As the Black Fairy gets ready for the final battle on Once Upon a Time, Regina gets distracted as Zelena heads down to the tunnels to stop the Black Fairy by herself in this episode, titled “Where Bluebirds Fly.” Meanwhile, Snow uses wedding planning as a distraction to the trouble that lies ahead for Storybrooke. Eventually, Zelena uses an object from her past to right a wrong in present day.
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You’ve Got a Friend
Back in the day in Oz, a young Zelena comes across a woodcutter, Stanum, on the yellow brick road. She uses her magic to heal a broken bird’s egg that fell out of a tree. Two boys come out of the woods, call her names and threaten her. But Stanum stands up for her and says her magic makes her special, and young Zelena is happy to have a friend.
Fast forward to years later when Zelena is the Wicked Witch of the West. Stanum comes to see her and asks for her help. The Wicked Witch of the North put a curse on him that is turning him to tin. He says an enchanted object called the crimson heart will break the curse, but it’s guarded by a monster in the woods. At first, Zelena says she can’t help him, but he eventually convinces her. Together, they head into the woods, and he pries into her life, asking if she’s lonely. She says no, but it’s clear she is. A lion attacks them, but Zelena defeats it and they find the crimson heart. She picks it up to heal him, but it starts to suck the magic out of her. She thinks it’s a trick, but he says it’s not. He even suggests that they become friends, but she won’t hear it. She lets the tin curse take him over, and she leaves him as a statue in the woods as she takes the crimson heart.
Going At It Alone
In present day, the Black Fairy comes to see Zelena in her home. She asks Zelena to join her in the final battle, suggesting that it’s better to be on her side instead of against her. But Zelena turns her down. The Black Fairy says she’ll be in the dwarf mines if she changes her mind.
Zelena tells the group about her encounter and says she’ll just go and defeat the Black Fairy by herself. Regina tells her no and that eventually they will defeat the Black Fairy together, once they find the other half of the wand that Tiger Lily gave to Hook for Emma.
Zelena doesn’t want to hear it, so she leaves Robin with Belle and heads down to the tunnels. When Regina goes to see Belle, she realizes where Zelena went and goes after her. In the tunnels, the two sisters bicker. At one point, they get trapped down there as some rocks block the entrance. Regina finds some fairy crystals and wonders what the Black Fairy wants with light magic.
Eventually, the Black Fairy shows up. She knocks down Regina and lures Zelena to an area filled with fairy crystals. As Zelena tries to use her magic on the Black Fairy, the Black Fairy can’t be defeated and she turns Zelena’s magic to the crystals, which darkens them.
The Black Fairy explains that now that the crystals are black, she can use them to start the final battle. Regina is pretty upset, and Zelena is beside herself. The Black Fairy eventually sends them back into the woods, and she prepares for the final battle with her crystals.
Going Home?
Regina is really upset that Zelena went down to the tunnels. She tells her to go back to Oz because there she can’t ruin anyone’s lives as she’s done in Storybrooke. She gives Zelena one of the black crystals that will get her back to Oz.
After collecting Robin from Belle, Zelena goes back to her house and uses the crystal to summon a tornado to get them back to Oz.
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Planning a Wedding
As a distraction from the impending battle, Snow wants to plan Emma and Hook’s wedding. Before they go look at venues, David goes back to the apartment to get his wallet and finds Henry looking over the drawings he did. Henry still doesn’t know what they mean, so David suggests that Henry come along to the wedding planning as a distraction too.
The first stop is Granny’s, but David doesn’t like it. Then they head to Town Hall, but David doesn’t like that either. When Snow calls him out on it, he tells her he thinks they are going way too fast. He says he wants Emma’s wedding to be the best day of her life, not overshadowed by a battle that she may or may not win. Emma eavesdrops and says that David is right, so Snow caves and agrees to wait on wedding planning.
Waking Up Blue
At Rumple’s shop, he and Belle have the Blue Fairy in the back as they try and figure out a way to wake her up. She’s been in a coma every since Rumple took her magic to give Gideon his sword. Rumple says that Blue could be the key to defeating the Black Fairy, as she has known the Black Fairy longer than anyone.
Meanwhile, Regina tells the group about Zelena and the Black Fairy’s darkened crystals. Just when everyone gets upset, Zelena shows up. She says she decided not to go back to Oz, as there’s nothing for her there. Plus, she wants to clean up the mess she made. She reveals the crimson heart from her past. She suggests using it to drain her magic from herself and hopefully from the fairy crystals in the tunnels.
Zelena, Regina and Emma head to Regina’s cave to use the crimson heart — and it works. All of Zelena’s magic, including from the darkened crystals, is absorbed into the heart. Afterwards, Emma suggests going to find the Blue Fairy to figure out their next move and to see if she knows where the other half of the wand is. Zelena informs them that the Blue Fairy is in a coma in Rumple’s shop.
The ladies head to the shop and offer to help wake up Blue. Rumple allows it, and Emma uses the fairy crystal dust to wake her up.
The Black Fairy gets angry when she realizes what is happening. She fears that with the Blue Fairy awake, she could reveal her darkest secret — the real reason she had to give Rumple up all those years ago.
One Step Closer
It’s nice to see the gang get possibly one step closer to defeating the Black Fairy, as most of the second half of Once Upon a Time season 6 has been consumed by her. “Where Bluebirds Fly” really brought the gang closer and allowed Zelena to use her magic for good finally. In fact, it really made her a part of the group that she has tried hard not to be a part of. It is definitely a side of Zelena we’ve never seen before on Once Upon a Time.
I have to wonder, though, if that crimson heart holds all of Zelena’s magic, couldn’t the Black Fairy just swipe it and use the magic for her final battle? And what exactly will happen during this battle? Will it really just be like in Emma’s visions? Or will something epic happen? I think at this point, I’d really like to see something epic happen on Once Upon a Time in season 6. It would be nice to tie everything up on a slightly sloppy season.
What did you think of “Where Bluebirds Fly”? Do you think putting all of Zelena’s magic in the crimson heart is a good idea? Do you think the Black Fairy might find it and use it against Storybrooke? Were you surprised by Zelena’s selfless act? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
