Overall: Very torn about this one. Had many good things and a few not so good things. So…..let’s say 7/10.
Liked:
– The Ogre battle scenes in the beginning. I thought everything including the CGI looked good. Again, I never thought we would actually get to see that battle when Rumple kills them all so I was happy.
– The EQ is back. Let’s get this story resolved so that Black Fairy can come into town please.
– Gideon tricking Rumple. I liked the parallels between what he did to Bae and what he tried to do to Gideon. It really does put Rumple in a better light. But I liked that Gideon tricked him. And anytime someone else has the dagger and takes control of Rumple, I’m always into that.
– I liked the twist that there was no Grendel. And I thought the dynamic between Beowulf and Rumple was fun. I just wish Baelfire only instructed Rumple to kill once Rumple’s life was on the line. Beowulf was walking away and he still did it. And I get it. Rumple needed to do the memory charm on Baelfire and then took the blame for Beowulf’s death to spare Baelfire. Again, super noble. And that needed to parallel what was going on with Gideon….but idk..I’m still very torn about this.
– More Black Fairy info! She kept children in cells and beat them? Jesus. No wonder why Gideon is so messed up.
– I liked seeing where the sword came from and also that the Blue Fairy made it.
– I like that Zelena uses magic and what not while carrying Robyn haha. We always complain that we have no idea where the children are…so Zelena just brings Robyn with her. I thought it just looked kinda funny to have her wielding green fire right next to her daughter in her arms. It sort of suits her though.
– Zelena making up with Regina and Regina owning up to being a little bit of a buttface to her. I liked that they mended that relationship during the Hades story arc. It was one of my favorite parts of that season so I’m hoping this is the first step to getting Zelenapy ending. I’m not sure she deserves it just yet but perhaps she will do something in her centric to warrant a proper send off.
– I like that the spell Zelena stole from Regina didn’t work. Otherwise Regina would have used it ages ago. So thank goodness for that. If I recall, didn’t the EQ put up the barrier again so she’s gonna have to go back into Regina or off to the enchanted forest with Robin in order for that to come down I feel.
Mixed:
– The whole Baelfire instructing Rumple to kill Beowulf. Horrible at first. Made no sense. Memory spell fixes the retcon bc obviously the Baelfire we know would never have instructed Rumple to do that. But what’s annoying for Baelfire fans is that Baelfire we know was manipulated by Rumple’s memory charm. For all we know Baelfire could have turned out to be a completely different person who embraced magic, even dark magic. But it was Rumple who actually contributed to Baelfire being this way. It was Rumple who sort of sacrificed his well-being in order for the darkness not to corrupt his son. Quite admirable and it makes us feel bad for Rumple a little bit. I think this is setting us up for his death as a hero. But for die hard Baelfire fans, I can see why this is annoying. The Baelfire you all fell in love with only sort of ended up like that bc of what Rumple did to him. It really turns everything on it’s head. It’s a big twist, that I fall in the middle on. I can appreciate the sacrifice Rumple made for his son. It further emphasizes how much he truly loved him. That is good. But it shatters Baelfire’s character. So it brings to light one character and destroys another.
– We need to get some proper Savior mythology. Why does Gideon think killing the Savior will make him the Savior? This isn’t the DO. As far as we know, it doesn’t work the same way. They need to explain more of this. I’m sure we will get some answers when we get Gideon’s flashback but as of right now, these loose ends hurt his character’s motivation bc as the audience, we just don’t understand it to be feasible or attainable. We get his motivation, bc he wants to destroy the black fairy, but can it be done?
Disliked:
– Hook went to Emma first, which is fine. But he didn’t go to Charming. Yet……He still could and probably will. But it just looks bad that he didn’t get to it in this episode. It was about the CS relationship more than Charming’s dad and that’s what I didn’t want.