- Hook and Belle search for a way to release the fairies from the Sorcerer's hat, Emma, Regina and Henry continue to look for clues that could lead them to the Author, and Gold and Ursula enlist Cruella to join their cause, as flashbacks show their first meeting.
- With Gold banished from town, the residents of Storybrooke try to resume their normal lives. Belle and Hook try to find a way to free the fairies from the sorcerers hat. Regina, Emma, and Henry team up to find the author of the storybook, but when they discover a darkness on the otherwise of town, Emma and Regina are forced to confront the true nature of evil.
- We start in the Forbidden Fortress, many years ago, where we meet Ursula -- who quickly meets with Maleficent, and it doesn't go particularly smoothly. Cruella De Vil soon emerges. None of them are clear why they were summoned there, but Rumpelstiltskin's arrival soon makes for an explanation. He's decided that it's time the three of them -- and him -- "the villains" got their happy endings.
Back in Storybrooke, things seem calm and pleasant. Mr. Gold's pawn shop is closed. All seems fine, but Killian is upset by the fact that the fairies, and some others, are still trapped in the sorcerer's hat. Belle is as frustrated by the fact that she, like Killian, was tricked by Rumpelstiltskin. Still, she hopes he's "found whatever it is he's looking for."
In modern-day New York, Mr. Gold and Ursula are getting fed up with each other while he's staying in her dumpy apartment and eating her food. But an email makes them both a little optimistic. They end up in Great Neck, Long Island, where they find Cruella De Vil -- who's going by Feinberg in this world. Mr. Gold offers a half-hearted apology for their last meeting, but says they now have a mutual interest in not having everything taken away. With a little persuasion, she invites him and Ursula into her car and they head to Storybrooke.
Back in the Forbidden Fortress, we see Rumpelstiltskin promising each of the villains everything they want -- their happy ending. It's a dark curse.
Mr. Gold, in the modern world, starts to explain how he wants to get the author of the fairy tale books to get their happy endings.
Looking around Regina's office for a bottle opener, Emma stumbles onto a taped-together picture of her and Robin kissing. Regina explains that Robin saw it as a sign of hope, that things could work out for her, but it didn't work out. Killian and Belle bring Regina translated ceremony instructions that could help release the fairies from the sorcerer's hat (Belle found an Oxford professor who provided the translation of the ancient language). Out in the woods, she does a little something with the dagger and, sure enough, the fairies appear. But things are never that easy. Some black smoke also emerges from the hat box after everyone's walked away -- and it doesn't look very pleasant.
Back in Fairy Tale Land, Rumpel leads the women to the inside of a mountain where the dark curse is hidden. Cruella helps get them through a secured door, Maleficent harnesses all the fire surrounding the curse, and Ursula extends one of her tentacles to grab it and hand it to Rumpel. The mountain starts to rumble and Rumpel prepares to exit -- leaving them to die. There's a demon that feeds on evil that was also protecting the curse. He leaves them inside the cave and the demon arrives.
On their approach to Storybrooke, Mr. Gold explains to the women that the town line can't be seen or crossed. Cruella pulls a gun and points it at him, telling him they're not going to have much patience for any more of his tricks. He insists that everyone they want is just beyond the town line, but he needs them to trust him and they'll be invited into Storybrooke.
In Storybrooke, a nervous Regina brings one of the blank fairy tale books to one of the fairies in the diner and reveals her "crazy" idea to have the sorcerer write her a happy ending. But the fairy says the sorcerer and the author are not the same person. The fairy says no one has seen the author for many years, but she knows he (or she) exists. A loud rumble and a darkness startles everyone, and we see the demon standing atop the library clock tower.
Back in the mountain, we see Cruella, Maleficent and Ursula trying to evade the demon.
In Storybrooke, the demon swoops down onto the streets, scaring everyone, until Regina and Emma use some magic to stun it a bit and calm things down momentarily. Outside the town line, Mr. Gold's plan with the women is going into effect. Ursula just has to make a phone call to get things started. Mr Gold admits that his fate depends on them trusting him. Ursula says he'll find out that night if they trust him. She calls Regina, who is wondering how Ursula ended up with "The Dark One's" cell phone. Ursula, insisting that she and Cruella, have heard about how even villains can earn redemption. Regina starts to turn down Ursula's request, but the demon's roar is heard in the background and Ursula says she can help. Regina reluctantly agrees to "consider" letting them into town if her information about how to handle the demon pans out.
In a brief flashback to the Forbidden Fortress, we see that Ursula and Cruella climbed to safety, then Ursula extended a tentacle down to save Maleficent from the demon.
Emma tells Regina, who is convinced the demon is after her because she has the most evil potential, they can lure the demon to the town line to try to take its magic away. We see Emma's yellow VW Bug speeding down the road toward the town line and the demon chasing them, then climbing onto the car and starting to smash it as it's moving. Regina disappears out of the car and Emma speeds toward the town line, then slams on the brakes, propelling the demon across the town line and back into a dark dust.
Mary Margaret and David meet Emma and Regina at the town line and, just as Emma seems to be willing to let Cruella and Ursula into town, Mary Margaret says she thinks it's a bad idea. She doesn't think they can be trusted. Regina says they're horrible, but not as horrible as she once was. She doesn't think she can deny them a second chance. Regina tosses a scroll across the town line. Cruella picks it up, reads it, then drives across the town line. Regina welcomes her, and Cruella thanks her, assuring her that she won't regret it.
That night, Mr. Gold waits at the town line and seems to lose faith that Ursula and Cruella are coming back for him. Suddenly, a scroll comes toward him, and the two women welcome him back into town. He tells them to repent their wicked ways, make friends and build relationships. He also reveals that he was the "Oxford professor" who helped Belle translate the ceremony that freed the fairies and unleashed the demon. He also tells them that the demon was going after the person with the most potential for darkness -- but it wasn't Regina, it was Emma.
That night, Emma wonders where her parents are and we see that they're having a meeting in the woods with Ursula and Cruella. Mary Margaret tells them that "no one" can find out what happened between them in the Enchanted Forest, and if they say a single word to anyone -- especially Emma -- she'll rip out their hearts herself.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content