Once Upon A Time Season 4 Episode 13 Recap With Spoilers: Unforgiven

The next episode of Once Upon a Time, "Unforgiven," finds Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) having a nightmare, in which Maleficent (Kristen Bauer van Straten), Cruella (Victoria Smurfit), and Ursula (Merrin Dungey) appear in the night to steal baby Neal and bring up their murky past. When she wakes up and discusses the trio with David (Josh Dallas), he admits that he thinks they should skip town.

In a flashback, we see Snow and Charming arriving home from their honeymoon, where all of their guards have been put under a sleeping spell. The villainous trio appears, requesting that they make a deal.

Maleficent and company explain that the Evil Queen has obtained an incredibly lethal spell, one that even they don't know how to stop. They explain the Tree of Wisdom, which can answer any question, such as "How do I defeat the queen and her curse? 

Unfortunately for the baddies, the knowledge is protected, and can only be unlocked by "two of the most valiant heroes." Maleficent proposes that they work together; the trio will lead them to the tree, and the couple will learn how to defeat the team. Snow and Charming agree.

Meanwhile in modern Storybrooke, Cruella and Ursula receive terrible service at the diner, when they spot Regina (Lana Parrilla). They bring up not-so-fond memories of her evil past in front of Henry, prompting Regina to threaten to kick them out.

Cruella and Ursula leave the restaurant to go to Mr. Gold's, where Belle (Emile de Ravin) is working. They ask her all about her banishment of the Dark One, distracting her while one of Ursula's tentacles sneaks around the pawn shop, swiping a box.

Elsewhere – Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) is shown in a cave, where he mutters aloud, "it won't be long now, Maleficent," before conjuring something out of the dirt.

In town, Regina and Henry (Jared Gilmore) get back to the Book, doing their best to sort out her happy ending. They flip through the pages that detail Pinocchio (Jakob Davies), pages that August was able to adjust. Regina points out that Pinocchio might know more about the Book's inner workings.

Emma and David follow the Cruella and Ursula around town in Emma's cop car, at his request, eventually pulling them over. He inspects the vehicle, finding a hidden compartment with the stolen box. David takes the object in it, telling both the girls as well as Emma that he didn't find anything.

David returns to Mary Margaret, revealing the object to be a totem of Maleficent. He thinks that Cruella and Ursula are trying to resurrect her, so he and Mary Margaret scheme to steal Maleficent's remains, toss them in the river so that she can never be brought back to life, and then leave town.

The group hits a roadblock, when some guards refuse to let the villains pass a bridge. Maleficent promptly transforms into a dragon, burning the bridge and the guards upon it, obviously upsetting Snow and Charming. 

The couple leaves their nefarious cohorts in the middle of the night, in pursuit of the Tree of Wisdom. They attempt to activate it but are rejected by the Tree, just as Maleficent, Cruella, and Ursula round the corner. 

Next, Emma (Jennifer Morrison) is shown looking at security footage of the pawnshop, when Hook joins her. Ursula acknowledges Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) earlier in the episode – confusing Emma. When she asks Hook about their past, he claims that he met her but will not explain anything else.

Emma finds the chunk of the video where Ursula steals the box, but when she brings the footage to David, she finds him and Mary Margaret packing up the car. They claim that they've decided to give the villains another chance.

Meanwhile, Regina is furious to learn that Pinocchio remembers nothing about the Book. A visit from Emma can't even jog his memory. Regina gets angry and starts to berate Pinocchio. Marco demands that she never talk to his boy again. She finds Marco (Tony Amendola) later to apologize, and he gives her a pile of August's old things to help her in her journey.

The flashback continues, with Maleficent wondering why the tree didn't accept the heroes. She reasons that Snow is pregnant. While the baby could likely be a hero, it also has potential for great evil, hence the tree's hesitation. Maleficent and the others leave Snow and David in the forest, having no use for them.

Later, Snow wakes up to find Maleficent at the foot of her bed. Charming is under a spell, so that the two women can talk in private. Maleficent tells Snow that she's pregnant as well. As kindred spirits, she begs Snow to work with her to defeat the Evil Queen and protect their future children. Snow refuses to compromise their "goodness" by working with her.

In the present, just as David and Mary Margaret arrive at Maleficent's remains, they're caught and knocked out by Cruella and Ursula. Rumple joins them, asking if Belle had anything to say about him back at the pawn shop. The ladies tell Rumple that she didn't even bring him up.

Cruella cuts each of their hands, drawing the blood of "those who most harmed" Maleficent, resurrecting her. She emerges from the dirt in dragon-form, touching ground as her normal self on Storybrooke soil.

Maleficent has only one goal for the couple: unyielding pain that equals the pain they made her suffer. The couple decides that they must tell Emma everything about their Maleficent-past.

Hook also decides to tell Emma the historical truth, about his relationship with Ursula. His confession is paused by Emma, who delivers a speech about "seeing the best in people" just as her parents walk through the door to tell them that Maleficent has been brought back.

Mary Margaret meets with Regina under the cover of night, asking her to go under cover as a villain to gain the trust of Maleficent and the others. She reveals that she and David went to great lengths to protect Emma from her evil potential long ago, adding that she would never want Emma to know what dark lengths they once went to.

As Mary Margaret speaks, Rumple is shown looking into the window of his shop, where he sees Belle kiss Will Scarlet (Michael Socha).

The episode ends when Regina just asks what Mary Margaret did to Maleficent. She responds, "because of us Maleficent lost her child."