Once Upon a Time season 3, episode 15, “Quiet Minds,” finally sees the return of Neal. But what is in store for him as he searches for his father? Find out in our recap!
Quite a few punches to the gut awaited viewers in tonight’s season 3, episode 15, “Quiet Minds.” But is it a bromance or a father and son reunion that will make you reach for the tissues? Read the full recap and react in the comments!
Bring Back the Boys: A quick stop at Granny’s Diner sets everyone in motion to find Gold. Hook tells the group that Neal and Belle went off on their own adventure in an attempt to reunite Neal with one part of his family. Perhaps, Belle may have an idea of where to look for Gold. Regina, meanwhile, decides to go to the farmhouse and search for traces of magic.
Zelena attempts to summon the Dark One with his dagger, however Rumple is on the run and not responding to his name.
A strand of gold is taken to Belle who agrees to keep an eye out around the shop for any signs of Gold’s return. Hook, smiling a bit too much for anyone’s comfort, tries to offer his protection now as repayment for trying to kill her twice.
Back in the year that was, Neal and Belle search Rumple’s castle for a way to bring back Rumple from the dead. Belle, sticking true to her roots, goes to the one source better than any amount of magic, books. As Neal tries to bring a little more light into the room, he accidentally lights up Lumière, a man trapped inside of a candelabra. Rumpelstiltskin trapped Lumière when he did not live up to his end of a deal.
The candle offers guidance to a book containing a key that will unlock the Dark Vault, where the first Dark One was made. Inside, the duo is sure to find something of use.
In the present, Hook and Belle hear commotion at the front of the shop. When they arrive, Neal falls through the door.
Recovery Mission: Neal wakes up in the hospital where Emma and David fill him in on the search for his father. Neal only remembers his father’s death and waking up in the forest outside of Storybrooke. Emma takes a moment alone with Neal to explain that Henry does not have any memory of Neal and believes that he is still nothing more than the man who left his mother to take the fall for his crimes.
Henry, who has aged roughly five years in the last two episodes, begins to question the real reason Emma brought him to Storybrooke. Emma admits that there is more to her story, but Henry cannot know just yet.
Zelena shows up at the loft to calm down a frantic Mary Margaret. Not used to sitting idly by, the lack of movement in her stomach panics her further. Meanwhile, Regina shows up at the farmhouse and catches an arrow fired at her from behind a shrub. Robin appears and the two take a moment to run through introductions. The thief and evil queen, respectively, may not remember each other right now, but perhaps they knew each other in the “pesky year that no one can remember.”
Hook shows up at Neal’s bedside with an offering of sustenance, green jello. After Hook puts on the show of playing nanny, Neal is off to the forest to help Emma. But not before the bromance reunion of all bromance reunions! Hook pulls Neal in for a hug and confesses that even though they spent a great deal of time at each other’s throats fighting for Emma, Hook still remembers the time Neal spent on his ship as a boy. After saying, “I need to do this, Killian. You know that right?” Hook steps aside and everyone releases a sigh.
A Symbol of the Past: Neal returns with an odd symbol on his hand that happens to match the seal on the key used to unlock the Dark Vault. In the year that was, Bae and Belle find the vault, but uncover that Lumière’s lies about Rumple. Even after establishing that the witch wants them to bring back Rumple so that she may control him, Neal still unlocks the vault and burns his hand. Once Rumple is free, Neal’s life must be sacrificed to take his place. A life for a life. A clever omission on the Wicked Witch’s part.
Presently, Regina and Robin search the farmhouse for any traces of magic, when Regina notices the lion tattoo on a very flirtatious thief’s arm. She flees as quickly as she can from the memories of Tinker Bell and the chance at happiness she left behind.
Neal finds Emma who is trying to track down a crazed Gold after he ran away from her and David. Emma fills Neal in with tales of Henry’s life and her involvement with a flying monkey. Who is he to judge? After all he almost married a minion of his evil grandfather, Peter Pan. Nice, save there Neal. Belle interrupts their moment of happiness with devastating news. The symbol on Neal’s hand reveals that he should be dead right now.
The only reason Neal is alive right now is because once Rumple returned to life, he absorbed Bae and the two coexisted in one body with one mind. As Neal falls to the ground, he can hear the echoes of Rumple in his mind. Emma must use her power to separate the two. Once she does, Neal will die, but Rumple will offer the knowledge they need to save everyone from the Wicked Witch.
Neal and Rumple separate and Neal begins to slip away slowly as Emma and Rumple watch over him. Neal tells Emma to make sure Henry knows that he did love him. Gold tries to muster up a way to make everything alright, but Neal understands that there is no hope. Rumple taught him everything he knows about sacrifice, now it is his turn to make a sacrifice for those he loves. In the end Neal passes away in the arms of the two people who love him.
Reflections: David and Emma storm the loft to protect Snow from Zelena. Fleeing out the window before she is caught, Zelena approaches Gold in the woods, clutching the dagger that is now able to control his less cluttered mind. Back to his cage he goes, but he takes the knowledge that the entire town has it out for her now.
Regina watches Robin with his son from afar taking in the life she avoided so long ago. Emma finds Henry in the park where she tells him that the reason she came to Storybrooke was to save his father. However, she was too late. Emma fills Henry with praises of his father and the hero that he was. When Henry says, I wish I knew him, she assures him that he did.
Is this the death we’ve been waiting for?
Watch Once Upon a Time season 3, episode 16, “It’s Not Easy Being Green,” Sunday, April 6 at 8 p.m. on ABC
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