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This article focuses on the Season Six episode.
For the Enchanted Forest character, see Black Fairy.

So, your mother wasn't always the Black Fairy.

Gideon to Mr. Gold

"The Black Fairy" is the nineteenth episode of Season Six of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Jerome Schwartz & Dana Horgan, and directed by Alrick Riley. It is the one hundred and thirtieth episode of the series overall, and premiered on April 30, 2017.

Synopsis

In flashback, after Rumple's mother, Fiona, learns from his fairy godmother that his destiny is prophesized, she does everything in her power to keep it from happening. Ultimately, Fiona will have to make a decision that will change the course of both their lives forever. Meanwhile, in Storybrooke, Rumple faces a similar dilemma.[2]

Recap


Deleted Scenes

"Growing Up" (Scene 5A)

This scene is included on Once Upon a Time: The Complete Sixth Season.

Standing in her living room, Regina watches as Henry puts on a tie for Emma's wedding. "Since when can you tie a tie?", she asks. He replies that he's known it since he looked it up on YouTube. Finishing with the tie, he asks, "How did I do?". She says that he did perfect and guesses he won't be needing her to tie these anymore. He asks her what's wrong; after all, he's not the one getting married. She says that nothing is wrong; it's just that he's gotten so mature. Suddenly, a female voice yells from the top floor, "Ugh! What's wrong with this?!". Regina remarks that she wishes she could say the same about his aunt Zelena. At that, she goes to help her sister.

Cast[2]

Starring

Guest Starring

Co-Starring

Uncredited


Trivia

Title

Production Notes

  • PRESS RELEASE: In the press release, the word "dilemma" is misspelled as "delimna".[2]
  • Jaime Murray, who portrays the Black Fairy, had reservations about the scene where Fiona gives birth to Rumplestiltskin. In order to prepare, the actress watched past scenes of Emilie de Ravin, Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison and Rebecca Mader giving birth on-screen. After doing this, she realized there was no attractive way of giving birth on television.[6]
  • HIDDEN DETAILS: The spell used by Fiona to transform herself into a fairy is "Le sgiathan cumhachd draoidheil", which is Scottish Gaelic for "with wings magic power"[7] (or, "magic power with wings").
  • HIDDEN DETAILS: There are tulips in the Sacred Fairy Vault,[8] just like in the tulip pod chamber where Tinker Bell and the Blue Fairy live in the Season Three episode "Quite a Common Fairy".[9]
  • REAL WORLD FACTS: The last ingredient Fiona needs to create the Dark Curse is wolfsbane. According to magic lore, this plant can be used to prevent shapeshifting and has traditionally been used to protect homes from werewolves. Bundles of wolfsbane can be placed around barns and pastures to protect livestock from predators (this requires taking care that the livestock have no access to the plant, as wolfsbane is highly poisonous, and ingesting even a small amount can kill you). It can also be used to bring harm to another by creating "elf bolts" of sharpened flint dipped in wolfsbane juice and using it to pierce a poppet for the victim.[10]
  • HIDDEN DETAILS: When Mr. Gold meets up with the Black Fairy at the end of the episode, the moon has the same shape as Fiona's scar.[11]

Event Chronology

Episode Connections

Disney

Fairytales and Folklore

  • This episode is a rendition of the Villeneuve version of the fairytale of "Beauty and the Beast", focusing on Beast's childhood, his mother's fear of losing him, his childhood with the wicked fairy, his transformation into a beast and the loss of a parent at a young age.
    • Also featured is the Beast's father and the fairies from the same story.
  • This episode features Rumplestiltskin from the "Rumpelstiltskin" fairytale (who is also the Beast from the "Beauty and the Beast" fairytale), the Fairy with turquoise hair from The Adventures of Pinocchio story, Tiger Lily and Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story, the ugly duckling from the titular fairytale, and the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz story.
  • In the original version of "Beauty and the Beast" by Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Beast's father died when he was little and his mother was later forced to go off to war. Scared of losing her young son, she left him in the care of a fairy who turned out to be evil. Initially, the fairy took good care of the prince but when he grew older, she transformed him into the beast in retaliation for rejecting her advances. On Once Upon a Time, Beast's mother and the wicked fairy are combined into one: Fiona learns about a prophecy about her child's destiny to become the Savior and die fighting a great evil. Scared of losing Rumplestiltskin, she desperately seeks to protect him, even turning herself into a fairy in order to do so. Although she initially seeks to take care of her infant son, she eventually turns evil and ends up cutting her son from his fate of a Savior, which eventually led him down the path to becoming a "beast". When Fiona is banished to the Dark Realm, Beast's father is lead to believe that she is dead and the child grows up with a single parent.
  • In the Villeneuve version of "Beauty and the Beast", the wicked fairy, planning to seduce Beauty's real father, assigns a "protecting genius" and "two subaltern and invisible fairies" to watch over Beast in her absence.[12] This is alluded to when, on the night Fiona gives birth to Rumplestiltskin, two fairies, Tiger Lily and the Blue Fairy, visit Fiona to tell her about the prophecy about her child being destined to be a Savior and fight a great evil.
  • In Villeneuve's version of "Beauty and the Beast", the fairies have a book referred to as "the general book"[13] and "the great book",[12] in which all that they do is magically written down at the very same instant that the action takes place.[13] This book is used by the wicked fairy to find proof that Beauty's real mother was not living according to the laws of the fairies.[12] On Once Upon a Time, the fairies have a book known as the Book of Prophecy, which Fiona uses to find out her infant son's fate.

Popular Culture

  • As Zelena is putting together the new baby crib, she comments on the model's strange name, saying that it's from IKEA; a reference to the famous furniture retailer, which is known for using Swedish names for its products.

Props Notes

Set Dressing

Costume Notes

Filming Locations

  • The Apprentice's cottage also doubles as one of the cottages in the village of Camelot in the Season Five episode "The Broken Kingdom".[35] This can easily be seen from the identical architecture and window panes and the identical pattern of the brick stones (the ones around the window are easiest to compare).
  • A redressed version of the cottage doubles as the exterior of Brennan's cottage in the Season Five episode "Swan Song".[36] The wooden floor on the Apprentice's front porch has been replaced by a stone floor and climbing plants have been added to the walls to make the cottage look different.
  • The same set doubles as the exterior of the Woodcutter's cottage in the Season Five episode "Sisters".[37] Although the cottage was heavily redressed to double as the Woodcutter's home (most noticeably, the roof of his cottage has a completely different shape, and the chimney is in a different position), the door, the window panes and the pattern of the brick stones (again, the ones around the window are easiest to compare) are the same.

International Titles


Videos

References

  1. Porter, Rick (May 2, 2017). ‘Chicago Justice,’ ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’ adjust up: Sunday final ratings. TV by the Numbers. “Once Upon a Time (ABC) (...) 3.05”
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 LISTINGS: ONCE UPON A TIME.. The Futon Critic. “Air Date: Sunday, September 25, 2016. Time Slot: 8:00 PM-9:00 PM EST on ABC. Episode Title: (#601) "The Savior".”
  3. File:619ZelenaWorking.png
  4. File:619Title.png
  5. TwitterLogo Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) on X, formerly Twitter: Here's another #OnceUponATime #titlespoiler -- hope to see ya March 5! (February 17, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  6. Vic, Jaime and Bex Discuss The Biggest OUAT Plot Twist. YouTube (June 12, 2017).
  7. Le sgiathan cumhachd draoidheill. Google Translate. Retrieved on February 8, 2019. “With wings magic powers”
  8. File:619WhereAreWe.png
  9. File:303TinkIsHome.png
  10. Wolfsbane. Witchipedia. Retrieved on February 8, 2019. “Wolfsbane has traditionally been used to protect homes from werewolves and can be used to prevent shape shifting. Bundles of wolfsbane could be placed around barns and pastures to protect livestock from predators (taking care that the livestock have no access to it lest they be killed themselves). Because of its baneful nature, it could be used in sympathetic magic to bring harm to another by creating "elf bolts" of sharpened flint dipped in wolfsbane juice and piercing a poppet for the victim with them.”
  11. File:619CrescentItBears.png
    File:619CallIt.png
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 The Story of Beauty & the Beast: The complete fairy story translated from the French by Ernest Dowson. With four plates in colour by Charles Condor. (digitized eBook) pp. 96 – 97. Internet Archive. Retrieved on October 24, 2021. “It was then that the wicked Fairy the same that turned the young Prince here into the frightful Beast perceiving her confusion, became convinced that if she were to open the great book, she would find in it an important entry, which would enable her to exercise her evil inclinations. ' It is there,' she exclaimed, ' that the truth will be found, and there it is that we shall be able to learn what she has really been doing with herself! ' So saying, she fetched and opened the book and read aloud to the whole assembly all that my sister had done during the past two years. (...) As the assembly had appointed her to the guardianship of the young Prince, she would never have dared to leave him, had not the ingenuity of love inspired her with the idea of placing a protecting genius and two subaltern and invisible fairies to watch over him in her absence.”
  13. 13.0 13.1 The Story of Beauty & the Beast: The complete fairy story translated from the French by Ernest Dowson. With four plates in colour by Charles Condor. (digitized eBook) pp. 94 – 95. Internet Archive. Retrieved on October 24, 2021. “There must arise, in short, some unforeseen event, to make us go and consult the general book, in which all that we do is written down, without the aid of hands, at the very same instant that the action takes place.”
  14. File:619ZelenaWorking.png
  15. SNIGLAR Crib, beech. IKEA. Retrieved on September 28, 2018.
  16. File:619Key.png
  17. File:619No.png
  18. File:217Scroll.png
  19. File:619YouMustKnow.png
  20. File:516EverythingHeEverWanted.png
  21. File:619NapTime.png
  22. ISABEL MARANT ÉTOILE Walt blouse. Farfetch. Retrieved on February 8, 2019.
  23. BELLE'S RED PLAID RUFFLED TOP AND GREY COAT ON ONCE UPON A TIME. WornOnTV. Retrieved on February 8, 2019.
  24. File:619IGotThis.png
  25. Piped Belted A-Line Macintosh Coat TED BAKER LONDON. Nordstrom. Retrieved on February 8, 2019.
  26. File:619WillNotFailYou.png
  27. "The Black Fairy" yellow gown ensemble from Once Upon a Time Season 6, Episode 19.. iCollector. Archived from the original on December 2, 2018. Retrieved on March 18, 2019. “(...) a Alice and Olivia lined lace jacket with crystal buttons”
  28. FANTASIA-1020 Blush Suede/ Gold Chrome. Shoe Me. Retrieved on March 18, 2019.
    Image of the Pleaser Day & Night Boots
    Note the boots are hidden under Fiona's yellow skirt.
  29. File:619HisMotherWillDo.png
  30. What to wear to work in a heatwave. The Telegraph (July 18, 2016). “Rachel Comey Laurel ruffle-sleeved top, £314, Matches Fashion”
  31. File:702LittleLessTerrifying.png
  32. TwitterLogo YVRShoots (@yvrshoots) on X, formerly Twitter: #OnceUponaTime signs spotted near Robert Burnaby Park today. Thanks @ArtsyServal (January 30, 2017). (backup link; the user's account and the original post have been deleted – they are now using a different account with the handle "yvrshootstweets," and the name "YVRShoots Tweets") (archive screenshot)
    Tumblr Villains' Happy Ending (@villains-happy-ending) on Tumblr: Temporary set exterior (stone cottage with thatched roof) is up in Burnaby Park with various props stacked nearby (labelled 'Ext Hovel'). (February 22, 2017). "A few crew members around, including Leaf Lady." (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  33. File:619DreamCabin.png
  34. File:404RunsToCottage.png
    File:408ApprenticeSeesSnowQueen.png
  35. File:504VillageOfCamelot2.png
    File:504KingArthur!.png
  36. File:511HookLeavesCottage.png
    File:511ThankYouKillian.png
    File:511ReplaceHim.png
  37. File:519DroppingLogs.png
    File:519Woodpile.png

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