The Miller's Daughter

"The Miller's Daughter" is the sixteenth episode of Season Two of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Jane Espenson and directed by Ralph Hemecker. It is the thirty-eighth episode overall and premiered on March 10, 2013.

Synopsis
Cora's desire to rid herself of Rumplestiltskin in order to take his place as The Dark One takes one step closer to becoming reality as she and Regina try to overpower a dying Mr. Gold, and Mary Margaret is once again tempted by dark magic. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Rumplestiltskin agrees to offer his services to a younger Cora - for a price - when the king calls her bluff and orders her to actually follow through on her boast of being able to spin straw into gold.

Recap
On a mill in the Enchanted Forest, a miller is fast asleep. His daughter approaches to wake him up, and berates him for not doing his share of the work, because she wants to be able to eat this week. She pulls a cart of flour along the road, and eventually into a palace. While carrying bags of flour through the palace, a princess trips her, and she spills the flour everywhere. After a bit of yelling at the princess for tripping her, a King asks the princess how she is doing. The princess sees a bit of flour on her shoe. One prince believes she did not mean any harm, but the king thinks otherwise. The king tells the girl that they will not pay her for the flour and she must apologize to the princess. When the girl calls the princess a wench, the king is infuriated, he introduces the princess as Eva. He asks the miller's daughter her name, and she responds with "Cora." He makes her kneel before them and apologize to Eva, or he will not buy any more flour from her. Cora stares at Eva angrily as she walks away with a group of royals.

Far off in the ocean, Neal and Henry Mills steer the Jolly Roger, while a severely injured Mr. Gold lies under the deck of the ship. Emma enters to check on Mr. Gold and says he does not look comfortable. He responds by saying poison rushing to his heart has that effect. Emma quickly changes the subject to his dagger. She asks Mr. Gold about the things Cora and Regina Mills can do with it in their possession, specifically she asks if they can make him kill them all. He says yes, and asks Emma if she is hoping he bleeds to death now. Because they are family now, she says that she is going to save him, but Mr. Gold doubts this in a sarcastic manner.

In Storybrooke, David Nolan is on the phone with Mary Margaret Blanchard. They discuss what Emma has told them about Mr. Gold's wound. What they don't know is that Cora and Regina are listening in on them with a phone tap device. Mary Margaret tells David to let Emma know that the dagger is with Cora, who she calls a "wicked woman". After hearing this Cora knocks the phone tap to the ground because she does not like "what the enchanted box was saying". Regina picks it up and tells her mother it is a phone tap. Cora does not seem to care, and only seems to care that her plans have been changed, now that Mr. Gold is aware of their plans. Cora looks down at the dagger and notices letters disappearing from the name, "Rumplestiltskin." Although Regina thinks he is hurt, Cora knows that this means he is dying. She tells this to Regina, along with how his power will dissipate into the air when he dies, and the Dark One will cease to exist. Regina interprets this as using him to get Henry back before he dies, but Cora tells Regina that she must stab him with the dagger, to take the power for herself. Regina suspects her mother is just doing this to gain power, but Cora tells her it is to protect their family, and that if they don't they will spend the rest of their lives kneeling beneath them.

A masquerade ball ensues in the Enchanted Forest. Cora has changed from her rags to an expensive ball gown. She puts on a mask to disguise her identity, and places a rose into her hair. She walks up to a prince, and reveals that she knows this is a ball to vie for Prince Henry. He tells her she is frank. When Cora looks up at him, she recognizes him as the same man who defended her after she spilled her flour. He doesn't seem to recognize her, and invites her to dance. They dance, and she tells him that she doesn't want to get in the way of a woman purchasing him. He inquires about why she came then, and she admits for the free food. Prince Henry's father King Xavier interrupts them to dance with Cora. Clearly he recognizes Cora, because he tells her that a stolen dress cannot keep him from recognizing her. He notices straw on her gown, telling her she carries the mill with her. She tells him that he is no one to disparage her because he is selling off his own son. He tells her to leave, and that all she can offer them is straw. Cora tells him that she can turn straw into gold, but he won't reap the benefits now. Before she can leave, the king grabs her by the arm, and drags her in front of the ballroom. The audience laughs when he tells them about her claims of spinning straw into gold, and tells his servant to fetch a spinning wheel. The king offers her a deal, if she stays the night and spins straw into gold, she can marry prince Henry, if she fails she will die.

David and Mary Margaret help Mr. Gold get to David's truck, and David asks him if Cora is controlling him with the dagger. Mr. Gold tells him that if she was they would all be dead now. Mary Margaret tells David that they will stop Cora to protect their family, but David tells her that killing goes beyond that. She tells David that Cora is the reason he has never met her mother. David tells Mary Margaret that he hates what happened to Eva, but he doesn't want Cora to be killed by her hand. She asks him why, and he tells her that she wouldn't be able to live with herself. Further adding that she has the purest heart of anyone he has ever known, and that is how she is going to stay. Emma asks Mr. Gold if he is alright. Mr. Gold tells them to take him back to his shop. Henry asks Emma if he is going to stay with Ruby, and Emma says yes. Before they leave, he assures that they will get Cora.

A young Cora is locked in the palace, and looks out the window and sees a moat. Rumplestiltskin appears seemingly out of thin air to tell her that she would escape through the window, but die in the process. Cora asks him his name, and the two exchange names. She asks him how he got in, so she can get out. He shows her the spinning wheel, telling her it is her way out. Rumplestiltskin tells her that it's a great coincidence, because he just so happens to be something he likes to do. Cora doubts this, but eats her words when she sees the straw spun directly into gold. Rumplestiltskin tells Cora that he wants something in return, and summons up a contract. Upon reading it she learns that he wants her first born child. Instead of him spinning it for her, she asks him to teach her. He magically changes the contract, and they begin.

Mr. Gold rests in his shop, and advises Emma to find a jar. When she shakes the jar something rattles, but she can't see anything. When she dips her hand into the jar she grabs something invivsible, and Mr. Gold unveils it as invisible chalk. He tells Emma to draw a line by the front of the door, while he tells Neal, David and Mary Margaret to prepare for battle. Mary Margaret begins to walk into another room, but Mr. Gold asks her to get him a warmer blanket. Inside a cabinet, she sees the candle she coud've used to save her mother's life. Mr. Gold says he is "keeping it for a rainy day", when Mary Margaret asks him why he has it. Meanwhile, Emma uses the invisible chalk outside to draw a line. Neal jokingly says she missed a spot. He says he didn't know Emma was magical, and she tells him not to judge because he didn't tell her he was the son of Rumplestiltskin. He then asks her if Tamara was a surprise. Emma asks him if he thinks she cares if a guy she dated ten years ago is engaged. David walks over and asks them if everything is okay, they both nod their heads. Focus shifts back to Mary Margaret, who asks Mr. Gold if he is getting better. He tells her that the candle can save him, but she asks him why she should use it on him, when she couldn't even use it to save her mother's life. He tells her that she is grown up, and for the first time their interests are alike. Mary Margaret figures out that he wants her to use the candle to save him and kill Cora. She tells him that there is no coming back from murder, to which he responds that there is no coming back from death either. Something she remembers about the candle is that it only works if you whisper the victims name over them, and doesn't understand how she can do this to Cora. Mr. Gold tells her a heart will work too. He tells her that since Cora's heart is outside of her body, she can curse the heart, and put it inside her body, and Cora will be killed. Mary Margaret tells Mr. Gold that she can get Cora's heart, force her to do the right thing, while letting Mr. Gold die, effectively killling two birds with one stone. Mr. Gold tells her to imagine Henry's face when he hears that she killed his grandfather. Emma approaches them, telling Mr. Gold that she drew the line with invisible chalk. He tells Emma to cast a protection spell, and that he is relying on her. Emma tells him that she can't cast a spell, but Mr. Gold tells her it's in her. She doesn't understand how, so Mr. Gold tells her to try. Emma closes her eyes to try, but Mr. Gold tells her that magic is not intellectual, but emotional. He tells her to ask herself why she is doing this and who is she protecting. It seems that she follows his instructions, because a protection shield forms outside of the shop.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Cora tries to spin the straw into gold, to no avail.

Cast
(This list is based on actors and characters known to be in the episode. It will be updated as more information is released)

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 (Credit only)
 * Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills
 * Meghan Ory as Ruby
 * Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold

Guest Starring

 * Joaquim de Almeida as King Xavier
 * Barbara Hershey as Cora
 * Rose McGowan as younger Cora
 * Michael Raymond-James as Neal Cassidy
 * Zak Santiago as Prince Henry

Co-Starring

 * Eva Allan as Princess Eva
 * Gerry Rousseau as father
 * Unknown baby as Regina

(Bold characters are further confirmed by news articles/photos)

Trivia

 * The opening Episode Titlecards features Rumplestiltskin's Spinning Wheel
 * Mary Margaret is shown nervously twirling an apple when she is on the phone.