Once Upon a Time Recap with Spoilers – Siege Perilous

mining underground. Dark Emma suddenly appears and steals Happy’s pick-axe, but not before [...]

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The episode opens with the Seven Dwarfs (minus Dopey) mining underground. Dark Emma suddenly appears and steals Happy's pick-axe, but not before telling him that if his name is on something, he should really keep hold of it.

In a flashback to Camelot, David, Mary Margaret, Belle, Emma and Regina are trying to figure out how to free Merlin from the tree he's been imprisoned inside/been turned into. Regina says that they need "witch-bane", to which Emma (not in her Dark One form) offers to simply use her powers to free Merlin from the tree, but Regina warns against it as Emma's magic is now dark. No, the best course of action, Regina says, is for her to keep posing as the Savior for Arthur and the others while she tries to figure out a solution.

After King Arthur arrives, Mary Margaret realizes the easiest way to figure out how to free Merlin is to ask Merlin himself. Regina looks up a spell in one of Merlin's books and says she needs a specific kind of mushroom called a "Crimson Crown" in order to communicate with Merlin. Arthur's familiar with the mushroom and says that some allegedly grows in the magically protected Forest of Eternal Night, which is only a half day's ride from the castle. David decides to travel to the forest to get the mushroom and Arthur decides to journey with them, so that they can quest together as brothers.

In the present day, Regina shows Merlin's spell book to David and Mary Margaret in the sheriff's office. The page with the Crimson Crown is marked with a note written in Regina's handwriting, leading the three of them to speculate that they had been searching for answers with the spell books. The dwarves barge in to report Emma stealing Happy's axe and ask David and Mary Margaret for help getting it back. David says he'll look into it, leading to a tense exchange between Leroy and David. After the dwarves leave, David and Mary Margaret try to figure out what Emma needs with an axe and David vents about how helpless he feels about losing Emma to the darkness.

After Mary Margaret leaves, Arthur arrives to report another robbery to David: his reliquary's been robbed of some of the magical artifacts the Knights of the Round Table collected during their adventures, including a magic bean that could help his people return to Camelot. David decides that's one task he can help with and offers to help Arthur look for the bean and get his people back home.

Meanwhile, Dark Emma tries to break Excalibur out of the stone using Happy's axe, despite Rumpelstiltskin's warning. After Happy's axe breaks over the stone, Rumpelstiltskin reminds Emma that the only way to free Excalibur is for a hero to pull it out, and that both Rumpel and Emma know just the hero to do it.

Back in Camelot, Robin Hood tries to comfort Regina and offers to make her some tea. After he leaves, Regina undoes the spell rendering Zelena mute so they can talk about Zelena's escape attempt. Regina won't let Zelena leave while carrying Robin's child. There's still some lingering jealousy issues between Regina and Zelena, but Regina promises that Zelena's child will be safe and loved after it's born, even though she can't say the same thing about Regina.

Arthur shows off his armory to David as they prepare for battle. David notices the Round Table and Percival's missing seat and apologizes to Arthur once again for Percival's death. Arthur says that he'll refill Percival's seat eventually, as all the seats around the Round Table need to be filled. Arthur points to one chair, more splendid than the others, and says that's the only chair that will always remain empty. That seat is the Siege Perilous, reserved for a knight with a pure heart. The seat once belonged to Lancelot, who betrayed Arthur long ago over Guinevere. David mentions that he met Lancelot once and tells Arthur of Lancelot's death a few years ago. A squire brings in Arthur's reliquary and Arthur pulls out the Unquenchable Flame, which should help them in their journey.

In the present day, the same squire brings out the Reliquary for David to look at. Arthur and David notice scratches around the lock, leading David to guess that he knows what the thief's next move will be.

Hook walks into Granny's Diner and sees Robin Hood looking at an ultrasound of his unborn child. Robin has very mixed feelings about Regina's evil sister carrying his child, which somehow segues into Hook talking about his complicated situation with Emma. Hook mentions there's a door at Emma's house that she won't let him near, before Granny brings him a bag of food ordered by Emma. When he meets Emma at his boat, Emma apologizes for overreacting last episode and says she just wants to sit and eat lunch together like old times. Emma turns back into her "non-Dark One" form and says that Hook can trust her.

In the flashback, David and Arthur head toward the Forest of Eternal Darkness. David mentions that Arthur treats his squire poorly, but Arthur says that his wife Guinevere more than makes up with it. The two come to the entrance of the Forest, a narrow wooden bridge floating over a wide swamp. David sees a Crimson Crown mushroom just on the other side of the forest and offers to cross into the forest, since the bridge is too rickety for them both to cross. As David crosses the bridge, the camera pans to an arm hidden just under the water's surface.

Back in the present day, Arthur and David head to Rumpelstiltskin's shop. Belle gives David an update on Rumpelstiltskin's condition: she's figured out a healing spell, but needs an object that touched Rumpel before he became the Dark One. While the thief didn't stop by the store, David decides to borrow a fake silver cup from the shop and passes it off to the citizens of Camelot as "the Chalice of Vengeance", which will help him reveal the thief. Arthur's squire falls for the ruse and runs away on a horse. David and Arthur chase after him in David's truck. After a brief chase, David knocks the squire off the horse using a 2x4.

In the Forest of Eternal Darkness, David retrieves the Crimson Crown mushroom. On his way back across, empty suits of armor rise up from the swamp to attack David and almost succeed in pulling him into the swamp. Arthur rescues him just in time, pulling him out of the water and guiding him to safety.

Hook asks Emma what's hidden behind the locked door in his house. Emma says to trust her, but Emma refuses to tell him. Emma explains that becoming the Dark One has changed her, made her less afraid, and compares herself to Rumpelstiltskin, saying that he was a coward before he transformed into the Dark One. Hook gets fed up with Emma's game and realizes that Emma needs something from him. Emma turns the conversation around on Hook by asking if he loves her. Hook says he loved her (past tense), leading to Emma teleporting away in a puff of smoke.

Back in the Forest, David realizes that he lost the mushroom in the swamp. Arthur reminds David that life's losses sometimes matter more than the victories and then offers David a spot at the Round Table.

In the present day, Arthur's squire confesses to stealing several objects from the reliquary, but not the magic bean. The squire says he was tired of the way Arthur treated him and broke into the reliquary to hurt Arthur. As Arthur and David plan their next move, David finds a Crimson Crown mushroom among the squire's belongings. Arthur says the mushroom must have been put in the reliquary during the six weeks they can't remember. He gives the mushroom to Regina, who realizes that they must have wanted the mushroom to communicate with Merlin.

Back in Camelot, David is knighted as a member of the Round Table. When David goes to take his place at the Round Table, Arthur gives him the Siege Perilous, as a sign of his trust and admiration. As everyone gathers around to applaud, Mary Margaret steps outside to comfort their baby and finds Lancelot, alive and well, waiting for her. Lancelot warns her that Arthur is a villain and that Camelot is not what it seems.
After the ceremony is over, Arthur reveals to Guineviere that he stole the mushroom off of David. He regrets lying to David, but he says he needs to put the needs of his kingdom first.

In the present day, Arthur visits his squire at the sheriff's office. The squire tells Arthur that he doesn't know why he's in jail, since he did exactly what Arthur told him to do, right down to lying about their being a bean inside the reliquary. Arthur tells the squire that the whole plan was a ruse to gain the Storybrooke residents' trust and gives the squire poison to drink. The squire drinks the poison voluntarily, in order to keep their ruse a secret. As he dies, the squire's body disappears in a puff of green smoke.
Hook enters Granny's Diner and recruits Robin Hood to help him break into Emma's house and find out what's behind the locked door. Meanwhile, Belle enters the diner to gets some food, but notices that the rose has its petals again, which means that Rumpelstiltskin is waking up. She rushes back to the pawn shop, but Rumple is missing. Dark Emma took Rumpel's body and reveals that she also stole Hook's cutlass, which Hook had put against Rumpelstiltskin's throat during his pirate days.

Rumpelstiltskin wakes up to see Emma standing over him. The episode ends with Emma explaining to Rumpelstiltskin that she plans on turning Rumpel into "the purest hero the world has ever seen", while looking over at Excalibur, still trapped inside the stone.

What did you think of this week's episode? Let us know in the comments!

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