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Recap / Once Upon a Time S4 E11 "Heroes and Villains"

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Season 4 Episode 11:

Heroes and Villains

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In the aftermath of the Snow Queen’s spell, our heroes try to pick up the pieces and Regina has to make a difficult choice. Hook’s fate hangs in the balance as Gold’s quest for power threatens everything he holds dear. And, in the Enchanted Forest of thirty years ago, an intrusion during Belle's stay at Rumplestiltskin's dark castle will wreak havoc in both the past and the future.

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  • Achilles' Heel: The magic gauntlet Rumple acquired from Camelot, and which the three queens wanted, allows the holder to learn anyone's weakness so they can use it against them.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Belle stops Rumple from crushing Hook's heart with the dagger.
  • Big Damn Kiss: As soon as his heart's back, Killian gives one to Emma.
  • Book Ends:
    • The Frozen storyline began and ended with Elsa and Anna's holding hands. This shows that whatever happened, their sisterly love is the one thing that will never change.
    • The Couch Gag for the start of the arc had snow beginning to fall over the title card. This snow remained throughout the arc until this episode's card shows it being pulled back through the door to Arendelle.
  • Breakfast in Bed: Rumplestiltskin wakes Belle up to present her with breakfast in bed and tell her they are going to a honeymoon in New York. It's the last peaceful romantic scene they get to share in a very long while, since just a few minutes later, she finds out about his Evil Plan and banishes him from the town.
  • Bullying a Dragon: The Queens of Darkness hold Belle hostage in order to ransom her for a magic item Rumple possesses. He quickly demonstrates why this is a bad idea, first by choking Maleficent and then by simply taking the item back when meeting them later.
  • The Bus Came Back: Maleficent, unseen since season one (and one off-screen battle with her shade) is back and at the height of evil once again. (Exactly how she can be alive again remains to be seen.)
  • Call-Back:
    • Back in Season 2, the Seer told Rumpel that the child who led him to his son would also be his downfall. When Henry pulls off the suitcase that's how Belle finds the gauntlet.
    • Also, Anna's first guess about "Mr Gold"'s identity was a "fairy godfather". In Cinderella's flashback, Rumplestilskin "replaced" her fairy godmother and gave her everything she needed to be a Princess (for a price of course).
  • Cerebus Callback: When it seems as if Regina and Robin will get to be together, he once again produces the alternate page from the storybook of their kiss to inspire her. Later, when she is forced to watch him leave with his family in order to spare Marian's life, Regina takes the page, tears it up, and throws it in the road.
  • Couch Gag: The title card features the portal door back to Arendelle.
  • Diabolus ex Machina: The curse on Marian somehow reactivating, forcing her to cross the town line to save her own life. Since the town line has been cursed to be one-way, this would split the family up unless Roland and Robin go with her, forcing Regina to say goodbye.
  • Evil Is Petty: Well, she isn't evil any more, but Regina taking pleasure in hearing from Emma that Gold had lost everything he'd wanted was quite petty. Deliciously so.
  • Foil: Rumpel and Regina have essentially switched positions on how far they've come, with this episode showcasing exactly how right or wrong their current choices are, and how they reap the benefits or suffer losses from them.
  • Hijacked by Ganon: The episode ends on a cliffhanger with Rumpelstiltskin set up to be the Big Bad for the second half of the season.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: The gauntlet which the Queens of Darkness coveted, and which Rumple obtained (twice) for his own manipulative ends, ends up being used against him by Belle... and when she finds out his weakness is not her, but power...
  • Hope Spot: Marian would rather Robin stay with Regina, whom he loves. Then the curse somehow kicks back in on her.
  • Ironic Echo: "Villains don't get happy endings".
  • Irony: Rumple telling Regina that he is able to get what he wants by going for it. Then Rumple loses his magic and his love's trust by being banished by Belle.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Belle is so heartbroken by Rumple that she uses the dagger to force him over the town line and permanently eject him from Storybrooke, leaving him powerless and alone - the complete opposite of what he was trying to achieve, and right after he'd bragged to Regina that he had won.
  • Legion of Doom: Maleficent, Ursula and Cruella form one in order to finally defeat the heroes. They even offer Rumple a chance to join them. He refuses at first but after being banished from Storybrooke he seeks them out to join.
  • Loophole Abuse: When Rumple confronts the Queens of Darkness after the ransom exchange, Maleficent tries to get him to back off by reminding him he doesn't go back on deals. Rumple retorts that it wasn't a deal but an enforced ransom which means he's free to do whatever he wants.
  • Mexican Standoff: During the Enchanted Forest flashback—Rumple levitates Maleficent in a magical Neck Lift and threatens to crush her throat, only for Ursula to do the same thing to Belle with one of her tentacles. When Rumple threatens to go ahead and kill Maleficent anyway unless they free Belle, Cruella appears and points out that Ursula would then kill Belle anyway and then it would be two-to-one against Rumple. Realizing the truth of this is what compels him to eventually hand over the gauntlet.
  • Mythology Gag: To tie up the Frozen storyline...
    • When the sisters return to Arendelle, Anna once again punched Hans (off-screen), this time hard enough to bruise her hand and blacken his eye.
    • Elsa is back in the coronation gown from the movie.
    • Both sisters once again are enchanted by the smell of chocolate.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Although she had no way of knowing it at the time, and was actually more complaining about her own seemingly inescapable fate than trying to taunt him about his, Regina having told Gold of exactly why Henry was working in his shop seems to have backfired a bit, since after losing everything he wanted it has now set him also on the path of trying to get the author of the storybook to give him a happy ending.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The audience doesn't get to see Anna's second, and eye-blackening, hand-bruising punch, to Hans. Nor whatever Elsa may have done to encourage him and his brothers to leave...
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • Rumple's expression upon discovering Belle has shown up with the real dagger.
    • Anna upon hearing this mysterious Mr. Gold she's heard about was really Rumpelstiltskin.
  • Out-Gambitted: The Queens of Darkness think they have gotten one over on Rumplestiltskin, the Dark One. He proves otherwise by simply summoning the gauntlet they took from him back.
  • Properly Paranoid: Rumple tries to send Anna back to Arendelle as quickly as possible because he is worried that she will interfere with his plans (since she knows about the Hat and why he wanted it). He is right.
  • "Reason You Suck" Speech: Belle gives a furious one to Rumple upon realizing that he's never truly given up anything, especially not power, for her sake.
  • The Reveal:
    • Thanks to what Henry discovered in the empty mansion, it rather seems to be the case that it was owned by the Sorcerer and that he knows the author of the storybook.
    • Also, even after Elsa is able to bring down the ice wall, Ingrid's magic remains, creating a magic barrier at the town line once again (because she wanted to stay in Storybrooke forever with Elsa and Emma, and therefore the outside world had to be kept out). This is critically important to the fates of both Robin and his family, and Gold—but it will also have repercussions for the rest of this season.
  • Sequel Hook: Aside from the obvious with both Gold's quest to join forces with the Queens of Darkness and Emma joining up with Operation Mongoose, the fact Belle was first led off to get captured in the Enchanted Forest by Pongo sets up what will surely be his backstory with Cruella. It also implies Archie may get more to do quite soon...
  • Ship Sinking:
  • Spanner in the Works:
    • Belle needing another suitcase, and Henry toppling the pile in the shop to get it for her, leads to her finding the gauntlet she'd thought Rumple had traded for her safety long ago.
    • Anna revealing that Rumple is lying to everyone about his true intentions—right as she was about to go through the portal, no less.
  • This Cannot Be!: Rumple fails to crush Hook's heart. "I don't understand. Why can't I?"
  • Time Skip: Six weeks pass between Gold being banished from Storybrooke and him meeting up with Ursula in New York. What happened in the intervening time will be interesting to find out...
  • Wham Episode: The Arendelle characters get to go home to their happy ending, but then to set up the next half season arc, we have Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Roland AND Rumplestiltskin exiled from Storybrooke. Then, after being banished from Storybrooke, Rumple tracks down Ursula in New York City and it is shown that she has her memories, implying she either traveled to the Land Without Magic by different means or left Storybrooke through a method that let her keep them. Since mermaids can travel between worlds, their patron goddess ought to be able to.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Gold was banished without his hat... so, will the fairies and the Apprentice get freed from it? Presumably Hook will tell everyone what happened to them. (In future episodes the fairies do get freed. The Apprentice does as well...and the timing and reason for it turn out to be extremely important.)
  • When She Smiles: Regina sports a cheerful smile when Emma offers to help with Operation Mongoose.

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