Once Upon a Time has created a weird time-space Back to the Future-like world. In the winer finale, titled “Wish You Were Here,” when the Evil Queen realizes that Emma now has a weapon that can destroy her, she seeks out Aladdin’s lamp to send Emma to an alternate realm in the fairy tale land. Meanwhile, back in Storybrooke, David and Hook try to find a way to save Emma, while Rumple alerts Belle that their son might be in danger.
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Granting Wishes
When Emma, Regina and Hook head to her vault to figure out how the sword plays into her vision and if they can use it to their advantage, they run into the Evil Queen at Robin’s grave. After trying to get under Regina’s skin, Emma lunges at the Queen and cuts her cheek with the sword. Everyone quickly realizes that Regina is not injured, which everyone thought would happen. And the Queen can’t heal herself. Emma lunges at her again to try and kill her, but the Queen disappears. Emma realizes the sword can kill the Queen.
Rumple goes to see the Queen, pleased that Emma is now in possession of the sword. He tells the Queen he hopes Emma kills her, and if she doesn’t he will after he finds his son. He is still very upset about the Queen speeding up Belle’s pregnancy.
The Queen seeks out Aladdin’s lamp. She lures Emma to Granny’s by kidnapping Jasmine, then awakens Aladdin to get her wishes. She wishes for Emma to have never been the Savior, and she disappears.
Saving Princess Emma
Regina takes it upon herself to find Emma. She goes to see her evil half and makes a wish to herself, seeing as they are the same exact person. She wishes to be exactly where Emma is. And she finds herself in an alternate realm where Snow White and David are the king and queen, Emma is a princess and Henry is about to become a knight.
During her birthday party, Emma tells her parents of a dream she had where she was a savior and about a land called Storybrooke. She says when she woke up, there was a sword under her bed. Of course, it’s the sword they found in Rumple’s shop. Her parents assure her that everything is fine and it was just a dream. However, as she’s singing in the forest, Emma runs into Regina. Of course, Emma is frightened, as the Evil Queen has been banished by her parents. Regina tries to convince her that she’s in an alternate realm, but Emma’s not buying it.
When Snow and David show up to attack Regina, she uses her magic to whisk herself back to her former castle. There, she finds Rumple locked up in a cage. Reluctantly, she makes a deal with him for a magic bean that can get them out of this realm. However, Rumple seems to know a lot about Storybrooke, despite this realm being a fake “wish” world of Emma’s.
Regina turns herself into her former queen form to force Emma to be the hero. She crashes Henry’s knighting ceremony, steals Snow and David, and lures Emma to her castle. She then threatens Emma’s parents, but Emma’s not budging. She even offers Regina the key to the kingdom if she’ll just let her parents go. Regina even goes as far as actually killing alternate Snow and David to try to spark Emma’s memory to no avail. It’s not until Henry arrives and Regina says she can’t hurt him that Emma wakes up. She uses her power to save Regina as Henry launches his sword at her.
A Distraction
At the lake, where Rumple has agreed to meet them, he arrives late, but he does make good on his deal and gives them the bean. They use it to open a portal, but just as they are about to jump in, arrows fly by and Robin Hood attempts to rob them. Regina is completely distracted, despite knowing it’s a fake world. Emma tries to get her into the portal, but it closes before either of them can jump in, trapping them there just a little bit longer.
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Careful What You Wish For
Back in Storybrooke, David can’t just sit around while his daughter is stuck in a far away land. He heads to see the Queen to get the lamp. He distracts the Queen by trying to kill her and eventually gets the lamp. He summons Aladdin and wishes for the Queen to get everything she deserves. However, nothing happens when Aladdin grants the wish, confusing them. The Queen tries to kill David, but Hook and Jasmine walk in just in time.
David gives Jasmine the lamp and tells her she’s the master now. She uses her wish to try and find Agrabah, but both her and Aladdin promise to be back to Storybrooke.
Later, as the Queen is walking down the street, a portal opens up in Granny’s. The Queen assumes it’s Regina and Emma coming back from their other realm, but a figure in all black storms out and turns the Queen into a snake in a cage. This is clearly the figure from Emma’s vision! One of the dwarves finds the Queen and brings the snake-Queen to David’s apartment to show them what he’s done.
The Black Fairy Strikes Again
While everyone is in a tizzy throughout Storybrooke, Rumple is focused on finding his son, who Belle sent off with Blue. He tries to use his magic, but there’s not even a blimp in his globe of their son.
Rumple finds Belle and tells her that he fears their son is in grave danger. Belle doesn’t believe him, until she calls the convent and finds out that something awful has happened to Blue. They rush over, and Granny says Blue was found in the forest. Blue tells them that she tried to fight to save their son, but she was too powerful. The “she” Blue is referring to is the Black Fairy, Rumple’s mother.
Back at the shop, Rumple tells Belle that it wasn’t him who used the spell to speed up her pregnancy. He says they have to work together to find their son. He also explains that the Black Fairy lives in a land that has dark magic that’s far darker than anything he has ever used.
And then, suddenly, their son walks in — he’s the black-hooded figure!
Everything’s a Mess
Once Upon a Time has managed to blow everyone’s minds yet again. Well, maybe not everyone, but certainly mine. At first, I thought season 6 was slow moving and all over the place with the untold stories. But “Wish You Were Here” made up for the first half of the season. It’s all turned upside down! Emma and Regina are stuck in an alternate realm, where Robin is alive! And, clearly, there’s more to this realm if Rumple knows about Storybrooke. Jasmine and Aladdin are gone, hopefully to save Agrabah. And Belle and Rumple seem to have reunited for the sake of their son, who might be the most dark of all — if he’s the one who eventually kills the savior!
Where will this all lead? Will Emma really die like in her vision? If she doesn’t, does that mean another son of Rumple’s will die? But what happens if Regina and Emma don’t get back? Will Robin be able to come over to Storybrooke too? So many questions! What did you think of the Once Upon a Time winter finale? Let us know in the comments section below.
Once Upon a Time season 6 returns in March 2017 on ABC. Want more news? Like BuddyTV’s Once Upon a Time Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
