Recap / Once Upon a Time S2 E13 "Tiny"

Season 2, Episode 13:

Tiny

Arlo: Humans don't abide by the same rules as we do. Giants foster life, they destroy them. That is why they must never know that we still exist or that we still grow the beans.
Anton: But why do we keep growing them if nobody ever uses them?
Arlo: It's what we do.
Anton: We don't do anything with them!
Arlo: It's the labor that makes us who we are, not the fruit that it yields.

David: We're not all the same, Anton. I don't know what my brother did to you, but that's not us.
Anton: You have no idea.

Kidnapped and brought to Storybrooke by Cora, the Giant unleashes his vengeance on the town when a case of mistaken identity leads him to try and settle an old score with David; Mr. Gold, accompanied by Emma and Henry, attempts to depart Storybrooke - hoping to keep his memory intact when he crosses the town line — and heads to the airport in search of his son Bae; and Greg questions Belle as to what she saw on the night of his car accident. Meanwhile, in the Enchanted Forest that was and against his brothers' wishes, Anton, the Giant, climbs down the beanstalk and attempts to befriend some humans - whose intentions may not be so noble.

Tropes:

• Adaptational Villainy: Once goes full Terry Pratchett on just how awful and not "fairy tale-y" the core premise of Jack and the Beanstalk (invading someone's home, stealing their stuff, and then murdering them) can be. The only thing that made Jack the hero in the original story was the fact his victim was a cannibal, which isn't the case here.
• Birds of a Feather: Jacqueline and James could never have found better matches for themselves. All things considered, she should have seen him abandoning her coming.
• Blood Knight: Unlike the greedy Prince James, Jacqueline the Giantkiller kills for the joy of killing.
• Brought Down to Normal: Rumplestiltskin's magic doesn't work outside of Storybrooke.
• Captain Obvious: invoked"My name's Anton. I'm a giant."
• Cliffhanger: Not so much the final Smash to Black (which only underscores Gold's fear of being weak), but one of the scenes just prior to that, when Greg reveals (as the audience already knows) that he does remember what happened during the accident and knows about magic—but he reveals it to Belle, letting her know she isn't crazy.
• Consummate Liar: For once Regina is this when she comes to the loft, pretending to know nothing of Cora or Archie still being alive, only wanting to convince the Charmings of the truth and then see Henry. While Snow being distracted by everything else going on (as well as being The Idealist) probably factors in as well, Regina is surprisingly convincing in her shock over the "news".
• Cool Sword: Jack carries a poisoned sword inscribed with her name that can kill giants in seconds.
• Couch Gag: The title card features Anton.

• Dying Moment of Awesome: Anton's oldest brother dies fighting off Jack and the other invaders from the human kingdom.
• Enemy Mine: Of a sort; although he doesn't trust her (both because she's the daughter of the sorceress who shrank and imprisoned him, and because she's human), Anton agrees to help Regina because she gives him the ability to grow large again...which will allow him to take out his revenge on David, someone Regina certainly doesn't mind dying.
• Evil Counterpart: Jack is essentially the Snow White to James's Charming.
• Evil Twin: In his last appearance, James just seemed to be an arrogant guy, but now he definitely fits the trope.
• Expy: Anton for Ariel. He's a supernatural creature who wants to explore the human world but is forbidden to by his father-figure, who thinks they are evil. Furthermore, all his family members have names starting with A.
• Foregone Conclusion: Seeing as we saw Jack's skeleton in "Tallahassee", her days were numbered as soon as her identity was revealed; what matters is exactly how and why she died.
• Gender Flip:
  • The hero of Jack and the Beanstalk is named Jacqueline here.
  • Also the subject of an In-Universe Gender Flip. Hook was under the impression that Jack the Giant Killer was a man when he described what happened to the giants earlier in the season.
• Gentle Giant: Anton most of all. His brothers make fun of him for his size and fascination with humans, but otherwise they're not too bad either.
• Great Offscreen War: Thanks to the cost, the epic human versus giant battle is demonstrated by two humans and a fireball glimpsed out of the window.
• Heroic Sacrifice: In the past, Arlo sacrifices himself to kill Jack and halt the invasion, at least long enough to save Anton's life and allow him to destroy the beans. In the present, David is willing to trade himself to Anton as penance for his brother's sins, if the giant will spare the rest of Storybrooke; it's this, along with saving his life, that convinces Anton that David isn't like James.
• His Name Is...: Prince James tries to introduce his girlfriend but he's interrupted by the King who doesn't care. We find out later.
• Hoist by Her Own Petard: Jack is fatally poisoned by her own blade.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: And how.
• I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: Arlo, giving the last bean shoot cutting to Anton and urging him to plant it to restore the magic beans one day once he finds "new land". Played with in that it's not a MacGuffin to Anton (he didn't see the value of the beans before but does now, and wants to honor his brother's wishes regardless), but that when he finally gets to keep his promise, it's to grow beans for the people of Storybrooke—for whom it is indeed just a means to an end to getting home and thus really doesn't have any value or serve any other purpose in the story.^note Even when Greg and Tamara steal them later, it's still just a Plot Device to let them get to Neverland with Henry, and for the others to pursue them. Then again, it's one of Anton's beans that enables Henry to go on his quest that sets the whole plot of the final season in motion...so perhaps it had great meaning and value after all.
• Ironic Nickname: "Tiny" the Giant. He may be small compared to other giants, but to humans, he's, well... gigantic.
• Irony: The reason George asks James to claim the giants' treasure (and the magic beans) is because the kingdom is nearly bankrupt and owes debts to other lands, so using the beans to plunder the other realms will make up for that. Thanks to Anton destroying the beans, that plan fails, but James still manages to steal enough gold to shore up the coffers. But as will be revealed in "The Evil Queen", Rumplestiltskin gets Regina to cut off trade with George's kingdom so that they once more end up destitute, thus requiring the deal with Midas. So George keeps getting thwarted, and no matter what he does he keeps losing everything. Unfortunately this also means the raid on the giants' home and the deaths of all of Anton's brothers was All for Nothing.
• I Owe You My Life: After Charming saves Anton, he repays this debt by offering to grow magic beans for the town so everyone can go home. Although this is also fulfilling his dying brother's Last Request.
• It's What I Do: Three separate times.
  • When Anton asks why the Giants still grow beans when no one uses them.
  • Snow, when Anton is surprised that they saved him.
  • The Dwarves, at the end. "Work is work; it's what we do."
• Karmic Death: Jack is struck down by a giant and with her own blade no less. Can't get more karmic than that.
• The Lad-ette: Jacqueline appears to be fond of drink, fighting, and casual sex with evil princes.
• Mutual Kill: Jacqueline stabs the giant patriarch with a poison sword, only for him to stab and crush her with the last of his strength.
• Mythology Gag: Not only does Jacqueline have a size-changing mushroom from Wonderland, but she explains she got it by killing a Jabberwock there (which also means her sword is the Vorpal Blade). This also explains how Regina had some to give Anton in Storybrooke—since she would have gotten it from her mother, who was the Queen of Hearts.
• Parental Substitute: As the oldest of the brothers, Arlo is forced to raise them himself.
• Pride: Jack is more than aware of her own beauty.
  James: You are a true wonder.
  Jack: I know.
• Samus Is a Girl: The full name of Jack the Giant Killer is Jacqueline. Previously, Hook assumed she was a man. We first meet her as a skeleton with a sword that has Jack written on it, so Emma can be forgiven (especially with the original fairy tale in her head) for never realizing this fact.
• Self-Harm: Mr. Gold has a sudden meltdown in the airport bathroom and viciously punches a metal dispenser, resulting in bloody knuckles. As a way to confirm to us, and perhaps himself, that magic doesn't work outside Storybrooke...and that Gold is still terrified of being weak without it.
• Shout-Out: Ruby gives Belle a copy of The Mysterious Island. Doubles as a Shout-Out to Lost, which was inspired by the novel.
• The Sociopath: Not so much as James, since Jack truly seems to love him, but she's more than willing to use Anton's love for humanity to slaughter his people and burn his home.
• Status Quo Is God: Partly subverted; while the whole episode with Anton is resolved peacefully so that Storybrooke is safe again, his joining the dwarves (and having the bean shoot cutting) seemingly offers a means for everyone to get back to the Enchanted Forest again that they didn't have before. On the other hand, it seems that Snow believed Regina's lies when she came to her door, and during their visit to the Jolly Roger Hook only tells them of Anton being Cora's ace in the hole, so apparently Anton did not tell them (even off-screen) who gave him the magic mushroom, or else they'd have realized Regina had gone back to her old ways much sooner.^* True, when Snow sees her with Cora two episodes from now, seeking the Dark One's dagger, her telling David about it seems more of a Here We Go Again!, but that's more due to them being used to distrusting Regina and her Chronic Villainy/Heel–Face Revolving Door—and the fact they're just then realizing Regina lied to them indicates they hadn't discussed the possibility earlier, particularly not thanks to anything Anton told them.
• The Unreveal: Although he staggers, looks dazed, and seems quite uncertain and confused, it's not revealed just how Gold was able to retain his memories until he got the shawl back on him at airport security. While it could be Emma simply got it on him quickly enough, her previous promise that she wouldn't let him lose his memories suggests that perhaps her innate Savior magic had something to do with it.
• We Need a Distraction: While she'd gladly love to see David die and Storybrooke get destroyed (especially if it will get her Henry back), the real reason Regina and Cora want Anton released and rampaging is this trope. Partly this is so the two of them can meet up with Hook unobserved, but the rest isn't revealed until the next two episodes.