there's got to be some sort of...
Okay.
Now, what if Lucy is right?
What if my crazy book is real?
You really think you're Lucy's father
and somehow I magically forgot about it?
When I met you in Hyperion Heights,
I loved you immediately.
- Henry. - No, I can say it.
Love at first sight.
But maybe it's because it wasn't actually love at first sight.
Maybe everything I felt
was because we already loved each other.
You really believe...
Yes.
I think I do.
If I'm Cinderella, then where's my blue dress?
My glass slipper?
Ah...
My sanity for even having this conversation?
Well, I don't know about the rest...
but look.
It's your slipper,
or part of it.
We found these.
It's just broken glass.
Maybe, maybe not.
Here.
Take this.
Does that do anything?
Will you do that for me?
Will you open your mind?
Just try.
Oh.
Sabine is texting me.
Drew bailed on work.
I got to get to the truck.
She needs me to man the fryer.
Hey, hey.
Are you leaving for Sabine
or because I freaked you out?
Maybe a little of both.
Can you please let me out of here?
I don't belong here.
The last guy that got locked up inside this place
ended up dead.
Excellent, then I'm glad you're up to speed
because that's exactly what I wanted to discuss.
I took your suggestion
and looked at Nick Branson's M.E. report,
and it doesn't make any sense.
It says he was stabbed from the inside.
I told you Samdi was powerful.
No, you see, I'm gonna need you
to be more descriptive than that.
How did he do this?
He used magic.
Magic.
So that's your story.
Magic is real, Detective.
Magic is a fairy tale.
Yes, it is. It's not from this land,
a land without magic,
but there are shreds of it that have made their way over.
The sooner you accept that,
the more likely that you're gonna survive.
Why do you think Nick was killing all those women anyway?
He was targeting a cult.
Not a cult.
A coven.
He was hunting down witches.
There's no such thing.
And there's no way a man can be stabbed from the inside.
Believe whatever you like, Detective,
but there is a war brewing,
and no one in this city is safe.
I've done as you've asked.
I've woken them.
At last.
My sisters, it's so good to see you again.
Now it's time to reclaim what was once ours.
That is enough masquerading for one day, Daughter.
Darling, you can yearn to be something else,
but you can't deny what you truly are...
A tree nymph like all of us.
Be proud.
Yes, Mother.
I hear you've been with the humans.
Yarrow.
Humans are mercurial creatures,
conflicted and irrational.
But the ones I met today were different.
They're not afraid of magic.
You are not human,
no matter how drawn you are to them.
Darling, you are of eternal nature,
like all of our kind.
Raised in the...
"The steadiness of seasons."
I know. I know it all, Mother.
I've heard it all.
What is before you is a great honor.
The mantle of "Mother" will be yours.
But I want freedom.
Well, when I pass the mantle onto you,
you will be mother of all of the magic in the land.
That is freedom.
Then why does it feel like a prison?
Because you cannot exist both with your family
and with the humans.
So I do have a choice.
But of course.
But you are my daughter,
and I know you'll be wise.
You'll realize that the only choice
is to follow your duties,
to follow nature.
Your girl's lovely, Tilly.
How do you know my name?
I know more than your name.
Bully for you.
And I know who you are, too.
You're part of that cult, and I want you out of my sight.
I just want to talk.
Why the hell would I want to talk to you?
Because I'm your mother.
No.
That's not possible.
My mother left years ago.
So either you're a liar or a monster
because what kind of woman abandons her child?
I know I was selfish,
and it's no excuse, but the world was...
It was cruel to me.
And I became cruel, too.
But I want to change.
Maybe if you could forgive me,
maybe you'd find peace.
You'd get back what I took from you.
You'll feel wanted.
I already am wanted.
Already have people who care for me.
Let me guess...
Roni's not returning your calls?
How did you get past Monique?
I broke in to your apartment.
Charming Monique was nothing.
I shouldn't have underestimated you.
And how do you know Roni isn't returning my calls?
Weaver stole the magic you gave her to cure Henry,
and until she can find a way to save him,
she's not dealing with anything else.
Double-crossed by her oldest friend, was she?
Yeah. That's why I'm here.
If you had magic to give her once,
there must be more.
There has to be.
But that piece of magic,
like all such things in this land,
was terribly difficult to come by.
Imagine you're the hero and save Henry.
Roni would be real grateful, right?
More so than if I told her how you wouldn't help.
Quite the blackmailer, aren't you?
All right, I'll see what I can do,
but I'm going to need your assistance.
W-What do I need to do?
Find something that came over in the curse,
a symbol of Henry and Jacinda's love.
If you do, we might be able to glean some magic from it.
I can do that.
I'll figure something out.
Good, because you're not the only one
who wants this curse broken.
A storm of witches is brewing,
and if we're going to survive,
I'm going to need magic.
All of us will.
Hey. What's wrong?
This!
This woman is what's wrong.
She just told me she's my mother.
It seems crazy, right?
I mean, she's not that much older than me.
There's something about her.
Right?
It seems crazy, but there's something about her.
You're not the only one looking into crazy right now.
I'm investigating an impossible crime,
and it shares one thing with your non-delusion-delusion...
Eloise Gardener.
So you believe me?
Well, I've learned never to doubt you.
Whatever's going on here, no matter how crazy,
we'll figure it out together.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Enjoying yourself?
More than I ever dreamed.
Good, and it's about to get better.
I've been telling my friends all about you.
You said you'd teach us magic, yes?
Mm-hmm.
Come on, Isla,
she can't do magic in front of everyone.
Of course not, silly, but I have the perfect place.
Oh, please say you will.
Can't you show us just a little?
Why not?
I've always dreamed of being special like you.
Do you think I can be?
Of course.
Magic's not as mysterious as people think.
It's all around us if you know where to look.
Even here in a place like this?
Especially in a place like this.
I'll show you.
You don't have to do this, Gothel.
No, it's fine.
These plants could use a little magic.
People forget that they're alive just like they are
and probably even more so
because nothing from the earth ever truly dies.
You see, that is the secret to magic.
The roots are right there just waiting to be reborn.
It's beautiful, isn't it?
It is.
Such a pity.
What are you doing?
Did you really think putting on a ball gown
made you one of us?
What's under that dress?
Scales?
Stop it!
You lied.
You are an abomination.
No.
Or maybe you just need a bath.
No! No! No!
No!!
Aww, that...
that's a much better look on you, Gothel.
Now you can grow your roots
in some other land far away from us
because whatever thing you are,
you don't belong in our world.
Seraphina.
Let's go.
You're Margot, right? Tilly's friend.
Yeah.
Sorry, do I know you?
Probably not, but I feel like I know you.
I'm a close relation of Tilly's.
- Really? - Mm-hmm.
Well, any friend of Tilly's gets a drink on the house.
- Ooh. - Do you want to try something
from the new "Wanderlust Menu"?
It's inspired by all the best drinks
I had on my travels.
Oh, impressive list.
Oh, is that an Indian drink I see?
It is, and it's made with real rose petals.
It'll blow your mind.
Such a beautiful country.
They, uh... they have these sprightly trees
called Arunchal Hopea.
They went extinct nearly 20 years ago.
People thought they'd make good fence posts.
That's terrible.
But that's what people do. They destroy things.
I've been a gardener my whole life,
and I can honestly say
there's no greater pest than humanity.
You don't remember this,
but we've met before.
Such an insipid human you were.
Not the least bit helpful.
This time, I have a feeling
you're going to give me exactly what I need.
Ow! What the hell?
Look, are you sure that you want to drag Henry
into our Eloise Gardner problem?
Well, he helped solve the Candy Killer case,
and he wrote a book about magic.
He's got to know something about witches.
Yeah.
But what if he thinks that we're...
- Crazy? - Yeah.
Welcome to my world.
Hey.
What's up?
Can we come in?
Kind of in the middle of something right now.
Is it urgent?
I mean, you're not, like, on the run, are you?
Not today, but I did find out my mother might be Eloise Gardner,
and she's either a witch or cult leader
or both, I suppose.
And that Nick guy, he was killed by voodoo magic.
In other words, yes, it is rather urgent.
Right. Uh...
Yeah, okay.
Wow.
Guess we're not the only ones who are crazy.
Yeah, I was thinking maybe my book is real.
There are just too many odd things in Hyperion Heights to keep ignoring.
I once saw a photo of Roni and me at eight
that can't be explained.
I've got, uh...
this swan key chain.
Okay, Weaver's tea cup.
It's an exact copy down to the placement of the chip
as the one on page 147 of my book.
Real or not, we still don't have any answers
as to what Eloise's plan is.
Yeah, one question... if Eloise really is a witch,
why isn't she using magic?
Because in a land without it,
she probably doesn't have enough.
In my book, the bigger the spell,
the bigger the magic needed to cast it.
So, whatever source of magic
this coven's trying to get its hands on,
if we can keep them from it,
then we can probably stop them,
whatever their plan is.
- Yep? - That coven thing
you were looking at... Just got a lead
that might connect.
Group of shady women were spotted
entering the Hyperion Theater.
Hope that helps.
Oh, to get a real, concrete lead today...
You've got no idea.
Thanks.
I just got a tip on Eloise.
It has to be followed up.
I'll tag along. Your logic and my illogic
might crack this thing open.
You okay? I can take you home if you'd like.
What if Eloise Gardener is home?
I always wanted a mum,
but she doesn't strike me as the tuck-me-into-bed type.
Look, just because biology says someone is a mother
doesn't make them one.
And whatever the truth is, Til,
I'll help you figure it out.
Mm.
If Henry's curse theory is correct,
then lots of people are right next to the truth
and they don't even know it.
It's cruel, really...
To be so close to happiness and kept so far away from it.
What made you so nostalgic, Luce?
Just after everything that's happened,
Nick not being who he seemed...
it's nice to remember who we are.
Oh!
What's "BL" stand for?
It's "Before Lucy."
Trust me, there is nothing in there you're gonna care about.
What's this really about?
Truth is, I'm not looking for things
to help me forget about Nick being my dad.
I'm looking for things that say Henry Mills is.
I know it seems impossible,
but you once drove me to a boat and told me to believe in you,
that we could run away together,
and I did.
Now I'm asking you to do the same.
Believe with me this is possible.
Concert tickets.
Hopper, my stuffed frog.
Old T-shirt from... Granny's.
It's from a diner where Henry grew up.
I bet he took it with him to the enchanted forest.
What's this?
I-I've never seen that.
It's the glass slipper.
I knew it! You're Cinderella!
Hey, I know these can be a bit boring.
Oh, no.
It's exciting.
I get to do nothing with someone for a change.
I am a bit hungry, though.
Aw, thank you.
Even better.
For everything.
For caring for me today, for letting me live with you.
I don't know how I got to be so lucky
for you to be so nice to a strange stranger like me.
There she is.
Wait right here.
I'm staying nowhere.
Yarrow?
Yarrow!
Mother!
Yarrow!
Where are you?!
It's too late.
Humans came.
They destroyed this grove.
No.
Each swing of their axe,
each touch of their torch
took the spirits of your sisters one by one.
Everything you said about the humans
was right.
And I failed you.
No.
No, my darling, you haven't failed me.
Nature has taken its course,
and now you are the Mother.
And you hold
a very powerful seed of magic within you.
They'll pay.
Every one of them will pay.
No.
Instead, you find a place to grow anew.
That is your responsibility now.
Remember what you were destined to blossom into.
My daughter,
all mothers know
that only goodness can bear sweet fruit.
Mother?
Mother!
What are you doing here, mate? Is something wrong?
Nothing's wrong.
In fact, it's all going as planned.
Hey! Where are you taking her?
To a place where the truth will finally be revealed.
I swear, Eloise, I won't let my badge stop me
from killing you if you hurt that girl!
Calling me Eloise?
My name is Mother Gothel,
and don't worry, Detective.
Tilly's not the one I'm going to hurt.
No!
Oh, you're back.
I think you've gotten some mud on your dress.
Why'd you do it?
Because they were an abomination,
like you.
My mother told me to never forget my roots,
and thanks to you, I never will.
Nor will I forget the humans that murdered them!
You...
No. No.
killed my family.
No, no, please.
Please, no.
Plea...
You.
I'm like you,
but you're braver than I could ever be.
I hid who I was
because I was afraid they would've come for me.
You don't have to be scared anymore.
Join me.
Join me!
You'll never be afraid again.
The guards are coming.
We should go.
No.
We will not run or hide
or entertain this human stain again.
They must all be made to pay!
You've been onto things for a long time, Detective.
Questioning, investigating,
pondering the persistent parade of the impossible.
You can rest easy
because you're right...
We are witches.
At least you don't have to worry about a cult.
You disgrace your badge.
Let us go.
Oh, no, my child.
You're not going anywhere,
not until after you help us cast our spell.
Hey.
It'll be all right, Tilly.
I really don't like it here.
That's because you haven't accepted who you are yet.
I am truly sorry I never saw it sooner,
how special you are.
Had I know you were like us,
things would've been very different for you.
Your mother has a gift for finding special people...
Outcasts, exiles.
I was the first she recruited to her coven.
A coven that'll soon be behind bars.
Don't listen to him.
We're your family,
and family help each other.
Like you helped my father?
You killed him!
Your father's right in front of you.
That's right.
The love you feel is real, you just don't remember it.
You were born from both sides of the looking glass
as both his and mine, and you know it's true.
I only want to help you figure out
which side you belong on.
Leave humanity behind.
Join your sisters
and I'll be the mother you always wanted.
Whatever you might be,
you're no mother to me.
If you won't help cast the spell for me,
perhaps you'll do it to save your father.
I'm so sorry.
I didn't know.
This was the last refuge of magic in this realm.
Everyone I loved was here.
All I did was pay back the wound
the humans left here tonight.
That you did.
How many are dead?
All of them.
I wiped the land clean.
May the Gods forgive.
There's nothing to forgive.
It's not even permanent.
Some slimy lump will flop ashore,
crawl towards humanity again.
And as is their way,
it'll be worse.
I shudder at the thought of what destructive civilization
they'll create next.
This time, they'll do it alone in a cold world
because now they've created something
that's never been before...
A land without magic.
They'll be alone?
Where will we be?
This will take us to another realm.
We'll find others like us,
and when the time is right and we're strong enough,
we will return.
But you said the humans would come back, too.
Then we'll cleanse the land once more
and reclaim our homes.
I'm sorry, Mother.
I didn't understand what there was to lose.
And I won't forget my roots.
I know what exactly where to come to regrow them.
Let's go, Seraphina.
_
I remember this.
This is it!
Another scrap of magic left behind.
How little mankind left...
Just tatters and rags.
It's time to change that.
Humans, even when they're beautiful,
they're poison.
What are you doing?
Taking another tatter of magic.
And amusingly, I'm also making a point.
I can either take a little bit of blood
or these witches here can take the whole lot.
So I ask you again,
do you want to help me
or do you want to watch him die?
Don't do it, Tilly.
There you go.
And when you see the beauty
of what we're going to bring back,
you won't mind the cost at all.
We have everything we need.
Let's begin.
Well, you are a resourceful girl.
So, what do we do next?
We tape it up and she puts it on?
That's a charming old story,
but not the one we're telling.
Our purpose isn't to save a romance.
We're here to save a man's life.
That looks like fire.
That is the poison in your father's body.
If we can pull it out,
he won't be harmed when the curse is broken.
If this works,
go right away to your parents
and get them to break the curse.
It will finally be safe to do so.
And if Gothel is bringing what I think she's bringing,
we will all need to be whole and awake.
Yes!
What the hell?
Uh... hello?
Henry, we found it.
We found the slipper.
The glass just fit together.
Henry, the shoe is real.
I wish I could show you,
but Lucy ran off with it somewhere.
But I think this is good news, right?
With the possible exception of Lucy running with broken glass,
yes.
Yes, I think this is very good news.
It can't be real.
Can it?
Did we find each other in some other world?
In a fairy tale?
Well, I happen to know a lot about that fairy tale,
and there is one crucial element still missing.
Wait.
I'm not her yet.
I have a lifetime of memories of Jacinda,
a struggling single mom
who never thought she'd have romance
in her life again.
And that Jacinda wants to kiss this Henry.
Is that okay?
That is more than okay.
Yes!
I don't remember anything from the other life.
Did you kiss?
- Yes. - Lucy.
There was no magical thing, no... no pulse.
The curse didn't break.
It didn't work.
I don't understand.
Hold out your hands.
Old love... Blood of your father.
New love...
Blood from the woman with whom you wish to spend your life.
What? Margot?
- What do you know about Mar... - Hush.
Love betrayed...
Key to the grove,
which should've been my daughter's birthright.
So, what's supposed to happen?
- Am I meant to... - Please don't do this, Tilly.
I'm just one life.
If I truly am your father,
then I'm asking you as a father,
don't do this.
I feel that it's true.
You are my father.
That's why I have to do this.
I can't be responsible for killing you.
Nature's witches, words unheard,
our wishes worthless, worse than dirt.
Until we learned what we were worth
to turn our hurts into your burns.
Our purest urges now emerge.
Old for nursery, dark for church.
Close the circle.
Purge the earth.
Hold on to your mother's hand, dear.
I'm your family.
Synced and corrected by Octavia - www.addic7ed.com -