Once Upon a Time brought back many familiar faces as season 3 drew to a close tonight! Read our full recap and react below!
Bid farewell to the yellow brick road and look onward to another land plagued by unfortunate weather conditions! The two-hour season 3 finale of Once Upon a Time was jam-packed from start to finish, and we have all the details right here!
Pomp and Circumstance:From watching families drive off from foster homes in Boston to running in search of her own, Emma finally looks over at the people she calls her family. Celebrating the birth of her brother in the fairy tale world would call for a royal coronation ceremony. However, in Storybrooke a party at Granny’s is the perfect adjustment. Henry is also in an adjusting mood as he looks for apartments in Storybrooke, much to Emma’s dismay. When Emma begins to hint at her decision to return to New York, everyone, including Regina, questions her choice to leave behind a place she can finally call home.
Speaking of homey-feelings, Regina and Robin share a cozy evening by the fire, hearts fully restored and bursting with love. Both of them explain they never thought love was possible, but a tattoo and a second chance proves timing is an essential part of love.
Henry and his grandparents flip through the storybook and relive the tale of how a stubborn thief and the engaged prince found love. The stream of fire is spotted across town and Rumple must defend himself against accusations that he is carrying out Zelena’s plan. In the police station, Rumple changes the tapes, removing himself from the scene of her demise. Although the video hides Rumple’s involvement, it does establish that Zelena is gone for good. Her magic, however, is not.
Emma removes herself from the accusations that her selfish move to runaway from the people who love her is a result of never seeing herself in their world. Hook takes the storybook and goes after her, with the intention to convince her that running away is not always the answer. Emma’s gaze is taken away from Hook’s eyes and drawn to the flames in the barn. Hook, always chasing this particular woman, follows her to the portal where they both miss David’s warning and land in the Enchanted Forest of the past. For Marty McFly, a wizard of sorts, keeping the status quo ensures his place in the future. The same goes for Emma and Hook. Before they can find the only person they believe can help them, Emma makes a slight mistake and deters Snow from hijacking Charming’s carriage and stealing his ring.
One Tiny Hiccup: Once the Dark One discovers their predicament and dismisses his chance to murder Hook, he reveals the location of Snow and emphasizes the importance of resetting the course of her love. King Midas is about to throw a ball for his daughter Abigail and her “business transaction” fiancé. In order to make sure Snow gets to the ball, Hook and Emma find a way to use a pirate who has not yet changed his ways.
At a tavern by the sea, past Hook takes a look around at his bounty of women as future Hook looks on with disgust. Emma’s plan is this, use her wiles to distract the man she knows how distract all too well. Drinking in the rum and Emma’s lure, past Hook becomes quite intoxicated and takes her back to his ship the Rolly Joger. Once inside, future Hook wraps up his meeting with Snow, convincing her to steal a ring from Midas’ castle and he will grant her passage away from the Enchanted Forest. However, past Hook nearly meets future Hook face-to-face, but Emma plants her lips on past Hook’s before their eyes can meet. Instead of fleeing the scene, future Hook is taken by jealousy and punches out his past self. Don’t worry, come morning, past Hook will blame the ordeal on the rum.
Star Wars Royalty: Rumple meets the duo in the forest and changes not only their outfits to fabrics better suited for a prince and princess, but also their appearances. Inside the palace of gold, Princess Leia and Prince Charles introduce themselves and do their best to blend into the crowd. Emma’s concern is put at ease when her partner proves to know his way around the dance floor. Meanwhile, as viewers swoon over the couple in bold red and copper, Snow climbs the walls of the castle and makes a break for it with the engagement ring. David attempts to stop her, but it is Abigail who throws a wrinkle in the plan. Regina, a guest of honor, is alerted that Snow is fleeing the grounds and that Emma aided her escape. Emma is taken into custody and thrown in the dungeon while Snow flees into the forest. However, not only is Emma captured, but she has the ring that Snow dropped mid escape.
Inside the dungeon, Emma meets a woman, a familiar woman some may say, and rescues her with a lock trick she recalls from her days working with Neal.
Back in 2001, Emma and Neal discuss their vision of home. Even if they could return, Emma has nothing to go back to. While Neal has no way to get back to his past, he understands that there is no future for him there. Recognizing that this woman has a place to return to and a family to find, Emma takes her along, disregarding the damage it may bring.
Charming, a nickname given to the prince by Snow, begins to get a rise from the captured thief as she reveals a plan to get inside the castle that once belonged to her. The best bromance of Once Upon a Time returns when Charming and Hook are left to wait for Snow’s signal to enter the castle. Charming admires the lengths that Hook has gone to save Emma and believes that any father would approve of their match. Hook jibes that he hopes that memory remains when the future is restored!
Red arrives to escort them to the castle, where Hook’s dashing rescue is cut short as Emma’s self-sufficiency waits for no man. Snow attempts to stop Regina with her collection of dark fairy dust, but even her best attempt is not enough to stop the sorceress. Snow, as a result, is burnt at the stake. Grieving the loss of her mother, a bug suddenly starts to annoy Emma. The bug, it turns out, is Snow, whose dark magic fairy dust lasted long enough to trick Regina and save her life. Blue arrives to change Snow back to her human form and Emma is overjoyed to hug her mother. Confusion sweeps Snow’s face, but something from that moment sticks with Emma.
A Love Restored:As David and Snow rekindle their path to love and defeat the trolls on the bridge, the pages of the storybook begin to fill and it is time to return home. Rumple, however, failed to find a way to make a portal because only the people who used the portal can create a new one. Lacking her light magic, Emma and Hook are banished to Rumple’s vault where Emma admits the greatest realization of her time in the Enchanted Forest. When she saw nothing in Snow’s eyes as they hugged, Emma knew that the feeling of nonrecognition is something she caused her mother to feel on countless occasions. The only thing she wants most in the world is to have a chance with her family, to go home to Storybrooke, and finally return to the first place and group of people she missed. It is that confession that restores her light magic and allows her to open the portal.
Rumple appears to stop her from leaving without telling him of his fate with Baelfire. Emma admits that he finds his son, they reconcile, but in the end, Bae dies a hero’s death. Convincing him to let her go and take a memory potion, Rumple returns to a state of ignorance and Emma, Hook, and Marian return to Storybrooke.
No One Can Ever “Let It Go”: The joyous return of Emma to her family is topped off with the baby’s name. Prince Neal adds himself to already complicated Once Upon a Time family tree. Emma embraces her parents, calling them Mom and Dad for the first time with comfort in her voice.
In a delightfully emotion choking montage of vows between Rumple and Belle in the forest, all of the romances are revisited. Rumple’s guilt is pushed aside by his tears as he listens to Belle describe the effort their love takes, but the outweighing reward they receive in turn. In the outdoor bistro seating, Emma finds Hook and learns the final secret of the lost year. In order to get Emma back to Storybrooke, Hook outran the curse in time to make a trade for the final bean to create a portal for New York. The only item worthy enough to trade was his ship. Realizing the depth of Hook’s love, Emma allows herself to surrender her feelings to him as well.
One happy couple, however, is not meant to stay that way. Two witches with light magic is too many. Regina’s heart filled with love and a chance at happiness is cut short when Marian’s identity is revealed to Robin and her son Roland. Regina is cast out of the family portrait and Emma is the only one to blame.
As for those final two minutes… Where are we going next? That vase, although moved only three feet, was enough to bring something from Rumple’s vault into the future. Things are going to get a bit chilly and we suddenly want to build a snowman…
AH! Can you handle the hiatus?
That’s a wrap on season 3, but be sure to stick around for more Once Upon a Time news and features!
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