The Price

This article focuses on the Season Five episode. For the Season One episode, see "The Price of Gold". For the special, see "The Price of Magic".

"The Price"
Season Five
Season 05, Episode 02
Episode Information
Character backstory	Regina Mills
Premiere date	October 4, 2015
Viewers	5.38 million
Written by	Andrew Chambliss & Dana Horgan
Directed by	Romeo Tirone
Episode Chronology
Previous Episode	"The Dark Swan"
Next Episode	"Siege Perilous"
Related Pages

“

Did you really think it would be that simple, dearie? If you want that sword, you're gonna have to pay the price.

”

—The Darkness, under Rumplestiltskin's appearance, to Emma Swan

"The Price" is the second episode of Season Five of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Andrew Chambliss & Dana Horgan, and directed by Romeo Tirone. It is the ninetieth episode of the series overall, and premiered on October 4, 2015.

Synopsis

In an effort to protect Emma, Regina steps up in a surprising way that will test her mettle as a force for good. King Arthur and Queen Guinevere throw a royal ball to welcome the heroes to Camelot, but when the celebration takes a deadly turn, David and Robin must leap into action or lose a crucial asset in the fight to save Emma. Back in Storybrooke, Hook deploys a tried-and-true technique in hopes of bringing Emma back to the light while the heroes discover that some unexpected baggage has followed them home from Camelot.

Deleted Scenes

"Savior Remains" (Scene 1-2A)

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

In the morning, Regina, while walking on the street, sees Emma's yellow bug near the sheriff's station. As she walks in, she calls for Emma, but one one answers. After she sees her red leather jacket on a chair, she becomes upset and her phone rings. It's David, who tells her that he hasn't found Emma either, but now they have a bigger problem.

Emma and Hook: Alternate

An alternate version of the scene where Hook meets Emma by the yellow bug. Emma is wearing one of her signature black Dark One coats; the same coat that she was wearing at the docks earlier in the episode (in the actual episode, she is wearing a simple black dress). She walks towards Hook with a sinister grin on her face and pulls him in close to her, but Hook is not impressed.

Cast

Starring Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret Blanchard Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan Lana Parrilla as Regina Mills Josh Dallas as David Nolan Emilie de Ravin as Belle Colin O'Donoghue as Hook Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills Rebecca Mader as Zelena Sean Maguire as Robin Hood Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold Guest Starring Lee Arenberg as Leroy Beverley Elliott as Granny Liam Garrigan as King Arthur Andrew Jenkins as Percival Joana Metrass as Guinevere

Co-Starring Donald Adams as Footman Raphael Alejandro as Roland Michael Coleman as Happy Faustino di Bauda as Walter Olivia Steele Falconer as Violet David-Paul Grove as Doc Jeffrey Kaiser as Dopey Gabe Khouth as Mr. Clark Mig Macario as Bashful Uncredited Unknown baby as Prince Neal Kat Pasion as Party Goer Morgan Tanner as Party Goer Liz Tookey as Party Goer Unknown as Charon

Trivia

• Production Notes
• Episode Connections
• Cultural References
• Set Notes
• Goofs
• Other Notes

Title

• The title card features Merlin's tree.
• The title of this episode was announced by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on July 20, 2015.

Production Notes

• The computer-generated set used for the Camelot castle courtyard is recycled from the computer-generated imagery model for the King's castle in "The Price of Gold", King Xavier's castle in "The Miller's Daughter" and Prince Eric's castle in "Ariel". This can be seen from the archways and the railing on top of them, which have a very similar design.
  • The new courtyard in the King's castle in the Season Six episode "The Other Shoe", and the courtyard in the Prince's castle in the Season Seven premiere "Hyperion Heights", are both recycled from the CGI model for the Camelot castle (itself recycled from the other courtyard in the King's castle in "The Price of Gold"), which can be seen from the identical design of the architecture. The area by the stairs in both castle courtyards were also recycled from the Camelot castle, which can be seen from the almost identical design of the windows and balustrades.
• During rehearsals for their dance sequences, Lana Parrilla, Sean Maguire and Andrew Jenkins were coached by choreographer Paul Becker.
• While waiting to shoot the dancing sequences, Colin O'Donoghue asked Beverley Elliott to dance.
• Donald Adams, who plays the Footman, was previously listed as playing a vendor in the press release for the Season One episode "Hat Trick". However, his character was cut from the episode.
• The shot of the ferryman coming through the portal in the Storybrooke Heritage Park is re-used in "Swan Song", but with a different color hue.
• During filming of the scene where an injured Robin Hood is lying on the table, Sean Maguire made up silly songs to make everyone giggle.

Event Chronology

• The Camelot flashbacks take place after "The Dark Swan" and before "Siege Perilous". (For more details, see the Camelot timeline)
• The Storybrooke events take place after "The Dark Swan" and before "Siege Perilous". (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)

Episode Connections

• Granny's Diner returned to Storybrooke in "The Dark Swan".
• This is the second time that one of the Dwarves was forced to cross the border to discover what happens when they leave Storybrooke. The first one happened in "We Are Both".
  • Walter references these events with his line "I like remembering who I am", as Mr. Clark lost his memories after crossing the town line in said episode.
• At the town line, Happy says "I don't want to turn into a flying monkey", a reference to the events of "Witch Hunt".
• Leroy mentions facing Peter Pan (between "The New Neverland" and "Going Home"), the Snow Queen (between "White Out" and "Shattered Sight") and the Trio of Terror (between "Darkness on the Edge of Town" and "Mother") in Storybrooke.
• Dopey has been transformed back into his old self by the time of "The Other Shoe".
• Who cast the new curse, is revealed in "Broken Heart".
• How Merlin was trapped inside the tree, is revealed in "Dreamcatcher". Merlin is freed from the tree in the same episode.
• Henry's question about what happened in Camelot, is answered in "Birth" and "Broken Heart".
• The reason why Emma took away everyone's memories, is revealed in "Broken Heart".
• Regina removes Zelena's voice, just like she did with Ariel in "Ariel".
• Hook and Belle's friendship was first shown in "Darkness on the Edge of Town".
• Belle and Hook discuss Belle and Rumplestiltskin's failed true love's kiss from "Skin Deep".
• Mary Margaret talks about her dreams of sending Emma to her first ball, something that was previously brought up in "Lady of the Lake" and "The Apprentice".
• The dress Regina magics up when selecting a dress for the ball is the same dress that she magicked up when under the influence of the Spell of Shattered Sight in "Shattered Sight".
• Regina mentions losing her first love, an event which occurred in "The Stable Boy".
• Emma finally gets her "own place" in this episode. It was first mentioned in "The Apprentice".
• What Emma is hiding from Hook, is revealed in "Birth" and "Broken Heart".
• Hook tells Emma, "Swan, you look..." and Emma says "I know.", just like they told each other in "The Apprentice".
• The reason why Henry is fond of the song "Only You", is explained in "Dreamcatcher".
• Regina tells Mr. Gold, "You made me like this. You made me the Evil Queen", which began in "We Are Both".
• Mother Superior gave Belle the Magical Rose in "The Dark Swan".
• Emma looks at her family yearningly outside the Granny's Diner, just like Hook did in "The Jolly Roger".
• Leroy gives Belle advice about love just as she gave him in "Dreamy" and "The Outsider".
• The reason why Emma is isolating herself from her loved ones, is explained in "Broken Heart".
• The reason why Excalibur is inside the stone again, is revealed in "Broken Heart".
• Excalibur is pulled from the stone in "The Bear and the Bow".
• Emma succeeds in making Excalibur whole again in "Nimue".
• The real reason why Emma wants to make Excalibur whole, is revealed in "Birth".

Disney

• The petals of the rose in a jar, given to Belle by Mother Superior, fall and float around in the same manner as the iconic object from Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
• The moment where Regina, Mary Margaret, David, King Arthur and Leroy take each other's hands, making a human chain against the Fury, is a reference to one of the final scenes of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.
  • This episode contains a number of other references to Disney works. See the list of Disney references for more.

Lost

• Dopey is wearing a Geronimo Jackson T-shirt. This was a fictional band on Lost.

Fairytales and Folklore

• This episode features the ugly duckling from the titular fairytale, King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and Percival from the Arthurian legend, Robin Hood from the Robin Hood ballad, the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz story, the ugly duckling from the fairytale of the same name, Rumplestiltskin from the "Rumpelstiltskin" fairytale, Hank's daughter from the novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and Charon and a Fury from Greek mythology.
• Merlin being trapped inside a tree is a reference to Arthurian legend, where the Lady of the Lake trapped Merlin inside an oak tree.

Popular Culture

• Regina mentions Club Med, a chain of all-inclusive resort villages around the world, with her line, "I should be figuring out how to free Merlin, not fox-trotting my way across Club Med-ieval"; .
• The part where Hook says to Emma, "Swan, you look...", and Emma answers, "I know", is a reference to the scene in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where Princess Leia tells Han Solo that she loves him, and he answers, "I know".
  • The show creators have stated that they look at Hook as their version of Han Solo. In the Season Three finale "Snow Drifts" and "There's No Place Like Home", Emma's alias in the Enchanted Forest is Princess Leia.
• The music played by Henry on his iPod and on the diner's jukebox is "Only You" by Yazoo.

Props Notes

• The book that Belle uses to identify the Fury seems to be an alphabetical guidebook on mythological creatures. The following monsters and creatures (barely readable) are listed:
  • Futakuchi-onna, a monster from Japanese mythology, in the form of type a woman with two mouths – a normal one located on her face, and a second one on the back of the head, beneath the hair
  • Fury
  • Gallu, demons of the Underworld in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology
  • Galtzagorriak, a type of iratxoak, or imp, in Basque mythology
  • Gana, the attendants of Shiva in Hinduism
• According to concept art by graphics designer Neil Westlake, the Footman's guest list reads:

Most Honored Guests

Lady Emma Lady Mary Margaret The Savior Henry Daniel Mills Captain Killian Jones Prince James Robin of Locksley Lady Belle The Widow Lucas Lady Violet Sir Lancelot Sir Gawain Sir Geraint Sir Percival Sir Bors the Younger Sir Lamorak Sir Gareth Sir Bedivere Sir Galahad Sir Tristan Le Roy [sic] Doc

Rolande [sic] Kontento Sir Breunor Sir Karadoe Lady Dadelcune Sir Daniel Lady Felice Sir Hector Sir Hector De Maris Sir Elyan the White Sir Haberio Sir Galehault Sir Galeschin Sir Geraint Sir Gingalain King Leodegrance Sir Lionel Lady Darse Lady Elisabeth Lady Konstance Lady Francoscoe

Costume Notes

• Emma is wearing a James Perse 'Blouson' Tank Dress (no longer available).
• An attendee of the ball at the Camelot castle is wearing the same dress Rapunzel wore in the Season Three episode "The Tower". It is also the same dress Guinevere wears in the episode "The Broken Kingdom".

Goofs

• King Arthur's herald incorrectly announces him as "His Royal Highness, King Arthur", and not the proper title of "His Majesty".

Filming Locations

• The opening scene at the Storybrooke town line was filmed in Burnaby Lake Regional Park.
• The Camelot scene by the Merlin tree, the Storybrooke camp scene and the Storybrooke forest scene were all filmed in Burnaby's Central Park.
  • During filming, a tree trunk prop was used for the Merlin tree. It was turned into a green leafy tree in post-production using CGI.

International Titles

International Titles
Language	Title	Translation
Finnish	"Hinta"	"The Price"
French	"Excalibur"	"Excalibur"
German	"Die Tribute des Lebens"	"The tributes of life"
Italian	"Il prezzo"	"The Price"
Polish	"Cena"	"The Price"
Portuguese	"O Preço"	"The Price"
Spanish	"El Precio"	"The Price"

Videos

5x02 - The Price - Promo

5x02 - The Price - Sneak Peek 1

5x02 - The Price - Sneak Peek 2

5x02 - The Price - Sneak Peek 3

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