User:MadArcher98/Episode 801

"Lend Her Grace" is the first episode of Season Eight of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by MadArcher98. It is the one hundred and fifty-sixth episode of the series overall.

Synopsis
When a tragedy befalls the Storybrooke district for the first time in a long time, Sheriff August Booth and his Deputy Nicholas Zimmer find themselves tackling an issue more complex than they could have realized. Meanwhile, in New York City, thirteen-year-old Phillip receives a visit from a mysterious stranger who claims to be his grandmother from a fantasy world.

Recap
At an apartment in New York City, Phillip is home alone watching Netflix when the doorbell rings. Reluctantly, Phillip gets off the couch and answers the door. Standing there is a woman he doesn't recognize, who introduces herself as Briar Rose, before telling him that she is his grandmother.

In Storybrooke - which has only recently merged with the other realms of story to form the United Realms - there are more customers at The Rabbit Hole than ever. Lily, who works night-shifts there as a waitress, is exhausted by the amount of working and rushing around requires to keep up on this shift. Violet, another waitress working there, sympathizes with her. However, Violet's shift ends several hours before Lily's does. It is past midnight when she gets off work, and she exits The Rabbit Hole, taking a few deep breaths of the night air. Lily then walks towards to her car, but stops abruptly upon seeing that there is already somebody in the car. Withdrawing a can of mace from her handbag, Lily slowly approaches the vehicle. When the figure inside her car doesn't move, Lily swings the car door open, causing Violet to slump out of the car and onto the sidewalk, dead.

Meanwhile, Phillip has let Briar Rose into the apartment. Briar Rose asks why he is home alone, to which Phillip explains that his mom is at a business conference. Briar Rose explains that the woman he has lived with is not his mother, and that his real parents are Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip. Phillip, incredulous, openly regrets letting Briar Rose inside and tries to demand that she leave, threatening to call the police. Realizing that she cannot convince him to believe on her own, Briar Rose instead opts to knock Phillip out with poppy dust.

The next morning, outside The Rabbit Hole, the crime scene is sectioned off with yellow tape as residents of Storybrooke begin gathering around to see what has happened. On the scene is August Booth, who has become the new Sheriff of Storybrooke since Emma and Hook want to focus on being parents. Joining him is the newly-recruited Deputy Sheriff, Nicholas Zimmer. Nicholas keeps the townsfolk at bay while August questions Lily about Violet. He asks if Violet had any enemies, but Lily replies that she barely knew Violet. August and Nicholas let Lily go home, and question the other employees at The Rabbit Hole, but they all echo the same words; none of them actually knew Violet outside of work. The bartender suggests that they go upstairs where their employer resides. August and Nicholas enter the office of The Rabbit Hole's owner, Marc Haigha, who was once known as the "March Hare". Marc expresses disappointment at the fact that The Rabbit Hole will need to be temporarily closed down, as it has become a potential crime scene, and earns the enmity of August and Nicholas when they ask him who might have murdered Violet and Marc implies that Henry Mills might have killed her, given their history. Marc insists that he never personally knew Violet, but recommends that they go and see Violet's father, Sir Morgan, who is currently in the Camelot district so probably wouldn't have received the news.

In the Camelot district, August and Nicholas are welcomed by Lancelot and his son Galahad, who escort them to see Sir Morgan. When Morgan finds out that Violet is dead, he flies into a rage and demands to know why he wasn't informed immediately. August explains that since Camelot doesn't have any technology, they couldn't reach him by phone. Sir Morgan immediately accuses Galahad of Violet's murder, since they had been in a relationship until recently and had been arguing the day before. Galahad denies this, claiming that he was volunteering at Storybrooke General Hospital that night. In order to check Galahad's alibi, August calls his wife Rapunzel, who now works as a doctor at the hospital. Rapunzel confirms that Galahad was indeed at the hospital, and asks if August will be home tonight, since there's something important she wants to tell him. August confirms he will be home in time for dinner, before returning to Storybrooke with Nicholas and Sir Morgan, the latter wanting to see Violet "one last time".

At the mortuary, Sir Morgan sees his daughter's body and all of his anger immediately becomes grief as he breaks down into tears over Violet. There, Nurse Ratched informs August that Violet's death was caused by dragon venom. August, not knowing that dragons were venomous, is told that dragons often don't need to use it, since they can breathe fire which generally does the trick before dragons can get close enough to bite anyone. However, Ratched points out that dragon venom usually takes several days to kill, so the venom injected into Violet's bloodstream must have been accelerated through magical means. August is confused as to who would have the skills and resources to be able to magically alter a rare substance exclusive to dragons.

Lily arrives at the Forbidden Fortress, still shocked by Violet's sudden death, and is comforted by her mother Maleficent. Maleficent says that it is never easy seeing a dead body for the first time, but Lily is more concerned about why Violet's corpse was stuffed in Lily's car in the first place, feeling that it may be a warning or a threat. Maleficent promises that Lily will always be safe in her mother's presence, and they hug. Suddenly, Maleficent hears someone outside the castle and teleports to find the intruder, but is surprised to find that it is none other than Briar Rose outside the Forbidden Fortress. Maleficent asks "what the hell" she is doing here, to which Briar Rose responds that she needs Maleficent's help.

Starring

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

Guest Starring

 * Olivia Steele Falconer as Violet Morgan
 * Kristin Bauer van Straten as Maleficent
 * Nicole Muñoz as Lily Page
 * Ryan Robbins as Sir Morgan
 * Sinqua Walls as Sir Lancelot
 * Alfred Enoch as Sir Galahad
 * Damian Lewis as the March Hare

Co-Starring

 * Gabe Khouth as Mr. Clark
 * Nicholas Carella as Bartender
 * Ingrid Torrance as Nurse Ratched

Uncredited

 * Vladimir Ruzich as Suited Heavy

Trivia

 * -|Production Notes=

Title

 * The title card features The Rabbit Hole.
 * The title comes from Lancelot's line, "God in his mercy, lend her grace", which is directly from the Alfred Tennyson's Victorian ballad The Lady of Shalott.
 * -|Episode Connections=

Event Chronology

 * The United Realms events take place before "Leaving Storybrooke".

Episode Connections

 * Storybrooke merged with the realms of story to create the United Realms in "Leaving Storybrooke".
 * Marc mentions Henry and Violet's break-up, which occurred in the novel Henry and Violet.
 * Having first been mentioned in the second episode "The Thing You Love Most", Briar Rose finally makes an on-screen appearance.
 * -|Cultural References=

Disney

 * Rapunzel's ring tone for August on her phone is "I've Got No Strings" from the 1940 Disney film Pinocchio, referencing August's fairytale identity.
 * Phillip mentions the 2014 Disney film Maleficent.

Fairytales and Folklore

 * This episode features Pinocchio from The Adventures of Pinocchio, as well as Hansel from the Hansel and Gretel fairytale, Rapunzel from the fairytale of the same name.
 * Additionally, Briar Rose and the Wicked Fairy from the fairytale Sleeping Beauty feature.
 * Several Knights of the Round Table (specifically Lancelot and Galahad) appear from Arthurian Legend, alongside Hank Morgan and his daughter from the story A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
 * The March Hare from the story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland appears.

''Lost

 * When Lily checks the time on the clock during her shift, the time is 8:15, referencing Oceanic Flight 815.

Popular Culture

 * While home alone, Phillip is watching the popular streaming service Netflix.
 * -|Set Notes=

Costume Notes

 * -|Goofs=

Goofs

 * -|Other Notes=