User:MadArcher98/Episode 806

"The March Hare" is the sixth episode of Season Eight of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by MadArcher98. It is the one hundred and sixty-first episode of the series overall.

Synopsis
When the March Hare brings several villains into Storybrooke to create chaos across the realms, August forges an alliance with Wonderland's sheriff Rose Scarlet in order to bring him down. In a Wonderland flashback, some of the March Hare's history is uncovered.

Recap
In a flashback to the March Hare's Mansion in Wonderland, a young woman named Daisy manages to slip past the guards surrounded the mansion and sneaks inside. Ascending the staircase, Daisy creeps down the dark corridor and into the March Hare's bedroom, where the March Hare lays in bed sleeping. Daisy, having found her target, unsheathes a dagger from her cloak and prepares to use it on the March Hare. However, as she approaches, Daisy treads on a creaky floorboard. The March Hare suddenly opens his eyes, sees Daisy, and vanishes in a cloud of green smoke before reappearing behind Daisy and ripping her heart out. Daisy falls onto her knees, and the March Hare questions her motives. Daisy reveals she is a member of the underground resistance rebelling against the Queen of Hearts.

The next morning, the March Hare summons his local townsfolk to the gates of his mansion, where he brings out Daisy in chains. He explains to the crowd before him that anyone who plots treason against the Queen of Hearts or is any way affiliated with the underground resistance will suffer the same fate as the traitor they see standing in front of them. The March Hare orders his guards to take the handcuffs off Daisy, before he magically transforms her into a white duck. As the duck flies away into the sky, a crossbow appears in the March Hare's hands, which he aims up towards the duck, before pulling the trigger.

In Storybrooke, August and Rose discuss the best way to stop the March Hare and his plans. August suggests that they arrest and interrogate him, but Rose says that he would easily escape custody. Rose recommends that they use stealth to their advantage and take him by surprise. When August asks what they should do to actually stop the March Hare from killing people, Rose pulls out a small vial of Sleeping Curse, stating that as long as nobody loves him, the March Hare's plans will stop in their tracks. August agrees with the plan, arguing that nobody could love a murderer.

At the Forbidden Fortress, Briar Rose expresses sympathy towards Maleficent, whose heart has been ripped out by the March Hare so that he can control her. Briar Rose questions whether the March Hare made Maleficent say that she would help Phillip, to which Maleficent responds that the March Hare doesn't care what she does in her free time, so long as she can carry out his commands at a moment's notice. Maleficent asks Briar Rose not to tell Lily about her actions under the March Hare's control. Briar Rose, concerned, asks what Maleficent did under his control, and Maleficent replies that she has done many bad things.

Down at The Rabbit Hole, the March Hare addresses Lady Tremaine, Madame Leota, and "Vanessa", asking them what their plans are now that they are back in Storybrooke. Tremaine says that the first thing she is going to do is kill Cinderella, and then Aurora. "Vanessa" claims that there is a certain king she has been meaning to visit, while Leota remains vague about her intentions, stating that she made plans long ago, and that everything will soon fall into place. The March Hare orders his bodyguard Griffin to accompany the villains to victory, telling the three women that they may use the March Hare's followers to achieve their goals.

In flashback, the March Hare finishes his meal of roast duck when he is informed of a visitor who seeks audience with him. The March Hare accepts, and the guards let in an elderly man who the March Hare refers to as Tortuga, leader of the underground resistance. He snidely mocks Tortuga, asking if he has come to turn himself in, but Tortuga calmly responds that the Queen of Hearts has left Wonderland and the Heart Kingdom has collapsed into a state of chaos. Tortuga advises the March Hare to take his wealth and flee Wonderland as soon as possible, but the March Hare replies that if the Queen of Hearts has indeed abandoned the Heart Kingdom, then he will rule in her place as the King of Hearts. Tortuga asks how he plans to rule when the people do not love him, but the March Hare remarks that he only needs to be feared, not loved.

The March Hare arrives at the Tulgey Woods in a cloud of green smoke, and traverses the woods to the Mad Hatter's House, where Jefferson is trapped inside making hats. The March Hare frees Jefferson and says that he requires Jefferson's help to hunt down a monster that has been terrorizing nearby villages. Jefferson retorts that the March Hare is a monster and refuses to help him, but the March Hare rips out Jefferson's heart and commands him to help hunt down the monster. Jefferson, unable to refuse the March Hare, follows him out of the house and into the woods.

At Gold's Pawnshop, Midas is confronted by "Vanessa". Midas starts to panic and refers to her as Ursula, but Vanessa remarks that she never said she was Vanessa, revealing that she is in fact Ursula's twin sister Morgana. Morgana demands to know where Ursula resides as a gold statue. Midas replies that, upon turning Ursula into gold, he traded her to a neighboring maritime kingdom. Ursula asks for the name of the current ruler of said kingdom, to which Midas weakly replies that the kingdom currently belongs to Prince Eric and his wife, Ariel. Morgana thanks him for the information, before telekinetically snapping the king's neck and exiting the pawnshop.

Meanwhile, Maleficent realizes that she needs one more ingredient to create the false memories for Phillip - a strand of hair from someone whose memories have been previously modified. Together with Briar Rose and Lily, Maleficent try to think of a specific person to find whose memories have been modified. Lily points out that the entirety of Storybrooke were once cursed, but Maleficent points out that they don't want Phillip to become a completely different person, they just want to modify his memories. Lily starts to worry that what they are doing is wrong, since they are filling a child's mind with lies. Briar Rose argues that they are replacing the memories of being raised by a woman who kidnapped him with the memories he would have had if Lady Tremaine hadn't abducted him in the first place. Suddenly, Lily remembers that - shortly after coming to Storybrooke - Emma explained that she and someone called Elsa had their memories altered by the Snow Queen during childhood, since Emma wanted to know if Lily also knew the Snow Queen. Maleficent recognizes Elsa as the Queen of Arendelle, and points out that the Arendelle district isn't too far from the Forbidden Fortress. Maleficent teleports the three of them to the gates of Arendelle Castle, where they request an audience with Queen Elsa.

In flashback to Tulgey Woods, Jefferson asks the March Hare why is being so heroic by hunting down this monster. The March Hare explains that, once he has defeated the monster, the villagers will consider him a hero and accept him as their King of Hearts. Jefferson shows contempt towards the March Hare's selfish reasons, until the March Hare says that once they have succeeded, he will let Jefferson return to the Enchanted Forest and reunite with his daughter, Grace. Jefferson doesn't believe him, but before the conversation can continue, they arrive at the ruins of a town on the edge of Tulgey Woods. As they enter the ravaged village, Jefferson and the March Hare split up and search for the monster. However, when Jefferson investigates alone, an invisible force throws Jefferson at a wall. As Jefferson gets back up, the Cheshire Cat materializes out of nowhere and attacks. Jefferson tries to defend himself with a discarded rake, but is quickly disarmed by the Cheshire Cat, who is about to attack when a dagger hurls through the air and embeds itself in the Cheshire Cat's neck. Wounded, the Cheshire Cat flees back into the woods, leaving behind a puddle of blood. Jefferson looks to see that the March Hare was the one who saved him, and asks if they should follow the Cheshire Cat, but the March Hare says that he doesn't need it. He then pulls out a vial and collects some of the Cheshire Cat's blood, revealing that he lied about winning the people's approval. His real plan is to use the Cheshire Cat's blood to turn himself invisible and assassinate everyone else who wants to claim the Heart Kingdom. Jefferson remarks that he hasn't changed, but the March Hare also reveals that the blood of the Cheshire Cat can create a way home. The March Hare conjures a fireball and throws it onto the puddle of blood, creating a portal. Jefferson and the March Hare walk through the portal and arrive in the Enchanted Forest, where Jefferson sees Grace in the distance. However, before he can approach his daughter, the ground rumbles and the entire area becomes consumed by an ominous purple cloud.

Bianca arrives at the pawnshop, but when she finds Midas dead, she becomes panicked and quickly leaves. In Arendelle, Maleficent asks Elsa for a strand of her hair for a spell. Elsa initially refuses to help Maleficent, assuming she needs for some dark spell, but Briar Rose steps forward and explains that Maleficent has changed and is actively trying to atone for her sins by helping Briar Rose's grandson. Elsa, still wary, plucks a single hair from her head and gives it to Maleficent, wishing her good luck in helping Phillip. Successful, Maleficent leaves with Briar Rose and Lily. As Elsa watches them leave the castle, Bianca approaches her from behind and tells Elsa that Midas is dead. Elsa remarks that someone might be onto them, and says that their plan is too risky, what with Midas dying and Tiger Lily dying before him, but Bianca insists that they stick to the plan. Bianca reminds Elsa that the March Hare will be after her soon, and says that Elsa knows what she must do.

August and Rose sneak into The Rabbit Hole and quietly ascend the stairs to the March Hare's office. However, upon entering the office, they discover that it is seemingly empty. Suddenly, the March Hare attacks them out of nowhere, explaining that he saw them coming a mile away with help from his crystal ball and turned himself invisible with the Cheshire Cat's blood. August and Rose fight the March Hare, and Rose manages to inject the March Hare with the Sleeping Curse, but nothing happens. Then, the March Hare gestures to the caged dormouse in the corner of his office, which is fast asleep. The March Hare explains that ever since he realized he had enemies trying to kill him while he slept, the March Hare created a spell that transferred his need to sleep over to another living being so that he never had to sleep ever again. After pointing out that they just wasted the Sleeping Curse on his pet dormouse, the March Hare rips out both August's and Rose's hearts, before commanding them to return to their homes and kill their respective families. Blank-faced and under the March Hare's control, August and Rose leave The Rabbit Hole to go and fulfill the March Hare's wishes.

Starring

 * Eion Bailey as August Booth
 * Alexandra Metz (Credit only)
 * Molly Parker as Briar Rose
 * Max Charles as Phillip Jr.
 * Dove Cameron as Rose Scarlet
 * Bailee Madison as Bianca
 * Quinn Lord (Credit only)

Special Guest Star

 * Sebastian Stan as Jefferson

Guest Starring

 * Kristin Bauer van Straten as Maleficent
 * Damian Lewis as the March Hare
 * Nicole Munoz as Lily Page
 * Luis Valdez as Tortuga
 * Lisa Banes as Lady Tremaine
 * Monique Hicks as Morgana
 * Georgina Haig as Elsa
 * Alex Zahara as King Midas

Co-Starring

 * Alissa Skovbye as Grace
 * Suzy Joachim as Madame Leota
 * Julia Tortolano as Daisy
 * Vladimir Ruzich as Griffin

Trivia

 * -|Production Notes=

Title

 * The title card of this episode features
 * -|Episode Connections=

Event Chronology

 * The Storybrooke events occur before "Leaving Storybrooke".
 * The Enchanted Forest events occur during "Pilot" and "Queen of Hearts".
 * The Wonderland events occur after "Queen of Hearts" and before "Down the Rabbit Hole".

Episode Connections

 * The March Hare had Tremaine, Vanessa and Leota brought to Storybrooke in "The Northern Witch".
 * Rose confronted August with information about the March Hare in "The Northern Witch".
 * Briar Rose brought Phillip to Maleficent in "Lend Her Grace".
 * Jefferson was imprisoned by the Queen of Hearts in "Hat Trick".
 * -|Cultural References=

Fairytales and Folklore

 * The Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Cheshire Cat from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland are featured.
 * The March Hare's rivalry with Tortuga is a reference to the Tortoise and the Hare fable.
 * Tortuga may allude to "Tortoise", a character mentioned in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Disney

 * Elsa of Arendelle from the 2013 Disney film Frozen appears.
 * Ursula's sister Morgana appears from the 2000 sequel to The Little Mermaid 1989 Disney film.

Popular Culture

 * Tortuga is the Spanish word for 'tortoise', and is also the name of an island.
 * -|Set Notes=

Costume Notes

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Goofs

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