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 Severe Nurse
 * 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 the original title of Brave.
 * -|Episode Connections=

Event Chronology

 * The Storybrooke events take place after "Dreamcatcher".
 * The Camelot events take place after "Dreamcatcher".
 * The DunBroch events take place after King Fergus' death and the kidnapping of Merida's brothers, first mentioned in "The Dark Swan".
 * The Enchanted Forest events at Granny's Diner take place after "Dreamcatcher".

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 affects 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 in the same episode which is "Siege Perilous".
 * Emma rip Violet's heart from her chest in "Dreamcatcher"
 * Merida used the chipped cup to have Mr. Gold got mad so that make him brave in "Dreamcatcher".
 * Merida was forced by Emma to help her with her "dirty" work in "The Broken Kingdom".
 * Merida recalls the events of the clans does not want a woman to be queen which was first mentioned in "The Dark Swan".
 * Merida mentioned her father's death again in "The Dark Swan".
 * Mr. Gold fell into a coma in "Operation Mongoose Part 2" and was walked up by Emma in "Siege Perilous".
 * In 2001, Emma was sent to a prison in Phoenix where she also found that she was pregnant in "Tallahassee"
 * Zelena wielded the Merlin's magic on the Apprentice's Wand in "The Dark Swan".
 * Zelena indirectly killed Neal in "Quiet Minds".
 * Mr. Gold recalls the events of how he fled away from the Ogre Wars to be with his son and protect him which happened in "Manhattan". But in the reality he ran away from the war because he frightened of dying.
 * Belle complains of his father's not being supportive of her adventures which was seen in "Family Business".
 * Mr. Gold gave up his old stick because it was a reminder of a coward man in "The New Neverland".
 * Belle mentioned of how she lost her mother in the Ogre Wars in "Family Business".
 * This is the second time that Belle and Gold arguing in 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 lernt 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 mentiones the time Belle was Rumplestiltskin's maid, which was shown in "Skin Deep", "Lacey", "Going Home" and "Heroes and Villains".
 * Emma says Belle "Then you will be sweeping his remains" if Gold can't pull the sword out of the stone which happened to Sir Kay in "The Dark Swan".
 * Henry was chosen to be the Author by the Apprentice and the Sorcerer in "Operation Mongoose Part 2".


 * -|Cultural References=

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 potion, which transforms people into bears, is named "Spell of Mor'du", a reference to the main antagonist of Brave.
 * 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.