The pain of love is a powerful thing. It can trap people into trees, it can release them from trees and more importantly it can make one brave.
We briefly catch a glimpse of the masked Dark One that trapped Merlin in a tree. Having killed Merlin’s only true love, the Dark One takes Merlin’s tear and traps him in a tree.
(ABC/Jack Rowand)
AMY MANSON, ROBERT CARLYLE
Back in Camelot, Emma sees all of this in a dreamcatcher. She alerts Regina of her findings, just as Regina is about to hand over the dagger to Snowing. Emma had seen the spell Arthur and Guinevere placed on her parents and tells Regina of this as well. The ladies take Snowing to Granny’s (as is revealed later) while they figure out how to release Merlin. Regina and Emma need to grab a tear of true heartbreak. Regina offers up herself as the tear, watching her mother kill Daniel again in the stable when she was younger. Emma is shocked to see what Regina had gone through and comforts her. They grab her tear to use to free Merlin but it doesn’t work, it isn’t strong enough. Henry comes over saddened because as we see earlier, he got friendzoned by Violet, after asking her on a date and Violet’s father, Sir Morgan, telling Henry he is no hero. Henry is heartbroken thinking Violet was influenced by her father’s words. “You may not be a hero in this world, but you are in ours with this tear” Regina tells Henry when he cries. Arthur and his men try to stop Regina and Emma but they’re too late. Emma uses both light and darkness to free Merlin. Disappointed in Arthur, Merlin dismisses him and goes to free Snow and Charming from the spell they were under. In Granny’s diner, the heroes ask Merlin if he can free Emma from the Darkness. He explains that he can only do it if her heart doesn’t want it.
Flashforward to Storybrooke where Henry suggests there be a dance for everyone to attend, to make Arthur and his group feel more at home and welcomed. The group snickers thinking Henry just wants to ask Violet out. As they walk down the street, Belle runs over to the heroes informing them that Rumple is missing. Rumple is with the Dark Swan and Merida in the basement, he keeps trying to tell Emma he’s not the hero she’s looking for and that she needs to say what her reason is for all of this, he always did as the Dark One, saying it was always for his son. Emma walks off into a shed after sending Rumple and Merida away to train, revealing she’s been keeping a lot of dreamcatchers in there. She holds one and cries.
Meanwhile, Henry visits Violet to invite her to the dance, but she’s unwilling to go because her horse ran away. Henry sees this as his opportunity to impress her. He enlists Emma to help, trying to see the goodness left in his mother and also get her out of the house so Regina and co can snoop. As Henry and Emma find Violet’s horse, Regina, Robin, Hook and Belle get into Emma’s home (with the help of Henry’s scarf) and discover Emma’s been keeping Excalibur and she also has a dreamcatcher hidden in a box that Hook finds.
Regina and Robin cast a spell to watch what’s in the dreamcatcher (Regina realizes that’s where Emma has been keeping their memories). The dreamcatcher is from Violet’s point of view. She’s in the shed reading Henry’s note about joining him for dinner when Emma suddenly comes in, takes her heart and says she’ll give it back once she breaks Henry’s heart. Emma needs that tear to free Merlin. Horrified by this memory, Regina and Robin are startled when they realize Henry had walked in the doorway and saw the whole thing. He’s crushed. Emma comes over to see Henry and Regina gives her what-for, saying Emma’s as evil as Cora was when she killed Daniel. As Emma walks away, she sees Henry looking from the window and then closes the drapes to her.
In the woods, Merida is teaching Rumple how to fight, but he keeps making excuses. Finally, through some research, she’s able to reach him by bringing over Chip the cup. She pushes his buttons about Belle and he finally starts to fight back. She tells him he will need all the strength he can muster if they’re going to beat Emma.
I was so shocked in this episode, I really had no idea Emma had ripped out Violet’s heart! With that kind of thinking, I doubt Merlin will be able to free her of the darkness because she’s already enjoying the power it has given her. At first I thought maybe her whole Dark One was an act, still using it to trick the Dark One in her and actually save the town, but now I’m unsure of that theory. I’m actually really glad Emma was controlling her heart because I did not like Violet after that, especially seeing her kiss Henry on the cheek for bringing back her horse. Henry and Violet had some very cutesy moments, her thinking it was magic how he opened a soda can reminded me of Enchanted – “You’re a wizard!” And note to Henry, Harold and Maude is a strange first date romance movie.
I loved that David and I were on the same page about Merlin! I was also thinking, shouldn’t he be older? Maybe I watched the Disney classic Sword in the Stone too many times. I’m also disappointed there wasn’t an Archimedes with him.
Was it just me or was there a LOT of talk about Neal? I know he had the connection to the dreamcatcher and Emma will always love him, but there was a lot of nostalgia moments. Is this to show her distance from Hook?
What do you guys think? Do you think the kiss would’ve worked if Neal were still around and not Hook? Could he have loved the Dark Swan? Where is Merlin now that they’re back in Storybrooke? What happens when Merlin tries to take out Emma’s darkness?
Let us know in the comments and tweet me @kristincarole13!
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