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"Smash the Mirror" is the eighth episode of Season Four of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by David H. Goodman and Jerome Schwartz, and directed by Eagle Egilsson and Ralph Hemecker. It is the seventy-fourth episode of the series overall, and premiered on November 16, 2014.
This episode is a two-hour episode, and has subsequently been split into "Smash the Mirror, Part 1" and "Smash the Mirror, Part 2".
Synopsis
In Arendelle when the Snow Queen tries to pit Elsa and Anna against each other and it proves more difficult than she anticipates, she takes drastic measures. Meanwhile, in Storybrooke Emma's powers are out of control and her fear of hurting loved ones pushes her away from everyone she cares about. In her confusion Emma turns to Gold for help getting her powers under control. Gold tells her about a way to get rid of her powers altogether and Hook tries to put a stop to it. Meanwhile, Regina struggles with her plan to find the author of the storybook until her quest takes an unexpected turn. Robin Hood recruits Will Scarlet to assist him on a mission and Mary Margaret and David search for Emma.[2]
Recap
Outside of the forest of Arendelle, Ingrid races off to find a place for the box containing the Sorcerer's Hat, freezing it over hiding it under a rock. Then, she heads to the Enchanted Forest to visit the Apprentice's cabin, and offers to make a deal with him: she'll return the box in exchange for the Sorcerer finding her a perfect match for a third sister she wants.
Back in Arendelle after the meeting, Ingrid is determined to use Elsa by manipulating her to turn on Anna. She 'warns' Elsa that her sister is plotting to trap her inside the urn, just as Gerda did to Ingrid in the past, instructing Elsa to talk to Anna herself in the palace dungeon cell. Unknown to Ingrid, Elsa is only pretending to believe her aunt, and when she visits Anna in her jail cell, the two sisters decide it is best to play along with Ingrid's lie. The two come up with a plan to place Ingrid back inside the urn when she least expects it; so Elsa breaks Anna out of the cell, and with help from Kristoff they search the closed-off east wing of the castle, and find the urn in a closet (along with a still-frozen Hans). They also find a cracked mirror with a missing fragment, which unknown to them, is the Mirror of Shattered Sight. A reluctant and concerned Elsa returns Anna to the dungeon, where Anna takes the urn into her cell to wait for Ingrid to come check on her. Unfortunately, Ingrid was on to their scheme; she had been waiting for Anna all along, and Anna finds herself trapped in the cell with her.
With Anna in chains, after threatening to kill her, Ingrid asks Anna to recall the tale of a king who lost his only daughter, and as a result, used a mirror to cast a spell on his whole kingdom, making them see only the worst qualities in those around them, leading them to kill each other. Ingrid uses a small shard of the mirror to cast the same spell, the Spell of Shattered Sight, on Anna, resulting in Anna becoming negative and resentful against Elsa for deserting her during their childhood. Perplexed and shocked by Anna's sudden cynical attitude towards her, Elsa suspects a spell has been cast on her sister when Anna comes to the dining room carrying the urn and saying only negative things about her. Ingrid demands that Elsa freeze Anna to prevent her from trapping Elsa inside of the urn; however, Elsa refuses to hurt her sister, crossing her arms to hold in her magic. Still under the spell, Anna traps Elsa inside the urn, even as Elsa tells her that no matter what she does, she will always love her. Elsa's love for Anna breaks the spell, but Anna realizes too late what she has done when Ingrid takes the urn from her before Anna can get her sister back, and Kristoff arrives in an attempt to stop Ingrid from hurting Anna and protect her. Unfortunately, Elsa's entrapment was not Ingrid's original plan, and in her anger, she uses her powers to freeze Anna, Kristoff, and the entire Kingdom of Arendelle in solid ice. Some time later, Rumplestiltskin appears in the dining room, finding Ingrid practicing her Rock Troll magic, pulling memories from Elsa, still inside the urn, over to a rock in her other hand. Rumplestiltskin asks her to give him the Sorcerer's Hat box that Anna took from him back in "The Apprentice"; when she refuses, he magically takes and hides the urn and a (still) frozen Anna's necklace, saying he will return them only in exchange for the box.
Ingrid returns to the cave to retrieve the box, but while attempting to call Rumplestiltskin, she is stopped by the Sorcerer's Apprentice, who, knowing that all she wants is happiness, tells her that if she gives the box to Rumplestiltskin, she will never find that happiness. Then, he tells her that the Sorcerer has decided to accept her deal, that he has divined that the third sister she wants will arrive in the future, and that she can be sent there - in exchange for the box. He also promises that one day she will be reunited with Elsa. Ingrid agrees to give the Apprentice the box, and thaws it out. The Apprentice conjures up a door for Ingrid to walk through. Ingrid walks through it, emerging in 1982 Boston, where she will begin her real world life as Emma Swan's future foster mother.
In the forest, Emma, whose powers are still out of control, wakes up in her vehicle and finds Henry standing there, telling his mother that everyone was looking for her. But as he tries to approach Emma, she accidentally pushes him away with her magic, resulting in Henry's ear being cut. After Henry takes off, Emma is visited by Ingrid, who tells her that she should embrace her true self, but Emma takes off after the conversation, and heads to Gold's Pawn Shop, where Gold, sensing Emma was in the place by the way the items were coming to life, offered her a chance to rid herself of her powers, and gives her the location of a mansion as to where to meet him; unknown to Emma, Gold has other plans for her. Back at the loft, David, Mary Margaret, Killian and Elsa ponder their next plan by planning another search, when Henry arrives and tells them he found her, but failed to help her regain control of her magic.
In the Vault, Regina wakes up after she and Robin Hood spent the night together. As Robin wakes up to embrace Regina, she is more concerned with the Once Upon a Time book and explains to Robin that she wants to find her happy ending and the author. She later arrives at the loft with a locator spell to make their tracking of Emma easier. However, after Henry mentioned Emma drove off, Hook suspects Emma went to see Gold, so he sneaks off to call to and warn Emma about Gold's deception. Meanwhile, David and Mary Margret decide it might not be so bad if Emma got rid of her magic and became "normal," which causes Elsa, who overheard their conversation, to sneak out with the locator potion to try to find Emma on her own. Gold visits Ingrid and she realizes his plot to trap Emma in the Sorcerer's Hat and absorb her powers, so he can no longer be controlled by the Dark One's Dagger. When Ingrid tries to stop Gold, he uses a spell he collected from remnants of the urn, creating a force field to prevent Ingrid from warning Emma or interfering in the events to come. As Ingrid sees Emma traveling to the mansion, Ingrid uses her mirror to send an illusion of her to stop Emma. When Emma sees the sudden appearance of Ingrid's figure in the middle of the road, her car spins out of control and crashes, causing Emma to temporarily lose consciousness.
When Emma regains consciousness, she gets out of the car to confront Ingrid, believing that she was there. But Emma refuses to believe Ingrid when she warns her that Gold only wanted to hurt her for his own self-benefits. Emma notices that the image is an illusion as she tries to touch Ingrid, so she returns to the car and speeds off to the mansion. As Emma arrives at the place, Gold sets up the hat to absorb her and her powers in a closed room. Emma waits for Gold at the other side, and before she opens the door, Gold appears behind her, telling Emma that everything will be fine once her powers are gone, and that she will be able to live a normal life. Emma then thanks Gold, not knowing what will happen next as she ponders about opening the door.
At the loft, Regina has a chat with Henry about Emma, and tells him that he should be proud of his mother for having magic, then heals his ear. Henry mourns the fact that he is normal and has no special powers, but Regina insists that he possesses the heart of the truest believer and tells him that he is just as powerful as either one of his mothers, even without magic. Regina then goes downstairs to talk to Mary Margaret and David after overhearing that they believe Emma is doing the right thing in getting rid of her powers. Regina talks them out of it by saying that her powers are part of her and that they are her gift. She insists that she only needs to channel it the right way and use it to protect the town. The two eventually agree with Regina and as they decide to search again for their daughter, they notice that the locator spell and Emma's scarf missing. Then, they also notice that Elsa is gone.
Meanwhile, Robin takes it upon himself to help Regina find the book's origins, so he steals the storybook and pays a visit to Granny's, where he sees Will pouring his "Lunch and Dinner" (from a liquor flask) and asks for his help. Will tells Robin about how the events played out in Storybrooke until Emma's arrival and points to the place where it began. The two stop by the library, where after searching through several books, Robin notices a page falling out of his bag. He then calls Regina, who while helping the others find Emma was talking to Mary Margaret about the difference between being a hero and a villain. Regina was comforted by Mary Margret who insisted that neither one of them was all good or all evil. As Regina leaves to meet Robin, Mary Margret tells her that happy endings are hard to come by, but that she can have one if she is willing to fight for it.
At the same time, Hook arrives at the mansion to warn Emma, but Gold thwarts his efforts, erases his phone calls to Emma, and ties him to the fence. Inside the mansion, Elsa finds Emma, whose powers are destroying the room they are in, and tells her that she sees her doing the same thing that she once did, blaming herself for not being able to control her powers because her family was harmed and that she should be blessed to have this gift. Elsa then asks Emma for her hand and she takes it, resulting in Emma's powers returning to normal. Outside, Gold, upset over what he just saw, becomes furious over his failed attempt to take Emma's power, which pleased Hook. However, Gold says that despite the setback, he will find a way to acquire the power to free him from the Dark One's Dagger. But Gold also needs another item: the heart of someone who knew Gold before he became the Dark One. Since Killian is the only one left alive, Gold takes his heart. By doing so, Gold makes Killian his puppet and vows to use him to find another way to get Emma's powers, before he will kill him. As Hook reunites with Emma and kisses her, Emma wondered what got into him, and after she and Elsa walk away, he grabs the Sorcerer's box and hides it inside the jacket. Regina arrives at the library, where Robin shows her a page that featured the two together at the pub back in the Enchanted Forest, leading to indications that whoever wrote the story wanted them to be together. Back at the Snow Queen's lair, Ingrid, now free of the force field, follows through with her plan to bring her three sisters together by sending out her ribbons to Emma and Elsa. As Emma and Elsa are reunited with David, Mary Margaret, and Henry, she unleashed her magic into the sky, which creates colorful auroras and then fireworks. Unfortunately, Emma and Elsa notice the yellow ribbons on their left wrists too late, and that they can't remove their ribbons, even while the ribbons are siphoning away their powers.
Finally, Gold shows up to confront Ingrid, blaming her for ruining his plan, but Ingrid says it that was Elsa who interfered, remarking that they were "like sisters." Gold vows that he'll make Ingrid pay, but now that the Snow Queen has harnessed Emma and Elsa's powers after she placed the ribbons on their wrists, she claims that she has become much more powerful, possibly even powerful enough to defeat Mr. Gold and decorate her palace "with his bones." When she wonders whether she should give it a try, Mr. Gold warns her not to overestimate her powers, but Ingrid warns Mr. Gold not to underestimate her powers, in response. Then, the Snow Queen smiles with delight while using her new-found powers to cast the Spell of Shattered Sight over Storybrooke, which shatters her mirror in the process.
Deleted Scenes
"Just Like Everyone Else"
This scene is included on Once Upon a Time: The Complete Fourth Season.
At the Blanchard loft, Mary Margaret notices Elsa with snow floating around her. She asks if that means she's upset and if she's worried about Emma. Elsa makes the snow disappear, apologizing that the floor is wet. Mary Margaret says that she seems very focused on her gloves. Elsa says that her parents gave them to her so they would conceal her magic, but Snow says that she thinks they didn't work. Elsa agrees and says that her sister's love helped. Mary Margaret asks if she has ever tried taking it all way, like Emma did, but Elsa says that she wanted, but she couldn't. She adds that Emma is lucky to have parents like them. Mary Margaret says that she doesn't know what Elsa's parents did or didn't do but all parents make mistakes. She then asks what Elsa would tell Emma, since she understands her more than anyone at the moment. Elsa says that she doesn't know if she would stop her or join her.
Cast[2]
Starring |
Guest Starring
Co-Starring
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Trivia
Title
- The title card features Emma's yellow car.[3]
- The title of this episode was announced by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on September 25, 2014.[4]
- MUSICAL INSPIRATION: The episode is named after The Who song of the same name.[4]
Production Notes
- CUT CONTENT: For the scene where the Snow Queen arrives in Boston, a segment was filmed where Ingrid is seen exiting the magic door in the middle of the city.[5] This ended up being cut from the final episode.
Event Chronology
- The Arendelle flashbacks occur after "Family Business," and more than 30 years before "Fall." (For more details, see the Arendelle timeline)
- The first Enchanted Forest flashback occurs after "Family Business." The second flashback occurs 2–3 years after those events. (For more details, see the Enchanted Forest timeline)
- The Land Without Magic flashback takes place in 1982, 16 years after "Operation Mongoose Part 1" and immediately before the flashback with the Snow Queen and Madame Faustina in "Shattered Sight." (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)
- The Storybrooke events take place after "The Snow Queen" and before "Fall."
Episode Connections
- The Apprentice says to Ingrid that the Sorcerer only speaks through him. The reason for this is explained in "The Price."
- Emma lost control over her powers in "The Snow Queen."
- Anna was imprisoned by Ingrid in "Family Business."
- The photograph of Emma with Mary Margaret and Happy[6] is from the welcome home party at Granny's Diner in "The Cricket Game."[7]
- Regina mentions finding Robin Hood with Tinker Bell's help; an event that occurred in "Quite a Common Fairy."
- Hans was frozen by Ingrid in "Rocky Road."
- Hook leaves a voice mail message for Emma to reveal a secret he kept from her. This refers to events in "The Apprentice."
- Anna imprisons Elsa in the urn, which was mentioned by Ingrid in "Rocky Road" and "The Snow Queen."
- Regina talks about Henry's therapy sessions from Season One, and she explains the real motif for her actions.
- Regina points out that Henry has the heart of the truest believer, which was first revealed in the episode with the same name.
- Mary Margaret talks about how she had an affair with a married man; a story line which began in "7:15 A.M." and concluded in "What Happened to Frederick."
- Mary Margaret says that Regina has literally seen her heart, as shown in "Welcome to Storybrooke."
- Emma's scarf, which is used as a locator spell, is the one she wears in "Tiny," "Manhattan," "The Queen Is Dead" and "The Miller's Daughter."
- In "Rocky Road," Elsa and Emma ask Mr. Gold how Elsa ended up inside his vault, which is revealed in this episode.
- Elsa is freed from the urn in "There's No Place Like Home."
- Arendelle is unfrozen in "Fall."
- Mr. Gold taunts Hook about his loss of Milah, which occurred in "The Crocodile."
- How Hook knows Rumplestiltskin from before he became the Dark One is shown in "The Crocodile."
- Mr. Gold's plan to free himself from the dagger is thwarted in "Heroes and Villains."
- Hook gets his heart back in "Heroes and Villains."
- STORYBOOK CONTENT: When Regina flips through the storybook in the library, she finds an illustration of herself leaving the tavern in "Quite a Common Fairy."[8]
- STORYBOOK CONTENT: The story behind the mysterious page 23 is explained in "Mother."
- In "Family Business," Emma and Mr. Gold wonder how Ingrid escaped into our world. In this episode, the Apprentice gives Ingrid a way to the Land Without Magic.
- The Apprentice says Ingrid will be reunited with her niece, which occurs in "Rocky Road." He also states she will find her third "sister." This occurrence is alluded to in "Breaking Glass" and "Family Business," and explored in "Shattered Sight."
- The Spell of Shattered Sight strikes in "Fall," and is broken in "Shattered Sight."
- Will claims to understand Robin Hood's love for an evil queen. The reason he understands this so well is shown in the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode "Heart of Stone."
Biblical
- BOOKS AS SET DRESSING: The Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament by Joseph Tayer and Vocabulary of the Greek Testament by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan are sitting on a shelf in the library.[9]
Disney
- This episode features Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Hans from Frozen, as well as their homeland Arendelle.
- When Anna says, "Go away Anna, go away Anna," she recites dialogue from the "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" sequence in Frozen.
- This episode contains a number of other references to Disney works. See the list of Disney references for more.
Lost
- The storybook page where young Regina is running away,[10] and the page Robin Hood finds,[11] are number XXIII (as Regina points out), a reference to the fifth Lost number, 23.
- This episode contains a number of other references to ABC's Lost. See the list of Lost references for more.
Fairy Tales and Folklore
- This episode features the Snow Queen from "The Snow Queen" fairy tale, the ugly duckling from the titular fairy tale, Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story, Robin Hood and Will Scarlet from the Robin Hood ballads, Rumplestiltskin from the "Rumplestiltskin" fairy tale, and the apprentice from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."
- Will Scarlet is also the Knave of Hearts from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
- While planning to break into the library, Robin says that he needs Will to be "sober as Friar Tuck on a Sunday," but Will replies that he is "not sure Sunday's ever made any difference for that man." In the Robin Hood ballads, Friar Tuck is fond of drinking.
- STORYBOOK CONTENT: An excerpt from the fairy tale of "The Golden Bird" can be seen on the back of the mysterious storybook page that Robin finds.[12]
- 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.
- At the end of the episode, the trolden glass shatters, just like in "The Snow Queen" fairy tale.
Popular Culture
- Among the food that Elsa prepares as a welcome home meal for her sister Anna is "chocolate julekake." Julekake, meaning "yule cake,"[13] is a traditional cardamom-flavored Norwegian yeasted bread which has a cake-like texture and is normally served during Christmas.[14]
- MARVEL COMICS: Regina pretends to read[15] the trade paperback comic book Ultimate Comics: Wolverine: Legacies,[16] which was released in July 2013,[17] the year before the episode premiered. She also makes a reference to the main character's trademark adamantium claws. She also mentions "purple shorts," a reference to the Hulk, who always wears large purple shorts in the comics.
- In the library, Robin Hood picks up the children's book The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss.[18]
- BOOKS AS SET DRESSING: Other books in the library are:
- Thriving On Chaos by Tom Peters (on the far right when Will asks Robin Hood if he and Regina are still together)[19]
- Vocabulary of the Greek Testament by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan[9]
- Cashelmara by Susan Howatch (on the bottom right corner when Robin Hood takes out The Cat in the Hat)[18]
- Upon learning that Emma plans to rid herself of her magic, Regina says, "We're not talking about an old pair of Jimmy Choos here," a reference to the high fashion house Jimmy Choo, which specializes in luxury shoes and other luxurious items.
- Regina says that her happy ending "is not a Stephen King book-on-tape," a reference to the famous author.
Props Notes
- PAUSE AND READ: The Storybrooke map that Mr. Gold shows Emma, mentions a location called Brock Lake.[20] The map that Hook finds in the pawnshop mentions a location called Villar's Point.[21]
- HIDDEN DETAILS: Among the library shelves are books for dreams & mysteries,[22] rosicrucianism,[23] neoplatonism & gnosticism,[23] hermeticism[23] and divinatory graphology.[23]
- Rosicrucianism is a worldwide brotherhood claiming to possess esoteric wisdom handed down from ancient times. Their teachings are a combination of occultism and other religious beliefs and practices, including hermeticism, Jewish mysticism, and Christian Gnosticism.[24]
- Neoplatonism is a philosophical and religious system that arose in the third century in Alexandria. It mixes Platonic ideas and oriental mysticism.[25]
- Gnosticism is a collection of philosophical and religious movements whose adherents shunned the material world and embraced the spiritual world.
- Hermeticism is a religious and philosophical tradition based primarily upon writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. Its philosophy is comprised of astrology, alchemy and theurgy.
- Graphology refers to the inference of character from a person's handwriting. The theory underlying graphology is that the way words and letters are formed can reveal traits of personality.[26]
- REUSED PROPS: The lantern Elsa is using to search through the Arendelle castle is the same prop Snow White is using in "The Queen Is Dead."[27] It is also the same prop Mary Margaret and Emma are using in the Season Two episode "Queen of Hearts."[28]
- HIDDEN DETAILS: One of the library books that Robin takes from the shelf is called 1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SL Repair Manual.[29] This is a repair manual for Regina's car, which is a 1988 Mercedes-Benz 560 SL [R107].[30]
- PAUSE AND READ: The children's pop-up book that Will opens contains a text page about the history of the British Royal Navy. It reads:
Sardinia from
Austria and
Savoy, defeating a
Spanish fleet at Cape
Passaro, and an undeclared [war](illegible)
in the 1720s, in which Spain tried
to retake Gibraltar and Minorca.
After a period of relative peace, the
Navy became engaged in the War of
Jenkins' Ear (1739–1748) against Spain,
which was dominated by a series of costly
and mostly unsuccessful attacks on Spanish
ports in the Caribbean. During the Battle of
Cartagena de Indias, the Navy deployed a huge force
- The page is a word for word rendition of an October 2014 version of a Wikipedia article about the Royal Navy[31] (the episode was filmed in October 2014).
- HIDDEN DETAILS: The fact that Will and Robin check out these two books is understandable, since the books' bindings and spines are almost identical to Henry's storybook.[32]
Set Dressing
- ARTWORKS: As Elsa and Anna are skulking around the castle, Charles IV of Spain and His Family, a painting by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya from 1801, can be seen in one of the rooms.[33]
- ARTWORKS: The picture left of Elsa's and Anna's parents in the castle hall[34] is a portrait of British king Edward VII, from 1902.
- HIDDEN DETAILS: As Elsa follows Emma's scarf, she walks past a sign which says "Storybrooke Heritage Park."[35]
- REUSED PROPS: There is a framed illustration of a ship in the library.[36] The same prop appears in Henry's apartment in the Season Seven episodes "Hyperion Heights"[37] and "A Pirate's Life."[38]
- BOOKS AS SET DRESSING: Among the books sitting on the library shelves (in addition to the ones mentioned under "Popular Culture") are:
- Fine Art Reproductions by New York Graphic Society[9]
- Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament by Joseph Tayer[9]
- Kunstgewerbeblatt[39]
- The Complete Printmaker[40]
- The Encyclopedia of Creative Cooking[40]
- Audubon Perspectives: Fight for Survival[40]
- Eyewitness to Disaster by Dan Perkes[40]
- Great Marques: Mercedes Benz[40]
- The Great Events by Famous Historians volume VI, XII and XVII[40]
Costume Notes
- BRAND INFO: Mary Margaret is wearing[41] a Thakoon Striped Shirt[42] (no longer available).
- BRAND INFO: Regina is wearing[43] a London Leather-Trimmed Pencil Skirt from Burberry[44] (no longer available).
- USE IT AGAIN: Regina wore the same skirt when she was dining with Kurt and Owen in the Season Two episode "Welcome to Storybrooke."[45]
- The skirt was also worn by the character Quinn Perkins on the Scandal episode "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner."[46] It was also worn in public by Brazilian actor Danielle Winits in September 2013.[47]
Filming Locations
- The scenes at the Apprentice's cottage and the Storybrooke Heritage Park were filmed in Burnaby's Central Park.[48]
- The Boston flashback was filmed on Granville Street in Vancouver.[49]
International Titles
| International Titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Language | Title | Translation |
| Finnish | "Särje peili" | "Smash the Mirror" |
| French | "La Sœur Parfaite" | "The Perfect Sister" |
| German | "Magie ist Sehnsucht, doch schnell wird sie zum Fluch" | "Magic is longing, but soon it becomes a curse" |
| Italian | "Frammenti di specchio" | "Fragments of Mirror" |
| Polish | "Roztrzaskane lustro" | "Shattered Mirror" |
| Portuguese | "Quebrar o espelho" | "To break the mirror" |
| Spanish | "Romper el Espejo" | "Smash the Mirror" |
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