Season 6, Episode 14:
Page 23
Believing there isn't room in Storybrooke for both her and Regina, the Evil Queen sets out to eliminate her other half, using Robin as bait in order to trap her into battle. Hook, determined to make things work with Emma, turns to his old friend Captain Nemo for advice, but Gideon torpedoes the plan before he's able to set things right. In the Enchanted Forest of years past, Henry Sr.'s attempts to give his daughter guidance on how to be a better queen for the people, and to be truly happy rather than seeking revenge on Snow White, may prove the key to Regina's conflict in the present.
Tropes
- And Then What?: Both Robin and Regina point-blank ask the Evil Queen what she is going to do once she gets her "revenge," each knowing how empty her life will be afterward.
- Arc Words: Hook notes that "villains don't get happy endings" when talking to Nemo.
- Awful Truth: Not just that Hook killed David's father, but that he cannot face Emma or David knowing this is the case, because he can't live with or forgive himself.
- Bait-and-Switch: Emma catches Hook trying to burn the dream catcher with his memory of killing David's father. He thinks she's angry at him for this, but it's actually because he's still keeping secrets from her and doesn't trust her or her family to forgive him. And when he tells her he did this because he was ashamed and couldn't live with himself, she doesn't reject him, instead saying they need to be apart until he can face it, and them, and thus prove he's still the man she fell in love with. So he was right about the problems this secret would cause, but it's because there was one rather than its nature, and while it did drive a wedge between them, it can be easily removed if he just faces what he did and is true to himself (and her).
- Balance Between Good and Evil: Regina's final solution to the battle between herself and the Evil Queen? Remove her pure heart and the Queen's black one, then cast a spell to make each half-black/half-red. She then reinserts the heart so the Queen feels the balance of love while Regina remembers her own dark side.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Tinker Bell returns in a flashback confronting Regina.
- Likewise, Regina's father, Henry, shows up in the flashback to try and help save her from her quest of revenge.
- Captain Nemo pops up to bid farewell to Hook before he leaves with his crew. He also gives a talk to tell Hook to either tell Emma and the gang what he did or forgive himself. Hook ends up joining Nemo's crew thanks to Gideon.
- Can't Live Without You: The Evil Queen seeks to subvert this by using the Shears to cut herself off from Regina so she can kill her double.
- Continuity Nod:
- Tinker Bell reminds Regina of her fear of following her love for Robin.
- Hook brings up how he wrecked his own family and is terrified of doing the same to Emma's.
- Henry Sr. talks to Regina of the day she rode Rocinante and wouldn't stop smiling... the day she first met Daniel.
- When Regina wants to know how the Evil Queen sent Robin home, she reveals that Gold being busy with Gideon in the previous episode allowed her to slip into the pawn shop and take the Apprentice's wand.
- Couch Gag: The title card features Regina's castle.
- Diabolus ex Machina: After everything works out with Wish Robin and the Evil Queen, and Hook has decided not to run any more and instead face what he did so he can be with Emma, Gideon shows up to force him, Nemo, and the Nautilus to leave Storybrooke. Invoked by Gideon since he clearly believes removing Emma's True Love and making her think Hook left her will make her vulnerable to him.
- Forgiveness: It turns out this is the way to "vanquish" the Evil Queen. What makes it even more powerful is that when Zelena, Emma, and even Snow are not sure they could or should do this, Regina herself can and does. It's enough to remind Snow that even the darkest souls can be redeemed and she should not give up on hope. (Of course the fact she promises not to hurt them, apologizes, and has given Regina the information that will help them break the Sleeping Curse helps too.)
- Genre Savvy:
- Robin tells the Evil Queen she might as well join him in a fresh start as "in a town full of heroes, a villain like you doesn't stand a chance."
- Henry Sr. tells Regina he knows Cupid's Arrow can't be a love spell as "those never work."
- His Own Worst Enemy: In flashbacks, Regina uses an enchanted arrow to find "the one I hate the most" thinking it's Snow White. She follows the arrow to her own castle and then a dresser. Opening it, Regina is confused as to Snow not being there... then sees her reflection to realize the one she hates the most... is herself.
- I Choose to Stay: After his insecurity and self-loathing drive Killian to flee Storybrooke with Nemo until he can be worthy of Emma again, finding out that the Evil Queen could achieve redemption (so villains can get happy endings) leads him to this decision instead. Unfortunately Gideon has other ideas.
- I Have Your Wife: Or "I Have Your Former Lover's Doppelganger"; the Evil Queen holds Robin hostage to get Regina to face her so she can use the Shears and then destroy her.
- Internal Reveal: Emma discovers (thanks to a memory catcher) that Hook killed David's father.
- Loophole Abuse: It turns out Henry can use the Quill to affect the Evil Queen's destiny as she's not (technically) from his book so it doesn't count.
- Meaningful Echo: In the flashback, when she realizes the arrow has indicated her own enemy is herself, Regina smashes a mirror and sees her reflection in the shards. In the present, Regina is about to crush the Evil Queen's heart when she catches the same reflection in broken glass and realizes what's happening. There is also another echo since the crushing of the Evil Queen's heart is how Regina originally tried to destroy her in New York.
- Mirror Match: Regina and the Evil Queen have it out with swords. Takes a more literal meaning as a broken mirror plays a major role in how Regina ends the conflict.
- Motive Misidentification: The Evil Queen thinks Henry is going to use the Quill to write her out of existence. Henry tells her that he actually hoped to give a push to the good that's deep inside the Queen.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Henry Sr brings Regina to a grove so she can use Cupid's arrow to find her love. Instead, Regina uses the magic to have the arrow seek out the one she hates, meaning Snow White (or so she thinks).
- "Not So Different" Remark: Robin points out that he and the Evil Queen have a lot in common being "ne'er-do-well versions" of Regina and Robin.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Snow shows up at the wharf to tell Hook about the Evil Queen's redemption and, not knowing of Emma giving back the ring, proceeds to tell him how happy she is for them, that he's the right man for Emma, and she looks forward to having him in her family. This is part of what convinces him to change his mind.
- Pair the Spares: In an odd way, this is both literally true for Wish Robin and the Evil Queen, while also being a subversion on several levels — the Evil Queen isn't a spare since she still is very much a part of Regina, the other Robin isn't a spare since despite the fletching he isn't the real Robin but his own man, and while putting them together wraps up and resolves their plots and arcs, it's also fulfilling the destiny Robin and Regina were originally supposed to have. And if it leads to True Love and a new start for them both, it's certainly not a throwaway spare relationship.
- Prophecy Twist: It turns out the image from the book of Regina and Robin getting together in the tavern was right all along. It was just the Evil Queen and Wish Robin instead. Foreshadowed obliquely by the successful use of the Shears — if the Evil Queen is no longer tied to the destiny of Regina (who lost Robin), then she might still have a chance with (a version of) him.
- Redemption Earns Life:
- After being given some of Regina's love and goodness, this is what happens to the Evil Queen — Regina, Snow, Emma, and even Zelena to a degree, forgive her and trust her to start a new life somewhere else without coming back to hurt them again.
- Nemo in an indirect way tries to tell Killian this, that if he has truly changed, he can either admit the truth to Emma and her family and trust that they will forgive him, or he can not tell them but forgive himself; either way, he gets to have a happy life. Hook doesn't believe him, until he learns of the above fate for the Evil Queen, proving it's still possible for him too.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: In a way, by being sent to the Wish realm to the tavern Where It All Began, the Evil Queen can do this for herself and Robin by undoing Regina's original choice.
- Sleeping Dummy: Snow actually uses this to escape the cabin and evade Regina in the flashback.
- Slipped the Ropes: Subverted; Robin, at first, seems to easily break free of the ropes the Evil Queen tied him in, but the ropes instantly tie him up again because they're enchanted.
- Snow Means Love: Played with; it's snowing when Hook is planning to leave Storybrooke in order to become the man Emma fell in love with (in which case it's a symbol of what he hopes to come back to), but instead he's trapped into leaving by Gideon thus making Emma believe he left her (i.e. the death of their relationship).
- Take a Third Option: The Evil Queen wants to kill Regina; Regina is prepared to kill the Evil Queen. Then she does this instead when she chooses to make she and her other half equal in terms of light and darkness, giving the Evil Queen a chance at redemption.
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Regina feels this way about facing the Evil Queen since she doesn't want anyone else she loves or cares about to come to harm. It turns out she was more right than she knew since the solution ended up being something she and only she could do.
- Title Drop: Regina notes "page 23" from the book being the Happy Ending she would have had with Robin before the Author interfered.
- Villain Team-Up: The one from the previous episode ends up subverted. First rather than actually allying with Robin, the Evil Queen uses him to get back the Shears, then makes him her hostage to force Regina to come and face her; then after she is redeemed by Regina and sent to a new life by Henry, she gets to "team up" with Robin since she had sent him home as promised... except not as villains since, as she said, that "didn't work out for me."
- You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Henry finally calls the Evil Queen "Mom" after she is redeemed, apologizes, and offers them the information they need to break the Sleeping Curse; it deeply affects her.
