"Knightfall" is the thirteenth episode of Season Seven of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Jerome Schwartz & Miguel Ian Raya, and directed by Steve Miner. It is the one hundred and forty-sixth episode of the series overall, and premiered on March 16, 2018.
Synopsis
Rogers strikes a deal with Eloise despite Tilly’s fair warning, while Ivy struggles to find herself after Victoria's death. Meanwhile, in a faraway realm, Hook confronts Captain Ahab over a legendary magical talisman which can free Alice, only to learn that his quest may have unintended consequences.[2]
Recap
In the new realm, Alice is experiencing a nightmare that Gothel will come for her, but as she wakes up, Hook is there to comfort her, promising to end the nightmares once and for all. The two then take a pair of Chess pieces, a white knight for Alice and a black rook for Hook. Later on, he seeks out the still jailed Rumpelstiltskin for help and the two agree to a deal. Rumple informs Hook of a device that will help save his daughter, but it's already in the possession of another seafarer.
Hook arrived to confront Ahab, the current possessor of Maui's fish hook. However, Ahab starts taunting Hook, and rather than fighting, Hook and Ahab decided on a dice game with the winner getting the Jolly Roger and keeping the fish hook. Surprisingly enough, Hook wins the throw. But Ahab isn't convinced that Hook has returned to his swashbuckling ways, and as he follows Hook back to Rumple's cell the tensions between the two reach the point of taunting Hook for abandoning Alice. This leads to a gun duel between Hook and Ahab, and Hook again emerges as the winner, then runs off to return to Alice.
Unfortunately, the nightmare of Alice being taken away by Gothel comes true, as Hook returns to use the fish hook to free Alice, only to have Gothel appear and taunt Hook before banishing him for good from the Tower and acquiring the fish hook, leaving Alice screaming and crying out for her father, who is now left a weakened man.
These events are what led to Hook becoming the old, beer-bellied, depressed drunkard that was first encountered in the wish realm.
Tilly starts to have strange reactions to Gothel's presence that has made her nervous, but Rogers and Weaver ignore her subliminal cry for help, as they try to focus on the case at hand involving the killings of the witches. Eloise suddenly shows up at the station and agrees to being interrogated, but only by Rogers, and Weaver allows it. The interrogation between Rogers and Gothel is turned into a mind game as Eloise uses Rogers' psyche to gauge his past, but to no avail. Outside the room, Tilly becomes concerned for Rogers as she watches by means of the surveillance camera screen, especially after he leaves the room for a second and Eloise looks directly at the camera in order to scare and taunt Tilly. Tilly again expresses her anxiety to Weaver, who blows her off yet again, claiming that Rogers is handling things.
Back in the room, Eloise tells Rogers that the killer is grappling with pain to fill a void, then offers a clue, in which the victims had a heart shaped box, and gives Rogers a cryptic message to follow his heart in order to capture the killer. When Rogers and Weaver arrive to the hospital upon learning of a delivery of heart-shaped boxes to the intended victims (including one that died years earlier), the two learn that the blind baker has been killed, and they find Tilly in the hospital room, freaking out while holding a bloody scalpel. She shouts at them, very frightened and disoriented, before escaping out a window. Rogers and Weaver come across the witches' symbol back in the warehouse but with two sectors crossed out, indicative of the two deaths. Weaver tells Rogers that he doesn't think the killer is Tilly.
When asked why she stopped Henry from kissing Jacinda, Lucy claims it is because she is jealous of Henry and looking for more time with her mother. Henry explains to Regina about what happened one morning, (Regina having just left Facilier's house) and Regina offers solace. Later on, Ivy visits Henry at his apartment, but as expected, he isn't interested in Ivy but suggests that she should find comfort with her family. Ivy somehow takes that advice and pays a surprise visit to Jacinda's by returning everything Victoria took from her as a way to bury the hatchet. Jacinda and Ivy make up and Jacinda returns to Ivy a doll that she had kept. This gives Ivy an idea, so when she returns to see Henry, she asks him to help find Anastasia as she believes that he can do this and he agrees.
Later that evening, Lucy goes to speak to Regina at her bar and shows her the page about Henry dying. When she shows the page to Regina, Regina reveals to Lucy that she is awake, and the two agreed to help find a way save Henry. The two come up a new code name for their mission, called "Operation Hyacinth."
Deleted Scenes
"I Know Who You Are"
This scene is included on the Once Upon a Time: The Complete Seventh and Final Season Blu-ray, but not the DVD.
An extended version of the scene where Ivy packs up her mother's things in Victoria's office. Ivy finds the photograph of her mother and looks at it yearningly before she packs it up. Lucy then shows up at the office, but Ivy tells her to go away, as she is not in the mood for "plucky and precocious". Lucy says that Ivy is angry and heartbroken because she (Lucy) knows Ivy is Drizella, and she knows Drizella poisoned Henry thanks to a storybook page that came to her yesterday. Ivy dismisses her, saying that she doesn't have time for fairytales. Lucy begs Ivy to save her father because her mother is gone now and she doesn't have to be evil. She also says that Ivy will never be with Henry, because good things doesn't happen to bad people, who are always alone in their misery. Before Lucy goes away. she advises Ivy to give up being a villain. To prove Lucy is wrong, Ivy decides to call Henry.
Cast[2]
Starring
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Guest Starring
Co-Starring
Uncredited
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Note:
*: Only in archive footage
Trivia
Title
- The title card features the head of Ivy's doll, Beatrice, inside the "O" of "Once".[3]
- The title of this episode was revealed by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on November 13, 2017.[4]
- In addition to being a reference to Wish Hook's actions, the episode title is also a subtle reference to the chess knight that Wish Hook gives to his daughter Alice. It is also a pun on the word "nightfall".
Production Notes
- HIDDEN DETAILS: Instead of immediately going back to his daughter, Wish Hook engages Captain Ahab in a duel to defend his honor. However, he soon realizes that his family is more important than his pride. J.M. Barrie has openly admitted that the character of Captain Hook and his vendetta against the crocodile, was inspired by Herman Melville's Captain Ahab from Moby-Dick.[5] This means that Wish Hook is essentially battling a version of himself, and the duel can be viewed as a representation of his inner struggle.
Event Chronology
- The Seattle events take place the day after "A Taste of the Heights", and before "The Girl in the Tower". (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)
- The New Enchanted Forest flashbacks take place several years after "Eloise Gardener" and several years before Alice escapes the tower in "The Girl in the Tower".
- The Wish Realm flashbacks take place several years after "Eloise Gardener" and before "Wish You Were Here".
Episode Connections
- Alice was trapped by Gothel in "Eloise Gardener".
- Alice and Wish Hook each give each other a chess piece, something that was referred to in "A Pirate's Life" and "Pretty in Blue"-
- Tilly and Rogers first played chess together in "Beauty".
- Hilda was previously attacked by the killer in "A Taste of the Heights".
- Roni met with her "former-boyfriend" in "A Taste of the Heights".
- Henry spent game night at Jacinda's apartment in "A Taste of the Heights".
- Rogers and Weaver began their investigation into the deaths of the Coven of the Eight, including Doctor Sage's death in "Secret Garden" and in "A Taste of the Heights".
- Victoria was killed in "Secret Garden".
- The killer's identity is revealed in "Sisterhood".
- Wish Realm Rumplestiltskin's imprisonment in Rumplestiltskin's Cell was first seen in "Wish You Were Here". In the same episode, he eventually escaped the dungeon because of a deal with Regina.
- Lucy discovered the ramifications of the Dark Curse, in that Henry will die if it is broken, during "A Taste of the Heights".
- Lucy was in the hospital during "The Eighth Witch" and "Secret Garden".
- Henry is Lucy's favorite author, a fact which was established in "Hyperion Heights".
- The flute music playing in the tavern where Wish Hook meets Captain Ahab is the same tune heard in the tavern that Anton visits in "Tiny", the tavern where Hook and his crew celebrate in "The Jolly Roger", the tavern where young Cora is working in "Bleeding Through", the tavern where Emma meets past Hook in "Snow Drifts", and Robin Hood's tavern in "Heart of Gold" and the Fish & Bird tavern in the New Enchanted Forest in "Breadcrumbs". The same music is playing in the tent camp that Snow White visits in "Heartless".
- Hook gave the Jolly Roger to Smee in "Eloise Gardener".
- Hook agrees to forfeit the Jolly Roger to Ahab if he loses the game, much like the other Hook agreed to do with Black Beard in "Mother's Little Helper".
- Ivy reconciled with her mother in "Secret Garden".
- In a brief flashback, Alice and Wish Hook play chess. In "A Pirate's Life", Wish Hook said that he used to play chess with his daughter.
- Gothel poisons Hook's heart and banishes him from the tower, which was first mentioned by Hook himself in "A Pirate's Life".
- Alice escapes the tower in "The Girl in the Tower", and her counterpart Tilly is exonerated of murder charges in the same episode.
- Ivy finds Anastasia and makes amends with her in "Sisterhood".
- Lucy stopped Henry and Jacinda from kissing in "A Taste of the Heights".
- Roni became awake in "Wake Up Call".
- Lucy and Roni continue Operation Hyacinth in "The Girl in the Tower".
Disney
- The design of Maui's fish hook is based on Disney's Moana.
- Ivy brings a box of mochi from Lucky Cat Cafe for Henry.[6] This is a reference to Mochi, a minor character, and the location of the same name, from Disney's Big Hero 6.
- This episode contains a number of other references to Disney works. See the list of Disney references for more.
Lost
- The woman whose widower received a chocolate box, Luanne Hoffs-Drawler, is named after the Hoffs-Drawlar Funeral Parlor from Lost.
Fairytales and Folklore
- This episode features Captain Hook and Smee from the Peter Pan story, Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Dame Gothel from the "Rapunzel" fairytale, Rumplestiltskin from the "Rumplestiltskin" fairytale, and Captain Ahab from the Moby-Dick story.
- HIDDEN DETAILS: Captain Ahab's wooden leg has an illustration of a whale,[7] a reference to the titular character of the Moby Dick novel.
- Wish Hook and Captain Ahab both make references to the "white whale", a reference to the titular character from Moby-Dick, who bit off Ahab's leg at the knee. Since then, Ahab has been seeking revenge on the whale.
- Maui's fish hook from Polynesian mythology appears.
- Young Alice has a chess set next to her bed and she and Wish Hook each give each other a chess piece before he leaves. Chess is an important theme in the novel Through the Looking-Glass. Similarly, while Rogers is at work, Tilly tries to interest him in a chess game and in a brief flashback, Alice is shown playing chess to pass the time in the tower.
- Wish Hook is pushed from the tower by Gothel, similar to what happens in the "Rapunzel" fairytale, where the prince, overcome with grief, throws himself from the tower after the sorceress lies to him and tells him that Rapunzel has died.
Popular Culture
- On the box of mochi that Ivy gives Henry,[6] the Japanese kanji characters "大福餅" (pronounced as "daifukumochi") are printed, which references a type of mochi that is round in shape and usually contains a sweet filling such as red bean paste.
- A maneki-neko, a cat beckoning with an upright paw, is pictured on the box.[6] This is a common Japanese figurine which is believed to bring good luck to the owner. Fittingly enough, the name of the seller is Lucky Cat Cafe.
Props Notes
- HIDDEN DETAILS: The bottles of sand that Wish Hook gave to Alice[8] are sitting on a shelf inside Tilly's boxcar.[9]
- REUSED PROPS: The wooden swords Hook and Alice are playing with[10] are the same props used by David and Henry[11] in the Season Two episode "Lady of the Lake".[12]
Set Notes
- COPIED FROM PHOTO: The photograph of Hilda from the case file at the police station[13] is taken from a promotional photograph of actress Chilton Crane from "A Taste of the Heights".[14] Notice how the white apron Hilda wore in "A Taste of the Heights" has been CGIed away.
- USE IT AGAIN: The same photograph appears on Henry's bulletin board in "Flower Child".[15]
Costume Notes
- BRAND INFO: Ivy is wearing[16] a Sandro Pearl Embellished Peplum Sweater by Sandro.[17] She continues to wear the sweater in "The Girl in the Tower".[18]
- BRAND INFO: Henry is wearing[19] a Jack Spade Solid Henley (no longer available).[20]
- USE IT AGAIN: He continues to wear the shirt in "The Girl in the Tower".[21]
- SECONDHAND CLOTHING: The shirt was also worn by David Nolan in the Season Three episodes "Snow Drifts"[22] and "There's No Place Like Home",[23] the Season Four episodes "A Tale of Two Sisters",[24] "Rocky Road",[25] "Breaking Glass",[26] "Heroes and Villains",[27] "Darkness on the Edge of Town",[28] "Unforgiven"[29] and "Enter the Dragon"[30] and the Season Five episodes "The Brothers Jones"[31] and "Our Decay".[20][32]
- BRAND INFO: Roni is wearing[33] a T-Sily-D Leopard Tee by Diesel[34] (no longer available). She continues to wear the tee in "The Girl in the Tower".[35]
Filming Locations
- For both exterior and interior scenes, GJ House Flowers & Gifts on 714 Columbia Street in New Westminster doubles as the florist shop that Rogers and Weaver visit.[36] The name of the business was kept for the show.
- The tavern scenes were filmed on a television set at The Bridge Studios.[37]
- The shootout scene with Wish Hook and Captain Ahab at the Wish Realm port was filmed on a green-screen set at The Bridge Studios.[38]
International Titles
International Titles | ||
---|---|---|
Language | Title | Translation |
French | "Le Talisman Magique" | "The Magical Talisman" |
German | "Helden versuchen Helden versagen" | "Heroes try Heroes fail" |
Italian | "La caduta del cavaliere" | "Knightfall" |
Portuguese | "A Maldição do Coração Envenenado" | "The Curse of the Poisoned Heart" |