Once Upon a Time Wiki
Register
Advertisement
This page is move protected The subject of this article is involved with the Once Upon a Time The subject of this article is or relates to an episode The subject of this article is featured in Season Six of Once Upon a Time
This article focuses on the Season Six episode.
For the item, see Page XXIII.

Page 23. The page that magically appeared to me with what I thought could be an ending to my story with Robin, a happy ending. Instead, it was just a cruel twist of fate, showing me an ending that could never be.

Regina to Emma, Snow, Henry and Zelena

"Page 23" is the fourteenth episode of Season Six of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by David H. Goodman & Brigitte Hales, and directed by Kate Woods. It is the one hundred and twenty-fifth episode of the series overall, and premiered on March 26, 2017.

Synopsis

Believing there isn't room in Storybrooke for both her and Regina, the Evil Queen sets out to eliminate her other half using Robin to bait the trap. Hook, determined to make things work with Emma, turns to his old friend Capt. Nemo for advice, but Gideon torpedoes his plan before he's able to set things right. In a flashback to the Enchanted Forest, the Evil Queen learns a surprising lesson about the true source of her misery.[2]

Recap

This section is a detailed recap of this episode. There are major spoilers. Click to expand.
In the Past

In the pre-First Curse Enchanted Forest, Regina, during her reign as the Evil Queen, is still after Snow White's heart, and as usual, comes up empty-handed as Snow eludes her once again. The Evil Queen then gathers the villagers and tells them that she, not Snow White, cares about them. When Tinkerbell shows up to tell her why she did not pursue Robin Hood, Regina decides to scorn the fairy, but spares her and tells Tinkerbell not to meddle with her. This later leads to an argument between Regina and Prince Henry, who warns his daughter that revenge will never make her happy.

Later on, Henry, with help from Tinkerbell, leads Regina to a portal that was designed to lead Regina to Robin, but the Queen is still obsessed with revenge, as she takes Cupid's arrow, and uses dark magic to make it pinpoint the person she hates most instead. However, when she fires the arrow, it flies straight towards the fortress. Believing that Snow is there, Regina returns to discover that the arrow leads her to her mirror, which she shatters into pieces. Regina realizes it is herself she hates most.

In Storybrooke

In the present day, the Evil Queen brings Robin back with her to town, he wants to go to New York but the Evil Queen wants to return Robin back to his Wish Realm, so she first asks him to dig up an item in the woods. Regina and Zelena then visit Emma and Snow, where they learn that Hook proposed to Emma upon looking at the engagement ring, but when they learn that the Evil Queen has returned to her original form, Emma wants to put those plans on hold. In the woods, Robin's shovel hits the metal box, which contained the Fate's Shears of Destiny, which the Evil Queen wants to use not only to separate her fate from Regina's, but to destroy Regina and Storybrooke. The Evil Queen then shows up to take Henry's Author's Pen, so she could keep Henry from writing her out of existence or interfering with her coming showdown with Regina. Then, after Henry reveals that he only wanted to use the Pen to help move her towards redemption, The Evil Queen scoffs at the idea. The Evil Queen then gives Henry a note to deliver to Regina, before telling him that no matter what anyone says, she still loves him.

When Regina receives the message, she learns that the message came from Page 23 of the "Once Upon a Time" storybook that detailed the happy ending Regina never got, which Regina discovered that it all tied to Robin, who is being used as bait to lure her to the Evil Queen so she can kill her, even though Robin believes this plan will fail. Regina confronts her other half at the Mayor's office, but the Evil Queen tells Regina she's more interested in using the shears to destroy Regina rather than helping Robin. Regina dares the Evil Queen to use the Shears and the latter does, unveiling the ties of fate linking Regina to her evil half, which The Evil Queen severes with the Shears. This makes the Evil Queen completely independent of Regina, allowing the two to battle each other until Regina manages to overpower the Evil Queen, and binds her against a pillar on the wall. Then, Regina, after looking at the broken mirror and seeing how much she hated her evil self, displays the Evil Queen's heart to show her that she chooses to love over hate. Regina then transfers half of the Evil Queen's darkness into her heart, while transferring half of her light into the Evil Queen's heart, turning the two Reginas into bonding sisters who agree to bury the hatchet. The two agreed to send Robin back to his Wish Realm, and with help from Henry, he writes a new chapter and happy ending for the formerly Evil Queen by sending her off to a place to begin a fresh start.

Meanwhile, Hook arrives at the docks to say farewell to Nemo, and confides his secret about killing Emma's grandfather to Nemo. Nemo suggests that Hook either ask for forgiveness from Emma or keep the secret and learn to forgive himself. Ultimately, Hook decides to remove his memories through magic and burn them. When Emma sees him doing this, she is not upset to learn he killed her grandfather, since they have come too far for something like that to break them; however, she is upset that Hook chose to keep it from her, as they had earlier in the season decided to no longer keep secrets from one other, in order to build a more honest relationship. Reluctantly, Emma passes back the ring and calls off the wedding until Hook can learn to do that. Later, Snow congratulates Hook on the engagement, not knowing about what transpired earlier. Unfortunately, just as Hook changes his mind and is about to leave Nautilus to return to Emma, the submarine submerges without Nemo ordering it to do so. Hook and Nemo learn that Gideon had ordered the sub out of Storybrooke, in order to get Hook out of the way so he can kill Emma, leaving Hook and Nemo trapped as prisoners. A hurt Emma waits at home for Hook, and realizing he won't be returning, shuts off the lights.

In Wish Realm

The Queen sends Robin back home after his many pleas to leave Storybrooke. Later, as the Queen wishes for a fresh start, she is sent to the Wish Realm, where she reunites with Robin in a local bar. True to the image on Page 23, a bond begins to blossom.

This episode summary is adapted from Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).


Cast[2]

Starring

Guest Starring

Co-Starring

Uncredited

Note:
*: Only in archive footage

Trivia

Title

Production Notes

  • CAST NOTES: This episode marks the return of the actor Edward Foy as the Lead Knight after one-hundred and eight episodes, a gap longer than that of any other cast member.
  • This is Lana Parrilla's favorite episode on the show.[6]
  • Writer Brigitte Hales described this episode as "emotional" and said that it "took a lot out of [her] -- in the best possible way".[7]
  • REUSED FOOTAGE: The establishing shot of Regina's house[8] is stock footage from the filming of the first scene where Emma takes Henry home in the Season One premiere.[9] The identical position of the curtains in the windows and the lighting behind them, the shadows on the walls and the open window on the second floor, are a dead giveaway.
  • Mary Margaret's line "It's so cold out here", from the dock scene with Hook, was written by Brigitte Hales after she spoke to an assistant director about how cold night shooting always is. The falling snow during the scene was a happy coincidence.[11]
  • According to Brigitte Hales, she had to write the "break-up scene" between Emma and Hook the day after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and "spent all day crying and writing".[12] She later adds that writing this episode was "cathartic".[13]
  • REUSED ACTOR: Hesham Hammoud, who plays the Crewman, also plays Ghazi in the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode "Who's Alice".
  • ABANDONED IDEAS: In the episode script, Hook says to Captain Nemo, "I hope you're right. Thank you, old friend", and he and Nemo hug as Nemo answers, "Goodbye."[14] This exchange is not in the final episode.
  • ABANDONED IDEAS: A broken set of the Shears of Destiny were made for this episode but were never used on-screen.[15]

Event Chronology

Episode Connections

Lost

Fairytales and Folklore

  • The same excerpt appears in dozens of episodes; read the trivia section in the article for Henry's storybook for more information and a transcript.
  • Cupid's arrow from Roman mythology appears, while Cupid himself is mentioned.
  • 🍎 APPLES: As Regina duels with her serum counterpart, she takes a fruit bowl and empties out the red apples, a reference to the evil queen's weapon of choice from the "Snow White" fairytale.
  • Regina looks into the shards of a broken mirror, a reference to the magic mirror from "Snow White".

Popular Culture

Props Notes

  • REUSED PROPS: The design of the swords used by Regina and the serum queen[20] are the same swords used by:

Set Dressing

  • ARTWORKS: An illustration of a group of stonecrops (plants of the Sedum genus) by the nineteenth century British botanical illustrator Anne Pratt appears in the corridor outside Henry's room.[25] The picture is from volume 2 of Pratt's work The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain and Their Allies the Club Mosses, Pepperworts, and Horsetails, published in six volumes between 1855 and 1873.

Costume Notes

Filming Locations

International Titles


Videos

References

  1. Porter, Rick (March 28, 2017). ‘Family Guy’ and ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’ adjust down: Sunday final ratings. TV by the Numbers. “Once Upon a Time (ABC) (...) 2.85”
  2. 2.0 2.1 LISTINGS: ONCE UPON A TIME. The Futon Critic. “Air Date: Sunday, March 26, 2017. Time Slot: 8:00 PM-9:00 PM EST on ABC. Episode Title: (#614) "Page 23".”
  3. File:614Title.png
  4. TwitterLogo Adam Horowitz on X, formerly Twitter: Here's another #OnceUponATime #titlespoiler -- hope to see ya Sunday for the #WinterFinale! (November 30, 2016). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  5. File:408IsThis.png
  6. Lana Parrilla Shares Her Favorite "Once Upon A Time" Episode. YouTube (May 5, 2017).
  7. TwitterLogo Brigitte Hales on X, formerly Twitter: Oh, hey!! Our title page is out! Very proud of this emotional little episode. Took a lot out of me -- in the best possible way. (November 30, 2016). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  8. File:614MillsHouse.png
  9. File:101PleaseDont.png
  10. File:720MillsHouseNight.png
  11. TwitterLogo Miss Gosh Working Together on X, formerly Twitter: @InkTankGirl was the line its so cold out here go home at lib by go! (March 26, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
    TwitterLogo Brigitte Hales on X, formerly Twitter: No! I wrote that after chatting with an AD about how cold night shooting always is for them. And then I got snow!!! Joy!!! (March 26, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
    TwitterLogo Brigitte Hales on X, formerly Twitter: My favorite surprise guest star in this episode: the snow! A little gift from nature that really, really worked. (March 26, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  12. TwitterLogo Brigitte Hales on X, formerly Twitter: I had to write that break-up scene the day after the election. Spent all day crying and writing (March 26, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
    TwitterLogo Brigitte Hales on X, formerly Twitter: Imagine writing it when the whole world is falling apart over Trump. I was like.. "CAN'T ANYONE BE HAPPY RIGHT NOW?!" (March 26, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  13. Thread:412231#28
  14. TwitterLogo Adam Horowitz on X, formerly Twitter: Here's another #OnceUponATime #scripttease -- hope to see ya Sunday! (March 23, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  15. File:614Prop7.jpg
    File:614ConceptArt2.jpg
  16. Enchanted Forest: File:303TavernExterior.png
    Wish Realm: File:611ArrivingAtTheTavern.png
  17. File:408FoldedPage.png
  18. File:614HenryWriting2.png
  19. File:614ThatsNotYours.png
  20. File:614Fighting.png
  21. File:116ThrownIntoCage.png
  22. File:210Execution.png
  23. File:701SwordFighting.png
  24. File:220DirtySlag.png
    File:306EagerToSeeYou.png
    File:401SorryForYou.png
  25. File:614HenryWalksOff.png
  26. File:614HelloRegina.png
  27. File:710ReginaApproachingFarm.png
  28. VERONICA BEARD Alma Top. FWRD by Elyse Walker. Retrieved on February 8, 2019.
  29. File:614SoHappyForYou.png
  30. Plaid Wool Bomber Jacket 3.1 PHILLIP LIM. Nordstrom. Retrieved on February 8, 2019.
  31. File:614KnowsAboutThat.png
  32. 'Archer' Blazer RAG & BONE. Nordstrom. Retrieved on February 8, 2019.
  33. STEFFY'S BURGUNDY BLAZER AND TRIANGLE NECKLACE ON THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL. WornOnTV. Retrieved on February 8, 2019.
  34. HOPE'S BURGUNDY BLAZER WITH BLACK COLLAR ON DAYS OF OUR LIVES. WornOnTV. Retrieved on February 8, 2019.
  35. PHYLLIS'S [sic] LACE PRINT TURTLENECK TOP AND BURGUNDY BLAZER ON THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. WornOnTV. Retrieved on February 8, 2019.
  36. PHYLLIS [sic] RED BLAZER ON THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. WornOnTV. Retrieved on February 8, 2019.
  37. Screenshot from Last Man Standing: "Where There's Smoke, There's Ire"
  38. Screenshot from Pretty Little Liars: "Hit and Run, Run Run"
  39. FlickrIconTemplate Shawn. OUAT Filming - 6x14. North Vancouver - 12/13/2016 (December 13, 2016).  (archive copy)
  40. File:IGleejbuckley-614.png
    Tumblr Katmtan (@katmtan) on Tumblr: Any idea who's filming at Stanley Park today? Thanks! (December 12, 2016). "Lana" (backup link) (archive screenshot)

Advertisement