There’s nothing worse than a broken heart. I think pretty much everyone has experienced that at one point or another. It’s hard to watch it happen too. Last night on Once Upon a Time we finally got some much needed information on just what happened between Hook and Emma. It seems that our darling second Dark One wasn’t thrilled about being a Dark One at all. This last episode was all around hard to watch, and I’m sure everyone felt that. Killian doesn’t hurt Emma, he takes her memories and then places the cuff on her wrist, making sure she can’t use her dark powers. Zelena goes off to find a new born baby, and well, Killian is off to do….something.
 
Emma finally spills the beans to her family. She tells them how she’d turned Hook into a Dark On in order to save him. Said that she was protecting him and everyone. The plan to put it all in Zelena and get rid of her was a good one, yes, but it was a bit on the murder side of things. Still, details. Nobody is willing to trust her now. Especially given that she hid this from them. She’d tried so hard to keep everyone safe. What really went down between them? What went so wrong that has Hook blatantly telling Emma he hates her? It’s a sad story. She changed him, and they were going to be okay, even Hook was coping a bit better than expected. But then Emma made a mistake, she lied about the sword, about having it. She wanted to protect Killian and keep him from making bad choices, keep it as a failsafe…
 
Sadly, that moment broke his trust, and with it his heart. Hook never wanted to be a Dark One, the rage he feels towards being turned against his will completely eclipses his love for Emma. Despite knowing what and why she did it, he’s not about to let it go so easily. He wasn’t strong enough to fight the Darkness and had told her that. He has a plan, though, a curse. He won’t crush Emma’s heart to do it however. There is a loophole….Hook wants to bring the Darkness to Storybrooke, he wants to extinguish the light for good, like all the other Dark Ones. And, he wants his revenge against Rumple. To do that, well, he still needs to enact the curse. He toys with Emma, gets her trust, gets Excalibur, and steals Merlin’s heart. Since all Dark One’s are the original Dark One, crushing his Heart allows the curse to be enacted without Hook having to kill Emma. I may have actually cried my eyes out at this loss….Merlin was my favorite…

In an effort to save Killian, Emma knocks him out, takes his memories, and then takes the memories from everyone else…and that’s how we ended up where we are now. Hook, however, is out for his revenge. He challenges Rumple to a duel. Which is good, because Emma needs to find the dream catchers and give everyone, including herself, their memories back. Hook does fix Rumple’s leg, and then fights, and loses…but on purpose…Rumple meets Belle at the Well where they were married, and promptly gets his heart broken. Belle loves him, but she also needs to figure herself out. After so many years of having her heart broken by the man, she doesn’t know how to fix their relationship without fixing herself first.
 
Meanwhile, Regina does something I wasn’t expecting. She meets Zelena at the hospital and then takes her to an apartment. The feud between the two has got to stop, and Regina is determined to find a way for them to get along. She tells her sister what changed her heart, what made her want to be better and different, it was Henry. She’s hoping that Zelena will do the same thing. After all, Robin and Regina aren’t about to let Zelena take the child, but they’re not willing to keep her away either. Zelena is the baby’s mother…and they need to find a way to make this work….
 
And with a slightly happy moment, Emma gives everyone back their memories after Henry frees Emma from the cuff. She realizes what Hook is doing, and now they have to stop him from releasing the Darkness….Which is a bit too late. He is at the shore of the lake, where the Fury was going to drag Robin into it. It just so happens that the lake holds a portal. The Darkness can be freed, but first the blood of someone who has been to hell and back had to be placed into the lake. Hence the fight with Rumple…and now we have to wait a whole week to find out what happens…..

When it comes to The Librarians, we have seen our intrepid band of heroes meet some incredible people over the last couple of years. Some of them have been super awesome, like say, Santa Claus. Others have been less than savory people, but in all of their travels through the world of magic, they've never quite met someone that was pure evil...until now. 

After all, there really is no way to put the Devil in good light what so ever and on this week's episode of the show, that's exactly who they met, the Devil...or at least someone who was more than happy to take on that title as they essentially fought for their souls and the souls of others in another wonderful episode.  This go round the team was called to a tiny town where an intern had gone missing. Eve as it turns out was already in town to help out Sam Denning, a former friend she served in the military with now running for Mayor of this little berg and it was his intern that was now missing.

The good news turned out to be that her absence was brief. The bad news is...when she returns, she comes back dead and as the authorities investigate Sam, the Librarians begin to dig into the strange Sigul present near her corpse. As it turns out the symbol represents that of a Devil, one that they realize has been working with the Keating family, the exact namesake currently running against Sam for Mayor as well. They determine that a contract has been put in place and the Executor of the contract, or Devil if you will, works at the whim of the contract, which is more than happy to provide the person who signs it their wildest dreams...all for the price of a disaster and the sacrifice of human life. 

It leads to a hunt for the contract, one that actually goes better than expected as Jenkins finally leaves the Annex and comes out into the field for a change, before everything goes terribly wrong and Sam decides to put his name on the paper instead to finally do some good in his mind. But as it turns out, the sacrifice this go round will be brutal and it takes all of the gang to put together a plan to foil the contract and well, it almost costs Ezekiel, Jake and Cassandra their lives and souls as the Executor does his best to tempt them. But quick thinking from Eve is what saves the day and she is able to not only foil the Executor, but make him human in the process and void the contract from ever being used again.

This was an episode that I was looking forward to for a couple of reasons. First and foremost it was directed by Jonathan Frakes, a boyhood hero of mine and outstanding director to say the least and John de Lancie, Q himself from Star Trek: The Next Generation guest starred as the contract's Executor and well, he was outstanding in the role to say the least. Another thing I also enjoyed about this episode, was the expanded role of Jenkins. It was great to see him in the field, working alongside the team and he had plenty of scene stealing moments because of it and he also had the show's most powerful moment when he explained Eve's purpose as the Guardian and how it was up to her to save the Librarians souls. It was a strong ending to a strong episode and I can't wait to see what wonders await us come next week.

Let me just start as saying that I know very little of Jessica Jones and her origins.  With that being said, I was psyched when Netflix said they were going to bring out another Marvel show that featured a woman character.  There have not been a lot of female characters getting the lead in any of Marvel’s movies, so I was very excited to see a strong female lead in her own show.  I am a sucker for a strong female character in all types of movies, especially in the horror genre and now that a comic book character is coming out in her own show, well, there is no reason to pass this by.  So let’s jump into the first episode, shall we?

Jessica Jones is a private investigator looking to make ends meet and most of her cases she has been taking on revolve around the adultery market.  Even though most people are not happy with what she finds, they have to except what they paid her to do, but most of them take out their frustrations on her, or try to at least.  With some super strength, she is able to defend herself, but she also has a hard time keeping a lock functional on her office/home door.  When she finds her friend Malcolm in her home, wacked out of his mind, Jessica is shocked to see that the police have thrown a missing persons case in her direction.

Mr. and Mrs. Shlottman are looking for their daughter who is going to school at NYU.  Although they get weekly calls from her, they fear that something is wrong when she said that she will be taking a break from her track career.  Hope has loved track ever since she was a child and it would take something life changing to make her stop.  Upon her investigation, Jessica finds Hope’s friend's address and finds out that the young woman has run off with a man, but there is more to who this man is than meets the eye.  Visiting a restaurant where Hope dined, Jessica finds out who the man is and it brings back issues from her own past.  Knowing that there is something sinister happening, she begs Hope’s parents to leave the state before they get pulled into the same scenario that she had to fight off six months ago.

On Jessica’s other life front, she is picking up odd jobs from Jeri Hogarth, a lawyer who needs some additional help on the hard cases.  Being able to deliver summons and find the dirt on anyone is Jessica’s strong suit and she always delivers.  But the jobs never end and when she is out of booze and cannot sleep, Jessica takes to the New York streets to find out what the filth around the city is up to.  She gets called out by a dive bar owner for her actions and Luke Cage is no joke when it comes to getting what he wants.  Hooking up, Jessica finds a picture of someone from Luke’s past and has to leave after a fun night, breaking his door as she always does when she is frazzled.  Tough nights with booze, investigations and now a blast from the past, Jessica is forced to relive some of the torments that she has had to face and needs to find a way to forget them once and for all.

This is a great opening to the series and although you don’t get to know too much about Jessica Jones just yet, there are seeds being planted that will come into play later.  With her new friend Luke Cage, Jessica does not know where the relationship will go, but she does know he is keeping his secrets and will be a tough nut to crack.  When finding Hope Shlottman, her memories of dealing with Kilgrave come front and center and even though you do not see what he has done to her, you will surely be seeing him more often.  There is also a relationship with Trish Walker, who runs a talk show that gives you a little bit of insight of what the two women meant to each other in the past and when Jessica tries to run, Trish calls her out on what she is running from.  I cannot wait to see what happens next and get a little bit more insight as to who Jessica is and what she is running from, besides, this episode has one of the finest endings I have seen in a long time. 

So, if you haven’t heard about the latest Marvel series on Netflix, you really should go check it out. I’m currently on episode 3 and might be pathetically hooked. With 13 episodes making up the first season, and already available, it is hard to stop watching. With that being said, I have to admit that I am really impressed with this show. While each episode flies by as most of these types of shows tend to do, it's not hard to follow along, and more importantly, be entertained.
 
If you’ve read the comics then you’re one step ahead of me. Jessica Jones is someone I’ve heard of, but not really seen, and she’s a really awesome person. In New York we find our Heroine struggling with some things. What, we aren’t entirely sure, but what we do know is that she is a private investigator and might just happen have a drinking problem. She’s also really strong…like, really strong. In a world with heroes and villains, our Jessica is just trying to make her way in the world. A product of experimentation, Jones is a gifted human not fully advertising or hiding her powers.
 
She’s trying to survive, and so far does a good job, until a particular case hits too close to home. There are some people out there that use their gifts for evil, and self-gain. Kilgrave just happens to be one of them. It’s hard to look at him and not think of the Doctor, but David Tennant is really good at being the bad guy here. He’s a telepath that uses his powers for whatever he wants. He’s been in Jessica’s head before…and isn’t about to let that go. She left him for dead, after all….
 
All in all, I highly recommend this show. I’m also curious if we’re going to get a Daredevil cross over….Which just sounds fun. Both shows are pretty awesome, and while Jessica Jones was just released, I’m already hoping for a second season. Now, if anyone needs me, I’m going to watch episode 4.

After weeks of high flying and cheery storylines Supergirl decided to change it up and take us into a darker realm, one perhaps more appropriate of the current state of affairs in the superhero market and as expected, the show did it in spectacular fashion, all while maintaining the best elements of what we love about it. 

This week Kara faced off against a rogue bomber, one that seemed to be attacking random and odd targets all tied to Maxwell Lord in some form or fashion and in between that...she was doing her best to juggle her busy life. Turns out that Kara volunteered to help watch Cat's son while Ms. Grant headed off to Metropolis to accept an award and that's the first thing I'd like to talk about today, because this was a wonderful addition to Supergirl's story thus far.

Despite her ability to do anything and be anywhere, for the first time in this series Supergirl was actually overwhelmed, doing her best to juggle her job responsibilities, saving the world and keeping her personal life going and I loved this for one simple reason...it made her completely relatable on so many levels. Maybe not the saving the world part since hey, I sit on a couch and type words into a computer, but I digress, it's the fact that we are all struggling to find the balance in our daily lives. We too have demanding jobs and friends to balance and that takes quite a bit of effort and struggle and it's nice to see something like this addressed on a show where it looks like the character can do anything. Not to mention, I loved the twist that Supergirl had to make a tough choice between saving people at the airport...or saving people on a train.

That choice came about because of Ethan Knox, a former employee of Maxwell's who was fired six months ago and appeared to be the mastermind behind all of these awful bombings and as it turns out...he was merely a pawn in one of the series' best moments to date with the big reveal that Maxwell Lord may end up serving a type of Lex Luthor role on this show. Maxwell was merely testing our Girl of Steel, trying to learn her abilities and destroying his own infrastructure, and killing Ethan in the process to find out what she can do, and long term he hopes to reveal her true identity. It was a chilling storyline to say the least, one that I did not expect to see on the show and while Supergirl can't prove this scheme to the authorities...now we know what Lord is all about.  

The other little tidbit this episode managed to produce was the reinforcement of the theory that Daniel posed to me...that Hank Henshaw is the Martian Manhunter. After all, he was in tune with the bomb at the airport, exhibited some super strength in getting inside of it an was able to disable it no problem. The Hank Henshaw of the comics would have blown people up, the fact that this one saved the day...speaks volumes to the fact he is a friend for certain. Either way, this was a great episode. It handled a darker tone without bringing the audience down or leaving you devastated in any way and well, I liked the pacing this go round and the bolder storyline. I'm hoping they keep up with more diverse tales like this down the road. Until next time.

There's been an interesting mystery brewing on The Librarians, one that has been slowly building to a boil, specifically the fact that the Library has been losing artifacts left and right and seems to be..."off" ever since it returned. Eventually these missing artifacts and the Library's strange behavior had to come to a head and it all finally came together on last night's episode. 

In fact, "And the Hollow Men" not only answered all of our questions about the Library, but it signaled the return of Flynn Carsen as another missing artifact brought him and most of the group together once again, albeit for a brief moment, since whomever is behind these missing items managed to knock out the group with Pan's Flute and kidnapped Flynn in the process, in what turned out to be one fascinating episode with some pretty hefty ramifications for the rest of the season and for Flynn and Eve.

Flynn as it turns out has been kidnapped by a strange and confused man named Ray who happens to know a lot about the Librarians, but not much else. He is a man without any memory of who or what he is, he just knows he needs Flynn to help him get it back. Along the way, Flynn makes a startling discovery as to why Ray cannot remember anything and why artifacts appear out of thin air and end up  in his possession...Ray is the physical manifestation of the Library, ripped from the safety of it when everything was restored late in season one, but without his memory, Ray cannot return to where he belongs so the two of them set out to restore Ray's memory by way of finding an ancient staff.

But as they search for it, things take a scary turn for the rest of the group. During their own search and rescue mission for Flynn the Librarians find some of the missing artifacts and run into Moriarty in the process and during their escape Eve is left behind to deal with him since the Library is running out of magic to produce for one simple reason...without the physical manifestation that is Ray, the Library is dying. It forces Eve and Moriarty to become partners for a little while as they join in the hunt to find Flynn as well while the Librarians do their best to keep the Library going. Thankfully Flynn and Ray find the staff they seek but the power it possesses is too much for Ray to handle and when Moriarty and Eve arrive, it's up to the fictional villain to grab the staff to save Ray and there is a price after all for dealing with evil...since he makes off with the staff that will no doubt be in Prospero's hands in no time. 

But the good news is, the Library is saved and not a moment too soon because we learned an interesting fact about the Library, it essentially feeds on the energy of magic and all the items surrounding it and well, had the lights completely gone out Jenkins was prepared to sacrifice himself to make sure it had just enough life force to keep it going. But despite the Library being saved, it was in many ways a pyrrhic victory. Prospero has a staff and Flynn...well Flynn still cannot work with a team which is unfortunate because when they work together the Librarians are unstoppable. It's simply a matter of when Flynn will learn this and he needs to hurry because clearly, Eve isn't having much more of it. Either way things are going to get a lot more interesting now since Prospero has another important piece of the puzzle to complete his evil plan...

The holidays are rapidly approaching, and let me tell you, guys, it has been a year. This week alone has just....been not been a good one. I won't bore anyone with details, but when I'm not 100% I shop. Whether it's online, or in stores, I tend to look for things to buy, either for myself or others. Little bit of both lately. The only downside to being friends with the people you blog with,  is you can't write a blog about the things you plan to buy them, because they will read it...and then know what you're getting them. It is really hard too, I often find something for the four of them that I really want to share with you guys. Either way, this week was no different. I found a few items I know the team is going to love, and if they are reading this, don't worry. I'm not going  to spoil your present surprises on here. Mostly, I went out and found things to make myself feel better...because that is the adult thing to do in these situations.

With the onset of the holidays I felt truly in need for some gift ideas that make me happy, and warm. I am not a fan of the cold, which is totally why I should live in the center of the sun until winter is over. In the meantime, what keeps you warmer than mugs? They hold hot stuff, you can put other things in them, like coffee, and mostly hot chocolate, or tea if you're feeling that. This unicorn mug says "buy me for Mattie and then use me when she's not looking!" okay, it doesn't really say that, per se, but it should. It is really cute, just look at it. Look. I found this, and almost everything today, on ThinkGeek. This mug is $12.99, which is a reasonable price for the cutest mug ever.

Other things that tend to make me happy are Groot! Seriously, I am still addicted to this little guy. There is actual video of me dancing like Groot to the music from the movie. So, when I saw this Mug to the right with the Groot on top? Well, let's just say I have to own it. ThinkGeek is determined to make me poor. If that was not enough, they have a legit dancing Groot! Look to your left, gaze at his mechanical dancing glory! Unlike the $14,99 mug, he runs a bit more pricey. Sitting at a nice $199.99, this beautiful piece of art can be yours. Or rather mine....most likely not mine, as I am poor....But I can hope, dream, and be my own dancing Groot in the mean time....

Groots and mugs aside, there is another thing that will always bring a smile to my face, and that is jackets, sadly I don't have pictures of the first two jackets I'm going to talk about. Both I bought at HotTopic in my local mall and they were pretty amazing. During Halloween this year they had the very trench coat Castiel wears in Supernatural. Okay, yes, I already own a few of those, and Mattie and I have both cosplayed with them. But, this was lighter, and more importantly, I wanted it. Originally the thing was $70, but I ended up getting it on clearance for $17.50. No. Regrets. Literally the next week though, Mattie and I found these stupid Avengers jackets, and yes, they had the Age of Ultron hoodie version of Hawkeye's jacket...I blame Mattie for that one. She's the bad little devil on my left shoulder.

But, Hoodies are magical, Wearing them always makes ne feel better. And warm. Because being cold is so not fun to do in the winter time. HotTopic actually has a wonderful selection of Hoodies and Jackets right now. They restocked up and even have the Bomber Tony Stark and leather Black Widow jackets in. If you're looking for something more blatantly Black Widow then head back to ThinkGeek, There you'll not just find a really cool Black Widow hoodie, but a few others as well. They run about the same price as HotTopic and they have a wider selection of nerdy things and replicas. Like these really awesome Star Trek Hoodies! I totally picked these for the team. Guys, hear me out here.....I mean, just look at them! They're so cool! They also had Star Wars and of course other superhero themed jackets, but these were my favorite.

At least once a year, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. puts on a penultimate episode that manages to not only blow away the fans, but at the same time change the dynamic of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and last night...that episode arrived on our television screens and holy cow, did they unleash the storytelling fury upon all of us. 

Not only did we get all kinds of answers about the ATCU and their purpose, the potential future for Ftiz and Simmons' wacky relationship (they kiss and quite frankly it was overshadowed by everything else so let's leave it at that), we also got a peek into the true origin of Hydra and in the process the show did what it does best, tie everything together in impressive fashion. So where do we begin this week, well that's easy, let's start with the simplest of the surprises to digest last night, the fact that Rosalind Price is a good guy after all. 

It turns out that Price was basically hired to do a job, run the ATCU and nothing more, and this discovery only came about because of the fact that Coulson decided it was finally time to research this mysterious organization and infiltrate it with his people to find out what they were truly up to. The team quickly discovers that not only are the Inhumans not being stored in the primary facility as they were led to believe, but that a vast supply of fish oil tablets are being handed out in the hopes of creating more Inhumans, but the exact reason as to why is unknown to the team...all that Price and the team are able to ascertain is that it is somehow related to Gideon Malick and Hydra friend and that's when the real surprises came into play as the show dropped several on us.

The first one, is the fact that Powers Boothe is not playing a new Hydra character, he is in fact reprising his role as a World Council Member from The Avengers and after toying with Grand Ward in a roundabout murdery sort of way he lures Grant to the Von Strucker vault to reveal Hydra's true origins, our second surprise of the night. As the story goes, ages ago an Inhuman was born on earth. Worshipped by some, feared by others this creature was banished to another world and those who believed that this being was meant to rule it all...brought forth the birth of Hydra and they have been sending a blood sacrifice to this planet for ages, the last one being Jemma's beloved Will and Mister Malick, is building an army of Inhumans to help this creature rule us all because he is fully aware of the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. brought someone back. 

So...wow. I actually like this crazy twist that the show put together for Hydra simply because, it gives them a new depth and direction. It does explain why the Red Skull was so obsessed with the Tesseract since he and Hydra believe true power comes from beyond and it's an interesting path for the organization as a whole when you think about it. Clearly somewhere along the way they decided taking over the world on their own mattered more and guys like Malick just sat back and enjoyed the ride. Either way, I know not everyone will be cool with it, some folks that I've talked with found this revelation to be underwhelming so really...it's up to the show to make it worth our while, but alas...we are on a brief hiatus until December 1st...guess we find out how this all comes together in a couple of weeks. Until then. 

One of the grand benefits of having a top tier DC Comics SuperHero grace our television screens every single week is the sheer fact that some of the most iconic villains from DC have the opportunity to show up and one of the more "modern classic" baddies if you will from the DC Animated Universe managed to pop up last night on Supergirl.

It was Livewire that graced our presence this week on the show and her appearance/origin story was nothing short than a classic comic book tale come to life as we were introduced to Leslie Willis, a National City shock jock who felt the need to insult and rip Supergirl to pieces on the airwaves as often as possible, garnering the ire of the powerful Cat Grant as she banishes Leslie to doing nothing more than mere traffic reports until she decides to clean up her act.  

That's when things get interesting since a storm puts Leslie's traffic helicopter in jeopardy and in the process of saving her, Kara is slammed by a lightening bolt that transfers from her body to Leslie's, putting the shock jock into a coma and when she emerges from it...she is transformed into Livewire and both Cat Grant and Supergirl have to work together to find a way to bring down this new ruthless villain and well...this was hands down the best episode of season one to date. It's clear the show is finding its stride at this point and at last our characters are starting to grow, especially Cat since this experience appears to have changed her fundamentally.

Gone is her disdain for Supergirl for starters, but more importantly, she was able to recognize the folly of her work ethic and how she treats others, taking responsibility for the monster that Livewire became. It was a wonderful performance on Calista Flockhart's part, since up to this point she has been a tad one dimensional and I love the fact that she came to an epiphany that her attitude and her desire to stick with the hot story may have caused more harm than good. But, the centerpiece of the night revolved around the Department of Extra-Normal Operations and the questions that are now in my mind about Hank Henshaw and his purpose on the show. 

We learned last night that Hank came to the Danvers home years ago demanding Kara be handed over and rather than let that happen, Jeremiah went to work for the organization to keep his adopted daughter safe. Now, an interesting theory has been posed to me by way of our very own Daniel and he makes a good one. I've been of the assumption that Hank is the Cyborg, a villain known for horrible things in the DC Universe but Dan has made mention of the fact that he could actually be...Martian Manhunter. The fact that he can shape shift, and is in tune with computers are all attributes of this character but the matter at hand is whether or not he is friend or foe and well...I think he is here to help, it's more a matter of, I think he understands what threats are coming earth's way and he will do whatever it takes to make sure the greater good is protected. Either way, time will tell. 

But, despite all the awesome that we were privy to this week, there is one thing that the show keeps doing that is starting to get under my skin, the whole "we have to protect Kara" routine. Look, we get it, the people close to her care for her so much, so stop treating her as though she is a mere mortal who happened upon these powers by accident. She's Superman's freaking cousin, and I think four episodes in we can see she can handle herself. It just seems like a cop out plot point to create character conflict rather than advance the story and I can't wait for it to be over because everything else in this episode, Livewire, the DEO/Henshaw plot was so much stronger. But in the end, it's a minor complaint because I am still thoroughly enjoying this show. 

"Birth"
This week’s Once Upon a Time gave us just a bit more of a fix than usual. We ended up with a two hour two episode extravaganza last night. Fear not, it wasn’t our mid-season finale, but we do have a week break before the next episode. The first part answered a lot of questions we were dying to know. So, with that being said, let us break it down.
 
Emma is up to something, but she now has the power, that’s right, she has the sword, all as one massive thing of doom. What does that mean? Well, it means her plan can begin. There is only one person who can help her now, Nimue. Or can she? Emma has gone through some twists and turns, and finally she has what she wants. But what is it that she wants? In Camelot she struggled to bring the flame of Prometheus to life. She couldn’t ignite the flame because she wasn’t ready to let go of the darkness, but why? She’d been fighting it so hard.
 
The thing about the darkness is, it offers great power. While Emma struggles with it, and the flame, Merlin appears. Upon Arthur’s command, he must retrieve the dagger and the spark. Arthur will have Excalibur united, one way or another. If Emma does not hand it over, her family will die. Emma isn’t about to let this fly, oh no, she has a few tricks up her sleeve. Using her magic, she goes to them, and offers the box with the spark. Only, it traps Zelena. Emma talks Merlin into fighting the darkness and the commands, and he does, long enough for Hook to slip free. In his tussle with the horrid king, Killian is cut on the neck with the infamous blade. Arthur and Zelena run, and Emma heals her beloved pirate…
 
It’s not until later when they are back at Grannie’s that Regina takes the dagger and demands to know why Emma won’t give up the darkness. Hook stops her and Emma takes the blade and the embers away from everyone. She finally confides in Killian that she’s afraid of their future. She’s scared because all the happy moments in her life always get ruined. Killian assures her that their future is safe, and she admits she wants that more than anything. The spark ignites into a flame. Upon attempting to merge the blade back into one, they find out that Killian isn’t fine. Excalibur was meant to cut the tethers of life, and bringing the two halves together will kill him.
 
Emma takes Killian away….there’s one thing she can do, she can free Merlin’s soul and tie the blade to Killian’s. Doing so technically creates two Dark Ones in a way, and Killian even tells Emma not to do it…she doesn’t listen. She can’t live without him, and so she does what she has to do in order to save the one she loves. Which, I’m pretty sure kills Merlin. But, you know…details.
 
Back in Storybrooke, Hook is demanding answers that Emma won’t give. She’s sped up the birth of Zelena’s child. Everyone thinks that she’s done so in order to take the first laugh of a new born, a crucial ingredient in destroying the light. However, it’s not the baby she’s after, it’s Zelena. The plan is simple. Take all the darkness and place it into Zelena, then destroy her. Emma chains Hook and Zelena in her basement, but the two break free and Hook finds the squid ink Emma stole from Rumple, he uses it on her, and then Zelena reveals the truth. Hook is a Dark One. Emma did it to save him, and by the looks of things, he’s not happy with the result….

"The Bear King"
Part two took a break from the action. It focused on Merida and what happened to lead up to her father’s death and after it. Invaders were coming, so the mighty Bear King went to the very Witch that had turned his wife and sons into bears. He asks for something that will help him win this upcoming war. She creates a helmet, enchanted to do just that. The Witch will grant it, but in return she wants the promise of the King to pay whatever she asks for later. He signs her contract and takes the helmet.
 
As he goes to prepare for war, he brings in someone to help train Merida, someone we have not seen in a long while, Mulan. She teaches Merida how to fight while they wait for the invaders. The two become fast friends and we learned that Merida’s infamous bow came from her father. A gift to show he trusts her. Sadly, none of it is enough to stop her father from being killed by the invaders. The knight who kills him takes the helmet...but the knights are no match for the clans…and so, they win.
 
Two years later, Merida has her kingdom back from everything that’s happened. She is about to have her coronation where she will become the Queen of the Clans…when the Witch appears. She comes demanding a stupid amount of gold. Which, the clans cannot pay. The other option is simple, return the helmet, of which they do not have. They have until Sundown the next day. Merida goes and finds Mulan in a tavern, she asks her friend for help, only Mulan is different. The bitter woman finally agrees to help, after taking all the money Merida has on her.
 
They track down the arrow that has a piece of the knight's cloak. The very arrow that missed the knight who killed her father. The knight, as it turns out, is Arthur. And he too is looking for the helmet. He has Zelena with him. The helmet was enchanted enough to make any army follow the wearer into any battle. Arthur needs that helmet if he is to have his knights go up against Merlin and the Dark One. Zelena takes Merida’s bow for a tracking spell, and they leave. Merida heads off to tell the clans that she cannot find it. But whoever does will be King of their people. Meanwhile Mulan goes off to find the Witch to help her locate the helmet with the piece of the cloak. She’s greeted by a Wolf. The Wolf isn’t just a wolf, she’s someone we know and love. Ruby. After the whole mess with Zelena, and after Snow introduced Neil to everyone, Ruby went back to the enchanted forest to find her pack, with the curse broken, she can change at will…and well, she doesn’t feel she belongs anywhere else. Mulan breaks the witch's spell, and Ruby helps her find Merida and knows how to find Arthur.
 
Along the shores where the battle took place, Zelena magically pulls the helmet from the water. Merida and Mulan show up with some help, and while Merida fights Arthur, Ruby knocks Zelena out with sleeping powder. Merida wins the scuffle when reinforcements show up. Arthur and a drowsy Zelena flee the scene. Merida takes the helmet, and the clans son’s bow to her. Declaring her the Queen they need to lead, and rightfully so. She was willing to die for them, and save them at whatever cost…
 
Mulan tells Merida she was trying to get over a broken heart when they had met. It seems Mulan and Aurora were not just a subtext thing, but Mulan was really in love with her. Ruby offers the advice of moving on, and even offers to travel with Mulan. Merida returns to her kingdom and is crowned just after the Witch appears. Our feisty red head refuses to give her the helmet. Knowing her father didn’t use it, instead he threw it into the water before the battle, has changed a lot of what she knew. The helmet must be destroyed. The Witch agrees and says it was all a test. She gives Merida something as a gift for passing and becoming queen. This magic will allow her to speak with those who have passed to the underworld. She uses it to speak with her dad one last time….and gets the closure she desperately needed…but now, her hate for Arthur is fueled….and he will pay.