Robin Hood and the Wicked Witch of the West face off in tonight’s Once Upon a Time! Preview “Heart of Gold”, airing at 8:00pm ET|PT on ABC.
You know the old saying that “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”? Well, the last time we were in Storybrooke, in both past and present, our favorite characters found that, despite their good intentions, all was not well.
“Best Laid Plans” began with Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) in a flashback. After learning from Maleficent (Kristin Bauer van Straten) that their unborn child would have a great potential for evil, they wanted to find out the truth. Touching a unicorn’s horn would give them a glimpse of their child’s future—while Charming saw a sweet baby girl, Snow saw an angry teenager (Abby Ross) that ripped her heart out. Snow was convinced that their child would be evil so they needed to do whatever it took to prevent that outcome.
As they were returning to the castle, Snow and Charming came across a peddler (Patrick Fischler) who needed help with his wagon. Charming assisted the man and in return the peddler offered a warning. Maleficent had turned herself into a dragon, laid an egg, and had scorched the earth. The peddler suggested another route through the forest to a kind old man that would help them. Good advice, right? Well, Snow and Charming did come across the man, who turned out to be the Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Timothy Webber). The Apprentice offered to help Snow and Charming remove their child’s potential for evil by transferring it to another unborn child.
And wasn’t if fortuitous that Maleficent’s egg was close by? For Snow, it was worth it, especially since Maleficent’s “spawn” wouldn’t be good anyway. Snow and Charming took the egg, even though Maleficent begged for mercy. However, Snow did promise to return it after the Apprentice was done with the spell. Unfortunately, the Apprentice left out some valuable information…once the potential for evil was transferred, he refused to let a being with that much evil remain in their realm. So he banished the child from Fairy Tale Land…and when Cruella (Victoria Smurfit) and Ursula (Merrin Dungey) came to get the baby, they fell into the portal too. At least Snow and Charming’s child would be a hero…that’s good enough, right? Snow was feeling immense guilt, but how could they fix it? Charming believed redemption was possible, especially if, moving forward, they tried to be the versions of themselves possible.
In Storybrooke, Team Mongoose was trying to figure out how to liberate the Author from the fairy tale book. Regina (Lana Parrilla) also had to deal with Rumple (Robert Carlyle) and the remaining Queens of Darkness. They were expecting her to bring them information about the Author and the mysterious door. Since Emma (Jennifer Morrison) was getting better with her magic, she created a copy of the page from the fairy tale book for Regina to give to Rumple.
Later on, Killian (Colin O’Donoghue) revealed what Ursula told him and Rumple’s plan to use the Author to turn Emma’s heart dark. Emma assured them that no one would decide who she was…but Snow and Charming were worried. They knew the truth of Emma’s potential and only way to protect their daughter was to destroy the page so the Author couldn’t be freed.
Meanwhile, August (Eion Bailey) was ill…he had been changed by magic too many times and might not survive. Killian seemed to be a little jealous of how Emma cared for August; after all, she was partial to men in leather jackets 😉 But Emma assured Killian that they were just friends. As they were talking, Maleficent cast a spell putting the town to sleep. Henry (Jared Gilmore) escaped the curse and ran to the Author’s house, but Regina, Maleficent, and Cruella went to find him. While at the house, the Author from withing the page showed Henry the key to open the door. Then the Queens of Darkness arrived to take the page (which was the forged copy!). When Maleficent, Cruella, and Regina met up with Rumple again (he was at Mr. Gold’s Shop with sleeping Belle), he knew right away that it was a fake. He then revealed that he knew the whole time that Regina was a double-agent. They took Regina to her vault and Rumple had a plan to persuade her to help them get the Author.
Snow and Charming arrived at the Author’s house and took the real page and key from Henry. But Snow had enough—it was time to tell Emma the truth about everything. And when they did, Emma was devastated. However, now that she had the key, Emma wanted to release the Author and ask him about her story. Then August revealed that, actually, throughout time, there have been several Authors, chosen by the Sorcerer and tasked with the responsibility of witnessing and recording the greatest stories of all time. (Even a man named Walt…Disney…had been an Author 😉 ). But this most recent Author started to manipulate stories rather than record them. As a result, the Sorcerer and Apprentice trapped him in the book as punishment. Emma wasn’t deterred—she had faith and let him out. Who was the Author? THE PEDDLER from earlier! And now that he was free, the Author planned to keep it that way. He immediately ran away.
In other developments: Maleficent renegotiated her deal with Rumple. In exchange for getting him the Author, she wanted to know her child’s fate after Snow and Charming got rid of her. Rumple wasn’t sure Maleficent would want to know the truth…why keep feeding the pain? But Rumple showed her that 30 years ago the child, a little girl, was adopted. Her new parents named her Lilith…LILY. (As in Emma’s former childhood BFF!)
In tonight’s episode “Heart of Gold,” written by Tze Chun and Scott Nimerfro, directed by Billy Gierhart, and guest-starring Rebecca Mader (returning as the Wicked Witch of the West), Sean Maguire (Robin Hood), and Patrick Fischler (the Author):
REGINA IS TORN WHEN SHE RECEIVES SHOCKING NEWS CONCERNING ROBIN HOOD—Emma is still reeling after learning the truth of her parents’ history with Maleficent, but she must focus on finding the Author, who is running loose in Storybrooke, before Gold does. When Gold’s quest for his happy ending grows more urgent, he blackmails Regina into helping him. In a Fairy Tale Land flashback, Robin Hood learns what it means to be an honorable thief when he accepts a proposition by Rumpelstiltskin to travel to Oz to steal a valuable magic elixir from the Wicked Witch. (via ABC)
Take a look at this sneak peek from the upcoming show: in a flashback, Rumple comes to find Robin Hood and make use of his thievery skills:
Why in the world would Rumple need an “elixir of the wounded heart”?! And how interesting that Robin has a history with Regina’s older sister…though from the looks of the episode’s trailer (below), Robin and the Wicked Witch of the West don’t meet on good terms:
She’s back… #OnceUponATime is all-new Sunday at 8|7c on ABC! https://t.co/4AiQAnncpl
— Once Upon A Time (@OnceABC) April 10, 2015
Check out this second clip from “Heart of Gold” that gives us a glimpse of Robin, Marian (Christie Laing), and Roland’s life in New York City and how they deal with more modern problems (like muggers):
Isn’t Robin so gallant?! He looks really good riding that white horse. And certainly he knows about being a thief with honor!
Remember to tune into ABC at 8:00pm ET|PT tonight for “Heart of Gold” and come join me over on twitter to live tweet as we watch!
