"Previously on Once Upon A Time..." "What exactly did you do to Maleficent?" "Because of us..." "Maleficent lost her child." "Gold's plan..." "I'm afraid it involves Emma." "He plans to fill her heart with darkness forever." "This isn't just an illustration." "The Author is trapped inside the book." " What is it?" "Did the trail go cold?" " Shh." "Well, come on." "Let's get this over with." "Snow..." "I know you're worried about Maleficent's protections." "Aren't you?" "If she's right, our child could end up with a dark heart." "Or it could grow to be a powerful hero." "She said that, too, and who's to say we can even trust her?" "Let's find out." "According to legend, all we need to do is touch its horn..." "And we'll get a glimpse of our child's future." "Ohh." "Yes." "Look at you." "You are so beautiful." "Snow, it's all right." "Our baby's gonna be all right!" "Snow?" "Look at you." "You're so beautiful." "What are you doing?" "!" "Please!" "I'm your mother!" "I don't care." "Did you see?" "Our child's gonna be just fine." "No." "No, it's not." "It's evil." "how the hell is The Author trapped inside the book?" "Don't ask me." "You're the magic expert." " Mom." " Well, this is insane." "What are we supposed to do, draw a key?" "What we need to do is figure it out before Gold does." " Mom!" " What is it?" "There's something wrong with August." "August?" "August?" "We need to get him help." "He's been through a lot." "What's happening?" "He was awake, and then he passed out, and... well, he's been changed by magic many times." "For him to survive this, he will have to be very strong." "We have a bigger problem." "Gold and these other witches are expecting me." "They sent me on a mission to get that page from the book." "And if I return empty-handed, whatever suspicions they have of me will be confirmed." "Then give them this." "Wow." "You're getting good." "I've been practicing." "A forgery?" "This is Gold we're talking about." "Then pull out, and we will protect you." "We still don't know what they're up to." "It's a bigger risk not to know." "That's them." "Probably wondering where I am." "Mom, the forgery's good." "Not good enough." "But maybe what we need is a different kind of copy." "Because Gold and those witches don't know that the page contains the actual door." "All they care about is what the door looks like." "Hopefully, this photo will keep them on their wild goose chase around town." "I've got to get going." "Bye, Henry." "Okay, mom." "Sorry." "Sorry." "Just not sure if..." "When I'll be back to see you." "But don't worry." "I'll be fine." "Hey." "Killian, what's wrong?" "Before Ursula left, she told me what the villains have planned." "To get their happy endings, they intend to darken your heart, love," "to turn you into a villain so you'll no longer be the savior." "What?" "You can't just un-savior the savior." "Ursula said Gold has a way." "He can use The Author to do it." "That's insane." "If that's what their plan is, stop worrying." "It's ridiculous." "Author or no author, I am not going dark." "But darkness is a funny thing." "It creeps up in you." "Hey." "No one... not Rumplestiltskin or some author... gets to decide who I am." "Do you really think it's possible?" "Emma going dark after what we did?" "No, it shouldn't be." "We were told that we had to guide her, that her fate rested with us." "But this author... he has the power to change everything." "I mean, he's going to write the villains' happy endings." "Who knows what he can do to Emma?" "We have to do something..." "Without Emma finding out the truth." "She'll be fine." "Oh, at last." "I feel I've aged a decade waiting for you." "Well, you certainly look like it." "Where's the page, Regina?" "Don't tell me you failed." "The page was under a protection spell... something cooked up by the savior." "She almost caught me trying to break it." "I had to flee." "Are you sure that's what happened?" "Of course I am." "It's just that you've been gone an awfully long time..." "And yet you come back empty-handed." "I'm not empty-handed." "I got this." "A photograph." "Oh, and an incompetent one, too." "That glare ruins any clear view of the door." "No, that's not a glare." "That's magic." "This door has been sealed by it." "This is the door we've been looking for." "You think The Author is trapped in an illustration?" "But that would mean..." "The Sorcerer imprisoned him in the book." "We need to get it." "Bring us the page." "That won't be easy." "The savior isn't about to let it out of her sight." "Don't worry about her." "I've got just the thing." "How was he?" "The wooden man-child... how was he?" "Not great." "You care for him?" " Yeah." " Hmm." "Oh, Killian." "Now's not the time to be jealous." "Why would I be jealous?" "Though I do know you're partial to men in leather jackets." "He's just a friend." "Yeah, of course." "See..." "Well, you remember that video I showed you from the foster home?" "With your friend when you were a girl?" "Lily." "Her name was Lily." "She was my first and best friend, and I pushed her away forever." "And after that, I just..." "Wasn't great at making friends." "August was the rare exception." "That's why this is so important to me." "There's nothing else going on, really." "What?" "Emma." "Look." "What the hell is tha..." "It's done." "Now let's get to work." "Snow, you have to tell me." "What did you see?" "No." "Saying it out loud will make it too..." "Real." "We just have to find a way to help our child save its future." "Pardon me, but a hand, please." "I'm having trouble with my wagon." "I'm afraid it's a bit stuck." "Here." "Allow me." "Sorry, it's heavy, overloaded with trinkets." "I'm a peddler, but apparently not a very good one." "Oh, oh!" "Just needed a little elbow grease." "Thank you." "Uh-huh." "Ooh, it's colder than a witch's... foot out here, isn't it?" "Here." "Some Brandy." "Oh." "It'll warm you on your journey." "I never turn down Brandy." "You're too kind." "Mmm." "Mmm!" "Kind of nutmeg-y." "Keep it." "Good luck to you, then." "Wait." "You're going west?" "Uh, that is where our home lies." "There... there is a terrible sorceress who's taken up residence down that way." "They call her..." "Maleficent." "She's just awful." "We know." "We've crossed paths." "Did you hear what happened?" "She turned herself into a heinous dragon and laid an egg." "An egg?" "Yes, the beast made her nest in a cave." "She scorched all the earth around it, marking her territory... everyone fled, including yours truly." "My recommendation... go east." "The infinite forest?" "We could get lost for days." "Just stick to the path until you come upon a cottage." "There's a kind, old man." "He'll help you get where you need to be." "Trust me." "Thank you." "Safe journey." "Mmm!" "There." "I was wondering when you would arrive." "You were expecting us?" "I sensed you coming." "I also sensed that you are at a loss over your child." "Uh, why don't you come inside for some tea?" "I'll explain everything." "Is that Maleficent?" "Oh, yes, yes." "Do come in." "You don't have to worry about her here." "Now, you know what you have to do." "Quite well." "The question is, do you?" "Our deal was that you were gonna help me find The Author and our happiness would be secured." "Well, I'm altering the deal because, let's face it, you need that page from the book to get The Author." "And to do that, you need me." "Do I?" "I just put the town to sleep." "I'm useful." "And we all know Cruella and Ursula were a means to an end... me." "That's why you haven't shed one tear over our tentacled friend's departure... because you have me." "And to have me means you have to give me what I want." "It's, oh, so simple." "I need to know what happened to my child after those two heroes got rid of it." "I need to know its fate." "In return, I will get us both The Author." "We'll get you the page." "And once I know what they really did to my child, those heroes will pay." "Mary Margaret." "Mary Margaret, are you okay?" "No, I'm not... we made a vow, David, to be good." "And ever since Cruella and Ursula arrived, we've done nothing but lie." "They want to turn Emma dark!" "I know!" "And if we're not careful, we're going to help them." "David, look." "They're all asleep." "Why aren't we?" "Maybe because we're immune." "We've both been under a sleeping curse." "But Emma hasn't!" "The savior looks a lot less threatening in this state, doesn't she?" "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to wring her scrawny neck right now." "Don't even think about it." "I think we can all agree that killing the savior at this point would be ill-advised." "You're right about that, yet wrong about the location of the page." "It's not here." "We just have to keep looking." "The page was here two hours ago." "It didn't just grow legs and walk out of here on its own." "Unless someone walked out of here with it." "I put the whole town to sleep." "Except those who have been under a sleeping curse and are immune." "I may know a resourceful young man who's wide awake." "One who's very protective of the storybook and all its contents... one who's gonna test his mother's commitment, towards helping me." "No one goes near Henry but me." "If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with one of my fireballs." "Follow her, and do what's necessary to convince the boy." "That page is the key." "Let's not lose it when we're this close." "Where are you off to?" "I have other business to attend to." "Emma's not with them." "What are they after?" "Oh, Henry!" "Henry, are you okay?" "Where... where are you?" "At The Sorcerer's mansion." "When everyone fell asleep, I figured the bad guys were up to something and I'd better get the page somewhere safe." "Henry, don't do anything." "We are on our way." "As long as you have that page, you're in danger." "Just sit tight, okay?" "We're heading your way now." "Let's cut around the harbor, it'll be faster." "David..." " David?" " Hang on." "I think there's a way we can put a stop to all this." "I think..." "I think we should... destroy the page." "What?" "If we destroy it, Gold can never free The Author and use him to turn Emma dark." "The Author would be trapped inside the book forever!" "Or it could kill him." "Regina wouldn't get her happy ending." "We don't know that." "We just know that she won't get it from The Author." "We've gone too far down this path." "We have to protect Emma." "My husband saw happiness for our child." "I saw pure terror." "But how do we know which of our visions is real?" "I-I'm afraid they both are." "You see, we are all born as blank slates with the potential for good or evil and with the gift of free will, so we can choose between the two, which is why there is an equal chance" "that either of your visions may come true." "If the future I saw comes to pass, our child's life will be bleak, full of pain and darkness." "Is there nothing we can do to ensure our child's goodness?" "There is..." "A way..." "To banish..." "The potential for darkness from your child." "But as with all magic, it comes with a price." "Whatever it is, we'll pay it." "You see, the laws of magic would not allow me to simply send your child's darkness away." "Another living vessel must absorb it... a vessel that is also a blank slate, unformed in the ways of good an evil, just like your baby." "If you wish me to perform this magic, you must secure such a vessel." "Discuss this amongst yourselves." "Make sure you want to proceed." "Because once this spell has been enacted, it cannot be reversed." "Banishing darkness from our child into another." "Even if it is to save our own, it's..." "Wrong." "What if it doesn't have to be a child?" "The peddler said Maleficent spawned an egg." "What if we can use that as our vessel?" "We've seen what she's like in human and dragon form." "Do you really think her dragon offspring will be any different?" "No way!" "Grandma, grandpa, you won't believe what I just... what, Henry?" "Mom." "What are you doing here?" "I'm sorry." "I didn't want it to come to this." "Looks like we're here just in time." "I told you I could handle this." "We're not sure you have it in you to be a true disciplinarian." "I'd say you shouldn't be alarmed, darling, but I'd be lying." "Lay a hand on my son, and I'll end you." "You won't have to do anything as long as he cooperates." "Henry, give me the page." "Mom, no." "Henry Daniel Mills!" "You will do as I say." "Okay." "As promised." "Now, let's find Gold and set this author free." "The least that Maleficent could have done for her guards is to throw a little dragon's fire our way." "If I'd known it was this cold, darling, I would have grabbed two more puppies and made mittens." "Darling?" "Over here." "Ooh!" "Come on." "It won't last long." "What is that, a rattle?" "Looks to me like she hoards anything silver." "Look... there it is." "A nest and the egg." "Careful." "It's as dangerous as she is." "Snow!" "Torch us, Maleficent, and this burns, too!" "What kind of people are you, threatening a child?" "Child?" "This isn't a child." "This will become a monster, just like you." "And what are you?" "I'm sorry." "Wait!" "Please." "Mother to mother, have mercy." "I can't lose my child." "We'll bring the egg back when we're done with it." "No!" " Henry?" "Henry?" "!" " Henry!" "Oh!" "Come on." "The villains have to be on their way." " Already been here." " What?" " Did they take the page?" " They think they did, except my mom, of course." "She just gave me a look, and I knew exactly what she meant." "You gave them the forged page Emma made." "Smart kid." "Where's the real one?" "Oh, great job." "Mary Margaret and I are gonna take this" " and keep it safe." " There's something else." "I've found the key." "We can free The Author." " Henry, hold on." " W-what are you doing?" "Uh, we don't know what's gonna happen." "Just let us handle things." "But I found the key." "Henry, it's too dangerous!" "Go!" "So, now we're lying to Henry." "If we keep this up, we're no different than Gold." "My love..." "I need to tell you this while it still matters." "My magic comes at a cost, as you know." "And I have racked up so much debt" "I can never be clear of it..." "Unless I find a way to change the rules." "But now..." "Here's the hard truth." "Something else is changing." "So, if I'm gonna change the rules," "I'm gonna have to do so quickly." "I will come back for you if... if I can." "What were you doing in there?" "Mind your own business." "Did you find the boy?" "We found the boy." "I found him." "This is rubbish." "What?" "It's a fake." "You've spent enough time with the book." "You should know the difference." "They tricked me." "What, you think I didn't suspect you?" "I've been waiting for this moment." "I knew it would come." "Maleficent." "Wait, I can expl... bring her to her vault." "Yes." "This will work." "So, our child's darkness..." "Will indeed transfer." "Let the darkness find its way from tender womb to darkest tomb." "And if it sees the light of day on distant shore, where shadows loom..." ""Distant shore"?" "What does that mean?" "Then let no magic give it form and work no curse, nor magic worse, on innocents of mortals born." "Sir, we're just sending the darkness into the vessel, right?" "Well, you would not want anything with darkness like this living on in your realm, m'lady." "I am sending it where it belongs, where it can hurt no one here." "What?" " No." " You didn't tell us that." "We promised its mother we would give it back." "It's too late, I'm afraid." "As I told you before, once this spell has been enacted, it cannot be reversed." "There must be something you can do!" "Charming, it's a baby!" "We can still save it!" "Cradle robbers!" "What have you done?" "!" "We didn't know this was going to happen!" "You have to help us stop it!" "Ohh!" "What happened to them?" "Where did that portal send them?" "!" "Where they belong." "The baby." "We have to get the baby back!" "I'm afraid it's lost to you forever." "But congratulations." "Your child is now pure of intent and heroic of spirit." "It is now up to the two of you to guide it..." "And keep it in the light." "We told Maleficent we would bring back her child." "And now it..." "Snow, we didn't know that they were gonna send that egg to another land." "Charming, we've made a terrible mistake." "We have to do it." "What are we going to tell Henry?" "We tell him... the key was wrong and, uh, uh, the page disintegrated." "We'll figure something out, but let's just burn it and worry about it later." "More lies." "I can't do this." "I gave Henry that book to give him hope, and I'm gonna lie and take it away?" "And what about Regina?" "She's finally becoming a friend." "I went to her for help with Emma, with our secret." "She's kept it." "She's risked her life for us." "And we're gonna repay her by destroying her chance at a happy ending?" "Well, maybe there's another way." "No, David!" "When Regina showed me my heart after Cora... after I killed Cora..." "My heart was dark." "And Regina thought it was because of what I did to her mother." "But that darkness started long ago." "We... have to tell Emma the truth." "Because heroes do what's right, not what's easy." "This whole time, I was right." "You were lying." "I wanted to believe you." "I wanted to believe in you." "We were just..." "Trying to protect you." "Emma, are you all right?" "No." "I'm not okay." "I've got to go." "Please, stop." "I'm your mother." "I don't care." "Well, I say we just slit her throat right now," " get it over with." " No." "Well, if it's too messy for you, darling," "Mal can incinerate her." "We're doing nothing of the sort." "She'll never help us." "Of course she will." "She just doesn't know it yet." "I'll have something that the moment she sees it will make Regina do my bidding..." "Forever." "Hey." "I'm just gonna need some time." "August is awake." "Your parents are with him." " Is he..." " He's gonna be fine." "Your friend... is gonna be fine." "Why did my parents send you?" "Well, they didn't think you'd listen to them." "They were right." "Get it out of here." "I don't want it." "What's going on?" "Look what Cinderella sent." "Unicorns." "I like uni..." "Corns." "Sneezy, give us a minute, please." "Snow, it's just a mobile." "A unicorn gave me a vision, which led to us ripping Maleficent's child away." "I don't want a reminder of that literally hanging over our baby." "What we did is already with me every night when I try to sleep." " I keep hearing..." " I know." "I do, too." "But maybe Maleficent deserved what happened." "For all we know, she lied about Regina having the dark curse." "Regina hasn't even tried using it." "Maybe her threat was just words." "None of that matters." "What matters is what we did." "I thought we were doing something brave for our child, and we were brave, but we weren't kind." "We were selfish." "And I think..." "We are not heroes anymore." "How do we fix it?" "We can't fix it." "Maleficent's child is gone." "But, Snow, we're still here." "So, how do we fix us?" "The people we are now, weighed down by all this... is that who we want to raise our child?" "Of course not." "But do you really think that redemption is possible?" "Yes." "I have to believe we can earn forgiveness." "A chance at Grace." "But to get there, we have to be the best people we can... work, spread hope and faith every day." "Because otherwise, what we did will stain us forever." "And affect our child." "The very person we fought so hard to save." "Maybe these unicorns are a good thing." "Maybe they're here to remind us how easy it can be to lose our way." "And as long as we have each other, we can be the best versions of ourselves." "It won't happen overnight." "But we can take the long, hard path." "Mm." "Now that you're so confident Regina's taken care of, isn't time we took care of my needs?" "You didn't get me the page." "You didn't earn your answer." "That was the deal." "That was the deal." "But after all I've been through," "I've more than earned my answer." "I know." "And I want to give you a last chance to preserve what you have." "What I have is pain." "And pain fades..." "Unless you feed it." "And this..." "This could be the meal, you really don't want." "Well, I've never seen my child." "I don't even know what I had... a boy, a girl." "I don't care how much it hurts to know its fate." "I need this." "Now, remember, this was 30 years ago..." "Congratulations." "Your adoption is finalized." "She's all yours." "What will you name her?" "Lilith." "We want to name her Lily." "She's alive." "And..." "In this world." "I must find her." "There has to be a way." "If she's out there..." "Someone must know her." "August!" "How are you?" "A bit tired, but better." "Something's wrong." "How are you?" "I'm fine." "You forget I know lying." "It's a long story." "It's not really worth getting into right now, especially when I have a surprise for you." "Look what Henry found." "You did it." "That's right." "Now, what do you say we let out The Author I have some questions." "Emma, please, think about this." "This isn't just what Regina wanted." "This is what Gold wanted, too." "He was doing it to turn you dark." "I'm not worried about it." "Are you?" "'Cause now I have some questions about me, and he can tell us everything." "If he's the one who wrote your story." "What are you talking about?" "Something you need to know about this author..." "He wasn't the only one." "There have been many authors throughout time." "It's a job, not a person." "And the one trapped in here was just the last tasked with the great responsibility." "Which is?" "To record... to witness the greatest stories of all time and record them for posterity." "The job has gone back eons, from the man who watched shadows dance across cave walls and developed an entire philosophy, to playwrights who tell tales in poetry, to a man named Walt." "Many have had this sacred job... great women and men who took on the responsibility with the gravity that it deserved..." "Until this last one." "He started to manipulate rather than record." "He did something..." "I don't know exactly what... but something that pushed them over the edge." "How dare you?" "How dare you force me to do that to that child?" "It makes for a better story." "Return the quill." "You are ill-suited for this job." "You have abused all the rules." "You have lied." "You have deceived us." "You have forsaken your holy duty, and now..." "You must be punished." "That's why The Sorcerer and his apprentice put him in there." "They're the ones who choose The Author, and they took responsibility for their error." "If they did, and he's still in there, he still has the ability to alter the book, to alter the course of things." "You sure have come a long way from the woman who wouldn't believe." "Yeah." "I have." "Oh!" "Whoo!" "Oh." "It was cramped in there!" "I couldn't even reach this." "And I was parched." "Where did you get that?" "This?" "Uh, a nice young couple I met on the road gave it to me." "You want some?" " Sort of nutmeg-y." " You." "You are... are The Author?" "The peddler?" "We have a lot of questions." "I bet you do." "Hey!"