Operation Mongoose Part 2

"Operation Mongoose Part 2" is the twenty-second and final episode of Season Four of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, and directed by Ralph Hemecker. It is the eighty-eighth episode of the series overall, and premiered on May 10, 2015.

This episode is the second part of the season four finale, and premiered immediately following "Operation Mongoose Part 1".

Synopsis
The Author proves to be a formidable wild card and forges an alliance with Gold. Emma, her parents, Hook and Regina scramble to stop them, but when Gold and the Author turn the tables on heroes and villains alike, the prospect of any happy outcome appears worlds away. Henry discovers he has big shoes to fill as he steps up to save his family before the story's final page is turned. It's a race to the finish, and everything culminates with a shocking twist that will leave the residents of Storybrooke reeling.

Recap
In Isaac's Enchanted Forest, the knight Rumplestiltskin rides his horse across the countryside to his cottage, where his beloved wife, Belle. He then goes to check on his infant son but is surprised to be greeted by a man he does not recognize. His house-guest himself as Isaac, a traveler who Belle invited in to slake his thirst. He asks Belle to get him some more water. Rumplestiltskin instantly realizes that Isaac has not come to his home for the water. Isaac explains to the Light One that he is here delivering a warning--a young boy is on the loose and on a mission to help a bandit named Regina. If the boy succeeds, it will destroy the world as Rumplestiltskin knows it. Rumplestiltskin does not believe a word, thinking Isaac is trying to corrupt him into harming the boy and Regina. Isaac tells him that his world is not real, but a creation of Magic, and it is in danger of falling apart if Rumplestiltskin does not so something. He tries to explain by recalling how his story originally went-he was arguably the worst villain of all time, so he asked Isaac to rewrite his story so he would no longer be such. Isaac provides further evidence by revealing he knows secrets about the Light One that not even Belle knows--Baelfire, Rumplestiltskin's first son. He tells him of how Baelfire fell in the first of the Ogre Wars in spite of his father's heroic efforts, but originally, Baelfire met his end through his father's cowardice. The Light One is taken aback at such an idea and sends Isaac on his way, but not before Isaac tells him one last time that he is not really a hero, and unless he kills Regina, everyone, including Belle, will know it.

Starring

 * Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard
 * Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
 * Lana Parrilla as Evil Queen/Regina Mills
 * Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David Nolan
 * Emilie de Ravin as Belle/Belle French
 * Colin O'Donoghue as Hook
 * Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills
 * Michael Socha as Will Scarlet
 * Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold

Guest Starring

 * Lee Arenberg as Grumpy/Leroy
 * Agnes Bruckner as Lily
 * Beverley Elliott as Granny/Granny
 * Patrick Fischler as Isaac
 * Rebecca Mader as Wicked Witch of the West
 * Sean Maguire as Robin Hood
 * Charles Mesure as Black Beard
 * Timothy Webber as the Apprentice

Co-Starring

 * Dante Arias as Child #1
 * Jason Burkart as Little John
 * Michael Coleman as Happy/Happy
 * Faustino Di Bauda as Sleepy/Walter
 * David-Paul Grove as Doc/Doc
 * Jeffrey Kaiser as Dopey/Dopey
 * Octavian Kaul as Child #2
 * Gabe Khouth as Sneezy/Mr. Clark
 * Mig Macario as Bashful
 * Tom Pickett as Bishop

Uncredited

 * Unknown baby as Neal Nolan

Trivia
Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * According to Adam Horowitz, Raphael Sbarge was supposed to reprise his role as Jiminy Cricket in the episode, but didn't happen due to timing and budget issues.
 * The title card features Emma's tower.
 * During the original airing, the two parts were separated by a different title card featuring a swan. The same title card has already been used for "There's No Place Like Home".
 * Rumplestiltskin and Belle's son in the alternate reality is actually baby Neal, Mary Margaret Blanchard and David Nolan's infant son.
 * In the alternate reality, Emma is wearing a pair of dagger-shaped earrings.
 * The fictional novel pictured in the newspaper that Isaac is reading is The Stellar Jay by "Justice Greybridge".
 * A news reporter is called "M. Soparlo", a reference to production staff member Mark Soparlo. M. Soparlo is also the name of an author of one of the books on a shelf where Cora finds Mr. Gold's map in "Manhattan", and the news reporter in one of the clippings in Emma's case file in "True North".
 * Another news reporter is D. McLean, a reference to production staff member Douglas McLean. D. McLean is also the name of the author of the nautical guide book which Belle consults in "The Outsider".
 * An excerpt from the fairy tale of "The Golden Bird" can be seen when Regina flips through Henry's storybook.


 * -|Episode Connections=

Event Chronology

 * The Storybrooke events take place after "Operation Mongoose Part 1".

Episode Connections

 * In Isaac's story, Belle is Neal Nolan's mother. This is fitting, since Belle is often his babysitter in Storybrooke in episodes such as "Breaking Glass", "Smash the Mirror", and "Lily".
 * Isaac recalls Mr. Gold having him rewrite the story in "Mother" and "Operation Mongoose Part 1".
 * As per Rumplestiltskin's false memories, he was an honored hero in the Ogre Wars, in direct contrast to his actual cowardice in "Manhattan".
 * Baelfire actually died in "Quiet Minds".
 * -|Cultural References=

Biblical

 * The priest at Zelena and Robin Hood's wedding is dressed in robes similar to the robes worn by Christian Deacons.

Disney

 * Emma calls Hook a "regular Jack Sparrow"; a reference to the famous pirate from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
 * In Isaac's story, Emma is locked in a tower by her "mother", just like Rapunzel was in the movie Tangled. Following the rescue, Emma is dressed in an outfit which resembles Flynn Rider.

Fairytales and Folklore

 * This episode features Snow White, Prince Charming, the Evil Queen, and the Seven Dwarves from the Snow White fairytale, Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story, Rumplestiltskin from the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale, Robin Hood, Little John, and Will Scarlet from the Robin Hood ballad, Belle from the Beauty and the Beast fairytale, Granny from the Little Red Riding Hood fairytale, the Apprentice from The Sorcerer's Apprentice and the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wonderful Wizard of Oz story.
 * In Isaac's storybook, Hook works as a deckhand for Black Beard, the same occupation he once held in the Peter Pan novel, where Captain Hook is described as a "boatswain to Blackbeard".

Popular Culture

 * Black Beard is based on the character of the same name from popular culture.
 * When Henry and Hook knock out the guard at Emma's prison, Henry refers to this as the "Wookiee prisoner transfer" ploy. This is a reference to the scene from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, where Han Solo and Luke Skywalker pretend Chewbacca is their prisoner in order to enter the Death Star's detention area and rescue Princess Leia. Also, Hook tells the guard his prisoner is "from the kingdom of Kashyyyk", referencing the Wookiee home planet from Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
 * This reference is particularly interesting since the show creators have stated that they look at Hook as their version of Han Solo. In addition, Emma's alias in the Enchanted Forest in "Snow Drifts" and "There's No Place Like Home" was Princess Leia.
 * The newspaper that Isaac reads is called the "New York Ledger". This was a real, weekly story paper published in New York City from 1855 to 1898.

Goofs

 * After Hook dies in the alternate reality, as he lays motionless on the ground, actor Colin O'Donoghue takes an obvious breath.