In the 14th episode of season 7 of Once Upon a Time, titled “The Girl in the Tower,” Alice meets Robin and they embark on an adventure that will change their lives forever. Meanwhile, in Hyperion Heights, Rogers tries to prove Tilly’s innocence, a face from Zelena’s past returns, and Regina learns why Dr. Facilier has come to town. (As before, if a character is awake, I will refer to them by their real name or put their cursed named in quotation marks.)
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Alice Meets Robin
Years ago in the Enchanted Forest 2.0, it is Alice’s birthday and she makes a wish to be free of her tower prison. A few moments later, a troll breaks through the roof of the tower and helps Alice escape. Alice and the troll then become friends.
Several years after escaping her tower prison, Alice is “spying” on her father from afar when Zelena’s daughter Robin catches her. Alice runs away, but ends up getting stuck in one of Robin’s traps. Alice then explains who she is and why she was “spying” on her dad. Robin and Alice have a cute, flirty exchange before Robin mentions that she’s going to hunt the “monster” that’s been destroying villages in the area. This “monster” turns out to be Alice’s troll, so Alice goes after Robin to stop Robin from killing her only friend.
Alice and Robin wind up in a pub where the locals are preparing to hunt the troll because it destroyed their homes. Alice starts talking about how the troll is her friend, so the villagers decide to lock her up for being “crazy.” They also lock Robin up since the two of them arrived at the pub together.
Being locked up together gives Alice and Robin a chance to get to know one another. Alice talks about how happy she was the day she finally escaped her tower prison, but now she knows that freedom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Despite being out of the tower, she’s still all alone because she hasn’t found a way to break the curse so she can be with her father. Robin then talks about she felt alone back home even though she was surrounded by people. She says that life in Storybrooke was stifling and she ends up telling a cute story of how she once “rebelled” by stealing Emma’s yellow bug for a joy ride. Robin continues to open up to Alice when she says that Alice is lucky to have her dad even if they’re separated. Robin never knew her father because he died before she was born. All she has is his name and his legacy to uphold. That’s why once Robin escapes the cell, she leaves Alice behind. Robin apologizes, but says she cannot risk Alice stopping her from killing the troll.
Alice Saves Herself
Robin tracks the troll and runs into the villagers who are hunting it. She manages to convince these men to give her a chance at taking the troll down, but when she goes to take her shot, Alice stops her. (Alice also managed to escape the cell, you see.) Since Alice foiled Robin’s attempt to kill the troll, the villagers turn against Alice. One of the men, in particular, wants to get rid of Alice. Robin steps in and prevents the men from hurting Alice, but the girls end up surrounded by the angry villagers. They end up holding hands and a yellow bug appears out of nowhere to aid in their escape.
Once they escape the villagers, Alice asks why Robin saved her and Robin says she realized that the true legacy of Robin Hood is to protect those in need. Alice thanks Robin for her help. Alas, this romantic moment is interrupted by the troll. Alice asks Robin to help her save the troll from the angry villagers.
They follow the troll back to the tower where Alice spent most of her life. Alice admits that ever since she escaped the tower, she’s wanted to return because at least when she was a prisoner in the tower, she had hope that things would get better. Alice says that even though she escaped the tower, she’s still trapped. Just then, the troll arrives and Robin has the realization that Alice can stop the troll because Alice has magic. She points out that both the troll and the yellow bug appeared when Alice needed them most. It turns out that Alice conjured up the troll which means that she saved herself from the tower. Alice then talks to her creation and tells the troll that he doesn’t need to worry about her anymore. After all this time, she’s finally free. With Alice safe, the troll and the yellow bug turn to stone because Alice no longer needs them.
Later, Robin presents Alice with a candle so she can make a wish and though Alice doesn’t reveal what said wish is, I would say it’s a good bet the wish involved Robin. Now that she’s no longer alone, Alice is able to put her past behind her and move on.
Rogers and Henry Team Up to Help Tilly
In present-day Hyperion Heights, Rogers (aka Wish-Hook) manages to track Tilly down after she flees the crime scene. (In the previous episode, Tilly was framed for murder.) Rogers convinces Tilly (aka Alice) to let him help her and he ends up taking her to Henry’s apartment to hide out since the police are looking for her.
The next day, Henry and Rogers discuss how they can clear Tilly’s name since neither of them believe she’s capable of murder. Rogers asks Tilly if she remembers where she was at the time of the murder, but Tilly can’t recall what happened after she saw “Eloise”/Gothel at the police station. Rogers and Henry leave to try and track Tilly’s movements from the previous day.
While Henry and Rogers are gone, Tilly snoops around Henry’s apartment and ends up finding a book about Robin Hood. Alas, before she can read said book, she notices something on her shoe that sparks a memory of where she went the previous day. Tilly ends up going around to different shops and food stands to ask the people there if they can serve as her alibi. Alas, despite the fact that Tilly knows all of them by name, none of them remember her.
Tilly Meets Margot
Rogers and Henry manage to catch up with Tilly before the police find her. Tilly is upset because she thinks she’s invisible to everyone in town. Rogers says she isn’t invisible to him and he once again suggests that they track her movements in order to find her alibi for the murder. They manage to find her bag in an alley but they have to flee back to Henry’s apartment because the police are out searching for Tilly.
When Tilly digs through her bag, she finds two locks of hair. Rogers is disheartened, as he knows that the killer took locks of the victims’ hair. Tilly then wonders if maybe she is the killer since she can’t remember what happened and she has the locks of hair. She ends up running off before Rogers can stop her.
Later, Tilly heads to the troll bridge (which is an exact replica of the stone the troll turned into back in the Enchanted Forest 2.0) where she ends up talking to the troll. She thinks she needs to leave town before anyone else gets hurt. She’s about to get hit by a car when someone rescues her. This person turns out to be Margot (aka Robin!) Margot has just returned from her travels and since Robin doesn’t seem to mind that Tilly talks to trolls, Tilly opens up about wanting to run away. Margot says she tried that and she realized it was better to stick around and face your problems. Before they go their separate ways, Alice notices a book that Robin is reading and it turns out to be Alice in Wonderland. Even in this realm, Alice and Robin are connected.
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Tilly’s Name is Cleared
Rogers catches up to Tilly at the troll bridge and Tilly realizes that there is a camera in the troll’s eye. Apparently, there is someone who sees her, after all. The security camera footage serves as Tilly’s alibi for the murder since it is time-stamped. Rogers releases Tilly once her name is cleared and she thanks him for his help.
Later that night, Rogers tracks Tilly down and offers to let her stay at his place since she won’t be safe in her normal hang-outs. Tilly gladly takes him up on his offer. (I cannot wait for Alice and Wish-Hook to wake up and remember their connection so they can finally be reunited.)
Regina Finds Out What Facilier Really Wants
Now that Lucy and Regina have teamed up on Operation Hyacinth, it’s time to get to work. Lucy manages to convince Regina that they should communicate via texts instead of the traditional walkie talkies Henry used to use for his operations. Regina tells Lucy that the first step in Operation Hyacinth is to find out everything they can about “Mr. Samdi”/Dr. Facilier. Regina thinks Facilier might have a way to save Henry, but she needs to figure out why he’s really in Hyperion Heights. Lucy agrees to help Regina, but Regina says they have to keep their plan from Zelena. Of course, Zelena arrives at that very moment and Regina lies about what she and Lucy are up to.
Regina heads to Facilier’s place to invite him out for lunch and a stroll around the town. It’s all an act to get him to leave his apartment so Lucy can break in and search for anything that reveals his true reason for being in Hyperion Heights.
Regina and Facilier are having a good time on their lunch date when Zelena arrives. She overhears “Mr. Samdi” refer to Regina by her real name so she knows he’s awake. Facilier leaves the sisters alone and Regina gets angry at Zelena for blowing her plan. She then tries to text Lucy to warn her that Facilier is on his way back to his apartment. Alas, Lucy doesn’t see the text.
Lucy ends up finding some tarot cards in Facilier’s apartment and the most prominent one is the death card. When Lucy goes to take a picture of the cards, she notices the text and manages to hide just as Facilier arrives. Once he heads upstairs, Lucy sneak’s out but it’s pretty obvious that Facilier knew she was there.
Later, Facilier stops by the bar and hands Regina the scarf Lucy dropped when she broke in. Regina admits to her deception and asks him about the death card and who he’s planning to kill. Facilier says he’s in Hyperion Heights for Rumple’s dagger. Regina says despite all their issues, she won’t just stand by and let Facilier kill Rumple. Facilier then shows Regina her cards and one of them is of The Lovers. According to Facilier, there is great love in her future, if she makes the right choice. Regina says she has to stop him from killing Rumple, but Facilier thinks she can find a way to have it all.
After Facilier leaves, Regina tells Zelena what he’s really doing in Hyperion Heights. Regina also reveals that she has genuine feelings for Facilier, even knowing that he’s targeting Rumple. Zelena promises not to judge her for said feelings. Just then, Margot arrives and Zelena is thrilled to be reunited with her daughter, though she admits to Regina how hard it is to lie about who they really are since Margot/Robin isn’t awake.
In Other News
Early in the episode, Henry tells “Ivy”/Drizella that the best way to fix things with her sister is to start with a genuine apology. Drizella realizes that Henry is right and he is one of the people she needs to apologize to. Alas, since Henry still isn’t awake, her apology doesn’t mean much to him, nor does the fact that she wishes she had met him earlier so maybe things would be different for all of them. (I could be wrong, but Drizella does seem genuinely remorseful here so perhaps she does regret poisoning Henry’s heart and cursing them all to this realm.)
What did you think of this episode of Once Upon a Time? Even though Rogers managed to prove Tilly’s innocence, there is still someone out there who set her up for the murders. Who do you think is behind that frame job? Is it the same person who really committed the murders? What did you think of Alice and Robin’s meet-cute in the past? Since Alice and Robin appear to share True Love, do we need to worry about them getting close in Hyperion Heights and breaking the curse with True Love’s kiss? Will Zelena have to work to keep them apart the same way Regina and Lucy are trying to keep Henry from Jacinda/Ella? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
Once Upon a Time airs Fridays at 8/7c on ABC. Want more news? Follow our Once Upon a Time Facebook page.
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Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
