Once Upon a Time Season 5 Episode 12 Recap with Spoilers: Souls of the Departed

Once Upon a Time returns from its hiatus with “Souls of the Departed,” featuring Emma and the gang immediately after their descent into the Underworld to find and save Hook. The episode opens on Emma (Jennifer Morrison), who awakens in a car to find Neal (Michael Raymond-James). He tells her that he’s just sending her a message, calling it a “long distance call from an old friend.” He explains that he personally isn’t in the Underworld, as it is only for those who have “unfinished business,” and that once you are there, it’s very hard to leave. Neal warns Emma not go, but she insists.

Emma and the others arrive in the Underworld, which essentially looks like a ghost-town version of Storybrooke, complete with the clock tower, though it seems to have sunk into the ground, with the clock face itself barely poking out of the earth. Initially, Emma is concerned that Hook might not be there at all – if he doesn’t have unfinished business. Rumple (Robert Carlyle) assures her that every Dark One surely does, and the group splits up.

In a flashback, we see Regina (Lana Parrilla) as the Evil Queen, who is – as always – on a quest for Snow White’s heart. Her father, Prince Henry (Tony Perez), tries to convince her to move on, to no avail. He turns to the Magic Mirror (Giancarlo Esposito) in desperation, using the Mirror’s magic to speak with Regina’s mother, Cora (Barbara Hershey). She thinks that the best way to force Regina to get over Snow White is to just help her out, squashing Snow White themselves. Of course, he disagrees and leaves – without realizing that Cora is able to step right out of the mirror and into their world.

Back in the Underworld, Regina and Robin (Sean Maguire) are searching for Hook, when they realize that they are being followed by one of the townspersons. He leads them to Regina’s mother, Cora, who seems to have some place of hierarchy in the Underworld. She begs Regina to abandon her friends and to return home with Robin and Henry, even offering her a rare boat to escape. Cora says that if Regina doesn’t leave, her father will suffer in return. He will be sent into an even lower realm than the Underworld.

Rumple goes to the Underworld equivalent of his shop nearby, where he finds his father, Peter Pan (Robbie Kay). He knows what his son is looking for and is willing to give it to him – no deal involved – simply as a gesture of good will. However, he urges Rumple to leave the Underworld, telling him that the others aren’t his real friends. Rumple ignores his plea, accepting some sort of potion. Pan ominously adds that he himself would be able to leave, if only he could trade places with a living soul.

Next, Regina meets with the whole group to very transparently admit what her mother told her. They agree to stick together, and Rumple gives Emma the potion he obtained, which is from DunBroch. It can be used to summon the dead by pouring it over someone’s grave. This way, they can summon Hook and ask him where he is. After handing it over, Rumple declares that he is going home.

The flashback continues, and we see Prince Henry meeting with Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) in the woods. Before long, Snow White sees another Prince Henry approaching. Once it’s too late, she realizes that the first Prince Henry was actually Cora, who rips out her heart while she is distracted. Later in the episode, Cora takes this grisly “birthday present” to Regina, but when Regina tries to squeeze it to death, they learn that the heart has been switched out with that of a guard.

Prince Henry saved Snow White by switching the hearts, and as penance, Regina shrinks him to a tiny size and condemns him into the very box that was holding the heart. Later, Regina confronts Cora for trying to steal her revenge thunder and uses magic to send her mother back into the mirror, sealing it closed forever. On the way out – Cora grabs the box, taking Regina’s father with her.

Continuing in the Underworld, the group goes together to Hook’s grave, where they pour the potion. The magic is not powerful enough, and though he appears, it’s almost as if they have a bad connection. Through the static, they can see that Hook has been badly injured, and before they can communicate, he disappears. Soon after, Regina uses the potion to summon her father, who appears quite quickly. He does not know what his unfinished business is, but he councils Regina not to let her mother manipulate her.

Near the episode’s end, Regina meets with Cora and begs her to reconsider. While Regina isn’t going to give up on her friends, she doesn’t want Cora to send her father away either. Cora simply refuses, sends him away, and disappears. However, before the spell is completed, the area around them transforms, and Prince Henry is able to cross a path into a beautiful, new realm. His unfinished business was the fact that he let Regina be controlled by her mother, and since Regina stood up to her, he was able to pass onward. He is even able to meet his namesake grandson before he goes. The clock in town moves a single tick.

Once Emma and the others learn this tale, they realize that they can use their time in the Underworld for good – helping tortured souls finish their business and escape to a better place. Much, much further below ground, Cora meets with Hades (Greg Germann), having failed him. She was to make Regina leave, and in return, they would both be saved. He tells her that every tick of the clock indicated that another soul has left his Underworld, making him angry. Hades morphs Cora back into a miller’s daughter, stuck in the Underworld forever.