Recap / Once Upon a Time S3 E15 "Quiet Minds"

Season 3, Episode 15:

Quiet Minds

Emma and company continue to investigate Gold's apparent resurrection as Henry grows suspicious about the strange town of Storybrooke. Regina finds out that Robin Hood is the man with the lion tattoo, her prophesied true love. Baelfire reappears with a strange symbol burned into his hand.

In the Enchanted Forest of a year ago, Belle and Bae search for a way to bring Rumple back to life with the help of Lumiere, a human trapped in a magical candlestick.

Tropes

• Adaptational Badass: In this series, Lumiere's not the candlestick; instead, he inhabits the combined flames of all the candles being lit. He also proves capable of subduing Zelena for a while, without any hint that he was capable of any action other than talking.
• Arrow Catch: Regina does this with Robin Hood. You know, the one whose arrows never miss.
• Book Safe: The key to the Dark One's vault is hidden in this manner.
• Brick Joke: Hook offering Neal Jello and commenting on its "great medicinal properties" is the payoff to one of these: In a Season 2 deleted scene, Hook woke up in a hospital and found a plate of Jello next to him, prompting him to break out of his handcuffs so he could find someone to explain to him what the hell it was.
• Composite Character: Lumiere's based on both Lumiere from "Beauty and the Beast", and Flicker from "The Ice King of Oz".
• Cooperation Gambit: Of a sort. Lumiere helps Belle and Neal bring back the Dark One in return for the latter giving him back his human form. Lumiere was actually enchanted by (and under the control of) Zelena, until he pulls a Heel–Face Turn.
• Couch Gag: The title card features Lumiere.
• A Death in the Limelight: Played with. The character who dies was most certainly not a bit player before this but an extremely important character. However, he had been missing for the prior three episodes only to show up now; the entire episode revolves around him; and he gets the chance to have closure with all the characters closest to him save one.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight/Dies Wide Open: Neal, to Emma.
• Equivalent Exchange: The only way to bring the Dark One back is to give your life in return. "All magic comes with a price."
• Evil vs. Evil: The conflict between Zelena and Regina is being set up as this, but the longer it goes on, the more clear that it's moving into Eviler than Thou territory, and finally into Black-and-Gray Morality. As Robin Hood says, "You know, I've heard many stories about the great and terrible Evil Queen, but from this angle, the 'Evil' moniker seems something of an overstatement."
• First-Name Basis: Neal finally calls Hook by his first name. It's the last time he sees him alive.
• Friend-or-Idol Decision: After he is brought Back from the Dead, Rumplestiltskin has to choose once again between retaining his Dark One dagger and helping his son—in this case, to use his power to save Neal's life. This time he makes the right choice.
• Fusion Dance: Gold took Neal into his own body to save his life, at the cost of his sanity. Has elements of both a Switcher and a Two Beings, One Body situation.
• Genre Savvy: Hook, when commenting on the fact Neal must have brought Gold back and that if he did, "dark magic like that comes with the darkest of prices."
• Heel–Face Turn: Lumiere, after originally helping Zelena trick Belle and Neal into bringing the Dark One back because she was the one who ensorcelled him, uses his flames to restrain her long enough for Belle to get away. He calls it a "flash of conscience" but it's clear from his expression at the time that it was Zelena ordering Rumple to kill Belle that caused him to change sides—while he wanted his freedom, he would not take it at the cost of an innocent life.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Neal convinces Emma to use her magic to separate him and his father, even though this will kill him, because they need Gold to tell them who the Wicked Witch is so everyone in Storybrooke can be saved.
• History Repeats: Once again, a man Emma loves dies in her arms.
• Honor Before Reason: Even though he knew they'd been manipulated into it by Zelena, and that there was a good chance she'd gain control of the Dark One's powers, Neal still opened the Vault because he was sure his father could figure a way out of it and he thought Rumple could get him back to Emma and Henry. Clearly he's learned his lesson when he gives his life to help Emma and Gold find the way to stop Zelena.
• Internal Reveal: Gold escaped from his cage at the end of the last episode, but considering Zelena's magic was holding him there and she had his dagger, it wasn't clear how this occurred. In this episode, Zelena reveals that Neal was the one who got them out; the implication is that he picked the lock, the same as he taught Emma to do when they were thieves together.
• Invasion of the Baby Snatchers: The woman you think is a sweet and harmless midwife who will help you have a normal healthy baby is actually an insane criminal—and you have no idea what she may have done to your baby or why she wanted to be near you except that she wants your baby.
• It's Personal: Prior to this, Emma simply wanted to break the curse to help her family and friends. But after Zelena's manipulations cost her the life of Henry's father, she's utterly determined to bring her down whatever it takes. Gold is similarly driven.
• Manipulative Bitch: The Wicked Witch's worst act to date? Tricking Neal and Belle (through Lumiere) into bringing the Dark One back, when she knew exactly what the cost would be.
  Rumple: You didn't tell them what the price would be!
  Zelena: Oops.
• Meaningful Echo:
  • Regina and Robin Hood exchange the same lines they did two episodes previously: "Don't get in my way."/"I wouldn't dream of it."
  • As a Call-Back all the way to when Emma first told Henry the (false) story of what happened to his father: "He was a hero."
• The Mole: Lumiere initially pretends to be one of Rumplestiltskin's many victims, until Belle catches him in a lie regarding the time he spent in Rumple's library.
• My Skull Runneth Over: Gold's problem, seemingly due to the fact he Came Back Wrong. Actually it's because he is keeping his own son's soul alive inside him.
• Mythology Gag: Aside from the fact Lumiere is found in the castle of Rumplestiltskin (this universe's version of the Beast), the manner in which he greets Belle and Neal is the same way he greeted Maurice in the Disney film.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He means well, but Neal does this twice over in this episode. In the past he was so determined to restore his father so he could get back to Emma and Henry that he ignored the consequences, with the result that he ended up dying and having to be taken into Rumple's body to survive, which allowed the Wicked Witch to get hold of the dagger. In the present he sacrifices himself so that Gold can tell Emma who the witch is so she can stop her, but the separation restores Gold's unstable mind...which allows Zelena to control him with the dagger again, something she had been having trouble doing up until then.
• Oh, Crap!: Regina, once she realizes Robin Hood is the man with the lion tattoo. It causes her to flee.
• Pet the Dog: Lumiere has a "flash of conscience" and saves Belle from Zelena.
• Remember the New Guy?: Lumiere tells Belle that they've never met because it's a big castle. Subverted because he's lying.
• Saying Too Much/Spotting the Thread: How Belle realizes they've been tricked: Lumiere, in an attempt to convince them he knows what he's talking about re: the Vault, claims he's been in the Dark One's library for "at least 200 years." But she knows from having been his maid that this specific room in the castle was built not too long before the Dark Curse was cast and so is only 30 years old.
• Thousand-Yard Stare: Emma has one of these when holding Henry after having to tell him Neal is dead. Then it turns into a Kubrick Stare.
• Town with a Dark Secret: In a beautiful inversion from the first season, instead of Regina trying to keep Emma from learning the truth about Storybrooke while Henry tries to get her to believe, the Laser-Guided Amnesia Henry is the one becoming suspicious of this quaint town, while Emma and Regina are working together to keep him in the dark.
• Tragic Keepsake: Emma's swan necklace, which Neal still has to remind him of her and Henry. Becomes even more so when he gives it back to her as he's dying.
• Wham Episode: Heartbreakingly so.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Even though he remembers nothing of his life in Storybrooke, Henry is a very smart kid, and this combined with having been taught to be Street Smart by Emma makes it rather easy for him to catch on to there being something off about the town and everyone in it—and specifically that his mother is keeping secrets from him.