In the 15th episode of season 7 of Once Upon a Time, titled “Sisterhood,” Drizella faces a terrible choice when she tries to join the Coven of the Eight. Meanwhile, in present-day Hyperion Heights, Henry makes some new friends, “Roni”/Regina questions her relationship with “Samdi”/Dr. Facilier, and “Ivy”/Drizella must decide if she is willing to sacrifice her sister in order to save herself. (As before, if a character is awake, I will refer to them by their real name or put their cursed name in quotation marks.)
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Gothel Invites Drizella to Join the Coven
As the episode begins, we find a young Drizella playing hide-and-seek with Anastasia back in the Enchanted Forest 2.0. Drizella gets lost during their game, so Ana lights a lantern that leads Drizella to her. Anastasia then says that as long as they’re together, they can always find their way home.
Years later, an adult Drizella is talking to a comatose Anastasia about casting the dark curse in order to make their mother suffer. Gothel arrives, posing as Regina, in order to test Drizella’s resolve to cast the curse. When Drizella rejects “Regina’s” help, Gothel knows Drizella is truly committed. Gothel explains that Drizella will never have enough power on her own to cast the dark curse, but she could have that power if she teams up with other witches. Gothel offers to allow Drizella to join her “circle of sisters,” aka the Coven of the Eight.
After thinking it over, Drizella decides to join Gothel’s coven. Alas, Gothel tells her that she’s only one of several recruits vying for a place in the coven. Drizella joins the other recruits and Gothel explains that the Coven only has spots for two of them. Gothel says she’s hidden two golden flowers somewhere in the forest and whoever brings her the flowers will prove themselves worthy of joining the Coven. Despite Gothel’s rule that they must each work alone, Drizella teams up with another witch to find the flowers. This witch turns out to be Gretel.
Drizella Has a Choice to Make
While Drizella and Gretel are searching for the flowers, Drizella gets to know Gretel. Gretel tells Drizella about the witch who ruined her life by luring her and her brother, Hansel, into a trap. They escaped with their lives, but Gretel says that her brother has never been the same since. He even goes by a different name now. Drizella and Gretel then bond over the pain of losing a sibling.
Later, Drizella and Gretel come across a fork in the road. They each decide to take one path and they plan to meet up once they each find their flower. As soon as the witches are separated, Gothel approaches Drizella and tells her that this “test” was all a ruse. Drizella is the only witch they want in their coven and all she has to do to be accepted is kill Gretel.
However, Drizella decides against killing Gretel because she knows that Gothel cannot be trusted. Instead, she wants to team up with Gretel and form their own sisterhood. Drizella believes that if they work together, they can both get what they want. Alas, Gothel also approached Gretel with the offer to be welcomed into the coven if she kills Drizella. The witches end up fighting and Drizella has to kill Gretel to save herself. Gothel then appears and tells Drizella that she has been accepted into the Coven. Drizella will now have the Coven of the Eight to help her cast the dark curse.
Drizella Becomes a Target
In present-day Hyperion Heights, “Ivy”/Drizella is still looking for Anastasia, but she’s having no luck in finding her. “Eloise”/Gothel stops by and offers to renew their previous deal. However, Drizella knows that Gothel only wants Anastasia for her powers as the Guardian and Drizella won’t be a part of getting her sister killed. Gothel then says that Drizella has run out of time. She hands Drizella a box of chocolate that was delivered to “Ivy’s” office. It is clearly a warning from the so-called “Candy Killer,” but Drizella isn’t worried about some chocolate-loving serial killer.
It turns out that Drizella should be worried about the killer because said killer targets her that very night. Drizella manages to escape, but it is a close call. With a killer after her, Drizella turns to her former mentor for help. Regina says she’d be willing to help Drizella if Drizella gives her the cure for the poison she put on Henry’s heart. Alas, Drizella doesn’t have magic in this realm so she can’t do anything to cure Henry. Despite Drizella’s inability to save Henry, Regina decides to help her anyway. She tells Drizella to stay put at the bar while she goes to talk to Rumple.
Later, Facilier approaches Drizella at the bar. Facilier knows the killer is after her and he says the killer won’t stop until Drizella is dead. Facilier claims that the only way Drizella will be safe is if she escapes to another realm. To that end, he produces a magic bean that he says Anastasia can activate with her magic. Alas, the price of using this bean is Anastasia’s life. Facilier says Anastasia is going to die anyway so Drizella might as well sacrifice Anastasia to save herself.
Gothel Pits Sister Against Sister
While Drizella is with Facilier, Regina tracks Rumple down and tells him about the killer’s latest target. Rumple wonders when Regina was planning to tell him about Facilier’s plan to go after Rumple’s dagger. Regina says she was hoping she could change his mind, but she clearly hasn’t. Rumple says they have to get to Anastasia before Drizella does.
Drizella uses lanterns to draw Anastasia to her, just like when they were children. She tells Anastasia about the magic bean and Anastasia is thrilled because all she wants is to return home with her sister. Alas, Drizella ends up knocking Anastasia out with sleeping powder because if it comes down it it, she will chose to save herself over her sister.
Drizella and Facilier take Anastasia back to “Ivy’s” office where Facilier plans to imbue the bean with Anastasia’s magic. Alas, before he can do that, Gothel arrives and wakes Anastasia up. Anastasia is understandably upset by her sister’s betrayal and Gothel tries to talk her into killing Drizella. While the sisters deal with their familial issues, Facilier makes off with a bit of Anastasia’s magic.
With Anastasia quite possibly about to kill her, Drizella realizes that Gothel’s plan all along had been to separate her and Anastasia. The only way Gothel could win was to break their sisterly bond. Drizella says that Gothel tricked her into doing terrible things, but she won’t let Gothel control her any longer. Drizella refuses to fight Anastasia and Anastasia cannot bring herself to harm Drizella. In the end, their sisterly bond wins out over Gothel’s manipulations.
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Regina is Given a Gift
Regina and Rumple arrive in the aftermath of everything to find both Drizella and Anastasia safe. Drizella apologizes for turning her back on the lessons Regina tried to teach her all those years ago. Drizella now understands that the strongest magic comes from love and family. Regina isn’t ready to forgive Drizella for what she did to Henry, but she is willing to believe that Drizella can change, something Regina wanted people to believe about her back during her earliest attempts at redemption. Regina says that if Gothel is after Anastasia, it is best that they get Ana somewhere safe. To that end, Anastasia uses the magic bean to open a portal back to the Enchanted Forest 2.0. Anastasia and Drizella return home together, finally reunited as sisters.
Once the sisters depart, Regina tells Rumple that she is surprised Rumple let the Guardian leave. Rumple says that for every good deed he does, it brings him one step closer to Belle. Plus, he believes that another Guardian will arrive one day. (This second Guardian has to be Regina, right? Her whole redemption arc has been about resisting the darkness despite it’s many temptations, so that would make her a perfect fit for Guardian status.)
When Regina returns to the bar, Facilier is waiting for her. He explains that his purpose that night wasn’t about getting the dagger, it was about getting some of Ana’s magic. He claims Anastasia’s life was never in danger and he just needed to siphon some of her magic. Instead of keeping said magic for himself, Facilier gives it to Regina as a gift. He says she can use the magic to find a way to save Henry. Regina asks what the price of the “gift” is, but Facilier claims he just wants to see her smile. (I want to believe that Facilier doesn’t have an ulterior motive here, if only for Regina’s sake, but it seems unlikely that he’d give her this gift out of the goodness of his heart. He likely wants Henry to be saved because he needs Henry for something.)
Later, Rumple tracks Facilier down to make it clear that he will not allow Facilier to get his dagger. Facilier isn’t threatened by Rumple since he knows that Rumple can’t kill anyone or he risks never being reunited with Belle. However, Rumple claims that if Facilier comes after his family, he will find a loophole that will allow him to take care of Facilier once and for all.
Will Fate Bring Henry and Jacinda Together?
Since Regina and Lucy have been successful in keeping Henry and Jacinda (aka Ella) apart, Lucy is worried that Henry is lonely without anyone to spend time with. Regina tells Lucy that Henry had two best friends back in the Enchanted Forest 2.0. Those friends were Rogers (aka Wish-Hook) and Nick (aka Jack.) Regina and Lucy decide that if they can bring Rogers and Nick back into Henry’s life, their friendships will naturally resume. To that end, Lucy sends texts to both Rogers and Nick to lure them to the bar where Henry is hanging out. The men quickly realize they’ve been set up, but they decide to hang out anyway.
During their night out, Rogers and Nick try to convince Henry to move on from Jacinda. They make a bet that Henry will ask out the next woman who walks through the door. Of course, that woman turns out to be Jacinda because fate clearly wants these two to end up together. Alas, Jacinda can’t stay because she’s late for dinner with Sabine (aka Tiana).
After their boys’ night out, we see evidence that makes it look like Nick (aka Jack) is actually the Candy Killer. Assuming this isn’t a misdirect, why is Henry’s former friend set on killing witches? Could it be that Jack is actually the brother Gretel referred to? After all, she said her brother was going by a different name and we know next to nothing about Jack. If Jack is really Hansel, it would make sense for him to target witches, given his history with witches. But why would Jack/Hansel befriend Henry? Did he know that Henry was the son of a witch? Was Jack/Hansel already killing witches back in the Enchanted Forest 2.0 or is this something he is only capable of doing in the land without magic?
What did you think of this episode of Once Upon a Time season 7? Do you think Nick/Jack is really Hansel or am I crazy? Will Rogers figure out that Nick/Jack is behind the killings before he takes another victim? Will Regina be able to break the curse on Henry’s heart before Henry shares true love’s kiss with Jacinda/Ella? Once she’s awake, who will break the news to Ella that her sisters left for another realm? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
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Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
