Once Upon a Time: The Black Fairy

First Aired April 30th, 2017.

Flashbacks show a mortal Black Fairy, Fiona (played by Jamie Murray) give birth to Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold (played by Robert Carlyle). She is visited by the Blue Fairy (played by Keegan Connor Tracy) and Tiger Lily (played by Sara Tomko), who tell her that he is destined to be the Savior.

In Storybrooke, Gold wakes the Blue Fairy, who tells them where the other wand fragment is but is kidnapped by the Black Fairy right after. Gold captures Gideon (played by Giles Matthey) and works with Belle (played by Emilie de Ravin) to find Gideon’s heart. He decides to enter the dream realm to get around the Black Fairy’s influence and forces Emma (played by Jennifer Morrison) to go with him. Flashbacks show Fiona driving herself crazy over a prophecy that shows Rumple will die in the final battle. Tiger Lily visits and Fiona takes her wand to turn herself into a fairy, Fiona then forces Tiger Lily to help her create a spell to protect Rumple from a person with a crescent mark destined to kill him. In the present, Regina (played by Lana Parrilla) helps Zelena/The Wicked Witch (played by Rebecca Mader) adjust to life without magic. She also asks that Zelena take Henry (played by Jared Gilmore) to New York to keep him safe from the fight and raise him if she dies. Emma and Gold find Gideon in Gold’s dream, and he points them in the direction of the Black Fairy’s darkest secret: why she gave up Gold.

Back in season one, Emma being the Savior seemed like such a big deal, but now that there are so many it’s lost some of its mystique. The side story of watching Zelena struggle to live without magic gave nice breaks between the main action (who knew turning on lights by hand was so daunting?). New York City is an awesome place to live, and, obviously, these characters agree, because anytime they leave Storybrooke, or attempt to, that’s always where they want to go. Emma and Gold’s trip through Gold’s consciousness was about his emotional journey, but considering they were in a dream reality, it would have been nice to see a little more whimsicality. The Black Fairy’s descent into darkness was born out of good intentions and that acts as the gateway for characters in this series to turn evil. Whether it opens the possibility of her returning to the side of good for redemption or a tragic showdown between her son remains to be seen. But something called a “final battle” should include an epic showdown rather than a redemption story.

Regina finds the other wand fragment and the Black Fairy nearly overpowers her to steal it, but Zelena runs her over with her car. In the dream world, Emma and Gideon convince Gold to overcome his fear of the truth and learn the Black Fairy’s secret. They see a flashback of Fiona creating the dark curse to save Rumple. Tiger Lily tries to stop her, but Fiona tears out her heart. Fiona transforms into the Black Fairy and sees a crescent mark on her arm; she is the evil who will kill her son. Emma realizes the final battle is supposed to be between Gold and his mother and he goes off to face her. The Black Fairy shows him a memory of her using the magical shears to prevent Gold from becoming the Savior and keep her powers and then being banished by the Blue Fairy. She claims her actions were out of love, but Gold retorts that she simply chose power over her son; something he has done before. The Black Fairy offers Gold the chance to become a family again if he can forgive her for her actions.

Zelena’s worried about being useless in a fight, but as long as she’s got that station wagon she could be deadly. Characters watching the flashbacks in the second half of the episode was a smart editorial choice, as we are watching the action through them and seeing what are likely our reactions. The family resemblance became apparent when the Black Fairy readily chose her power over her son. There’s also added complexity to the final battle because the Black Fairy is willing to reunite with Gold at the very least for the gain of destroying the heroes. Gold could try to sway her back to the side of good or continue his long history of choosing power and align with her. These shifting alliances and relationships are great for the narrative leading into the final battle as it makes it more complex. And, since a fight like this should be on a grand scale, expect to see past and current characters come together to take part.

Gold brings the others a black heart and claims he banished the Black Fairy. Relieved the Black Fairy is defeated, Emma’s wedding is planned for the next day. Gold then returns Gideon’s heart and promises him and Belle that no matter what his actions are, they’re always to keep them safe. He later meets the Black Fairy and they plan to kill Emma on the day of her wedding. Given what these people know about Gold, it was surprising they so readily accepted that he defeated the Black Fairy so easily. Even his speech to Belle and Gideon was basically an admission that he was going to be doing something bad. With the opening shot of the final battle set to take place at Emma’s wedding, it’ll definitely be a day she never forgets.

Quotes/Thoughts

“The dream realm, huh? I thought there’d be like flying pigs or talking doughnuts or something.”

Regina mentioned that in a final battle everyone can’t survive; that should prove prophetic, and, since most of these characters have been around for the show’s entire run, almost any death will leave a huge impact.

“You know, this driving thing is actually quite easy when you’re trying to hit something.”

Regina is a personal favorite of mine, so she’s one I really hope survives.

If you enjoyed Manny’s review, you can find the rest of his work right HERE on Sci-Fi Bloggers. You can also follow him on Twitter @KN_Manny.

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