The Bear and the Bow

"I refused to believe a bow was just something my mother tied to my curly locks."

- Merida to Belle French

"The Bear and the Bow" is the sixth episode of Season Five of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Andrew Chambliss & Tze Chun, and directed by Ralph Hemecker. It is the ninety-fourth episode of the series overall, and premiered on November 1, 2015.

Synopsis
In a Camelot flashback, a chance encounter with Merlin, David, Hook and Belle gives Merida new hope in her quest to save her brothers from the usurping clans of DunBroch. Unwilling to leave anything up to fate, Merida brings Belle along on a dangerous journey that culminates with an invaluable lesson in bravery. In Storybrooke, Regina, Mary Margaret and David discover the spell that would allow one of Merlin’s chosen to communicate with him, but when Arthur fails to reach the missing sorcerer the heroes grow suspicious. Meanwhile, Emma commands Merida to kill Belle in hopes of forcing Mr. Gold’s heroic transformation. With Merida unable to disobey Emma’s orders, Gold must find the courage to fight for Belle’s life or risk losing her forever.

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 French
 * Colin O'Donoghue as Hook
 * Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills
 * Rebecca Mader as Zelena
 * Sean Maguire (Credit only)
 * Robert Carlyle as Mr. Gold

Guest Starring

 * Liam Garrigan as King Arthur
 * Elliot Knight as Merlin
 * Amy Manson as Merida
 * Sinqua Walls as Lancelot
 * Joana Metrass as Guinevere
 * Paul Telfer as Lord Macintosh

Co-Starring

 * Marco D’Angelo as Lord MacGuffin
 * Josh Hallem as Lord Dingwall
 * Ingrid Torrance as Nurse Ratched
 * Colton Barnert as Brother #1
 * Jordan Olson as Brother #2
 * Matthew Olson as Brother #3

Uncredited

 * Mckenna Grace as Young Emma*

Trivia

 * -|Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * The title card features a shooting arrow.
 * The title of this episode was announced by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on September 2, 2015.
 * The title of this episode was the original title of Brave.
 * The flashback scene where Merida is rowing the boat with Belle present through the Ivory Sea was filmed on Amy Manson's birthday.


 * -|Episode Connections=

Event Chronology

 * The Storybrooke events take place after "Dreamcatcher" and before "Nimue".
 * The Camelot events take place after "Dreamcatcher" and before "Nimue".
 * The DunBroch events take place two years after King Fergus' story in "The Bear King", and before the events surrounding Merida's coronation in the same episode.
 * The Enchanted Forest events at Granny's Diner take place after "Dreamcatcher" and before "Nimue".

Episode Connections

 * This is not the first time Merlin predicts something. He prophesied that Arthur will pull the Excalibur out of the stone and be king in "The Broken Kingdom".
 * Mary Margaret and David came under the effects of Sands of Avalon in "The Broken Kingdom", were still Arthur's control in "Dreamcatcher" and were fixed by Merlin in the same episode.
 * Merida recalls the events of what Emma did to her in "The Dark Swan".
 * Merida says Arthur took her wisps, which was first seen in "The Dark Swan".
 * Merida has been looking for her brothers since "The Dark Swan".
 * Regina recalls Emma's and her speech about freeing Merlin back in Camelot which takes place in "Dreamcatcher".
 * David and Arthur acquired the crimson crown back in Camelot, and then David found it in Storybrooke. Both events took place in "Siege Perilous".
 * Emma ripped Violet's heart from her chest in "Dreamcatcher".
 * Merida used the chipped cup to make Mr. Gold brave in "Dreamcatcher".
 * This is the second time the chipped cup has been shattered. The first time was in "In the Name of the Brother", where Belle smashed it by hurling it against a wall.
 * Mr. Gold uses the shards of a broken tea cup to cut himself loose, just like Emma did when she was Jefferson's prisoner in "Hat Trick".
 * Merida was forced by Emma to help her with her "dirty" work in "The Broken Kingdom".
 * Merida recalls the clans not wanting a woman to be queen, which was first mentioned in "The Dark Swan".
 * Merida mentioned her father's death in "The Dark Swan".
 * Mr. Gold fell into a coma in "Operation Mongoose Part 2" and Emma woke him up in "Siege Perilous".
 * Emma tells Zelena that she knows what it's like to be pregnant behind bars; referring to events in "Tallahassee".
 * What Emma really wants from Zelena, and the real reason why she gives her onion rings, is revealed in "Birth".
 * Zelena wielded the Apprentice's wand in "The Dark Swan".
 * Zelena says that she's been on the receiving end of a mother's betrayal; referring to how Cora gave her up in "Bleeding Through".
 * Zelena indirectly killed Neal in "Quiet Minds".
 * Mr. Gold escapes by going through the mines, before using the elevator to get inside the library. The tunnels beneath the library are connected to the mines, something that was previously established in "Fall".
 * Mr. Gold talks about how he broke his foot and fled the Ogre Wars, an event shown in "Manhattan". Belle recalls Mr. Gold telling her that he did this so that his son wouldn't grow up fatherless; the same excuse that Rumplestiltskin told his first wife, Milah. In this episode, however, Mr. Gold admits that he ran away from the war because he was frightened of dying.
 * Belle complains about her father being not supportive of her adventures, which was seen in "Family Business".
 * Mr. Gold gave up his old cane stick in "The New Neverland".
 * Belle mentions how she lost her mother in the Ogre Wars in "Family Business".
 * The story surrounding King Fergus's death, and the identity of his killer, is revealed in "Birth".
 * This is the second time that Belle and Mr. Gold argue at the town line about his cowardice. The first one happened in "Heroes and Villains".
 * Merida says, "You're lucky someone once taught me the value of mercy", which she learned from Emma in "The Dark Swan".
 * Emma remembers when the Usher told her to leave the sword alone, which happened in "The Dark Swan".
 * Emma mentions a time when Belle was Rumplestiltskin's maid, which was shown in "Skin Deep", "Lacey", "Going Home" and "Heroes and Villains".
 * Emma tells Belle, "Then you will be sweeping his remains", if Mr. Gold can't pull the sword out of the stone. The first time someone died at the sword's hands after attempting and failing to pull out the sword was in "The Dark Swan".
 * Henry was chosen to be the Author by the Apprentice and the Sorcerer in "Operation Mongoose Part 2".
 * Merlin's message was recorded in "Broken Heart".
 * How Nimue (inadvertently and indirectly) "helps" defeat the Dark One, is revealed in "Swan Song".


 * -|Cultural References=

Biblical

 * When Mr. Gold takes Excalibur, a cross pattée can be seen on the hilt.

Disney

 * This episode features Merida, young Macintosh, young Macguffin, Wee Dingwall and Merida's Brothers, as well as their homeland DunBroch, from the movie Brave.
 * The red spell book Merida is holding, while inside the Witch's Cottage, contains a gold engraving of what appears to be a silhouette of Mickey Mouse's face.
 * Merida is transformed into a bear, just like her mother was in the movie.

Fairytales and Folklore

 * This episode features King Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot from the Arthurian Legend, Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story, and the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz story.
 * Zelena affectionately refers to her unborn baby as her little munchkin.

Lost

 * Merlin picks up an Apollo bar in Granny's Diner.

Popular Culture

 * Zelena is reading Heidi Murkoff's bestselling pregnancy guide What to Expect When You're Expecting in her cell at the psychiatric ward.


 * -|Set Notes=

Props Notes

 * The spell book that Belle and Merida bring to DunBroch and use to perform magic is the same book that Regina was seen closing in the beginning of the scene where she talks to Zelena in "Siege Perilous".

Costume Notes

 * The tartan worn by Lord Dingwall and some of the clansmen, with a yellow field, black squares and a red stripe, is the tartan worn by the real Scottish Clan MacLeod of Lewis.
 * -|Other Notes=

Filming Locations

 * The rowing boat scene where Merida says goodbye to Belle, was filmed in Vancouver, British Colombia.