Even though Gideon was raised by the Black Fairy, it turns out he actually is good — or at least trying to be. This is not a surprising theme on Once Upon a Time. In this episode, titled “Mother’s Little Helper,” we learn a little bit about Gideon’s past and why he wants to defeat the Black Fairy. Emma gives in and decides to help his cause after chatting with Belle and Gold. And in true season 6 fashion, another old face pops up to help Henry figure out what’s going on with his role as the Author.
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Growing Up Dark
From the moment she stole Gideon from the Blue Fairy, the Black Fairy knew he was special — and treated him as such. She raised him differently from all the other children she took over the years. When he is a teen during a flashback, he steals the book Belle left for him, Her Handsome Hero, and reads some of it to his friend in a different cell. When the Black Fairy finds him, she punishes him by taking away his friend. She tells Gideon to be the hero and save his friend, but he doesn’t leave his cell.
On his 28th birthday, the Black Fairy says she wants to celebrate. However, she realizes the key to her vault is missing. She orders Gideon to head into the mines to find out who stole the key and take care of them the way she taught him too. He heads to the mines and gathers everyone around. No one admits to stealing the key at first, and then one guy admits to it. It turns out it’s his friend from the cell years ago. Thinking he was dead, Gideon is relieved at first. His friend urges Gideon to be a hero and help him defeat the Black Fairy once and for all. The friend tells Gideon about a Savior in another realm that can help.
Together, Gideon and his friend head to the Black Fairy’s vault to try and get to the Savior’s realm, but the Black Fairy interrupts. She says it was a trick and he failed. She then kills his friend and takes Gideon’s heart. She can now control him and orders him to get to the Savior’s realm, kill her and free the Black Fairy from the prison she’s in.
Trusting Gideon
In Storybrooke, Gideon tries to convince Emma to help him, telling her that he’s not the bad guy. She fights back and wants him to bring Hook back. He says he won’t give up his mission or his word and then disappears.
Emma and Snow go to see Belle and Gold to find out what’s going on with Gideon. Both Belle and Gold tell Emma that Gideon is good inside, despite his upbringing of evil with the Black Fairy. They suggest that she should trust him so together they can destroy the Black Fairy and save everyone. Gold tells Emma that the Black Fairy is in another realm and can’t cross over long enough to stay. However, it won’t be long before the Black Fairy figures out a way to get to Storybrooke, and then they will all be in trouble.
Emma goes to see Gideon. She gets him to give her his sword and the spell to bring Hook back. And then she agrees to help him. They head to the Sorcerer’s mansion, where he gives her the ingredients to get Hook back, but instead a giant spider walks through the portal door. The spider weaves webs all around the mansion, trapping them. While they formulate a plan, Gideon tells Emma that originally he was going to kill her to absorb her power to destroy the Black Fairy, and he apologizes for that.
But Gideon’s soft side vanishes pretty quickly when he pushes Emma into one of the webs and leaves her to die with the spider. As the spider starts to suffocate Emma with its web, the sword starts to glow in the clock tower, and Gideon opens a portal for the Black Fairy. However, Gold arrives to the mansion just in time to save Emma, and the portal quickly closes.
No Hope for Gideon or Hook
After her rescue, Emma tells Belle and Gold that there is no helping Gideon. She adds that whatever he was raised by has turned him. Both Belle and Gold refuse to believe their son is evil. Gold then tells Emma that if she tries to hurt Gideon, he will destroy her.
After Emma and Snow leave Belle and Gold’s, Belle worries that their son is lost for good, as he’s tearing everyone apart. However, Gold isn’t too convinced. He believes that whatever damage the Black Fairy has done to Gideon is in the past and it’s over.
Meanwhile, poor Hook is stuck in another realm. Before trapping her, Gideon tells Emma that Hook will never be able to return to their realm of Storybrooke. However, Hook doesn’t know this, so he seeks out Blackbeard for a magic bean to get home. After losing at a game of poker, Hook brings Blackbeard outside to claim his prize of the Jolly Roger, but, of course, it’s not there. Hook explains that he’ll still need the bean to get to the realm where the ship is. Blackbeard says he’s going with him, and the two go through a portal.
They end up in Neverland, as we know that Hook can’t get home. Even though Pan’s not there anymore, some of the Lost Boys are, and they aren’t happy with their new visitors. Hook and Blackbeard manage to make it to shore, but Blackbeard knocks out Hook and takes the single rowboat on the beach, leaving Hook to run from the Lost Boys.
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The Author Returns
While everyone is concerned with the Black Fairy, Regina is still working on developing a spell to undo the sleeping curse on Snow and Charming. Henry comes to see her, and as he writes down a list of ingredients she needs, he goes into a trance and scribbles symbols in his notebook. When he comes to, he thinks his role as the Author took over, but it doesn’t make sense because he’s not using the normal pen and book that the Author uses.
Regina takes him to see the previous Author, Isaac. In his cell, Isaac tries to work a deal with Regina: his freedom for information on what’s happening to Henry. Regina doesn’t feel like giving in to his demands, so she starts to leave when Isaac tells them that the Author’s power is taking over, and Henry can’t control it. He adds that the trances will become more frequent and more intense. When Regina asks what can be done to stop it, Isaac asks for his demands once more.
Regina provides Isaac with a minivan so he can leave for New York. He tells her that the way to save Henry is to follow behind him and out of Storybrooke. He then hands Henry the storybook, with the final chapter blank. Henry asks what happens in the final chapter. Isaac says the Savior fights a final battle, and no one wants to be around to see that.
The Battle
Back in the clock tower, Gideon says he’s failed the Black Fairy. However, he hasn’t, as she’s right behind him. It turns out the portal he opened was just open long enough for her to slip through. So now she can continue on with her plan, whatever that may be — but most likely trying to destroy the Savior and putting a curse on Storybrooke.
Once Upon a Time has been promising us an epic battle since the beginning of season 6. And it looks like the battle is being driven by the Black Fairy, who is more evil that Gold, which is pretty evil. I do have to wonder what kind of curse she could possibly put on Storybrooke, besides a curse to kill everyone, that would be so terrible.
And my question is, if the end of the storybook that Isaac gave Henry is blank, couldn’t Henry, as the new Author, write a different ending that doesn’t end in tragedy? Isn’t that the point of the Author? I guess if the point of the Author is to write down what happens, how the heck could Isaac know that the final battle is coming, unless he can see the future?
Season 6 has been very confusing. We first encountered a whole bunch of other characters looking for closure form the Land of the Untold Stories. And now we’re back trying to figure out if Emma will live or die at the sword of Gideon and/or the Black Fairy. I am curious to see how it will all play out in the end.
Do you think the Black Fairy will get what she wants? Do you think she’ll defeat Emma and put a curse on Storybrooke? Do you think Gideon will stop her? What do you think will happen when Gold and Gideon try to stop the Black Fairy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
