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We have to give OUAT credit for two things: they're not afraid to take risks, nor are they afraid of shocking reveals. Both of these make the show, and they've always paid off, this episode being no exception. "Going Home" gives us an epic showdown, and moves us in an entirely new direction for the season's second half. It's a stellar ending as well as a fascinating beginning.
R.I.P. Felix
To begin, we travel back to right before the curse is cast. Snow is worried about Emma coming back to save them should their plan fail. With no one remembering who they are, how will the child know what to do? But Blue tells her to have hope; one day the story will reveal itself to her. We next see a pre-Emma Storybrooke, with Henry looking sadly at a family tree assignment. (Appreciate it while you can, Henry - if you had that assignment now it would be a nightmare!) He has begun to notice the town's strange workings: nothing is changing but him. Nothing is every different, no one ever ages. His teacher Mary Margaret sees that he's discouraged, and gives him the same thing she herself needed at the start: hope. She pulls the storybook from her bag and gives it to Henry, explaining that it just seemed to appear during her latest house-cleaning. Henry opens to a page and imagines Miss Blanchard as the identical Snow White in the picture, as we see his fascination for the book. The wheels are turning, and the smart boy begins putting the pieces together.
In present time, although the group has found out Peter's plan, Pan is already casually dropping the necessary items for the Dark Curse into the magical well. But he needs one more ingredient: the heart of the thing he loves most. Pan explains that love doesn't always come from romance or family; sometimes it comes from loyalty. He turns to his constant companion, Felix, whose grin immediately turns to horror as Pan crushes his heart and sprinkles it into the well. So much for brownie points.
Back at Regina's vault, Gold explains that the only way to stop the inevitable second curse is to destroy its scroll. It must be done by the person who originally cast the curse: Regina. He suggests that they perform a spell that will return Pan and Henry to their own bodies, giving Henry the ability to bring the scroll to Regina. But to do such a spell, Gold needs a powerful tool - the wand of the Black Fairy, who was well-versed in dark magic. Long ago the Blue Fairy exiled her and took her wand. Tinkerbell, Hook, David, and Neal head to the convent to find it, where the fairies are mourning their Mother Superior. But as they come in, so does Pan's shadow. Although they have the coconut, no one can get close enough to pull the shadow toward it. Luckily Tinkerbell remembers the fairy dust, and is able to believe in herself enough to make it work. She flies toward the shadow and captures it, throwing it into the fire and destroying it forever. When Pan's shadow is destroyed, all those shadows that he ripped are restored to their own bodies. The Blue Fairy revives, and makes Tinkerbell a fairy again. She hands them the wand, and urges them to save the town. (So does this mean that back in Neverland Greg Mendell is alive again? I guess we'll have to wait and see!)
R.I.P. Felix
To begin, we travel back to right before the curse is cast. Snow is worried about Emma coming back to save them should their plan fail. With no one remembering who they are, how will the child know what to do? But Blue tells her to have hope; one day the story will reveal itself to her. We next see a pre-Emma Storybrooke, with Henry looking sadly at a family tree assignment. (Appreciate it while you can, Henry - if you had that assignment now it would be a nightmare!) He has begun to notice the town's strange workings: nothing is changing but him. Nothing is every different, no one ever ages. His teacher Mary Margaret sees that he's discouraged, and gives him the same thing she herself needed at the start: hope. She pulls the storybook from her bag and gives it to Henry, explaining that it just seemed to appear during her latest house-cleaning. Henry opens to a page and imagines Miss Blanchard as the identical Snow White in the picture, as we see his fascination for the book. The wheels are turning, and the smart boy begins putting the pieces together.
In present time, although the group has found out Peter's plan, Pan is already casually dropping the necessary items for the Dark Curse into the magical well. But he needs one more ingredient: the heart of the thing he loves most. Pan explains that love doesn't always come from romance or family; sometimes it comes from loyalty. He turns to his constant companion, Felix, whose grin immediately turns to horror as Pan crushes his heart and sprinkles it into the well. So much for brownie points.
Back at Regina's vault, Gold explains that the only way to stop the inevitable second curse is to destroy its scroll. It must be done by the person who originally cast the curse: Regina. He suggests that they perform a spell that will return Pan and Henry to their own bodies, giving Henry the ability to bring the scroll to Regina. But to do such a spell, Gold needs a powerful tool - the wand of the Black Fairy, who was well-versed in dark magic. Long ago the Blue Fairy exiled her and took her wand. Tinkerbell, Hook, David, and Neal head to the convent to find it, where the fairies are mourning their Mother Superior. But as they come in, so does Pan's shadow. Although they have the coconut, no one can get close enough to pull the shadow toward it. Luckily Tinkerbell remembers the fairy dust, and is able to believe in herself enough to make it work. She flies toward the shadow and captures it, throwing it into the fire and destroying it forever. When Pan's shadow is destroyed, all those shadows that he ripped are restored to their own bodies. The Blue Fairy revives, and makes Tinkerbell a fairy again. She hands them the wand, and urges them to save the town. (So does this mean that back in Neverland Greg Mendell is alive again? I guess we'll have to wait and see!)
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Rumple's Undoing
Back at the shop, Gold, now equipped with the Black Fairy's wand, prepares the spell. But before he brings his father to him, he puts the cuff that Greg and Tamara used on Regina to render him powerless. With this done, he casts the spell and Henry begins convulsing. He goes limp, and now Pan is returned to his own body, laying in Gold's shop. Everyone runs outside to the appointed meeting place, but Gold stays behind, saying that he and his father have some family business to settle. When Pan wakes up, he tells his own son that he was nothing more than a burden to him, taking away his time, money, and dreams. Such a selfish contrast to Rumple! But as Rumple draws his sword to destroy his father once and for all, Pan rips off the cuff, much to Gold's horror. Pan himself made the cuff for Greg and Tamara, making it powerless against him. He instead puts it on his son's wrist, kicking him backwards and promising to kill the two he loves the most. Rumple tries in vain to get the cuff off, but to no avail. He temporarily contemplates cutting off his hand, but thank goodness, he changes his mind. (Although it may have made Hook feel more at home, I'd prefer not to watch it.) He realizes that even with his magic, the only way to kill his father is to destroy himself. Pan's power seems to be governed by his son; it was by Rumple leaving that his father was able to turn into a boy, and it's only Rumple that can defeat him.
Outside, Henry runs toward his family, and gives Regina the scroll. Gold warned her that stopping the curse would come with a steep price, and when Regina is given a glimpse, she collapses instantly. But just at that moment Pan appears, now back in his rightful body, and freezes everyone in place. He is about to kill Neal when Gold stops him (thankfully with two hands) and tells Bae and Belle that he loves them in a very touching scene. The scene is so epic, and the best one we see for Rumple's character. He realizes that to defeat his father he must pull from his greatest source of power: his tremendous resource of true love. He holds up his hand and his shadow returns the dagger, which Rumple plunges into Pan's back. They both stagger backward, and Peter Pan is transformed back into the man he was, Malcolm. He begs Rumple to remove the knife and let them have their happy ending, but Rumple replies that villains don't get happy endings. They disappear in a beam of flashing light as the scroll falls to the ground. I absolutely love that Rumple was the one to defeat his father, but not with magic; at last he learns that his greatest strength lies in his overpowering love for Belle and Baelfire. The prophecy has now been fulfilled, and Henry did mean the end of Gold's life, but also the end of his trend of nasty habit. At last Rumple was able to put aside his self-preservation tendencies and sacrifice himself for the ones he loves. Beautiful.
Back at the shop, Gold, now equipped with the Black Fairy's wand, prepares the spell. But before he brings his father to him, he puts the cuff that Greg and Tamara used on Regina to render him powerless. With this done, he casts the spell and Henry begins convulsing. He goes limp, and now Pan is returned to his own body, laying in Gold's shop. Everyone runs outside to the appointed meeting place, but Gold stays behind, saying that he and his father have some family business to settle. When Pan wakes up, he tells his own son that he was nothing more than a burden to him, taking away his time, money, and dreams. Such a selfish contrast to Rumple! But as Rumple draws his sword to destroy his father once and for all, Pan rips off the cuff, much to Gold's horror. Pan himself made the cuff for Greg and Tamara, making it powerless against him. He instead puts it on his son's wrist, kicking him backwards and promising to kill the two he loves the most. Rumple tries in vain to get the cuff off, but to no avail. He temporarily contemplates cutting off his hand, but thank goodness, he changes his mind. (Although it may have made Hook feel more at home, I'd prefer not to watch it.) He realizes that even with his magic, the only way to kill his father is to destroy himself. Pan's power seems to be governed by his son; it was by Rumple leaving that his father was able to turn into a boy, and it's only Rumple that can defeat him.
Outside, Henry runs toward his family, and gives Regina the scroll. Gold warned her that stopping the curse would come with a steep price, and when Regina is given a glimpse, she collapses instantly. But just at that moment Pan appears, now back in his rightful body, and freezes everyone in place. He is about to kill Neal when Gold stops him (thankfully with two hands) and tells Bae and Belle that he loves them in a very touching scene. The scene is so epic, and the best one we see for Rumple's character. He realizes that to defeat his father he must pull from his greatest source of power: his tremendous resource of true love. He holds up his hand and his shadow returns the dagger, which Rumple plunges into Pan's back. They both stagger backward, and Peter Pan is transformed back into the man he was, Malcolm. He begs Rumple to remove the knife and let them have their happy ending, but Rumple replies that villains don't get happy endings. They disappear in a beam of flashing light as the scroll falls to the ground. I absolutely love that Rumple was the one to defeat his father, but not with magic; at last he learns that his greatest strength lies in his overpowering love for Belle and Baelfire. The prophecy has now been fulfilled, and Henry did mean the end of Gold's life, but also the end of his trend of nasty habit. At last Rumple was able to put aside his self-preservation tendencies and sacrifice himself for the ones he loves. Beautiful.
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Goodbye Forever
While still reeling from Gold's death, Grumpy runs up and warns them that the curse is coming in a cloud of green smoke. Regina reveals the terrible price that made her collapse - giving up the thing she loves the most. Stopping the curse will mean returning everything to the way it was before it was cast. Storybrooke will no longer exist, and everyone will go back to where they were born: the Enchanted Forest. But as Henry was born in this world, he must remain. Only by being separated from her greatest love, her son, can the spell work. Because Emma is the savior, she alone can escape to care for Henry.
In a heartbreaking scene, we see everyone bidding farewell to Emma and Henry, thinking that this is goodbye forever. Because destroying the curse means destroying everything involved, it also will wipe away all memories connected to it. But Regina gives one last selfless gift to her son and his mother: good memories. When they cross the town line, Emma's memories will only be true up to when she gave birth to Henry before her magical ones take over. She will think that she never gave him up; that they have always been together. As Regina crushes the scroll, Pan's curse is stopped, but a thick purple smoke billows over the town, wiping it out of existence. Henry and Emma drive over the line, now completely unaware of it or who they are.
One Year Later
The next scene made waiting until the second half began torturous. Emma is in New York City with Henry, making eggs and hot chocolate with cinnamon. They are quite happy in their fake memories, having always been together in their minds. A loud knock sounds at the door, and Emma opens it to reveal the leather-clad Hook. He tries to jog her memory with a kiss, but of course that never works when the other person has lost his memory. He warns her that her parents are in terrible danger, that another curse that has been cast and brought everyone back to Storybrooke. But Emma is beyond freaked-out, and slams the door in his face. Welcome back, Hook!
While still reeling from Gold's death, Grumpy runs up and warns them that the curse is coming in a cloud of green smoke. Regina reveals the terrible price that made her collapse - giving up the thing she loves the most. Stopping the curse will mean returning everything to the way it was before it was cast. Storybrooke will no longer exist, and everyone will go back to where they were born: the Enchanted Forest. But as Henry was born in this world, he must remain. Only by being separated from her greatest love, her son, can the spell work. Because Emma is the savior, she alone can escape to care for Henry.
In a heartbreaking scene, we see everyone bidding farewell to Emma and Henry, thinking that this is goodbye forever. Because destroying the curse means destroying everything involved, it also will wipe away all memories connected to it. But Regina gives one last selfless gift to her son and his mother: good memories. When they cross the town line, Emma's memories will only be true up to when she gave birth to Henry before her magical ones take over. She will think that she never gave him up; that they have always been together. As Regina crushes the scroll, Pan's curse is stopped, but a thick purple smoke billows over the town, wiping it out of existence. Henry and Emma drive over the line, now completely unaware of it or who they are.
One Year Later
The next scene made waiting until the second half began torturous. Emma is in New York City with Henry, making eggs and hot chocolate with cinnamon. They are quite happy in their fake memories, having always been together in their minds. A loud knock sounds at the door, and Emma opens it to reveal the leather-clad Hook. He tries to jog her memory with a kiss, but of course that never works when the other person has lost his memory. He warns her that her parents are in terrible danger, that another curse that has been cast and brought everyone back to Storybrooke. But Emma is beyond freaked-out, and slams the door in his face. Welcome back, Hook!