Dreamcatcher – ONCE214

Who was the Dark One behind the mask that turned Merlin into a tree? Is Emma’s heart ready to be rid of the darkness, or is she starting to like the taste of darkness already? How does teaching Rumplestiltskin how to sword-fight make him a hero? They kept telling how Henry was a hero throughout the episode, will he be the one to pull the Excalibur from the stone? Listen to our full discussion as we looked deeper into the episode, Dreamcatcher!

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Camelot (Past)

Could this be the oldest scene that we’ve ever scene so far, as well as the first ever Dark One? Since the Dark One was all covered up and masked, is it possible that this particular Dark One was actually the one that Merlin loved? Merlin said that the Dark One “destroyed” the only woman he ever loved. Was the Dark One that turned Merlin into a tree the very same woman he loved? Plus, Merlin can’t seem to kill the Dark One. That being said, can Merlin kill the Dark One without turning himself into one?

We looked closely into the dagger to see if there was a name written on it but unfortunately, there was no name in it, despite both sides of the Dark One’s dagger being visible.

The first Dark One that we see Merlin fighting is Morgana. I think Merlin and Morgana were in love and did light magic together. Then, for whatever reason, she succumbed to the darkness and became the first Dark One. I think this scene is supposed to foreshadow a future scene between Emma and Hook, where Killian will find a way to destroy the darkness, but be unable to do it as he loves Emma too much.

— Saoirse

I believe that the Dark One who turned Merlin into the tree was in fact Nimue, or Viviane, who was the one he was in love with.  This totally explains why he would just stand there as She turned him into a tree.  Very interesting. Perhaps she was the first Dark One who he controlled by the dagger.  in Arthurian legend She is also the Ruler of Avalon and  Lady of the Lake who gave Excalibur to Arthur, which would give her a direct connection to Excalibur.  I wonder if Merlin tethered the darkness to her using the dagger broken from Excalibur. Maybe something went wrong when he was teaching her magic.

— Rose Mason

Who is the Dark One behind the mask?

It was great that Emma noticed that Arthur cast a spell on Charming and Snow White. Meanwhile, up in Merlin’s tower as Emma explains the dreamcatcher to Regina reminded us of the scene in 2×10 “The Cricket Game“, when Gold taught Emma how to use a dreamcatcher on Pongo to see how Cora (disguised as Regina) fake-killed Archie.

We got to meet Violet’s father, Sir Morgan, and during our Dreamcatcher initial reaction, we talked about him possibly being Morgan le Fay. Should we be suspicious of Sir Morgan?

It was fun hearing Henry calling his moms “Moms” as well as seeing him practice with the sword. However, learning to fight and wielding a sword in a dangerous land doesn’t mean he can’t be a writer. Is Henry writing while they are in Camelot? He was supposed to record everything that happened, anyway.

Was Cora Emma’s inspiration for breaking Henry’s heart when she made Regina cry? Or was Emma second-guessing something she may have already done? Emma seemed heartbroken when she talked about having Violet breaking her son’s heart, after all. Does Violet have her heart back? On the other hand, it was nice to see how far Regina and Emma have gone since season 1. Regina of season 1 would never, in a million years, have opened up to Emma this way.

There’s something really disturbing when Violet and Henry went on a date at Granny’s, which is the two movies that Henry had on his phone—Commando, and Harold and Maude—both of which are Rated-R movies. Is Violet’s storyline over now that she’s fulfilled Emma’s request to break Henry’s heart? Furthermore, when Violet friend-zoned Henry, did Emma suggested Violet to say that or was she actually puppeteering her at the time?

When Emma and Regina was brewing the potion and it didn’t work reminded us briefly of the episode, The Thing You Loved Most when Regina’s spell didn’t work the first time. However, unlike the Dark Curse where it needs the heart of the thing you loved most, this time it was a tear of a lost love that they need. And when Regina took Henry’s tear, Emma told him, “You can save me, kid.” Is she foretelling?

It was interesting to see Emma’s in a kind of rush as she frees Merlin from being a tree, as if she was enjoying the magic. Did Emma recognize Merlin from when she was a kid? She did look a little stunned when he saw Merlin turned back into being a man.

Back at Granny’s, it was great to see Merlin free Charming and Snow White of the spell that Guinevere and Arthur put them on. Charming also seemed a bit shocked upon seeing Merlin for the first time. Did they stay frozen while Emma and Regina worked on the potion and just poofed them at Granny’s?

When they asked Merlin if he could rid the darkness inside Emma, Merlin asked if her heart is ready to be free (of the darkness), but Emma didn’t give an answer, hesitant even. Is her heart ready? And if her heart is not in it, why not? Is she starting to really like the taste of darkness inside of her?

Storybrooke (Present)

Moving on to the present in the Squire-free sheriff’s office, why they didn’t check the video tape? And where did Violet get the phone from to text Henry with, to which Henry replied with emojis?

When Emma went to feed Rumplestiltskin and pass him off to Merida, it seemed that he was afraid of everything, cowardly even. On the other hand, Emma should be listening to Rumple more because he was the Dark One for a long time.

Why did Emma cry over the dreamcatcher that she picked in that room-full of dreamcatchers? What is so special about this particular dreamcatcher for Emma to shed a tear for it? Is that the same one as the last scene with Regina?

When Henry went to seek Emma’s help to find Violet’s horse reminded us a lot of season 1. What with the use of the “Operation Cobra” music that they used back when Henry recruits Emma’s help. On the other hand, Emma seemed a little distracted when she and Henry left to go find Violet’s horse.

The place where Merida took Rumple to start training him, the tree that she tied him to look a bit like Merlin’s tree. Is that Merlin? How does learning someone how to fight makes one a hero? Does Emma expect Merida to convince Rumple to try fighting her plan? Is Emma manipulating the situation, or the Dark One?

When Regina attempted to open Emma’s door and she got blasted back, then later on conjured up Henry’s scarf to use it to open the door, why didn’t Emma cast a protection spell on the entire door? Henry’s heroship really came out from this episode. Will he be the hero to pull the Excalibur from the stone?

How did Merida know to look at the book, or that it even existed? How did she know where to find it? Did the book appear to her because she needed it?

It was a bit strange that Emma seemed a little disheartened when the horse was acting up when she was trying to go near the horse. Is she denying her own being, of what she is right now? She hasn’t done anything in Storybrooke other than kidnapping Rumple and turning Sneezy into stone. Can Emma’s darkness ever truly be defeated?

Is Emma not fully in control? Does Arthur somewhat have control over whatever Emma is doing? Emma’s plans sound like they could actually come from Arthur. What does “snuffing out all the light” really mean? What is the entire scope of snuffing out the light?

It was neat seeing Rumple be courageous when Merida showed him the chipped cup. Rumple seemed like himself. Not pre-Dark-One Rumple, not Mr. Gold, just himself when he’s without magic.

I highly disagree with Merida’s teachings… it goes against all Disney rules with being a true hero! A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the size of his heart!

— @WickedRegal

When Regina hacked the dreamcatcher, Henry’s expression was interesting as he watches what was happening on the dreamcatcher. Did Violet dump him again? Henry looked heartbroken again.

I see it [what Emma did] as justified. Now before everyone throws puppies at me, Emma has a job to do. She has to free merlin to free herself and her family. If not, she will be consumed by darkness. She can spare henry’s feeling this one time to get the tear and then explain it all later after giving violet her heart back and letting that relationship run wherever it does.

— @TheWatcher

Yes it was cruel for Emma to do so, but I just couldn’t help but enjoy how it was written and performed. Emma wants to do things for the greater good, but she’s fallen into Dark One temptations in order to do so. The Dark One has always been a master manipulator, and this was no exception. Both Rumple and Emma have justified their terrible actions as the Dark One. Dark magic on this show has always been compared to drug use. The more you experiment with dark magic, the more of an addict you become. Emma’s slipping because the more she’s tempted to use dark magic, the more necessary she thinks it is. She’s choosing what is easy instead of what is right.

— @MatthewPaul

Is it possible that Emma explained everything to Henry in the past, but because his memories were taken, he couldn’t remember? The one aspect this act from Emma does show is a recurring theme in the show that has been popping up since the very beginning: desperate souls do desperate things.

Not knowing that her house has broken into, Emma went to Regina’s home to see Henry. What’s interesting is Emma seemed to slipped mentioning that they freed Merlin back in Camelot.

In the first episode Emma tells everyone that they are going to be punished for what they did to her. Was that just her trying to throw them off? So far, I don’t think we have seen them do anything in Camelot that would make her want to punish them. I also don’t think she’s actually done anything in Storybrooke to punish them yet (I’m not counting Sneezy because Regina fixed him pretty quickly) so I’m curious to see what the actual punishment will be. She said that they need a savior for what’s coming, and I really think she still is playing on words for whatever reason. She never said that she was the one that was going to do the punishing, it was all implied. It doesn’t really seem like anyone’s really afraid of her even if they don’t trust her like she keeps asking them to. We haven’t really seen any scenes with Emma and her parents yet in present day other than when they first came back, so I am interested to see what happens when they do finally have a chat.

— Jessica Olsen

Emma kept telling everyone to trust her—Hook, Henry, Regina—she hasn’t even talked to her parents. Is she throwing them off?

What if Emma isn’t the Dark One and she’s [only] pretending to be with Merlin’s help because Hook is really the Dark One. She [could be] training Rumple to fight Hook because he is the only one who knew Hook the longest. [The] only reason I thought of this theory is because of what Merida said, “All a man needs is a sword and one good hand.”

— Aleana Harris

Is Emma only pretending to be the Dark One?

It was kind of a throwback when Regina and Emma was talking on Regina’s front steps and her calling Emma, Miss Swan, but this time Regina is “the one on the moral high ground”, clearly showing their role reversal.

There were so many mentions of Neal in this episode, I think we’re going to see him again this season. Emma has both Dark One AND Saviour magic, so perhaps she’s strong enough to break the laws of magic and resurrect him. Or, as we saw in 5.02 there is an underworld (because that’s where the Fury was going to take Robin), so maybe Killian will have the strength to destroy Emma along with the darkness. Then she’ll go to the underworld, where she’ll meet Neal.

— Saoirse

Is Emma powerful enough to resurrect Neal?

If we’re going to look up the meaning of the name “Arthur,” we will find out that it means “bear” or “bear-like.” In the film Brave, the main antagonist is Mordu, a royalty turned into a bear. What if Arthur is Mordu, and what if he’s the one who took Merida’s brothers?

— Rain

Is Arthur actually “Mordu”, the one who took Merida’s brothers?

Anything we missed from the episode, Dreamcatcher? Do you have any theories about the next episode? Share them all by heading to the forum or using the comment section below!

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Spoilers

• A  chance encounter with Merlin, David, Hook and Belle gives Merida new hope in her quest to save her brothers
• Merida brings Belle along on a dangerous journey
• In Storybrooke, Regina, Mary Margaret and David discover the spell that would allow them to communicate with Merlin
• Emma commands Merida to kill Belle
• Gold must find the courage to fight for Belle’s life or risk losing her forever
• “The Bear and the Bow” was written by Andrew Chambliss & Tze Chun and directed by Ralph Hemecker
• Guest stars include Paul Telfer as Lord Macintosh, Marco D’Angelo as Lord MacGuffin and Josh Hallem as Lord Dingwall
• A bunch of behind the scenes photos showed a lot of the three characters from Brave, looking a lot like the ones from their animated-feature counterparts
• We’re also going to be seeing Merida’s brothers being tied to the stakes on the ground
• There were also some photos showing Emma in a cave, looking at the Excalibur
• There were also a lot of photos with Merida and Belle in the Witch’s house from Brave, standing in front of a cauldron, a spell-book in hand, trying to figure out what to do.
• There are also a few photos of Regina, Hook, and David holding the mushroom from the episode, Siege Perilous
• Promo for 5×06 “The Bear and the Bow” showed a lot about the synopsis, with Emma wanting Merida to put an arrow through Belle’s heart, with Mr. Gold trying to save Belle
• We also get a glimpsed of a big bear at the promo. Who is the bear? Did Merida conjure up a bear, or can she transform into one?
• First sneak peek showed Hook, Belle, Merlin and Charming breaking into Camelot’s dungeon in attempt to break out Lancelot, with Belle telling Merlin how to free Lancelot and Merida using a spell book, promising her to free her brothers
• The cast is currently filming episode 5×11 right now and there are some photos showing Emma back in her red leather jacket looking a lot like the old Emma Swan, working with Rumple cutting himself with the dagger, doing some kind of a blood ritual.
• Emma is also seen wearing a ring on her neck. Some kind of a circle ring that she got on a chain and put it around her neck.
• Another photo showed Emma leading everybody down main street with David, Mary Margaret, Regina, Robin Hood, the dwarves and, eventually, Hook, as if leading them into battle
• A few men in dark cloaks were also seen running on set in one of the behind the photos. Pain and Panic from Hercules?
• Adam Croasdell, the actor set to play Hook’s father, shared a photo on Twitter dressed up in his leather pants and poufy pirate shirt on
• According to IMDB, Adam Croesdell will play Hook’s father, Brennan Jones
• According to TVLine, the show is currently casting a mysterious, dangerous and vindictive God-like figure known obscurely as “Distinguished Gentleman” or “DG.”
• Also, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Caroline Morahan and Glenn Keogh will portray Merida’s parents, Queen Elinor and King Fergus, and are set to appear the two-hour episode on November 15.
• Barbara Hershey is also returning as Cora for the 100th episode, to air in March, according to TV Guide.
• Season 5 really does seems to be set up as a journey to the Underworld, and we’re probably going to be seeing a few of the people who have died like Cora, as well as some surprised returns like Peter Pan or Malcolm; Prince James; King George; Cruella DeVil; that is, if they could get the actors back.