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This article focuses on Mother Superior's Storybrooke persona.
For her Enchanted Forest counterpart, see the Blue Fairy.
For the Season Four episode, see "Mother".
For the Season Six episode, see "Mother's Little Helper".


If I were you, Your Majesty, I'd find a place to hide.

—Mother Superior to Regina Mills src

Reul Ghorm,[1] also known as Mother Superior, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the fourteenth episode of the first season. She is portrayed by guest star Keegan Connor Tracy, and is the Storybrooke counterpart of the Blue Fairy.

Mother Superior is an allusion to the Enchantress from the Disney film Beauty and the Beast.

History

For events occurring before the casting of the first curse, see Blue Fairy.

During First Curse

After Dark Curse is cast, Mother Superior becomes head nun of a convent. During the town's annual Miner's Day festival, she supervises Sister Astrid, who is given the responsibility of ordering twelve containers of helium. Instead, Astrid accidentally orders twelve dozen, which uses up all of the nuns' spare and rent money. Displeased at the mess, Mother Superior tells her to fix it, while warning her about Mr. Gold, their landlord, and how he thinks of nuns. Then, she storms off in a huff, leaving behind a distraught Astrid. ("Dreamy")

At the nunnery, Mother Superior meets with August to give him counsel over a long-term separation and search for his father. Shortly after August leaves, Mr. Gold asks what the man wanted from her. She doesn't think it's his business to know, but is obligated to say when he threatens to shut down the convent. Mother Superior admits August was giving her a confession and it was about finding his father who he has been in conflict with for some time now. Mr. Gold, perplexed by her explanation, mistakenly believes August may be his long lost son, whom he was separated from under tense circumstances. ("The Return")

Following Henry's ingestion of a piece of poisoned apple turnover, it proves to be fatal when he apparently dies. At the hospital, Mother Superior awaits Henry's birth mother, Emma, and his adoptive mother, Regina, as Dr. Whale delivers the bad news to both of them. As a final goodbye, Emma plants a kiss on Henry's forehead and unintentionally triggers the effects of true love's kiss, which restores him to life. Mother Superior is awed by Emma's use of true love's kiss. Regina hurries into the room in disbelief as Mother Superior notifies them that the curse has been broken. Then, she advises Regina to find a place to hide, as the townspeople now remember their Enchanted Forest selves. ("A Land Without Magic")

After First Curse

After Emma breaks the Dark Curse, Mother Superior is approached by a still wooden August who asks if she can turn him back to as he was. She cannot, as he did not keep with the original terms that made him human in the first place; to remain brave, truthful and unselfish, which he did not. ("Selfless, Brave and True")

She joins Mary Margaret and David in town and acknowledges her previous existence as the Blue Fairy when Henry calls her by her former name. When Henry requests to see her do some magic, Mother Superior cannot. Though she can feel the magic released into town by Mr. Gold, it cannot be used as magic works differently in Storybrooke. Without a wand or fairy dust, magic use is not possible for herself. ("Broken")

Following the Wraith's attack on the town, Mother Superior and Ruby form the Crisis Center team to organize and direct the people of Storybrooke as they seek out loved ones and shelter. David, who has stepped up as temporary sheriff, asks if there might be another enchanted tree like the one that sent Emma out of their world so it can be used to cross over to another world. Mother Superior states such a thing was possible, but with no magic or fairy dust to guide them, finding one would be hopeless. Leroy and the dwarves report bad news of their findings at the border, which caused Mr. Clark to lose his Enchanted Forest memories by crossing the town line. The news causes a huge stir, but David sets up a town meeting in two hours' time and promises to come up with a plan. At the town hall, residents pack the whole building and anxiously await David's arrival. Instead, Regina arrives to demonstrate her newly restored magic powers to them until Henry agrees to go home with her. With no sign of David, the townspeople decide they would rather lose their memories by leaving town than deal with Regina. Mother Superior is one of the many who attempt to drive out of town, but David puts a stop to it with a heartfelt speech. He convinces them to accept both their Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke selves by drawing strengths from their weaknesses. Moved, they all return home. ("We Are Both")

The dwarves, minus Mr. Clark, work diligently to mine for diamonds in the hopes of making fairy dust and then combing it with a magic hat to rescue Emma and Mary Margaret from the Enchanted Forest. By accident, Leroy causes a mine wall collapse to reveal diamonds hidden in a ceiling. Mother Superior, David and Henry are notified and come to the mines to examine it for themselves. She gives careful instructions in grinding the diamonds into fairy dust while also cautioning David to keep the hat safe. In a celebration of their success, they all head over to the diner to drink and party. ("Child of the Moon")

The mysterious death of Archie prompts David, Emma and Mary Margaret to investigate. Emma is convinced of Regina's guilt after using a dream catcher to see her murder Archie. To capture Regina, they intend to freeze her with Mother Superior's fairy dust. During a confrontation on Regina's doorstep, Emma signals the moment for Mother Superior to hurl the dust. The plan fails as Regina hastily catches the dust and easily dispenses of it. Emma reminds Regina they will always know the kind of person she is, which causes the latter to disappear in a puff of smoke. ("The Cricket Game")

Mother Superior attends Archie's funeral as Mary Margaret eulogies him. Following this, Mother Superior, Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Happy, Leroy, Walter, Marco, Ruby and Granny spend time in Mary Margaret's apartment for a luncheon. Leroy approaches Emma and Mary Margaret to ask on behalf of himself and other dwarves when they will be returning to the Enchanted Forest, which perks everyone else's attention to the conversation. He is concerned about Regina being on the loose, but also the possibility outsiders can wander into town now that the curse is lifted. Emma believes they are safe for now while Leroy believes that trouble will happen sooner or later. ("The Outsider")

Sensing strong dark magic in Storybrooke, Mother Superior hurries out of the convent home and down the steps to meet David and Mary Margaret, who know of Regina and Cora's plans to find Mr. Gold's dagger and kill everyone in town. Outside Mr. Gold's pawn shop, Mother Superior tries to use her wand to break through the protection spell on the building and retrieve the dagger, but has no success. Mary Margaret suggests using dark magic, but the idea appalls Mother Superior. As desperate times call for desperate measures, Mary Margaret pushes the plan, and reminds her of the secret she kept. Confused, Mother Superior has no inkling of what she means. The conversation is interrupted when David gets a call from Emma, who managed to wrangle the location of the dagger out of Mr. Gold. In the clock tower, David and Mary Margaret procure the dagger from its hiding place. Regina and Cora materialize to pressure Mary Margaret into handing over the dagger. With an intentional slip of tongue from Cora, Mary Margaret realizes it was her who posed as the Blue Fairy all those years ago; hence why Mother Superior had no knowledge of the events leading up to Queen Eva's death. ("The Queen Is Dead")

Outside the convent nunnery, Mother Superior is approached by Emma, Marco and Mary Margaret with a plea to help August, who is still stuck in his wooden state. She admits knowing about his situation since the breaking of the curse, but if there is a path of redemption for him, he must travel on his own terms. Later on, Mother Superior rushes to see August dying in the arms of Marco while David, Emma, Henry, Mary Margaret and Neal look on helplessly. She agrees if August's final actions of today were indeed selfless, brave and true, her wand can restore him to life. She tests out the theory, and successfully reverts him into a seven-year-old Pinocchio. Overjoyed, Marco reunites with his son. Emma attempts to ask Pinocchio what August was trying to tell her before, but he can't remember. Happily, Pinocchio walks off with his father and Mother Superior. ("Selfless, Brave and True")

David, Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Happy, Leroy and Walter help Anton plant magic beans so they can use them to travel back to the Enchanted Forest. Mother Superior uses her magic to cloak the area where the bean fields are growing; making them invisible to prying eyes. ("Lacey")

In an attempt to foil David and Mary Margaret's plans of returning to the Enchanted Forest, Regina destroys all the rows of magic beans and steals one of the bean plants to grow for herself. When David, Emma, Henry and Mary Margaret break into Regina's office to confront her actions, she is nowhere to be seen. Eventually, Mary Margaret and David rescue Regina from the clutches of Greg. They call on Mother Superior to heal Regina, who has suffered immense physical strain under Greg's electrocution torture. Using her wand, Mother Superior revives her to full health. ("Second Star to the Right")

Greg and his partner in crime, Tamara, activate a trigger that forces the town to begin reverting into a forest and wiping out everyone who originated from the Enchanted Forest. Coincidentally, Mother Superior finishes making a memory potion to restore Mr. Clark's Enchanted Forest memories. She gives it to Leroy, and in turn, he gives another dose of the potion to Mr. Gold for restoring Lacey's memories. ("And Straight On 'Til Morning")

With the trigger catalyst evaded due to Emma, David, Hook and Mary Margaret's efforts, the group, along with Mr. Gold, then take off to Neverland to rescue Henry from Greg and Tamara. At the docks, Mother Superior, Archie, Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Happy, Mr. Clark and Walter run up to Belle as Leroy ecstatically shouts in excitement over the town being saved. She shows them the cloaking spell Mr. Gold left for her to enact to keep outsiders away, and they all go down to the mines to complete the task. Since they need fairy dust for the spell to work, Mother Superior suggests opening up a vein in the mines so all the magic in the dust will be carried throughout town. Bashful, Dopey, Leroy, Mr. Clark and Walte quarry a large rock containing fairy dust and stop when their efforts yield a crack. Belle hesitates over enacting the spell, and asks Mother Superior to do it instead. Mother Superior refuses since the responsibility is for her to handle as Mr. Gold wanted, so Belle follows through with enacting the spell. From the rock, a stream of magic shoots out and raises a barrier over Storybrooke. ("Dark Hollow")

As the Jolly Roger ascends at the dock, Mother Superior is among the large crowd of townspeople welcoming back David, Emma, Henry and Mary Margaret. To everyone's surprise, Mary Margaret brings attention to the fact it was Regina's helpful efforts that allowed them to return home. During another festivity at the diner, Mother Superior is startled by the appearance of Tinker Bell. Regina presses her to return Tinker Bell's wings, though Mother Superior refuses to take orders from the mayor. Her interest is piqued when Regina claims Tinker Bell can make pixie dust work, but the ex-fairy is not able to do it by will alone. Mother Superior takes this as proof that Tinker Bell doesn't believe in herself, and in turn, she can't have faith in Tinker Bell either. The next morning, Mother Superior runs for her life when she is chased by Pan's Shadow. Her screams draw the attention of nearby residents, but they are too late in reaching her before the Shadow kills her by ripping out her shadow. ("The New Neverland")

At the convent, Mother Superior's body is laid to rest in an open casket, where her fellow sisters mourn her passing. Tinker Bell, with David, Hook and Neal, urge the sisters for the Black Fairy's wand, an item that Mother Superior owns. Before they can get it, the Shadow attacks. Tinker Bell, finally gaining belief in herself, uses pixie dust to reach the Shadow, entrapping it and throwing it into a fire. When the Shadow perishes, Mother Superior's shadow is restored to her own body, and she appears before the group to congratulate them. Impressed by Tinker Bell's display of power, she promises to return the fairy's wings, but since the group is in a hurry, she quickly hands them the Black Fairy's wand. After learning the price of stopping Pan's curse, Mother Superior gathers with a handful of residents at the town line to prepare for a return to the Enchanted Forest. Regina soon sends Emma and Henry out of town to keep them from the curse's grasp, and as the pair depart in the yellow bug, Mother Superior and the others watch them go. When the curse cloud approaches, Regina stops Pan's curse by undoing her curse, sending everyone inside the town back to the Enchanted Forest. ("Going Home")

During Second Curse

A new curse is cast by none other than Snow White; returning the Blue Fairy and the rest of the Enchanted Forest inhabitants to the town of Storybrooke. However, as a result of the Wicked Witch of the West's interference, everyone's last recollection is the final day in Storybrooke when Pan's curse was stopped, but no one can recall anything further than that. In Storybrooke, Mother Superior resumes her role as head nun. ("Witch Hunt")

At the news of Neal's sudden death due to the Wicked Witch's machinations, Mother Superior attends his funeral to pay her respects. ("It's Not Easy Being Green")

Regina, after bestowing Henry with a kiss of true love, breaks the second curse. Like everyone else, Mother Superior regains her lost memories of the missing year in the Enchanted Forest. ("A Curious Thing")

After Second Curse

In a diner celebration welcoming David and Mary Margaret's newborn son, Mother Superior joins the crowd of party goers. She listens with rapt attention as the couple announce they are naming their son after a true hero—Neal. ("There's No Place Like Home")

As Ingrid's spell threatens to overtake the town, Mother Superior and the other nuns are enlisted by Belle to make a counter spell. However, to create it, they need a hair strand from a person who survived Ingrid's spell; Elsa's sister Anna. Though Emma and Elsa track Anna with a necklace using locator magic, they reach a dead end in a cave. The nuns then discover they can use Ingrid's mirror shard in the necklace to ward off her spell. When Mr. Gold shows up to the diner, where Belle is assisting the nuns, Mother Superior tries to convince him to leave, but Mr. Gold decides to stay for Belle's sake and even says his magic might be helpful. Mother Superior disagrees since they are using light magic, but Mr. Gold insists he could add something anyway. Elsa forfeits the necklace in a pouch so that it can be used to create the counter spell, however, when Mother Superior opens the pouch, she finds nothing but rocks inside. Later, Emma catches up with Elsa, who uses the necklace to reunite with Anna. As the nuns wait for Anna to arrive, since they now need her to create the counter spell, Hook reluctantly carries out Mr. Gold's orders and absorbs the nuns into the Sorcerer's Hat. Mother Superior, witnessing the demise of her sisters, tries to crawl to safety before Hook corners her and she, too, is swallowed into the hat. ("Fall")

Six weeks later, Belle gains outside help from an "Oxford professor", not knowing it is actually the banished Mr. Gold, who emails her a translation of a spell, which is needed to release those in the hat. Using the dagger, Regina performs the spell and frees all the nuns. Though visible shaken by her ordeal, Mother Superior thanks Regina for saving her. Later, while the diner is bustling with activity as the nuns are welcomed back, Regina approaches Mother Superior to show her one of the blank books found in the sorcerer's mansion. Regina explains her desire to find the storybook author so he can write her a happy ending. To this, Mother Superior clarifies the sorcerer and author are two different people, and only the author can help her. Furthermore, she has never met the author, who could be male or female. Emma inquiries about why the author disappeared, and Mother Superior has no answers, although she has heard the author may have left clues in his works. Emma suggests perhaps Henry's book could count as one of the author's works, but before Mother Superior can answer, the diner shakes as everyone hears a guttural roar from outside the diner. ("Darkness on the Edge of Town")

August, recently restored to his old self, is taken to recover at the nunnery when his condition deteriorates. There, Mother Superior recognizes that his body is under great strain after having magic change him so many times, and he can only survive by strength alone. ("Best Laid Plans")

Learning the Apprentice is trapped in the Sorcerer's hat, Mother Superior gathers with everyone at the Apprentice's House so she can free him. She asks if they have anything belonging to the Apprentice, to which Hook hands her the walking broom. Using it, she releases the trapped man from the hat. ("Operation Mongoose Part 1")

Before Third Curse
In the aftermath of Emma becoming the Dark One and fleeing to another realm, Mother Superior stays in the pawnshop to tend to the Apprentice, who has woken up, but he is still very weak from the darkness previously invading his body. Hook and his allies burst in, wanting to know where Emma went, and the older man believes she is in the Enchanted Forest, which is the birthplace of all darkness. Before passing away, the Apprentice provides them with his wand, which was forged from light and dark magic, and as such, it must be wielded by someone with light and dark essence, in order to cross realms. Later, Mother Superior notices Belle watching over a sleeping Mr. Gold and she encourages her to join the others, who may need her resourcefulness. Belle, fearing Mr. Gold will die soon, wants to stay with him when it happens. To give her reassurance, the head nun links a rose in a bell jar with Mr. Gold's life, and as long as the petals on the flower remain, Belle will know he's still alive. ("The Dark Swan")

After Third Curse

As the heroes head to the Underworld to rescue Hook, Mother Superior and the other nuns take care of Neal, Roland and Zelena's daughter.[2] ("Swan Song")

At the nunnery, Zelena gains access to the room where her daughter is being kept, by disguising herself as Mother Superior. She walks in just as Belle is in the midst of visiting both baby Neal and Baby Hood. Belle senses something off about Mother Superior, and Zelena tries to pretend everything is fine, until the real Mother Superior walks in and suspiciously regards her apparent doppelganger. With her cover blown, Zelena reverts to her actual self and then attempts to take her daughter out of the nunnery. Belle objects, but since Zelena can use magic against her, Mother Superior steps in, aiming her wand threateningly at the witch. Before things get out of hand, an earthquake throws everyone off balance, before a portal from the Underworld opens up in the floor. Belle, snatching the baby from Zelena, falls in, while Zelena hastily jumps in to follow them. The portal then closes, leaving only Mother Superior and baby Neal in the nunnery. ("Our Decay")

With the Evil Queen threatening to destroy everyone with water from Acheron unless David and Snow relinquish their hearts to her, Mother Superior joins the heroes at the loft, where she reveals something that can defeat the Queen. She tells them about a sapling born from the first spark of true love, and that the plant is somewhere in Storybrooke. While Regina creates a distraction in the pawnshop to keep Mr. Gold, the Queen and Zelena busy, Mother Superior casts a spell to lead David, Snow and Regina to the sapling. ("Heartless")

When a previously young nun returns to the convent in an aged state, Mother Superior deduces Mr. Gold cast an aging spell on her. As for the reason why he did this, a pregnant Belle suggests it was a message for her, and that he may use the same spell to speed up her pregnancy. Following the birth of her son, Belle asks Mother Superior to be her child's fairy godmother, and to take him away to keep him safe from Mr. Gold. She also instructs her to read the Her Handsome Hero book to him often so he knows his mother will always be there for him. After Belle names her son Gideon, Mother Superior shifts into fairy form and flies off with the baby, just as Mr. Gold arrives to see their departure. ("Changelings")

At some point after Mother Superior has left with baby Gideon, she is surprised by the Black Fairy and attempts to fight her off. Despite giving it her all, she is severely incapacitated during the fight, which allows the Black Fairy to kidnap Gideon. Mother Superior is later found in the forest and brought back to the convent to recover. While on bedrest, she is visited by Belle and Mr. Gold, who just learned their son is missing. She explains to them what happened, and her inability to stop the Black Fairy from taking the baby. ("Wish You Were Here")

After Gideon returns to Storybrooke, Mother Superior helps search for him in the woods, along with Belle and Mr. Gold. She and Mr. Gold get into an argument when they are unable to find Gideon, but Belle calms them down by reminding them of their mission. Mother Superior then continues searching on her own as Belle and Mr. Gold talk. Under Gideon's command via the dagger, Mr. Gold is forced to name Mother Superior as the person who forged the Hrunting sword, as Gideon needs to kill her in order to fix the weapon. Gideon expresses brief hesistance at the thought of killing his own fairy godmother, but ultimately resumes his mission by appearing before Mother Superior. She apologizes for not being able to stop the Black Fairy from taking him, to which Gideon implies that although she couldn't help him then, she can now. When he shows her the broken sword, she insists he can't do it because killing Emma won't make him the hero he wants to be. Gideon ignores her lecture and reveals he needs her magic. She attempts to resist by raising a hand, but he paralyzes her. Before he can finish her off, Mr. Gold arrives to do it for him, in order to spare his son from commiting an act of darkness. Mr. Gold slices open Mother Superior's palm with the sword to drain all her magic, which flows into Hrunting and repairs the blade. Mother Superior passes out soon after, but unknown to Gideon, she is not actually dead, although her heart stops beating. Her body is brought to the pawnshop by Mr. Gold, who explains to Belle that the nun's magic can be restored once they defeat Gideon. ("Ill-Boding Patterns," "Where Bluebirds Fly")

Working towards finding the other piece of the broken wand that Tiger Lily provided for banishing the Black Fairy, Regina attempts to call Mother Superior about it, but is unable to reach her, not knowing what recently happened to the nun. Mother Superior's body remains in the pawnshop backroom as Mr. Gold continues with trying to find a method to restore her. After Mr. Gold leaves, Belle shakes out a blanket and places it over Mother Superior. Zelena notices the unconscious nun when she comes in and learns from Belle about what happened to her, though she flippantly remarks that she never liked the woman anyway. Later, Emma succeeds in using a light fairy crystal to revive Mother Superior and restart her heart. ("Where Bluebirds Fly")

Using residual magic trapped in a dragon egg from a dead hatchling's breath, Mr. Gold succeeds in waking up Mother Superior. Hook wastes no time in questioning her about the missing half of the wand, which Snow chides him for since she only just woken up. While still getting used to be being conscious, Mother Superior manages to tell him that the other half is hidden at the heart of Storybrooke. Before the nun can say anything else, Snow puts her hand around Mother Superior's neck to begin suffocating her before morphing out of her disguise, revealing herself to be the Black Fairy. The fairy teleports Mother Superior to the underground mines, where she pulls out a box of tools with intentions of finding out where the other half of the wand is. Mother Superior proclaims she won't tell her anything, however, her attempt to remain strong starts to waver when the Black Fairy pulls out a tool and implies she means to use it to extract information from Mother Superior's head. After Mr. Gold supposedly kills the Black Fairy, Mother Superior is freed and goes back to the nunnery. ("The Black Fairy")

At the wedding reception for Emma and Hook's wedding, Mother Superior sits next to Marco and some of her sister nuns. She later watches as the happy couple sing and dance down the aisle after getting married. When other people chime in with the song, Mother Superior sings along as well. ("The Song in Your Heart")

Magical Abilities

  • Age Manipulation - Ability to accelerate or reverse the aging process or a pregnancy.
  • Conjuration - Ability to conjure objects out of the blue.
  • Protection Spells - Ability to magically protect a location, an item or a person through various ways.
  • Shapeshifting - Ability to alter the appearance of oneself or others.
  • Teleportation - Ability to magically teleport oneself and/or others from one location to another.
  • Potioncraft - Ability to create liquid substances for various purposes by combining a set of ingredients.

Trivia

Etymology

Character Notes


MISSING PERSON FORM


Venue:
Date of report: Nov 6th Time of report: 14:35
Name of person missing:
Mother Superior
First name: Reul Surname: Ghorm Age: Unknown
Address: The Convent of the Sisters of St. Meissa

2356 Mulberry Court, Storybrooke

Home number: 555-0166 Mobile:
Description of missing person (height, ethnicity and distinguishing features):
Description of clothing: Convent attire/habit
When and where were they last seen?: Granny's Diner on Main at approximately 19:10 hrs
What steps have been taken to trace the missing person?

Interviewed all known associates

Person reporting missing person (name):

Sister Manning

Address: Convent of the Sisters of St. Meissa

2356 Mulberry Court, Storybrooke

Phone number: 555-0166
Relationship to missing person: Sister Manning [image ends]
Name of reporting staff member: A[image ends] [image begins] see report # 3417
  • The photograph of Mother Superior is from the scene where she is reunited with her friends in "Broken".[4]
  • The phone number 555-0166 is also on a poster inside the library. Curiously, the headline says "port and marine safety and security certificate".[5]
  • Adam Horowitz has previously stated that Season Four takes place in the early part of 2013, long before the movie Frozen (a late-November release) was released,[6] but this is proven to be incorrect in this episode.

Production Notes

  • According to Keegan Connor Tracy, Mother Superior is not quirky or funny but very calm, so she found it difficult to pull it off, as she usually plays characters that have opposite personalities to Mother Superior.[7]
    • In addition, when asked about her ideal happy ending for her character, she said it would be to "give up nunning, take a lover and overthrow a kingdom somewhere warm and beautiful."[8]

Goofs

  • In "Our Decay", when Zelena is disguised as Mother Superior, she wears a nun outfit with long sleeves.[9] The real Mother Superior appears wearing rolled up sleeves.[10] However, in the next shot (after Mother Superior says, "Who are you?"), it switches; Zelena has the rolled up sleeves and Mother Superior has long sleeves.[11]

Appearances

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.

See also

References

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