Once Upon A Time Season 4 Episode 21 Recap With Spoilers: Mother

Episode 21 of Once Upon a Time's fourth season, "Mother," sees the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) in a flashback, crushing the heart of a relative innocent on a particularly bitter day - the anniversary of Daniel's death. She visits his grave to find her mother (Barbara Hershey) there, waiting.

In the present day, Regina doesn't know if she and Robin (Sean Maguire) can ever be together and happy again, now that he will always be connected to Zelena through their upcoming child. She decides that it's time for the visitors to return to Storybrooke, with Lily.

At the diner in town, Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) crashes Gold (Robert Carlyle) and the Author's (Patrick Fischler) brunch, telling the Dark One that his plane has failed: Emma didn't go dark. The Author reminds Gold that the ink needs the blood of the Dark Savior to re-write endings. They move on to their next scheme, but Gold's heart is getting weaker. He can barely walk.

Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and company return to Storybrooke and reunite with their loved ones – though Emma continues to shirk her parents. Maleficent (Kristin Bauer van Straten) and Lily (Agnes Bruckner), mother and daughter, are introduced to each other for the first time. Meanwhile, Regina takes Zelena (Rebecca Mader) to the cushy cell she's be staying in while pregnant 

At Gold's, the Author flips frantically through books to find a loophole to the rules of the ink. Gold takes a moment to examine his heart, which looks like a lump of coal. Regina appears at the store, wanting the Author for her own, to find Gold barely able to stand up straight, let alone defend himself. She snatched both the quill and the Author before disappearing in a puff of purple smoke, as Gold collapses to the ground.

As the episode's flashback continues, Regina's mother Cora apologies for killing Daniel. She realizes the mistakes she made, and now she wants to help Regina find love. Of course – Regina doesn't believe that's possible. Cora goes to a bar where she meets the Sheriff of Nottingham (Wil Traval). When she tells him that she's looking for a man with a lion tattoo, Robin Hood, he offers to help her, for a price 

Cora later introduces Regina to "her man" – who is just the Sheriff with a fake lion tattoo. The two chat alone, and Regina quickly calls his bluff. She uses her magic to rip the tattoo out of his wrist, turning it into a real, tiny lion that starts to bite at him aggressively until he reveals the truth. He tells Regina that Cora wanted to have a child, but he doesn't know why.

Back in Storybrooke, the Author explains that the ink won't work without the blood from the Dark Savior. He also reveals that the page depicting Regina's happy ending is from some experimental writing he did. He thinks its appearance means that "something is looking out for you," and he offers to write her whatever she wants, if only they can get the quill to work.

Maleficent and Lily finally catch up for the first time ever, and after meeting her daughter, Maleficent realizes that she no longer wants to waste time on revenge. Lily is furious, calls her mother a pushover, and leaves. Maleficent seeks out Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) and David (Josh Dallas), asking for their help in finding her.

Regina finds Lily first, waiting at the bus station. She points out that much of Lily's darkness is also Emma's darkness, because of the curse from so long ago. That being said – she slices open Lily's hand, stealing some of her blood and putting it into the ink vial. Lily's eyes turn a violent shade of yellow-green. Mary Margaret, David, and Maleficent are on the search for Lily, when they find her – in dragon form, in the middle of the highway. She sees them and flies away.

The three of them look for her in the forest, eventually finding her resting on the ground. Maleficent approaches, and dragon-Lily snarls, fire blazing. Mary Margaret chases after her, and Lily whacks her with her powerful tail, sending Mary Margaret into a boulder and knocking her out.

Next, we see Emma and Hook in a quiet moment, watching the river and sharing a drink. He's worried, because she still hasn't forgiven her parents. He points out that they were only every trying to maker her happy, successful, and proud. When Emma finds Mary Margaret injured nearby, she rushes to her aid and fully forgives both of her parents.

Lily shrinks back down to human-form, and confesses to Maleficent that she thought her mother would be more. She wasn't expecting a relationship, since relationships have never worked for her. Lily worries that she destroys everything she touches, and she doesn't want to hurt her mother. Maleficent says she's up for the challenge. 

With the functioning ink, Regina takes the Author to Zelena's cell, so Zelena can witness the moment that Regina finally gets her happy ending. Plus – the Author is going to write her out of the story, forever. No one will ever remember that Zelena existed, including Robin. Zelena tries to pull the "you are just like our mother" card, inciting the final flashback.

Cora thinks Regina needs to get a move on in having a baby and an heir, if she wants a real claim to the kingdom. Regina threatens to down a potion that will make her unable to have a baby – ever – so that Cora can never take advantage of her. To spite her mother, Regina drinks it up. As the potion sets in, Cora admits that she truly wanted to see her daughter happy.

In the present, Regina rethinks her decision about Zelena, and tells the Author not to write her out of the story. As Robin joins them, Regina says that her happy ending revolves around feeling at home in her own world. She doesn't need the Author to write a thing for her happy ending. However – the Author puts the quill to the page anyway, suddenly vanishing to Gold's.

At Gold's shop, the Author opens a fresh book, entitled "Heroes and Villains." He starts to write a new story, as Gold announces, "it's time for the bad guys to finally win.