"Once Upon a Time" Recap: "Nimue"

Written by Shae

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

In ancient Arthurian lore, Nimue was the name given to the Lady of the Lake. Or, well, one of many name variations. Names are powerful, and Nimue is much closer to Merlin then we thought. She is not the Lady of the Lake, but she did have a hand in forging the legendary Excalibur. But where did the sword come from? Where did Merlin get his magic? Our tale starts many, many, years ago. Merlin and another man are running through the desert. They appear to have escaped from something…or rather someone. Thankfully, they see something glimmering in the distance. A chalice sits atop a waiting pillar. The man runs to it, touches it, and promptly explodes into dust. Merlin, however, stops. He asks the heavens for permission before touching the goblet and taking a drink….once the cup is drained he sits….and a field and forest grow…and hundreds of years later it is a village. Merlin has been granted magic, but by what?
 
In this village he meets a girl, one from another town. She’s carrying seeds with her. The only thing she grabbed from her village before it was attacked and burned. Merlin lets her plant them and he makes them grow into the flowers she loves so much. There is a problem though. Merlin….has fallen in love. Her name is Nimue….he wants to marry her, but he has a problem. He cannot die, he is immortal, but perhaps there is a way to fix that. He tells her of what made him this way. He’d found the Holy Grail, he drank from it….and with the first fire created by man, he can forge it into a sword, one that he can put his power into. They travel to Nimue’s village, or the ruins of it. The masked man that had burned it is tracking them, searching for the Holy Grail….
 
He finds them, just as Merlin finishes the sword. He takes Nimue and in the scuffle he ends up killing her. Merlin suffers her loss, only…she’s not dead. While Merlin was casting a protection spell, Nimue drank from the Grail. She’d wanted nothing more than to be like him, to be immortal with great power. He denied her this, saying that it’s too much power, and that life is too precious to be immortal. Nimue lives, and she takes the heart of the man that burned her village. Merlin warns her not to crush it, not to kill the man. That this will place a darkness in her heart, and that he cannot stop it…instead, she kills the man. She becomes the Dark One, the First Dark One. In her haste to get away she breaks the sword in half. Merlin takes Excalibur and places it in the stone. He then takes the smaller piece and makes it into a dagger; a spell tethers Nimue’s soul to it, all so he can stop her from doing more harm. Of course, we know he attempts to kill her later on, she gets ahold of the dagger, and traps him in the tree…
 
In Camelot Merlin needs Excalibur, which means sending a team in to get it. He also needs the ember from the first fire and that's what he needs Emma for. While the others are away, He and Emma travel to the pit that held the fire and here Emma must face the original Dark One, Nimue…this will determine if she lives or dies, as Nimue is…a bit angry.  Of course Merlin can see her once she appears to Emma. Nimue tells Emma that Merlin needs to be out of the way. That power and doing what you want is true freedom. As Emma’s body is taken over, she’s on the verge of killing Merlin when Nimue says something to Emma that has her fighting back. She’s away from Merlin and fighting Nimue, commanding her for the ember. The trip was a success, Emma has passed a test…
 
It’s not so lucky for the rest. Snow stands guard over Zelena while Regina, Robin, Hook, and Charming go into the castle for the sword, as per Zelena’s instructions. Snow is knocked out and taken hostage, and Zelena waltzes right in. She’s free of the bracelet and working with Arthur. She casts a binding spell over Excalibur, one that had Merlin’s soul attached to it. Now Arthur can command Merlin, and he does…. In present day, however, Emma has restored the sword. She’s faced with all incarnations of the Dark One as they watch it happen. She takes the sword in hand, and now has the power to destroy all Light, or all Darkness, for good….where is Merlin when you need him?

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