"Once Upon a Time" Recap: "Swan Song"

Written by Shae

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

This episode is hard for me to recap. The ending of last night’s episode really didn’t go over well with me. Still, it wouldn’t be fair to completely ignore that last night happened. The rest of the episode was really good after all. With the Dark Ones out and about town, there’s a lot of unsettling things to cope with. But the Dark Ones aren’t after specific things, instead of attacking or causing chaos, they’re walking through people, literally, that’s it. What’s going on? It seems that in order for the Dakr Ones to wander around freely, they have to trade places with another soul. The living people they pass through are given a mark. Those with the marks will be taken to the underworld…and there, well, it’s not pleasant.
 
This, of course, includes Emma’s family, Regina, Robin, and the Dwarves. The first thing they all do is hit the library, there has to be a way out of this, but finding what they need is proving way harder than it should be, so instead Snow decides that they need to spend their last few hours together. Emma isn’t so sure about this, she is a Dark One and isn’t about to let her family be taken from her. That’s when she finds Regina. The plan is simple, get Excalibur from Rumple, channel all the Darkness into Emma…and destroy it for good. Sadly, it would cost Emma her life, but she can’t lose any more people, so it’s something she is truly willing to do. Rumple willingly hands the sword over, which was a bit odd, but hey he’s changed right?
 
Hook, however, can’t let that happen. Guided by Nimue, he visits Emma, the two fight a bit, and Emma is willing to stop Hook if she has to, until Hook turns into Henry and takes the sword from her….and then leaves. What’s gone so wrong that the man Killian was is no longer there? Or is he there? Regina did talk to him earlier, and he shut her down pretty quick. It seems back in the day when Regina was still evil and Hook was still a pirate, she’d hired him to do a job, kill her mother, but first she needed him to confront and kill his own father. Before we really get all sad, Hook’s dad was kind of a cowardly jerk. The man sold Killian and his brother Liam into servitude in order to escape authorities. Killian survived, but Liam was not so lucky. Regina brings him to a pub where Killian is able to confront his father…the man tells Killian that he’s sorry, and has changed, that he had met someone, fell in love, and she made him see all he’d done wrong. Killian agrees to get him a letter that will get him out of the town. Turns out Daddy had a kid with his other wife. It isn’t until the next night that Killian goes to bring his dad the papers that he discovers his half-brother is also named Liam. Killian rightfully loses it, and well, in his anger, stabs and kills his father. Justified or not….I mean…the guy kinda had it coming. I’m just saying. That was messed up.
 
In the present they’re all brought to the lake where they’re about to be taken. Emma runs up and hugs her family, she begs Killian not to do this. To stop this. Nimue is the one to silence Emma, choking her with her dark powers. In that one moment, Killian finally realizes what he’s done. He takes Excalibur and pulls all the darkness into himself….and then asks Emma to do something that he can’t. She does……though it literally breaks her. I have to admit I turned this off for a while. There are just some things I can’t handle lately. Eventually though, I got around to finishing the episode. Emma hears whispers and is brought to Rumple’s shop. In the chaos of all this, he’d given Belle a way to safely get out of town and see the world. She’d come back after everything had happened and declared her love for him, as he’d selflessly saved her. Not all is as it seems. Rumple isn’t redeemed, it turns out he made a new dagger, and with it, transferred all the powers of every Dark One into it. That’s right, Rumple is once again a Dark One, and a lying coward. Emma uses this to her advantage though. She threatens him, forces him to take her and her family to the underworld. They’re going to bring Killian back….whatever the cost.
 
And with that, we’re left waiting until  March for the Second half of the season to pick up.

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