The Jolly Roger

"The Jolly Roger" is the seventeenth episode of Season Three of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by David H. Goodman and directed by Ernest Dickerson. It is the sixty-first episode of the series overall, and premiered on April 13, 2014.

Synopsis
Ariel returns to Storybrooke and pleads with Hook to help her find Prince Eric, who never returned to the town when the new curse was invoked. Emma agrees to let Regina teach her how to use magic so that she can help defeat Zelena, and Mary Margaret and David try to prove that they can be just as much fun as Hook is with Henry -- who thinks they are boring. Meanwhile, in Fairy Tale Land during the past year, an angry Ariel confronts Hook over her missing Prince Eric, who she assumes was kidnapped and possibly killed by the swarthy pirate. But when Hook confesses that the Jolly Roger has been stolen and Eric is most likely the thief’s prisoner, Ariel unknowingly provides him with a clue as to who the culprit is, and Hook – with Ariel in tow - goes off in search of his ship.

Starring

 * Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret Blanchard
 * Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
 * Lana Parrilla as Regina Mills
 * Josh Dallas as David Nolan
 * Emilie de Ravin as Belle
 * Colin O'Donoghue as Hook
 * Michael Raymond-James (Credit only)
 * Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills
 * Robert Carlyle (Credit only)

Guest Starring

 * Beverley Elliott as Granny
 * Christopher Gauthier as William Smee/William Smee
 * Rebecca Mader as Zelena
 * Gil McKinney as Eric
 * Charles Mesure as Black Beard
 * JoAnna Garcia Swisher as Ariel

Co-Starring

 * Jessa Danielson as Wench
 * JC Williams as Lead Guard

Production Notes

 * The title card features David Nolan's truck.

Event Chronology

 * The Enchanted Forest flashbacks occur after "Quiet Minds" and around the same time as "The Tower".
 * The Land Without Magic events occur after "It's Not Easy Being Green".

Episode Connections

 * This episode reveals what happened to Hook during the last year, and what he has been keeping from Emma, something that was alluded to in "New York City Serenade" and "The Tower".
 * Regina began teaching Emma magic in "Ariel".
 * Hook mentions how he was there when Cora failed at ripping Emma's heart out, which occurred in "Queen of Hearts".
 * Emma mentions William Smee being transformed into a rat, which occurred in "The Outsider".
 * Ariel and Prince Eric first met in "Ariel", and became a couple in "The New Neverland".
 * Hook first set out to find the Jolly Roger in "New York City Serenade".
 * Hook mentions how Walsh was working for Zelena and keeping an eye on Emma, which is shown in "New York City Serenade".

Disney

 * When Emma sees Ariel and Eric through the mirror, they reenact the beach scene from The Little Mermaid'.