Go forth and hammer away!
Uninhibited Regina aka Queenie still rocking the "Regina-Cora" mashup. Regina's fear was she'd turn into her mother and we see that fulfilled in Queenie.
Still don't know her goal. She cursed Snow and David. She's in a powerful alliance. I guess she either has a curse up her sleeve or at least reintegration and subjugation of Regina into her. I mean, she's sort of a sitting duck.
That was a nice episode.Â
The world behind the mirror is interesting and looked like an abandoned place in Wonderland.Â
I enjoyed the Dragon even though his dragon form was not perfect CGI, it was interesting. By introducing his dragon form and letting him say he has a daughter, I'm almost sure he's Lily's father and I can possibly explain the Lily not being Asian matter if they say something stupid like Dragons have no race or something.Â
Zelena and Belle was so good, and Belle rocks in this season.Â
Lovely to see Aladdin and Jasmine again. Beautiful nod to Robin Williams (and Sydney).Â
I absolutely love all the references to past seasons.Â
Keep going OUAT.Â
Great episode.
Maybe I am biased but I love Emma and Regina scenes, their dinamic is fantastic and Lana and Jen have so much chemistry. SwanMillsFamily is my favorite relationship in the show and I'm glad this episode finally focused so much on it! The scene where Regina admits she can't raise Henry without Emma and the scene where they watch Henry and Violet and realize he has grown up. Oh the feels.Â
The EQ is just phenomenal and Lana plays her so well.
Snowing were beautiful too.
The Belle/Zelena/Aladdin plot was intriguing, and finally the genie lamp!Â
And now the only negative thing in the episode: Rumple. They really messed up with his character, this time he really went too far, and his "relationship" with the EQ keep sucking. But apart from that, everything was great.
I'd give it a 8,5 out of 10.
Welcome to "Do They Even", hosted by yours truly. A show brought to you by the writers because of the writers.
1. Why does noone question Emma leaving to New York when EQ put an impassible barrier on the townline?
2. They've stated that you are magicless in the mirror world. Why then is the Dragon capable of magic? Why was Sidney capable of magic (but he's a special case at best)?
3. They've stated that the sleeping curse is an unbreakable curse (except for true love). Why does Emma ask the Dragon? Why does Regina not even stop that sort of questioning in tis tracks?
4. Anyone can crush a heart. Snow crushed David's, for example. Why would Regina need to acquire a godly artifact just so Henry can crush the Dragon's heart? Queenie would have no trouble stealing the heart back from Henry, even if he dared.
I've picked up on these across the web and it just makes me wonder, "Do they even (insert something cynical)?" The writers sometimes write solid episodes, but then it's mucked up when someone thinks over it briefly afterwards. Most of these are because of the capital P-L-O-T, but come on, there's no real excuse to not be consistent or making something up that makes it work.
2. They've stated that you are magicless in the mirror world. Why then is the Dragon capable of magic? Why was Sidney capable of magic (but he's a special case at best)?
My brother has always theorized that Once has two different types of magic: learned and natural. Regina and Emma are examples of "learned" magic, a kind of magic anyone can master simply through their emotions and some books. Zelena is an example of "natural" magic, as she was able to use magic as an infant without knowledge or understanding of what she was doing. Going by this, it's possible that the World Behind the Mirror blocks "learned" magic but not "natural" magic. The Dragon's magic is "natural", since, as we saw with Lily, dragon people have the power to transform into a dragon from birth. Sidney's could also be described as "natural"; although he (probably) didn't have it from birth, he did not learn it, he simply came to possess it.
The problem with this is that it was implied by Aladdin's backstory that Savior magic is natural, not learned. But this has never really been the case with Emma. She didn't start using magic until Regina started teaching her how in Season 3. So Aladdin having natural magic may be a special case.
At this point I'm finding it hard for Rumple to be redeemed. His death in season 3 was so powerful and when they brought him back...I was just not impressed, even though I was happy to see him get back with Belle.Â
I understand the whole struggle with darkness, it's just not being carried very well. But I enjoyed a lot about this episode and look forward to seeing more loose ends tied.
1. Why does noone question Emma leaving to New York when EQ put an impassible barrier on the townline?
I don't think we got confirmation that the SQ put up a spell that blocks anyone from leaving. And Emma has almost always been able to leave, because of the whole Savior thing.
2. They've stated that you are magicless in the mirror world. Why then is the Dragon capable of magic? Why was Sidney capable of magic (but he's a special case at best)?
Different types of magic maybe, as someone suggested above.
3. They've stated that the sleeping curse is an unbreakable curse (except for true love). Why does Emma ask the Dragon? Why does Regina not even stop that sort of questioning in tis tracks?
Well, it doesn't hurt to ask. Just because Regina thought it was unbreakable doesn't mean that's true. And if True Love's Kiss can break it, there may be other ways.
4. Anyone can crush a heart. Snow crushed David's, for example. Why would Regina need to acquire a godly artifact just so Henry can crush the Dragon's heart? Queenie would have no trouble stealing the heart back from Henry, even if he dared.
I think the SQ just likes to be dramatic. Sure Henry can just crush the heart in his hand, but using a magical hammer is so much better. Besides, doing something with your own hand and doing it with an object are very different. Maybe she thought it would be easier for Henry to do it with the hammer. Alternativly, maybe you do need to be a magic user to crush a heart, and Regina somehow gave her magic to Snow so she could crush Charming's heart or something.
I've picked up on these across the web and it just makes me wonder, "Do they even (insert something cynical)?" The writers sometimes write solid episodes, but then it's mucked up when someone thinks over it briefly afterwards. Most of these are because of the capital P-L-O-T, but come on, there's no real excuse to not be consistent or making something up that makes it work.
Answers in bold.
Emma's magic is natural, not learned. Look at the Scene with Ingrid at the Fairgrounds. Look at Henry's birth. She was exhibiting her magical abilities in a land without magic. She had no control over them (other than possibly her random plot-induced super power), but she still had it.
Only after she is in Storybrooke and had a little proper exposure to trained magic (and Dark Magic) is she able to begin to control her power. We see one piece of evidence on that when Emma and Gold are travelling to NYC to find Neal. When Gold has to release his talisman to go through airport security, Emma is semiconsciously using her magic to help Gold maintain his identity until he can reclaim the talisman, and we all know that the effort was successful.
Tieing that back onto the current topic, Emma really should have been able to use her magic. That whole question was one of my "are you serious?" moments. Particularly when the Dragon changed form. Although, tbf, does a dragon need magic to change forms?
Another thing, someone mentioned Sydney being capable of magic in the World behind the Mirror? When was that ever shown?
Going to the Emma leaving question, we have absolute confirmation about the barrier. When Emma (with David and Snow) tried to cross the town line in "A Bitter Draught", the car hit the border and bounced. And afterwards, both Emma and Regina inspected the magic and confirmed that they were trapped. Either a definite continuity issue, or an off-screen resolution that removed the barrier again. Either of which is a problem, making the town-line border a plot-induced issue.
Brilliant episode, I loved it!
-Favourite part - Zelena saying "his ticker only tocks" about Rumple - nice crocodile reference! Was such a relief to see our girl in green is officially back!
-Loved the World behind the Mirror, it was nice to be able to see exactly what it was like for Sidney all this time. Also I'm glad how this mirror world fulfilled its potential for comedy (Regina's line about Granny killed me).
-I can't believe it took me this long to realise the Dragon might be Lily's father, but it hit me the moment he transformed and showed us why he has that name.
-Snow and David's curse montage scene destroyed me. I'm not comfortable with a scene making me feel so much for a couple that I hate. The music was beautiful too.
-But the WASTE OF PAPER in this episode! You'd think someone from a forest would know to be kind to trees.
-Henry's interaction with EQ is amazing, and I actually quite like his character again.
-EQ is getting a bit too fond of starting a conversation with a memory. Just get to the point.
-Loved the bit with Aladdin, Jasmine and the lamp. I was scared they'd just ignore the genie component of his story. The part with the monkey was gold too.
-And Henry is still making Violet watch old movies. If you wanna teach her about high school drama, try Mean Girls.
-I hope the gold bracelet Rumple used on Belle is a reference to the Genie's gold shackles, or something like that. Also I like how he pointed out the irony of someone trying to take his baby away - even though that was already done in 5B.
-Basically I loved how many references were made in this episode, and how well everything was tied together. Very well written episode, 9/10.
-Really liking the idea of Belle and Zelena teaming up. I liked how she pointed out their similarities, until she got it wrong.
-Sorry Belle, did you forget how Zelena had a boyfriend who did the same thing to her as Rumple did to you? And how she turned on him, just as you did once? You have almost identical ex-boyfriends, and you're pretending Regina is the one who let Zelena down? Bye.
Just saw the episode today and I liked the majority of it.
- World behind the Mirror was very cool to see. I wouldn't have minded if they went into more detail on when Sidney was trapped there.Â
- Dragon being Lily's father is extremely plausable. If Mulan had a bigger part of the show I'd definitely go with her as the Dragon's daughter.Â
- The Dragon's form honestly looks like Mushu, but that could also be because they are both the same kind of dragon. What if the 2 characters are the same? Mulan's father and Mushu. Mushu was Mulan's guardian but that could also be interpreted as her Father is protecting her too.
- So releaved to see a different dragon than Mals/ Lilys. I think he was able to transform because EQ told his heart to.Â
- Rumple is absolutely horid now. Like others said, his level of possessiveness is extreme. If the writers somehow repair Belle and Rumple's relationship I'm done with the show. 0% Belle will go back to loving Rumple.
- Shame how Zelena is under self-imposed house arrest, looking after her baby and that's it.Â
- Aladdin and Jasmine's scene with the lamp was fantastic! I'm excited to watch them expand their story. I predict Jafar is in the lamp and may be freed at the end of this season and become big bad for next season.Â
- Robin Williams reference... *cries* RIP Genie.
- So happy they brought Violet again. I seriously LOVE Violet and Henry. Making Violet struggle with real world problems like fitting in to a new place is a great touch.
- NO MORE GOLDENQUEEN! I can NOT watch those scenes. I literally shield my eyes from them. HORRIBLE!Â
- Rumple getting soft by not making a deal with EQ for the Hammer.... really???
- Liked the Snow/Charming montage and how the show isn't rushing to get rid of their curse.