Recap / Once Upon a Time S5 E21 "Last Rites"

Season 5, Episode 21:

Last Rites

Emma, David, Regina, Robin and Henry return to Storybrooke and reunite with Snow, but still have to contend with Hades, who continues to deceive Zelena as he lays out his plan to use the Olympian Crystal to take over the town. The team have to convince Zelena of Hades' true intentions, but one hero pays the price. Meanwhile, Hook finds himself facing judgment.

Tropes

• Alas, Poor Villain: Killing Hades was clearly not an easy choice for Zelena as she's in tears while she does it. Likewise, Zeus calls his brother "misguided" instead of evil.
• Badass Boast: Rumplestiltskin "welcoming" Hades to Storybooke:
  "We're not in your kingdom anymore. We're in mine."
• Bait-and-Switch: After Hades disposes of Arthur, he's next seen...walking into Granny's Diner. Unless the viewer caught the sound of his Neck Snap, or noticed the orange lighting inside the diner, it would have been easy to conclude Arthur had been sent back to Storybrooke by Hades or that Hades had taken his form. It isn't until the Blind Witch and Hook appear that the truth is revealed (and it's only after this that Snow, Merida, and Emma come upon Arthur's body in the real world).
• The Bus Came Back: Merida and Arthur reappear after being gone half the season.
  • Back for the Dead: Arthur is killed by Hades moments after he returns (though with the Underworld as a setting, he's still around for the rest of the episode).
• Call-Back:
  • When trying to convince Moe into waking Belle from her sleeping curse, Rumple threatens to beat him with his cane again.
  • Once again, someone makes the mistake of putting Sleepy on guard duty. Appropriately enough, it's Snow White who calls Merida on it.
• Cliffhanger: Gold retrieves a remaining piece of the Olympian Crystal.
• Couch Gag: The title card features Storybrooke's City Hall.
• Dead Guy Junior: Zelena realizing the only name for her daughter is "Robin."
• Death Equals Redemption: In death, Arthur has a Heel Realization and finds a new purpose in healing the Underworld.
• Deus ex Machina: Literally—Zeus resurrects Hook as thanks for his part in putting down Hades.
• Exact Words: Zeus tells Hook that he's sending him "where you belong." See Laser-Guided Karma below for the result.
• Foreshadowing: Robin and Regina not only get to have one last heart-to-heart about Zelena (and a final kiss), but before making their assault he notes that he always has one rule he never breaks—to have an escape plan. But this time he doesn't have one. And so naturally...
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • Zelena takes the final step for a permanent one of these when she kills Hades.
  • Arthur also has one after helping Hook in the Underworld and promises to reform it.
• Heel Realization: Arthur finally owns up to how far he fell in his quest for his "destiny" upon dying and works to make up for his actions in the Underworld.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Robin takes an energy blast for Regina. Regina was also willing to make one for Zelena, and it's by getting her to believe that everything she had said about Hades was true, and he would not make one for her, that Regina convinces Zelena to turn on him.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: Apparently Zeus is far more kind, generous, and benevolent in this universe than he is usually depicted in Classical Mythology, considering he only expresses regret that Hades had to be eliminated and he rewards Hook with life and love without even being asked (or even letting Hook know what he intended). But then the mythological characters which have appeared here are based on Disney's Hercules, where Zeus actually was a heroic Big Good (although the Zeus who appears here looks much younger).
• History Repeats: Just as Regina with Daniel and Emma with Hook, Zelena has to kill Hades. Although the circumstances for each of these situations was different, the emotional effect on the killer is unquestionably the same.
• It Always Rains at Funerals: There is quite a lot of rain when Robin's funeral takes place.
• Karmic Death: Hades is killed by Zelena, the woman he manipulated, with the weapon he worked so hard to recreate.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Positive example: Zeus rewards Hook for helping Emma defeat Hades by returning him to life in Storybrooke.
• Last Kiss: Robin and Regina get one in the secret tunnel.
• Never My Fault: Once again, even though none of this would have happened if he hadn't first tried to use the Sorcerer's Hat, then corrupt Emma for the Author (and her becoming the Dark One specifically happened as a result of trying to save him from the Darkness), when Emma comes to Gold for help against Hades he claims he has no reason to give it to her because "you're the one who got us into this mess." This is despite the fact Hades will murder him, his wife and unborn child and there's absolutely nothing he could do to stop him.
• No Body Left Behind: Hades is completely destroyed by the Crystal, leaving just a pile of dust.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Hades notes that he and Arthur are a lot alike, both "unjustly imprisoned" after being "destined to rule a kingdom." Of course, they're also alike in how each fails to see how their fates are their own fault.
• Never Trust a Trailer: The promo makes it look like Zelena is going to dump several episodes' worth of character development and become a villain again; at worst she is an Unwitting Pawn.
• Prophecy Twist: Arthur uses one to finally rule his broken kingdom—not Camelot, but the Underworld.
• Race Against the Clock: Of a different sort than usual. The heroes, knowing that Hades has played them all (thanks to lying to Hook and Emma about the ambrosia tree and giving the Blind Witch the power to seal the others in the library), have to convince Zelena of this before he can finish recreating the Olympian Crystal and using it to take over Storybrooke. Meanwhile, Hook and Arthur have to find the pages about the Crystal and get them to the storybook, so that they will appear in the living world's counterpart and give Emma and the others the information they need to succeed (either proving the truth of Hades' intentions to Zelena, or using the Crystal on Hades himself).
• Secret Test of Character: It probably wasn't Cruella's intention (and she wouldn't have had the power or desire to do it anyway), but by putting the storybook beyond the River of Lost Souls, one of these was created for Hook and Arthur, since the departure of Hades seems to have allowed souls to emerge from the river. In any event, it's by saving Arthur from one that Hook not only retrieves the book but resolves his Unfinished Business, proves himself worthy of paradise, and earns the reward of a new life from Zeus.
• Shout-Out: This would not be the first time Robin Hood has a daughter, though it is the first (at least in visual media) where she actually has his name.
• Take Me Instead: In a mirror of "The Price" where she offered herself to the Fury in his place, Robin Hood tries to get Hades to kill him instead of Regina. Hades has his sights set on her though, so Robin has to force the issue.
• To Know Him, I Must Become Him: Variation, with a bit of What Would X Do?—when Hook cannot find the missing pages in Hades' throne room, he appeals to Arthur: "You were a king, where did you hide your secrets?" Arthur immediately reveals he kept things he wanted no one to find as close to himself as possible—in his throne. And sure enough...
• Tonight, Someone Dies: As if the episode title wasn't enough indication, the previews were all about funereal imagery and claiming Storybrooke would be rocked by losing its "heart." This isn't quite what happened, but Robin Hood's death did badly hurt Emma and Hook, Snow and Charming, Zelena and the Merry Men...and most certainly devastated Regina. And based on the effects this is shown to have on her and Storybrooke itself, the consequences may indeed be dire.
• We Need a Distraction: Right when Robin and Regina need a way to get into the mayor's office to save the baby (and stop the Olympian Crystal being rejoined), Emma appears outside and starts trying to break through Zelena's protection spell. Played with in that this turns out to be much more than a distraction—Emma came there because she has the storybook pages and knows what the Crystal can do, and shows them to Zelena, which not only starts raising doubts in her mind but gives her the knowledge that she can use it to stop Hades himself. Also, this distraction ends up being partly their undoing, since it lets Hades get the drop on them and thus end up killing Robin...but that plus the threat to Regina is what finally makes Zelena turn on Hades. So in the end the information the distraction provided and the Heroic Sacrifice it enabled were actually the only ways the heroes could win!
• You Can't Fight Fate: Robin Hood, since he nearly died (and then was almost taken away by the Fury) in "The Price." Oddly fitting, since the same was true of Marian's death.