Season 2, Episode 18:
Selfless, Brave and True
The Dragon: What I create is not from this world, because the people that need my help suffer from afflictions that science cannot treat.
August Booth: I lived a life...of selfishness, cowardice and dishonesty. And only I can cure that. Not magic, not...science, just me.
While Mary Margaret goes off on her own in an attempt to come to grips with what she did to Cora and how her deed has affected her, she stumbles upon August, who has hidden himself away from the others and is completely made of wood — ashamed at the actions he has taken in life; and Emma is shocked when Neal invites his fiancée, Tamara, to come to Storybrooke. Meanwhile, before the curse was broken, August is introduced to a man of magic who may be able to prevent him from turning back into wood — but at a steep price.
Tropes:
- The Bus Came Back: August, who has been off-screen since coming back to life at the start of the season and running away from his room at Granny's B&B, is revealed to have been hiding in a trailer in the woods.
- Contrived Coincidence:
- Tamara, supposedly in search of a cure for her cancer but actually trying to find proof of real magic, happened to come to the Dragon at the same time August was there to stop turning into wood. Which in turn allows her to learn of Storybrooke when she tracks him down—which then lets her cross paths with Neal, and use a relationship with him to get what she wants.
- This also explains what seemed like an example of the trope in the present, that she happened to come to town after Neal right when August was there: because it isn't a coincidence at all, she knew very well he'd be there from hearing and seeing him talk to Neal about going to Storybrooke to help Emma break the curse and save himself, and so she rushed there not to see Neal, but to prevent August from telling anyone about her. Although the fact she came there right when Mary Margaret had happened to discover the wooden August in his trailer is another coincidence.
- Couch Gag: The title card features August's house trailer.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Tamara kills the Dragon with a taser.
- Disney Death: August.
- Find the Cure!: Tamara's ostensible reason for seeing the Dragon, but it turns out to be a rather disgusting lie just to let her get close enough to kill him (and obtain the information he knows about Storybrooke/the Enchanted Forest/the storybook). Also August's real reason for seeing him.
- Fountain of Youth: August has turned back into a young Pinocchio, probably permanently.
- Heel Realization: Three times.
- In the past, August has one after a thwarted effort to steal from a woman who (he thinks) has cancer.
- Immediately after this, when her reclaiming of the money leaves him collapsed in the street, his leg turning to wood and him with no way to get the Dragon to restore him, he realizes his only hope is to go to Storybrooke and fulfill his original promise to help Emma believe so she will break the Dark Curse.
- Finally, in the present he tries to make up for everything he did wrong by warning Emma and the others about Tamara—since he had also gone back and discovered she killed the Dragon. Unfortunately she manages to fatally injure him so he can't, and while his life is saved by the Blue Fairy it costs him the knowledge he'd need to carry out his final wish.
- He Knows Too Much: The reason Tamara kills August, because he knows she had been lying about her cancer, had used the pretext to kill the Dragon, and is after magic for some unknown purpose.
- His Name Is...: Before August can tell Emma and Neal about Tamara's treachery, he dies, and while the Blue Fairy saves him by restoring him as little boy Pinocchio, this also robs him of the warning he was going to give them. Subverted slightly however in that him identifying the enemy as a "her" narrows down the field of suspects for Emma a great deal, since there aren't very many unknown women in town who could be the culprit; she certainly zeroes in on Tamara right away in the next couple episodes.
- Internal Reveal:
- Feeling guilty that August has turned back to wood because he sent him alone into this world of temptation, Marco confesses to Snow and Emma about his forcing the Blue Fairy to lie about the wardrobe tree, and that he'd sent Pinocchio with baby Emma.
- Also Regina, who had thought Greg looked familiar, figures out he's Owen and confronts him about it.
- Magical Asian: The Dragon.
- Meet Cute: Neal and Tamara. All according to Tamara's design.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: The Thai and Chinese characters sound very American.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Tamara makes one of these after discovering August is in town: leave town without telling Emma and Neal about her villainous/questionable actions, and she'll give him the potion she originally got from the Dragon that can cure his wood curse. Despite knowing what she'll do to him if he stays, his conscience makes him refuse, going to warn them instead.
- Plot Parallel: Snow White, still anguished over what she did to Cora, finds herself involved in helping reunite August/Pinocchio with Marco/Geppetto so the former can find redemption, with more than a few comments made by both men hitting a little close to home to her. In the end, despite the fact he can only be saved by being restored to a little boy with no memories of his adult life, Snow at least gets to see that redemption is possible. And David reassures her that a path for her is possible which won't lead to either August's fate or Regina's.
- Pulling the Thread: August starts to leave town with the potion...but then the photo of Tamara and her grandmother falls out from behind the visor, letting him know she'd gone back to the Dragon to get it and therefore must have been the one to kill him. This, and her unknown reason for being in Storybrooke and wanting magic, makes him turn back to warn everyone.
- Reality Is Unrealistic: Some viewers pointed out that Pinocchio could not be killed with a taser because wood is an insulator against electricity. Wood is actually a weak conductor
and becomes a better conductor if it contains moisture, as Pinocchio's body likely did.- Also, it's magic wood.
- Jane Espenson tweeted that it wasn't a normal taser.
- The Reveal: We find out both that the mysterious "her" Greg has been in contact with is Tamara (making her part of a Villain Team-Up with him), and that they're romantically involved. Though it's never revealed how they met each other or became involved with the Home Office (beyond vague comments of other "believers" finding them), or for that matter how and why she knew of the Dragon and became fixated on destroying magic. While it could be speculated it involved her grandmother in some way, the lie she told to get an audience with the Dragon makes everything she said suspect, even whether the woman in question really was her grandmother.
- Stealth Pun: When practicing archery to try to distract herself from her guilt and depression, Snow is listening to a song by Joan Jett. Joan Jett's backing group were at one time called the Blackhearts. Also, when Regina runs into Snow at the diner, she tells her to try the special because it's right up her alley: "blackened sole."
- Title Drop: Done courtesy of the Blue Fairy.
- Transformation Is a Free Action: Subverted, as the Dragon is taken out mid-One-Winged Angel with a handy taser shot.
