What went down between the Charmings and Maleficent? Find out in our Once Upon a Time season 4, episode 17, “Best Laid Plans,” recap.
The flip of a coin would be more accurate to determine whether their child would be good or evil for the Charmings. They do attempt to use a magical unicorn in the Enchanted Forest to take a glimpse into two very different futures for their child. But how can Charming say for sure that the infant he saw does not grow up to be the heartless villain that Snow sees?
August has taken one too many magical spells in his time and needs to sleep it off in the Sorcerer’s house. Regina and Emma both worry that they are racing against the clock to get August back to health and also hide away the book from Rumpel’s reach. As Regina’s villain text chime summons her back to their secret lair, she contemplates the next move to get the page back to Gold for appraisal. Since he only needs to look at the door, she snaps a picture while Emma’s very skilled forgery sits in Henry’s hands.
Up in the loft, Emma is greeted by Killian…It would be nice to end that sentence with them finding they have the place all to themselves, but unfortunately Once Upon a Time throws in her parents and a dark threat to ruin the mood. Killian informs her of Rumpel’s plan to turn Emma’s heart to darkness. Meanwhile, mere two feet away, Mary Margaret whispers to David that they need to do something to not let their evil deeds of long ago be all for naught. Luckily, Emma was too distracted by a man in a leather jacket to pay her mother’s flee too much attention and attends to her jealous pirate instead.
As Emma explains, August is just a friend. The first friend, in fact, that Emma made after Lily deceived her all those years ago. More on that later. Before they can kiss and make up, a sleeping curse pushes them as close together in an empty loft as we’ll likely see.
As Rumpel looks over Regina’s photo of the door, he notices that the glare on the screen is not a testament to her poor Instagram filter skills, but rather magic emitting from the page. Maleficent’s sleeping spell puts everyone, save Mary Margaret, David, and Henry who have gained immunity since they were once under a sleeping curse. Maleficent decides it is time to up the anty with Rumpel demanding to know what became of her child after the Charmings got a hold of the egg she spawned in the forest.
The Peddler makes his debut to offer some guidance–avoid the West where Maleficent’s dragon form has scorched a barrier to protect her egg. If they head East they will meet a man in a cottage, the Sorcerer, who will offer them the most complicated parenting course the forest has to offer. In order to banish the potential for evil from one blank slate, it must be transferred to another. Left to talk amongst themselves, Snow remembers an egg with a blank slate lying in the West.
With Ursula out of the red lips club, Cruella and Maleficent go off with Regina to get the page from Henry. As he lies in waiting, Henry notices a light shining through the page that points him to a key. Key in hand, Regina shows up with her two cronies. A smirk and the use of Henry’s full name is enough for him to hand over the fake page. But when Mary Margaret and David show up, they are less than eager to let Henry open the door. Crying danger, the grandparents take the book and the key with plans to destroy the Author before he can change anything for Gold or the villains. Their plan may kill the Author and ruin Regina’s future, but at least their future would be clear.
Their past, however, remains a darker story. In the forest, Snow and David steal Maleficent’s egg despite the pleas of the grieving mother. Keeping on track as the worst babysitters ever, Snow and David wind up losing the child to the place where no evil baby magic can cause a ruckus, our world. As the portal swallows the baby, it also takes Ursula and Cruella. Another mystery solved!
Magic comes with a cost, as they say here on Once Upon a Time, but so does the truth. David and Mary Margaret decide against burning the page and finally take the path that is right, rather than the one that is easy. Emma takes the news about as well as they expect and heads out the door with the page and the key. The Dark One is also on an honest streak, but only if his true love is under a sleeping curse. Regina is outed as a double agent when the fake page fails to fool Gold. She is locked up in her vault Gold’s ticking clock speeds up to find the Author without her.
Unicorns serve as the reminder for Snow and Charming to live their best life and seek redemption for their selfishness when faced with darkness. It will be a long, hard road, but if they live their lives in depression and misery, Emma will follow the same path.
With August awake, Emma heads over with the page and the key in the audience of her doubtful parents. But August also isn’t as certain as Emma would like. There have been many Author’s throughout time. It is a job, to record the stories, preserve the tales. From cavemen to Walt, this author did something to change the stories. The Sorcerer and his apprentice trapped the current Author, for it was their responsibility to pick and choose.
Maleficent receives her end of the bargain, when Rumpel agrees to send her an image that will feed her pain. Lily, as you may have guessed, is the human world child of Maleficent.
It seems that casting the Peddler was much more important than a fleeting passage on the road… The Author is free and on the run.
Watch Once Upon a Time season 4, episode 18, “Heart of Gold,” Sunday, April 12 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.
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