Dark magic is the name of the game on Once Upon a Time. And it seems now more than ever it’s really showing its ugly head. In this episode, titled “Ill-Boding Patterns,” Rumple tries to stop Gideon from doing something he’ll regret. Meanwhile, Regina promises to help Robin find happiness, an old face shows up and Hook struggles over whether he should tell Emma about his past.
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The Allure of Dark Magic
In Fairy Tale Land, it’s the first ogres war. Beowulf leads an army into battle to protect the villages. He believes they will win because he has a sword with magic. And while he manages to defeat a bunch of ogres, his army quickly is killed. Just as Beowulf is about to be killed himself, the ogre is destroyed as Rumple shows up. Rumple then uses his dark magic to defeat the rest of the ogres.
At the local tavern, the villagers praise Rumple. His son, Baelfire, is so proud. However, Beowulf comes in and brings the celebration to a halt, telling Rumple that dark magic comes at a price. Rumple’s son then makes him promise to not use dark magic anymore, and Rumple reluctantly agrees. However, it’s tough for him, especially when Bae keeps getting made fun of because of his father.
One day, a group of villagers come to Rumple’s home and tells him that a monster attacked them and must be stopped. They say that Beowulf went after the monster and hasn’t returned. Rumple fears he can’t defeat the monster without dark magic, but Bae assures him he can. Together, they head to a cave, where Rumple reveals that he did bring his dagger just in case. Bae tells him it’s just a crutch, so Rumple gives it to him to control him and prevent him from using magic.
In the cave, they find several dead bodies. However, there’s no monster, just Beowulf, who is setting Rumple up. He steals the dagger and commands Rumple to stay in the cave with the bodies so the village can see that he’s the real monster. However, as Beowulf tries to get away in the forest, Bae manages to get the dagger back and summons Rumple. Rumple does start to kill Beowulf but stops himself. Beowulf just taunts them some more, so Bae orders Rumple to kill Beowulf, which he does.
Back at their home, Bae is convinced that the only way to survive is with the dark magic, and Rumple is terrified of this. He gives Bae some memory potion to make him forget that he even used the dagger because he can’t have his son on the dark side too. Bae does forget about using the dagger, but when Rumple tells him that he killed Beowulf, Bae is horrified at his father and calls him a monster — a small price to pay so his son doesn’t fall into darkness.
Protecting Another Son
In present day Storybrooke, Rumple can’t lose another son to the dark side. However, Gideon seems intent on killing the Savior, becoming the hero, destroying the Black Fairy and saving his people. Rumple tries to tell him that this is a terrible path to go down, but Gideon doesn’t want to hear it. Rumple finds Gideon in the police station trying to get the sword that will kill the Savior, but it’s only part of it. Rumple then “kidnaps” Gideon and ties him up in the clock tower. Again, he tries to talk some sense into him and even gives him memory potion to forget what the Black Fairy did to him, but it doesn’t work. Eventually, Gideon steals Rumple’s dagger and commands him to help defeat the Black Fairy.
First, they head to Rumple’s shop to find a way to fix the broken sword. Rumple reluctantly tells him he needs the blood and magic of the Blue Fairy, Gideon’s fairy godmother, in order to restore it. So Gideon commands Rumple to not stop him, and he goes to find Blue. Of course, Blue tries to convince him there’s another way to defeat the Black Fairy, but he won’t hear it. He freezes her, but then Rumple shows up. Rumple tells Gideon he can’t let him go to the dark side, so instead he’ll steal Blue’s magic to keep Gideon good. Rumple takes Blue’s blood and magic to restore the sword. Gideon trusts Rumple now and gives him back his dagger. Then he sets off to find the Savior to kill her and complete his mission.
Belle is horrified about what they did to Blue. But Rumple assures her that it wasn’t Gideon that did it. He tells Belle that he hopes they will be able to stop Gideon before he does something stupid, and he’ll be able to return Blue’s magic. Belle is thrilled and believes that, since Rumple prevented their son from becoming dark, perhaps he’s doing good too.
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Doppelgangers
Meanwhile, Robin sorts through the potions he stole from Regina. Regina finds him in the forest and says she’ll try and let him get accustomed to his new life. Reluctantly, he agrees but says he needs some time. He then goes to find Zelena and asks her to sort through the vials of potions to find one that will get him out of Storybrooke. Later, the pair heads to the town line, Zelena with her baby and cobra Evil Queen in a cage. Regina shows up and tells them that the potion won’t work. They try it anyway, and it doesn’t. She then agrees that she will work to find a spell that will allow Robin to leave and find happiness, if that’s what he wants.
Regina heads to her cell to work on a spell, and Zelena comes by to apologize. She even brings cobra Evil Queen so Regina can keep an eye on her. Instead, Regina apologizes, thinking it’s all her fault. However, when they remove the sheet over the cage, they see that cobra Evil Queen is gone. In fact, she’s actually still in the forest, where she bites Robin to get the spell he used earlier to break the spell on her. She appears and, of course, Robin is confused. She tells him to stick with her and she’ll show him all that Storybrooke has to offer.
A Proposal
Finally, Hook drinks all day to get up the courage to tell Emma the truth about his past — that he killed David’s father. When he finally heads to their home, before he can confess, Emma reveals that she found the engagement ring. So thinking quickly on his feet, he gets down on one knee and proposes, and she eagerly says yes. And he never reveals his secret, despite Emma saying no more secrets between them.
Things are getting ugly on Once Upon a Time in season 6. The Evil Queen is back. Alternate Robin has alternate plans. Hook his hiding a very big secret that could rock Emma’s world. Meanwhile, Emma’s life could soon come to an end now that Gideon has the sword to defeat her. And will Rumple really be able to stop him? His power is pretty solid. He is the Dark One after all, but is it enough to stop his son from really crossing over to the dark side?
I’d really like to see where season 6 will go. It seems to keep unraveling and unraveling with no end in sight. I hope they can really tie this season all together in a good way without going too nuts.
What did you think of “Ill-Boding Patterns”? Do you think Rumple will be able to stop Gideon? Do you think Hook will ever tell Emma about his past discretions? Or, rather, should he? What do you think Emma will do if he tells her? Let us know in the comments section below.
Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8/7c on ABC. Want more news? Like our Once Upon a Time Facebook page.
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Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
