Season 2, Episode 16:
The Miller's Daughter
Cora's desire to rid herself of Rumplestiltskin in order to take his place as The Dark One takes one step closer to becoming reality as she and Regina try to overpower a dying Mr. Gold, and Mary Margaret is once again tempted by dark magic.
Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Rumplestiltskin agrees to offer his services to a younger Cora - for a price - when the king calls her bluff and orders her to actually follow through on her boast of being able to spin straw into gold.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: The flashback portion of this episode is essentially the original Rumpelstiltskin story, but with details and backstory mixed in.
- Adaptational Heroism: Unlike in the original Rumpelstiltskin story, the old miller bears no responsibility for his daughter's predicament.
- Backstory: It's finally revealed what the full story was between Cora and Rumple, from how they became lovers to why she knows dark magic (particularly heart-stealing), why he sought her out (the Seer's powers told him of Regina and how she would help him by casting the Dark Curse), how Cora ended up married to Henry, and why Rumple swore never to change a deal after having done so once before.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: Young Cora tells Rumple she "thought [she] wanted this", referring to her newfound position as a prince's bride-to-be...but then she realised she found herself fifth in line to the throne, which greatly disappoints her.
- Becoming the Boast: Cora's claims about being able to spin straw into gold. Instead of merely doing it for her, she asks Rumplestiltskin to show her how.
- Call-Back / Call-Forward: Cora shows up in a red dress, similar in at least shade to her dress as the Queen of Hearts.
- Couch Gag: The title card features Rumple's spinning wheel.
- Death in the Limelight: Cora, since we get to learn her backstory (or at least, the relevant parts to how she became what she did) in the same episode in which she dies.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Cora to Regina, thanks to the cursed candle and the fact that Rumple was inches from death when Cora got her heart back.
- Doing In the Wizard / Magic from Technology: Cora assumes the Black Box that lets her eavesdrop on David and Mary Margaret's conversation is magical.Cora: I don't like what that enchanted box was saying. I'm not wicked.
Regina: It's not an "enchanted box", it's a phone tap. - Dramatic Irony: Cora waxing eloquent about her wedding dress being "snow white". Lampshaded by Rumple.
- Dying Declaration of Love: Rumplestiltskin gets two: one with Belle, and then a fatherly version with Bae."I'm full of love. I spent a lifetime looking for you, for the chance to say, 'I love you' and 'I'm sorry.'"
- Cora gets a motherly one with Regina. She says "you would have been enough" - implying that if she had kept her heart, her love for Regina could have redeemed her.
- Foil: This one shows that Cora is one to Cinderella. They were both poor peasant women that made deals with Rumpelstiltskin for better lives. While Cinderella wanted love, Cora wanted power. They both also end up tricking Rumple out of his deal, and a baby is the price in both deals.
- Forgot About His Powers: Cora conveniently remembers she can send away people only after a while.
- And Regina doesn't think of teleporting to her vault.
- Freudian Excuse: Cora was partially motivated by being ill-treated by nobility, being forced to apologize after a Princess wronged her.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Rumpelstiltskin teaches Cora how to use magic - and thus creates the most evil character the show has ever had.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Cora is killed with the same magic candle that she originally gave to Snow.
- Killed Off for Real: Cora dies and stays dead for the remainder of the series. The only time the character appears again outside of flashbacks is as a ghost in Season 3's "Bleeding Through", then again in two episodes of Season Five "Souls of the Departed" and "Sisters", which are episodes set in the Underworld.
- Kubrick Stare: From Regina to Snow, quite understandably after her manipulation led to Cora's death, by Regina's own hand no less.
- Love Is a Weakness: The reason Cora decides to rip her own heart out. While she is initially turned toward this view by Rumple (telling her she needs to get rid of whatever weakness keeps her from achieving her goals of power and vengeance), the line itself comes from Xavier, ironically.
- Love Redeems: Implied in the episode that, had Cora kept her heart within her body, her love for Regina would have redeemed her.
- Meaningful Name:
- This episode confirms that Regina's is an in-universe one. Cora names her that specifically announcing that she will be a queen one day. Also, her last name in Storybrooke is one to Cora's original station in life (although this was also referenced in "The Stable Boy") and, more importantly, to what Regina wanted to be - poor and in love with Daniel, the wife of someone of that station.
- When first meeting Cora, Rumple comments that her name sounds like "something breaking." Not only do a number of events of this episode involve someone being broken (Cora, Rumple, Snow), not to mention what will be revealed about Cora's past later, but her name comes from the Latin word for heart. Which just makes her having been the Queen of Hearts, and her ability to take hearts that she first learns in this episode, all the more fitting.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Snow, sitting outside Regina's vault after Regina leaves to return Cora's heart is definitely having a Heroic BSoD.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: It's all over the place.
- The candle that Cora gave Snow years ago allows Snow to kill her and save Rumpelstiltskin's life.
- She wanted to "turn Snow White's heart black as coal" and apparently didn't stop to consider that this might not end well.
- If anyone showed Snow by example how to prey on someone's emotions, it was Regina.
- Hook manages to screw over Cora as payback unintentionally, since he was the one who poisoned Rumpelstiltskin in the first place.
- Not Me This Time: For once, apart from putting the idea in Snow's head — an idea which she did not have to act on — Rumplestiltskin is completely innocent of all the hell occurring in Storybrooke.
- Race Against the Clock: The episode carries on from the one begun in the previous episode, with Emma, Neal, and Henry sailing the Jolly Roger back to Storybrooke before Gold can die from the poison. But once they get there, it becomes a new race: both to prevent Cora and Regina from killing him and claiming the Dark One's powers, and to find a way to save his life. In the end, the only way to do the latter involves the cursed candle...which also involves a race, once Mary Margaret realizes how wrong her actions were and tries to prevent Regina from giving Cora her heart back. Unlike the others, this race isn't completed in time, with tragic and dark consequences for the rest of the season.
- Rags to Riches: Cora in her youth went from poor miller's daughter to nobility.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Cora's younger self was able to turn quite a few heads at the ball all dolled up. Although the king still recognizes her immediately.
- Start of Darkness: A partial example. Cora starts out as a peasant and ultimately removes her heart for the sake of power. But it's still established in this and "Bleeding Through" that she was never that good to begin with.
- Take a Third Option: Rather than letting Cora claim the Dark One's powers with the dagger, or using the candle to kill Cora and spare Rumple, Snow offers the solution of taking her heart and using it to control her, thus saving them all and still letting Rumple die. Though never spoken aloud, her talk with Regina in the vault also offers the option of Cora just getting her heart back, which would enable her to love Regina the right way and, hopefully, encourage both of the Mills women to bury the hatchet and try to do better. But by laying a guilt trip on Snow over what Henry would think if she let his grandfather die, Gold influences her away from these better options.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Thanks to Anachronic Order, it appears this has happened to Eva compared to the previous episode; actually it was Took a Level in Kindness, and makes it all the more important the lesson she learned (perhaps from these events, or perhaps from marrying Leopold) is one she passed on so firmly to Snow. Even if it was too late as far as Cora and Regina were concerned.
- Tranquil Fury: When Cora is describing how angry she is at Xavier and the other royals, she barely raises her voice.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: How Regina excuses Cora's behavior.Regina: She always wanted what's best for me. That's love.
- Surprisingly, she's actually right; a parent wanting the best for their child is love, but without her heart, Cora's was all twisted and warped.
- Wham Episode: Not only is Cora dead and not only did Snow kill her as promised, but she gets to show a truly manipulative side that no one - with the probable exception of Rumple - knew she had by tricking Regina into replacing Cora's heart so she would die.
