Season 3, Episode 2:
Lost Girl
While Emma, Mary Margaret, David, Regina and Hook continue their search for Henry in Neverland, Peter Pan appears before a startled Emma and offers her a map that will reveal her son’s whereabouts. But the only way to make the map appear is for Emma to stop denying who she really is and come to grips with her true feelings about her identity – and Mr. Gold receives some unexpected advice from a friend that could lead him to understand his life’s journey while in Neverland. Meanwhile, in the Fairy Tale Land that was, when the Evil Queen presents Snow White with an offer to live her life with Charming in peace – with the caveat that she give up her claim to the throne – Charming makes it his mission to ensure that Snow doesn’t take the offer.
Tropes
- The Bus Came Back: The Magic Mirror since season 1.
- Chekhov's Gun: The heroes come across thorns in the jungle which produce the Dreamshade poison. This of course is to set up for the Lost Boys using it on their arrows, so that David can end up poisoned by it by episode's end.
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Rumpelstiltskin has a vision of Belle in Neverland that he suspects is a trick conjured up by Pan, but is in fact conjured up by him. Neverland's magic is so powerfully connected to belief and imagination that Belle is essentially magically duplicated in tangible form because Rumpelstiltskin wanted her to be there.
- Clingy MacGuffin: Rumpelstiltskin's toy doll which we discover was given to him by his father. He drops it off a cliff to symbolize his letting go of the past, but discovers it again when it falls from the sky and lands before him. He then burns it utterly to a crisp, yet it pops right back into existence.
- Couch Gag: The title card features Excalibur in the stone.
- Double-Meaning Title: It doesn't just refer to Emma's realization about her being an orphan, but to Snow White losing her way and thinking she's just "a girl who lost her parents and ran away to live in the woods" until Charming convinces her otherwise.
- Excalibur: Makes an appearance to convince Snow White that she is the rightful queen of the Enchanted Forest. Subverted in that the sword is a fake planted by Prince Charming in order to convince Snow that all she has to do is believe in herself in order to defeat the Evil Queen.
- Double Subverted, based on what we learn in a later season, as the real Excalibur (or at least, part of it), actually makes an appearance in this episode, in the present-day.
- Face-Revealing Turn: How Emma and the others find out who they think is Henry is actually Peter wearing his clothes.
- Genre Savvy: Rumple—the first thing he does this episode is cast a spell to remove his own shadow, then sends it to hide the Dark One's dagger where no one can find it, "not even me". Thus, no one (but especially not Pan) will be able to control or kill him.
- Gold Digger: The Dwarves accuse Prince Charming of being this at first.
- Insecure Protagonist, Arrogant Antagonist: After Snow White wakes up and decides to retake the kingdom with her fiancé, she has trouble trying to rally the folk behind her. The Evil Queen gloats to Snow that she cannot defeat her, and it is best if she gives up so Snow's loved ones may live.
- Magic Feather: Armed with Excalibur, Snow finds the courage to stand up to Regina. Rumplestiltskin reveals it's just an ordinary sword.
- Paper Cutting: Snow White lands one with Excalibur on the Evil Queen's cheek after defying her.
- Sadistic Choice: Made by Regina in the past to Snow—go and live a life of peace and love with her prince and the dwarves, while knowing she was ruling the kingdom and oppressing the people, or stay and watch Regina kill her allies and people one by one. Instead Snow (with Charming's help) finds the courage to attack and harm the Evil Queen directly, allowing them to instead face each other on the field of battle, as we already knew they did in the last two seasons.
- Secret Stab Wound: After a pitched battle with the Lost Boys, Prince Charming conceals from the others the poison arrow wound he received.
- Shout-Out: Hook tells the Head Lost Boy to remember what Hook did to Rufio, then tells him that he's in for a fate worse than that.
- Tracking Device: Regina casts a locator spell on the map Pan gave Emma to locate him and Henry. It works but only leads them into an ambush since they "broke the rules."
- Villainous Valor: Pan claims that if Emma stops denying who she really is, the map will lead her to Henry. When Regina uses a locator spell on the map instead, he says he's not giving up Henry solely because they cheated and "cheaters never win...bad form." On all but one other occasion Pan usually cheats or breaks his word in the end...but once Emma accepts, despite having found her parents, that she really is an orphan the map does work. So apparently this really was a case of Villains Never Lie (complete with said truth being a painful one designed to hurt and demoralize the hero).
- What the Hell, Hero?: Snow gives one to Charming after discovering the truth about Excalibur. He points out that while it may have been a lie, it revealed a greater truth: that Snow is the rightful queen of the Enchanted Forest and has the strength and courage to fight the Evil Queen.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Charming has to convince Snow White of this in order to stand up to the Evil Queen in a flashback.
