Oh. My. LANTA! The Once Upon A Time feels have taken over! Just so much awesome, I just can’t! Lets just dive right in so you can share in my squee!
Quick Recap
An Apprentice! We have an Apprentice. Now while he may not be Mickey Mouse, he is definitely wise and worthy of guarding the Sorcerer’s Box. For many years (hundred if not thousands) the Apprentice has kept the Box safe from Dark One after Dark One. Yet, no one who has sacum to the darkness in their heart is able to open it and no Dark One will every be able to possess what is in the box, until Rumplestiltskin that is.
Anna finds Rumple and tells him what she needs to know why her parents were seeking him out. After striking a bargain, she goes to fulfil her end of the deal. Armed with a tiny vial of who-knows-what, she come across the Apprentice, who she is lead to believe is a horrible old man. Unable to pour the vial into his tea, she dumps it in the fire and tells Rumple she did it. But Rumple was too smart, he knew she couldn’t give him the antidote and the Apprentice is turned into a Mouse. Anna has broken their agreement and will be held captive. He is able to use his cunning to get a tear on his dagger, because she has faced her inner darkness and turned away, allowing him to open the Sorcerer’s Box revealing the Hat.
The Sorcerer’s Hat is designed to steal magical power which would make Rumple unstoppable once it has collected all the magic and is fully charged. He reveals this to Anna along with the information that her parents had grown afraid of Elsa and were seeking a way to remove her magic. Anna is appalled and queues the Apprentice (now in the form of a mouse) and he attacks Rumple, biting his hand and making him drop his dagger, which he had pointed at Anna. Anna discovers the limitations in his magic by controlling him with the dagger making him give her the Sorcerer’s Box and sending her home to Arendale, that he can never hurt her or Elsa and he must turn the Apprentice back into a man. She goes home sad with the news of her parents and unsure of how to tell Elsa, leaving Rumple to throw a temper tantrum.
Love is in the air for Emma and Hook, sorry Killian. Emma works up the courage to ask Hook out on a date and Hook wants to do it properly with both hands. Continuing to blackmail Mr. Gold, he gets his hand back but with a little warning. Mr. Gold tells him that his hand could be cursed from him former life because he has changed. Now going by Killian, he is experiencing random acts of hatred ultimately driving him back to Mr. Gold to take the hand back. Mr. Gold won’t let him off so easy and make him come with him to capture the Apprentice in the Sorcerer’s Hat. Killian is also now indebted to Mr. Gold forever for blackmailing him and he also learns his hand was never cursed, but simply caught up in his own head AFTER giving up his hand for the hook again.
Regina and Henry are on a mission to figure out how to save Marian and Henry decides to go undercover working at Mr. Golds shop to see what he can find out about rewriting the story. Mr. Gold makes him his apprentice and we leave this weeks episode with him sweeping the floors with the ‘Apprentice’s’ broom with the Sorcerer’s Apprentice music.
They also discover that the Snow Queen didn’t come with them through the curse, causing more questions and mystery around her existence in their world.
What Did I Think
The feels! Seriously, I was clutching a pillow rocking back-and-forth while I chewed on my hair when the episode ended. Finally learning about the Hat and the Apprentice was totally perfect. How old the cursed box is, how it was in Anna’s possession, how Rumple now has it and can wield its power, there are so many great things are ahead for us and this story arc. I personally love how old this box and magic are and the idea that there is other magic, besides true love, that is more powerful than the Dark One.
I was sad to see Hook fall to his villainous qualities but I am glad Emma didn’t see them. I really love this couple and it is so cute seeing Mary-Margerrett and David be parents to their daughter, who is as old as they are.
I am excited to see what happens with Mr. Gold and Henry. There is still the lumming curse that Henry will cause the death of Rumple, so the fact that Mr. Gold is allowing Henry to get close is interesting. Only time will unfold what happens there.
It was nice to get a break from Elsa and the Snow Queen, but I enjoyed all the subtleties that were used to make her presence still know.
So What Now?
Now we wait for more questions to be answered and the story to keep unfolding. The two new big questions are: What happened to the Sorcerer’s Box once Anna got it and How did the Snow Queen get to Storybrooke?
