Once Upon a Time welcomes another fairytale favorite into their mix as David visits a certain tower. But what happens back in Storybrooke when Mary Margaret invites Zelena in for tea? Find out in our recap!
Zelena’s wickedness continues to infect Storybrooke on tonight’s season 3, episode 14, “The Tower.” The theme of tonight’s episode is staring your fears in the face and taking action to overcome their control over you.
Dream Weaver: David walks through the halls of their newly acquired kingdom and enters the room that once belonged to Emma. Her crib and the enchanted portal in place, David enters to find Emma, fully grown and dressed in a gown nervous for her first ball. Suddenly, the portal opens and Emma is pulled away leaving David with her final words, “You failed me. Don’t fail the next one.” He wakes up to Snow’s news that they are expecting.
Zelena heads back to discuss a few things with Rumplestiltskin, waving his dagger around to keep him in line. Taking up his old hobby of spinning gold, Rumple asks for the dagger to quiet the voices in his head. Taking the dagger, Zelena carefully trims Rumple’s stubble. In the old world, they both understood what it was like to wear their rotting souls on their outside. Nicking the side of his face, she keeps the blood on her finger for later use. After all, this new land they find themselves in is brimming with opportunity.
Zelena pays Belle a visit to pick up a gift for the local expecting couple. However, she freezes Belle in her place and uses Rumple’s blood to open the lock and takes a root.
Star guide: Charming ducks away in the stables, taking a drink to calm his nerves. Robin enters to put away his new golden arrows; a gift from Regina for his assistance. Another bromance begins to brew as Robin confides that staying put in the castle, against Regina’s desire, is the best move to protect his son. But it is when David confides that he cannot seem to rid himself of the haunting of Emma’s past that Robin offers up a solution. In a haunted part of the Sherwood Forest, there is a patch of white moss that contains a substance called nightroot. When cut, the inside resembles crystals that glimmer like stars. Ingest this root and the distraction from his fear will disappear.
Back in the present, David and Mary Margaret are planning to meet with Zelena to go over the terms of bringing a midwife into their future. But first, David, Hook, and Emma go over to Regina’s office to search for physical clues. David finds a trace of berries from the woods and you can sense his excitement as he finally can help Emma. However, he is pulled away from the search to tea time with Zelena.
Business face on, David enters the loft fear fully intact and preventing him from being is usual “charming” self. Mary Margaret tries to ease his fear by offering that Zelena knew Johanna, her nanny growing up and maybe the possibility exists that they were great friends with Zelena in the year they cannot remember. Zelena senses his fear and decides to add the root she took from Mr. Gold’s safe.
Flashing back to the past year, David gathers the root and hears a yell for help from a nearby tower. Fearing the worst, David climbs up the tower by grabbing onto the ivory first and then a single braid tossed from the tallest window. Entering the room, he meets Rapunzel. Once a princess, Rapunzel now lives alone in a tower, trapped by a witch in a cloak who prevents her from ever leaving.
Mothers and Fathers:
After getting David to drink the tea, he goes off to help Emma and Hook search the forest. On his drive over a cloaked figure appears for a brief second in his rear view mirror. The same figure who haunts Rapunzel in the past, the cloaked figure, is a result of the “fear preventing roots.”
Emma and Hook are quite a few paces ahead following the path of the holly berries, when they come to a clearing in the land and find a farmhouse. Before heading up to check it out, Hook expresses some hesitations and Emma takes the opportunity to ask about his whereabouts the last year. She is convinced that he spent his time at sea, fighting anyone who came near his ship. When he agrees, Emma tells him that he is lying and hiding something from her. Shrugging it off, Hook looks for a thank you for breaking up her engagement. Emma admits that she was in love, but now has a broken heart to heal.
Hook takes a step up closer to her and tells her that the best part of a broken heart is that it is a clear sign it still works. Another broken heart in Storybrooke takes her son out for ice cream. Regina and Henry stroll around taking in his new home for now. Henry suspects that something is up with Emma and tells Regina that he knows she said no to her engagement. Regina comforts him by saying that one day his family will grow and he will have more people around than he will know how to handle.
David is knocked out by the cloaked figure before he can get to Emma. Meanwhile, in the past, the same figure climbs up the tower to attack Rapunzel. The figures under both cloaks turns out the be the person they are attacking. David faces himself and his fear of not being a good father, while Rapunzel faces herself and the fear of not being able to return to her family after so much time away. It is only after David discovers that admitting your fear to yourself and tackling it yourself, that each of them overcome. For Rapunzel, she cuts off her hair and faces her imminent return home. David breaks his sword fighting his fear of failure, but it disappears.
Items mean a lot: Hook and Emma find the storm cellar, along with a bike similar to Mrs. Gultch’s at the house. Before entering, they call up Regina for magical backup. When she arrives, they find David in the woods where he explains that’s how his sword disappeared. Regina says that the sword, metaphorically, stands for his courage and is now a weapon in Zelena’s hands. Once they enter the cellar, they discover a spindle with gold strewn around. Dark magic is all around, but no sign of Rumple or Zelena appear.
Watch Once Upon a Time season 3, episode 15, “Quiet Minds,” Sunday, March 30 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC