Recap / Once Upon a Time S1 E21 "An Apple Red as Blood"

Season 1, Episode 21:

An Apple Red as Blood

Centric Characters: Snow White, Prince Charming

Previous: The Stranger | Next: A Land Without Magic

Snow White: I was very young and your mother—
Regina: She ripped his heart out because of you! Because you couldn't listen to me!
Snow White: You took my father. Haven't we both suffered enough?
Regina: No.

Jefferson: Now, my daughter, my Grace.
Regina: First things first. The deal's not done, not until I solve the next conundrum. How to get the savior to taste my forbidden fruit.

---

Regina and Henry silently eat dinner when the doorbell rings unexpectedly. Confused, Regina answers the door to see Emma, who says that she was invited by Henry.

Regina: Do you honestly believe I'd allow you into my house for dinner after all the threats you made to my family?
Emma: I didn't come for dinner.
Regina: Then what did you come for?
Emma: You.

Frightened, Regina turns and sees that Henry has disappeared from the table, then looks back to find Mary Margaret, David, Archie, Ruby, Granny and Leroy have appeared around Emma.

Emma: We all did.

Regina tries to retreat into her house, only to see Henry has returned with rope.

The townspeople bind Regina to an apple tree in town square, revealing that they've regained their memories from the Enchanted Forest and intend to take their revenge. Emma then steps forward and picks a black apple from the tree, crushing it in her hand.

Emma: Rotten to the core.
Regina: <tearing up> I just wanted to win. For once.
Emma: You took away our happiness and now it's our turn to take away yours.

Emma walks back to her family and Regina is confused until David hands her Prince Charming's sword. Realizing what's about to happen, Regina begs Henry to stop Emma but he refuses and stands aside as Emma swings the sword towards Regina.

Regina wakes up from her nightmare in a panic and rushes to Henry's bedroom only to find it vacant.

Henry notices Emma's belongings already packed in the back of the car and realizes that they're actually heading out of town that very moment. Henry tries to convince Emma to not leave Storybrooke because the Curse is still in effect, but Emma only cares about doing what's best for Henry. Unwilling to abandon the town, Henry pulls the steering wheel just before they cross the town border, forcing Emma to stop the car. Henry pleads with Emma again, insisting that her family is in Storybrooke and needs her.

---

FLASHBACK! Prince Charming is brought before King George who berates him for rejecting everything George stands for in the name of True Love. George has his soldiers load Charming into a guillotine for execution, but as the blade falls it turns to water leaving Charming unharmed. Enter Queen Regina, who demands that George hand Charming over to her in exchange for any price he requests, revealing that she intends to use him to defeat Snow White once and for all.

---

Regina finds that all the apples on her tree have rotted, and goes straight to Mr. Gold.

Regina: My tree is dying. Why?
Gold: Perhaps it's your fertilizer?
Regina: You think this is funny? Well I'll tell you what I think! I think it's a sign of the Curse weakening because of Emma. But do you care? No. You're content to just sit back and do… whatever it is you're doing. While all my hard work burns!
Gold: That's not all, is it? Come on, you might as well get everything off your chest.
Regina: I don't know what you're talking about!
Gold: Henry. Miss Swan wants him.
Regina: She'll have that boy over my dead body.
Gold: The Curse was meant to take away Snow White and Prince Charming's happiness. Perhaps you giving up Henry's just the price to keep the Curse unbroken.
Regina: I think I'd rather just get rid of her.
Gold: <exhales> Well well. You're gonna have to be quite creative. We both know the repercussions in killing Miss Swan.
Both: The Curse would be broken.
Regina: That's because you designed it that way. Undo it.
Gold: <laughs> No. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. Magic, well… is in short supply around here, and dwindling by the minute.
Regina: You want the Curse broken! Why?
Gold: That's not something I care to discuss.
Regina: Don't bother, you can shove your reasons. I wanna strike a new deal. One where I can get rid of Emma without shattering the Curse.
Gold: Unfortunately for you, a negotiation requires two interested parties. And, I'm already planning a trip.
Regina: I'll give you anything.
Gold: Ohhh… You no longer have anything I want, dearie. But I will give you a piece of advice free of charge. I'd plan a trip of your own. Because once people wakin' up, and remember who you are, and what you did to them… <chuckles> they're gonna be looking for blood.

Regina goes to the elementary school and leaves a playing card picturing the White Rabbit on Paige's bicycle.

At the apartment, Mary Margaret gets mad at Emma for leaving without saying anything to her, especially after saying that Mary Margaret was her family when she was contemplating running away, and is even more displeased to hear that Emma essentially abducted Henry.

Mary Margaret: You're reverting, Emma. Into the person you were before you got here and I thought you changed.
Emma: You thought wrong.
Mary Margaret: Well regardless, you have to do what's right for Henry now.
Emma: What's that?
Mary Margaret: Oh, I don't know.You're his mother. That's your job. So you figure it out.

---

FLASHBACK! Snow White, the dwarves, and Granny make a plan to rescue Prince Charming from King George's castle, which Red informs them will be harder since the Queen is there too.

In the dungeon, the Queen taunts Charming and reveals to him that she's planning a Fate Worse than Death for Snow, pulling out an apple.

---

Jefferson meets Regina at her house, having found the card she left for him. Regina produces Jefferson's hat and asks for him to help her use it to temporarily return to the Enchanted Forest to get something that will solve her problem with Emma, but Jefferson tells her that the hat won't work in this world because there's no magic, but Regina reveals that she has a small amount of magic left that could possibly fuel the hat one last time. Regina offers to lift the Curse's effects from Grace so that she'll remember Jefferson again, but Jefferson refuses to let her experience the madness of having two lives and asks instead for Regina to remove his memories of the Enchanted Forest, which she accepts but reminds Jefferson that it will have to wait until after the Evil Plan is complete.

---

FLASHBACK! Snow and her team move towards the castle after signalling to the fairies to attack from the skies. They grapple up the castle wall and fight the guards, ending up in the courtyard where they are outnumbered until the fairies arrive and incapacitate the guards with fairy dust.

---

Henry rushes to August's inn room to tell him that Emma's trying to leave Storybrooke. August sadly tells him that he wasn't able to get Emma to believe, and shows Henry his arm has turned to wood. Henry is excited to finally see tangible proof of the Curse but when he suggests that they show Emma to make her believe, August tells him that he already tried that and Emma can't see it because she doesn't want to. August reveals that as the transformation progresses his body is slowly shutting down, and he wants to spend the end of his life with his father so he can't help Henry anymore.

Emma has a consultation with Archie to try to build a custody case but he doesn't see her having much of a chance since there's no real proof of Regina's malevolence and in the court's eyes Henry's been less well-behaved since reconnecting with Emma. Archie points out that Regina's really only been defensive in her warring with Emma, and she needs to find a way to end the conflict peacefully if she wants to stay in Henry's life.

---

FLASHBACK! Snow arrives at the dungeon but is disappointed to find only a mirror that she can see Charming through, and he tells her that he's actually at the Queen's palace. The Queen then takes Charming's place in the mirror and asks for a parley "where it all began".

Snow's friends try to stop her from meeting the Queen alone but she's resolute, and wants to end their war peacefully once and for all.

---

Regina takes Jefferson to her vault hidden in the crypt, which contains all the magic she brought from the Enchanted Forest. The hat doesn't work and Regina realizes that it needs to absorb magic from other items. She empties a small box into the hat and although the items are absorbed it's not enough to reactivate the hat.

Jefferson: It's not enough. We need something that still works.

Regina takes out Daniel's ring, which has been enchanted to show his image inside.

Jefferson: Who's that?
Regina: Someone long gone.
Jefferson: Well whatever, or whoever it is, it still has magical properties. Gimme that and let me see what I can do with it.

Regina is reluctant but Jefferson reminds her of what's at stake. Tearfully, Regina drops the ring into the hat and it begins to spin, but it's clearly weaker than it could be. Jefferson explains that there's not enough magic to transport them but they could pull a small item through. That's good enough for Regina, and Jefferson has her hold the hat and think about the time and place she remembers that item being. After a few seconds, Regina sets down the hat and it starts to spin again.

Jefferson: Excellent. It appears to be working. Now what is it we're after?
Regina: An apple.

---

FLASHBACK! Snow meets Regina at the old stables, and Regina takes her to the hill where she rescued Snow.

Regina: Do you remember when I ran down your runaway horse, Snow? Do you remember when I saved your life?
Snow: Of course. It all looks the same.
Regina: Not quite.

They stop at a gravestone that is a more recent addition.

Regina: This is new.
Snow: Is that-?
Regina: A grave. <brief silence> Daniel's grave.
Snow: Daniel? But I thought-
Regina: He ran away? I told you that to spare your feelings out of… kindness. But he died because of you.
Snow: I… I'm sorry.
Regina: I'm sorry too. But nothing can change what happened. What you did. You promised to keep my secret. You promised, but you lied!
Snow: I was very young, and your mother-
Regina: She ripped his heart out! Because of you! Because you couldn't listen to me!
Snow: You took my father! Haven't we both suffered enough?!
Regina: No!

Regina then takes the apple out of a bag.

Snow: What is that?
Regina: It's just a morsel. Did you know that apples stand for health and wisdom?
Snow: So why do I get the feeling that one might kill me?
Regina: It won't kill you. No, what it will do is far worse. Your body will be your tomb, and you'll be in there with nothing but dreams formed of your own regrets.
Snow: And you're going to force me to eat it.
Regina: <chuckles> Of course not. It wouldn't work anyway. The choice is yours. It must be taken willingly.
Snow: And why would I do that?
Regina: Because if you refuse the apple, your prince? Your Charming? Will be killed.
Snow: No.
Regina: As I said, the choice is yours.
Snow: I take that apple and he lives? That's the deal you want to make?
Regina: With all my heart.

Snow takes the apple from Regina.

Snow: Then congratulations. You've won.

Snow takes a bite from the apple, and as she gasps and gags, Charming in the dungeon feels in his heart that something is happening to Snow. Snow collapses and the apple rolls out of her hand down the hill, where a small portal opens for it to fall into.

---

Jefferson catches the apple as it flies out of the hat. He asks for Regina to fulfill her end of the deal, but she reminds him that her revenge must be complete first.

Smash Cut to baking montage just before Emma arrives to talk with Regina. Emma tells Regina that she's leaving town, much to her surprise, but asks for a deal in that she can still visit and see Henry from time to time. The oven beeps and Regina has Emma follow her to the kitchen to talk. Emma admits that Henry will still very much be Regina's son, and Regina packs the apple turnover she just baked to give to Emma for her drive back to Boston.

---

FLASHBACK! Red and Granny track Snow's scent to the stables, and the dwarves soon find her sleeping form on the nearby hillside. Red finds that she isn't breathing and the group mourns her presumed death. Regina watches them through the mirror before switching to watch the raging Charming.

---

Regina pays Gold another visit to boast about her victory.

Gold: A sleeping curse? Might I ask how you managed to obtain one here in Storybrooke?
Regina: By sacrificing the last bit of magic I had left.
Gold: So you made magic from magic. Well I'm sure I don't have to remind you that um, all magic comes with a price.
Regina: Then you can pay it. Because now… the Curse is gonna be stronger than ever. And you will be right here, where you belong. Don't you understand?! I won! So whatever plan you had… whatever reason you wanted the Curse broken… too bad. Because it's never going to happen.

Henry comes to the apartment in response to Emma calling him on their radios. Emma tells him that she's still going to leave and explains her deal with Regina. Henry tries to convince her that this is just her Darkest Hour before she triumphs, but she won't buy it. Emma insists that this is what's best for Henry and they hug it out, but then Henry sees the apple turnover from Regina. Henry warns Emma that Regina is trying to trick Emma to eat the poisoned apple so she can never break the Curse. Emma decides to prove Henry wrong by eating the turnover in front of him, but he beats her to it and takes a bite of it himself. Nothing happens at first so Emma starts to snark about it, but suddenly Henry collapses to the floor.

Tropes

• Action Girl: Snow White successfully leads an invasion of King George's castle in order to rescue Prince Charming.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  Mary Margaret, to Emma: Is running what's best for [Henry]? Or is it what's best for you?
• Bloodless Carnage: Grumpy buries his axe in a guard, but when he pulls it out and pats it, not a drop of blood is to be seen.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Why Regina isn't intimidated by Jefferson's threats, given that he hasn't tried to kill her for the twenty-eight years they've been in the same world again.
• Catapult Nightmare: Regina has one about all the townspeople and Emma executing her for robbing them of their happiness, with even Henry turning on her. Foreshadowing of her eventual Heel–Face Turn since it shows deep down she does know what she did was wrong and she deserves to be punished for it, but for now it simply leads to an Ignored Epiphany that galvanizes her to do anything to get rid of Emma...at a terrible cost.
• Continuity Nod: Aside from the obvious ones to "The Stable Boy" (Snow implying to Red what happened, her and Regina's discussion of it at the stable where Daniel died and by his grave), part of how Mary Margaret shames Emma for trying to run away with Henry involves referencing what Emma told her when she tried to run away in "Hat Trick". And when Snow and her allies need air support to get into King George's castle, Grumpy mentions someone who can do that for them who "owes him a favor" (obviously referring to the Blue Fairy, after what she did to him and Nova in "Dreamy").
• Convenient Coma: Henry went in one after eating Regina's apple turnovers.
• Couch Gag: The title card features Snow White leading the dwarves.
• Darkest Hour: Lampshaded by the ever Genre Savvy Henry when he speaks to Emma of the moment when "the hero gets scared, the low moment before they fight back." Doubles as a "Leave Your Quest" Test since Emma has decided to leave town to protect Henry while (she hopes) she'll still get a chance to see him and be in his life.
• Dramatic Irony: Regina spends the whole episode, appealing to Gold and then forcing Jefferson to work with her, in order to find a way to get rid of Emma so she can have Henry to herself. Meanwhile Emma spends the whole episode fretting over her fears and insecurities, wondering if she can be a good mother or is truly making Henry's life better, talking about what is best for him with Mary Margaret and getting advice from Archie on how her war with Regina is actually hurting her son badly...with the result that she decides to leave him with Regina and leave town. When she goes to tell Regina her decision is when Regina gives her the apple turnover; if Regina had simply let her leave, without the turnover, she would have gotten everything she wanted, but instead...
• Equivalent Exchange: Regina has to sacrifice something magical to make the hat work so she can snag the poisoned apple. She gives up her engagement ring from Daniel, which is enchanted to show his image inside its band. Just one more thing she sacrifices for her revenge.
• Fate Worse than Death:
  • How Regina describes a sleeping curse, and by extension the poison apple.
  • Also, what is happening to August as he turns back to wood, as he slowly becomes more and more tired and speaks of being unable to breathe...until he won't even be alive any more, just a puppet.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Dr. Hopper compares Emma riling up Regina when she first came to town to waking a sleeping dragon. Guess what appears next episode?
  • Also, in Regina's nightmare we see Emma draw her father's sword to decapitate Regina. What does Emma use against Maleficent in the next episode?
• Heroic Suicide: Snow White with the apple when Regina promised that she would trade Charming's life for Snow's. And Henry prevents Emma from eating a poisoned pastry by gobbling it and succumbing to the effects.
• I Have Your Wife: In the Enchanted Forest, Regina used her threat to Charming's life to convince Snow White to Come Alone to meet her and eat the poisoned apple in exchange for his freedom.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Charming felt it when Snow ate the poisoned apple.
• The Reveal: A couple. On the Enchanted Forest side we not only find out how Charming was gotten away from King George (Regina 'rescued' him to bring about Snow White's downfall), but that in order to accomplish this Regina promised George all the gold he would have gotten from Midas via Charming's marriage to Abigail; this explains why Charming and Snow could be seen marrying in the pilot without the threat of George hanging over them (although the next episode actually reveals that when the Sleeping Curse and Regina's deal were broken, Snow and Charming went to war against both her and George, accomplishing the same result for their impending wedding). Meanwhile in Storybrooke, Regina's desperation to get rid of Emma results in an As You Know from Gold, explaining that Emma cannot be killed or it will break the Dark Curse automatically, since he designed it that way.
• Storming the Castle: What Snow White and the seven dwarves literally do, with the aid of the fairies, Red, and Granny.
• Symbolism: Unsurprisingly, this episode is all about apples. Not only does the apple finally appear again in the Enchanted Forest flashback, most of Regina's time in the present is spent working with Jefferson to get it back so she can use it on Emma, leading up to the apple turnover and the Cliffhanger. This is necessary because Regina's apple tree is dying (the implication of which is lampshaded nastily by Gold). And finally there's Regina's nightmare which begins with a focused shot of the bowl of apples on the table and culminates, when she is tied to her own tree and about to be beheaded, with Emma crushing a now-black apple into a gooey pulp, proclaiming as she stares at Regina, "Rotten to the core."
• This Is Reality: While this has been how Emma has treated Henry's talk of the curse all along, it comes to its head here.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Snow's feelings regarding meeting the Queen, since she doesn't want anyone else getting hurt or dying because of her.
• Tricked Out Time: Because actual Time Travel (as revealed in Season 3) is only possible through a unique spell that goes against the rules of magic, the loophole Regina uses here is Jefferson's hat, which can open portals through time as well as space. She uses it...to snatch the poisoned apple from the past but at the moment after the cursed Snow White dropped it, because her past self assumed it had simply rolled down the hill. So its disappearance to the future matched what she knew (and didn't care) about its fate.
• Where It All Began: In Regina's exact words, this is where she agrees to have her parley with Snow: at the stable where Daniel died (and where he was buried).
• Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: Snow and friends are able to invade King George's castle and kill his guards in order to get to Prince Charming's cell, only to find out that he's being kept in the Evil Queen's castle. Unsurprisingly, the trick is accomplished with a magic mirror.
• You Said You Would Let Them Go:
  • The Queen orders Charming's execution even after Snow eats the apple.
  • Also, Jefferson begs Regina for her to honor her deal and give him a new life with Grace, only for Regina to claim she will not do so until she has successfully used the apple he fetched for her to get rid of Emma. Her continued refusal to do as she promised in the next episode (after Henry has eaten the turnover instead of Emma) backfires on her big time, when Jefferson's revenge prompts Gold to his actions in "Broken."