Once Upon a Time in Wonderland brings back more than a few blasts from the past to help move Alice and Cyrus closer to one another. Check out the full recap below.
Tonight’s episode, “Heart of Stone” brings the evil ruler herself under the spotlight. The Red Queen’s story is one of longing to be something more than she is. When she goes looking for the great beyond, away from her mundane life, it is not what she anticipated. However, could something else catch her eye when all other options do not seem good enough?
When I Grow Up: Anastasia’s mother interrupts Will and Ana’s escape to Wonderland. After years of sacrifice and working to move the family’s status up, Anastasia is willing to toss her mother’s desire for her to marry royalty aside. Against her mother’s demands, Will promises to love her for who she truly is and not who she is expected to be. Anastasia’s choice is clear. Her mother looks down on her with disgust and requests that if she ever returns home, she does so with a bucket to clean out her chamber pots.
Wonderful? The “wonder” in Wonderland may stand more for “Wonder how we are going to make it!” As the newly free couple makes their way in Wonderland, things are not as magical as they once seemed. Food is scarce and good company to involve themselves with are not plentiful. That is until a carriage bringing some catering to the palace passes by. Anastasia and Will concoct a plan to get into the Ball and taste the delicious bread that awaits them inside.
Inside the ball, clad in stolen clothes, the beautiful young couple take in their surroundings. Will beelines for the buffet, while Anastasia begins to mimic some of the ladies around her. She happens upon the King of the palace and he finds her to be a bit out of place, yet enjoys her company. Will is caught stealing from the palace, when another lady calls out that Anastasia’s dress was stolen from her carriage. As the two are cast out of the party, Will reveals that he has two small loaves of bread! But Anastasia’s eyes stay on the light in the tower of the palace.
Take Me Home: Anastasia is ready to go home, but not empty handed. She wishes to steal the crown jewels from the palace. Will does not want to live the life of a thief any longer, yet Anastasia convinces him that it is their last chance. Get the jewels, get back through the looking glass, and sell them on the other side.
Once inside the palace, Anastasia breaks into the area where the crown jewels are. Her eye catches the red jeweled crown as the King catches her red handed. Anastasia asks if it truly matters why she is stealing from him. She agrees that she is a peasant, her world is filled with longing. What will her fate be? If the life she insists she wants rests outside of the walls, she should not concern herself with it.
Anastasia has the drive to be more than she is. That is how one rules and what the king desires at his side. Love, to him, is a noble thing. However, it is never going to be enough once she is back to where she began with Will. No food, no shelter. Anastasia takes the king up on his marriage proposal. Her desire to be something more destroys Will.
An Unlikely Pair: Alice protects statue Will from the elements with a blanket and promises to repay him for all that he sacrificed. As she begins to question her ability to find Cyrus, the Red Queen arrives to offer Alice a deal. The Queen takes the opportunity to appeal to their small common ground.
The one problem they both have – Jafar. He is the person holding Cyrus captive and working with the Red Queen. But as the Queen points out, she must ensure her protection once he receives what he desires from Cyrus and Alice. Her solution to the dark magic Jafar seeks, magic dust. The dust is across a ravine shroud in what is referred to as “the darkness.” Alice initially is unwilling to help the Queen, yet she forgets the the Queen is the one with all the cards in her favor.
Alice will never be able to find Cyrus on her own. The magic protecting him is powerful. Alice needs the Queen’s help to find him, but is Alice convinced that she is not just another means to an end, like the Knave? Alice agrees to go with her, but not without asking what all of this is for. The Queen admits, “we all have something we come to Wonderland looking for.” It just depends on what we are willing to do to get it.
What Lies Beyond the Bars: Jafar tortures the older man with daily manual labor. Cyrus is intrigued to know why Jafar is so keen on keeping him there. It doesn’t matter why he is there, the man has something Jafar wants, but will never get. Just as Cyrus makes the final move in his plan to escape, he gets some information on the layout of the castle and promises to take the man with him. After all, a genie knows better than anyone that no one deserves to be a prisoner. Cyrus makes it out and tosses the man the keys to his own cage. After considering all the options, the man drops the keys and tells Cyrus to go on without him. Jafar is not interested in killing him anytime soon, but Cyrus’ time is ticking.
Lucky Rabbit’s Foot: Jafar summons the White Rabbit, in order to solve a puzzle that has been bothering him. Why would someone Alice knows well, betray her so easily. The Rabbit may have a problem with the Queen, but he can offer a solutions. All he must do is switch his allegiance and offer up a list of everyone Alice has ever loved. Her number one weakness is that she cares too much. When the White Rabbit is not offering up the information that he wants, Jafar cuts off the rabbit’s foot.
The people that Jafar can get to are not in Wonderland. Before the Rabbit can get out of the castle, he runs into Cyrus. The Rabbit gives him a pass and instructs him to go straight to Alice. Jafar catches up to the Rabbit and demands he dig his hole.
A Leap of Faith: At the edge of the ravine, the Red Queen shows Alice that the pure of heart will make the leap. Alice is the better suited of the two of them to take the first step. As she takes three steps on air, things turn sour when she beings to plummet to the bottom. A small reminder of her innocent days peers around a rock and beings to taunt the full grown Alice. She attempts to get inside of Alice’s head. Determined to get Alice to admit what she truly wants, she brings the Queen down to their level. Alice dreams of revenge when she sleeps. Now is her chance to make it become a reality.
Alice takes a swing at the Queen, but misses the Queen on purpose. This action proves to the spirit that Alice truly has a pure heart. Alice takes the younger version of herself by the hand and she turns into the magic dust. Once the Queen has the dust in her possession, however, she does not uphold her end of the bargain and leaves Alice behind.
Not entirely made of stone, the Red Queen returns to her stone cast former lover and apologizes. Afterwards she tosses some dust on him and walks away before Will returns to his former self. Alice, with a bit of the Queen rubbing off on her, held onto some of the dust and uses it to create a locator for Cyrus. The dust reveals the castle where Cyrus emerges.
Next week Alice heads home to some unexpected choices!
Watch Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode 6 “Who’s Alice?” Thursday, November 21 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC