Once Upon A Time Season 4, Episode 9 "Shattered Sight"

Or better title, "Where's Ruby?"



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With the Snow Queen's 'shattered sight' curse in full swing, Storybrooke begins to turn against itself. Mary Margaret and David trade insults across the bars of their cells while Kristoff listens in, convinced all marriages end up this way.

Anna gives up trying to sweet talk Kristoff, she joins Elsa and Emma, trying to brain storm how they plan to battle the Snow Queen. Anna tells them that the shattered sight spell is based on an old Norse legend. In the story, villagers finally broke the spell by killing the king who had cast the spell.

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With murder on their minds, Emma and Elsa leave baby Neil with Anna as they try to figure out a way to kill the Snow Queen.

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Mr. Gold packs for his final departure from Storybrook and acts as the loop hole answer guy. Hook stumbles in, disgusted with how everyone stealing and beating each other up like pirates. Mr. Gold explains that Hook is spared from the curse because his heart isn't in his chest.

I'll try and remember that for the quiz at the end, thanks, Mr. Gold.

He then reminds us of his diabolical plan that involves the stars in the sky perfectly aligning with the stars on his magic hat.

And once this happens (tomorrow night) he'll have enough power to cleave himself from the dagger.  And once that happens...he'll be able to leave Storybrooke with his powers intact and with Belle and Henry in tow.

Phew. Got that?

With the lesson over for the day, he orders Hook to go find where Henry is hiding so he can kidnap him and put him to sleep like Belle. "They'll have no memory of Storybrooke," he says with a Grinchy grin. "Then I'll finally be the hero...not the villain."

Hey, that's Regina's line.

The Snow Queen walks unnoticed among the violent streets (and by violent I mean someone spits) and retrieves two purple stones from her ice cream shop.

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Emma and Elsa arrive to stop her with their slick hand moves, but the ribbons they wear make it impossible for them to harm the Snow Queen.

Darn. What now?

We flashback to young Emma. She's having a hard time at her new foster home—you know, the one run by Ingrid. Emma tries to run away, but Ingrid takes her aside and encourages her to scare the crap out of the tough kid who is bulling her.

Wow! Great psychology. How did you become a foster parent?

Emma and Elsa try everything they can think of to slice the ribbons, but they seem indestructible. Then Emma has an absolutely absurd idea; she reasons since the ribbons which are bond by unfathomable love can only be broken by incredible hate.

Huh?

Who cares? It's a plan. They go to Emma's number one enemy...Regina.

The Snow Queen lounges in her ice palace and brings out a memory from one of the purple stones. We see young Emma and Ingrid having a fun day at the amusement park. With Ingrid's encouragement, Emma uses extreme concentration and manages to get the toy she wanted from the Claw Machine.

Actually, if you've ever tried, getting anything from that machine is a frickin' miracle.

There are tears in Ingrid's eyes as she tells Emma she is super special and has a wonderful gift and to never give up and blah, blah, blah...they hug.

Then Ingrid tells Emma she wants to adopt her. "I'll be the best big sister you could ever hope for."

Cha-ching! A big sister who will someday own an ice cream shop!

Emma uses her magic to break through the containment spell around Regina's vault. Regina has changed into her usual evil Queen attire that's a cross between Prince and The Matrix.

After Emma and Elsa mock her, she throws a fireball of hatred at them. It works! The magic of hatred breaks the ribbon. They skedaddle out of there speedy quick.

Hook finds Henry in the Mayor's office. He breaks in, but Henry manages to slip away after Hook slips on a floor covered in marbles.

*cough* Home Alone *cough* 

Young Emma goes all fangirl over Harry Potter and Ingrid thinks this is a good time to tell Emma she's magic.

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But instead of telling her, Ingrid pulls Emma into the path of a car and orders her to stop the racing vehicle by trusting her instincts. Emma freaks out and runs away, bummed that the only person who wants to adopt her is wacko.

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Regina is loose on the town and full of revenge. She arrives at the jail ready to kidnap baby Neil. She makes Anna and Kristoff disappear and lets Mary Margaret out of jail. She gives her a sword and the girl fight begins.

We see Ingrid arrive in Storybrooke with her scroll from the magicians apprentice, hoping to find a twenty eight year old Emma.

The Snow Queen is a little upset the girls have lost their ribbons. Still, she offers the purple memory stones. But Emma isn't buying her act. "Magic can't make you love someone," she says.

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I feel another lesson coming...

The Snow Queen replies, "If you loved someone in the past you can love them again."

Um...what about magic?

The Snow Queen knows they've come to kill her, but they're silly baby monkeys and can't even burn toast with their powers let alone take down her.

Emma arrives in Ingrid's ice cream shop and is shocked to see the crazy foster mom from twenty years ago. Emma threatens to call Sheriff Graham.

Aw, Sheriff Graham. Let's have a moment, shall we.

Okay, back to the story.

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Ingrid uses the purple stone to take away Emma's memories of their time together and then gives her an extra scoop of Rocky Road.

Kristoff and Anna find themselves on the beach not far from where their trunk washed ashore. He argues about wanting to leave. Anna sees the bottle that came up from the ship wreck with them through the portal. She breaks it over Kristoff's head to keep him from swimming back to Arendale.

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Now that the bottle is broken, she finds a letter from her mother. She reads a few lines and knows she has to find Elsa speedy quick.

Anna stumbles into the Snow Queen's ice palace because even though she's never been there, she knows that's exactly where to find Anna. She starts to read her mother's letter: it's a confession about Ingrid and Helga. She regrets hiding Ingrid all those years instead of celebrating her special powers. Plus, there's the time she sucked her into an urn and hid it away in a cave forever.

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It is her last wish for Anna and Elsa to take the purple memory stone and allow the kingdom to know Ingrid and Helga.

The Snow Queen has a heart that will not melt!

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She calls Anna a liar and freeze slaps her. But when she grabs the letter and starts to read, she gets all teary eyed. Before they can start an all girl, all family band though, Ingrid has to end the curse.

She realizes she has to die. "It wasn't my powers that made me a monster, it was what I let myself become," she says.

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A swirling cloud of glass enwraps her. She gives both Emma and Elsa back their memories. Then she smiles because she's about to get her happy ending. "I have my sisters love and now I can join them."
 The cloud engulfs her and she disappears.

*Cue the girls running down the hill looking for the kite*

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A cleansing snow of metaphorical portions begins to fall.

As the fluffy white stuff covers Storybrooke, Granny and the dwarfs stop wrestling in the street. And Regina and Mary Margaret laugh at her matrix-hooker outfit.

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It's all one big hug, Storybrook style. But hey, where's Ruby? 

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Once Upon A Time Season 4, Episode 7 "Smash the Mirror"

Or better title, "Sister Act"

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A long time ago...

The Snow Queen pays a visit to the wild haired apprentice with news that she has the mysterious wizard's stolen magic hat...'cause she stole it from Anna who stole it from Rumpelstiltskin.

I thought he was a mouse?

Ingrid will give the wizard back his hat in exchange for the happiness she once knew with her sisters. Then she boldly asks for two magical sisters, just like her. Okay, make that one magical sister—she's already found Elsa.

The apprentice frowns. The spell to find her perfect match for a third sister will take time. She assures him she is a very patient woman.

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Henry finds Emma hiding in the forest with her dangerous spark sputtering hands. His voice cracks as he tells Emma that her powers won't hurt the ones she loves, but when she tries to hug him he gets zapped and ends up falling down and cutting his ear.

"Its okay, Mom," he whimpers, running away.

The Snow Queen arrives (still in the white dress and three inches of cleavage *rolls eyes*) ready to lend an empathetic ear. "Don't worry about those muggle losers, you're magical and that's super cool. Let's start a club called Sisters Rule! We'll make t-shirts!"

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Robin and Regina wake up after a full night of making out in the crypt. He says, "Let me take you back to my camp and cook you breakfast?"

She could say, "Hey, why don't I try and find a curse to wake up your frozen wife." Instead she shows him the storybook that details all the lives of the fairy tale characters. Robin has never seen the book. She laments how the author wrote her as a villain...and we all know villains never have happy endings. Robin takes this as a challenge and they make out again.

Mary Margaret is worried about Emma hiding in the woods. Elsa says, "When your powers are out of control you don't want to be around the people you love. But they're the only ones that can help you."

Henry arrives with his bloody ear and everyone exchanges awkward glances.

Back in Arendale, Elsa is excited to prepare a welcome back dinner for Anna. Ingrid arrives and tells Elsa the truth about her parents wanting to take away her powers, then she drops the bomb that she was trapped in the urn by Elsa's mother. And now Anna plans to do the same to Elsa.

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Emma asks Mr. Gold to help her control her powers.

"There's only one way," he says. "If you lose your power you'll be...ordinary."

Gasp! Dear God, not ordinary!

However, the spell will set off such a blast that everything, except Emma, will be destroyed within a city block radius. They agree to meet at an abandoned mansion that no one has every heard of in Storybrooke.

Elsa pays Anna a visit in the dungeon.

Um...who the heck put her in there? Ingrid? How can a stranger lock up one of the princesses? Doesn't Elsa rule the kingdom?

Anyway, Elsa lets Anna know she has a plan to trap evil Aunt Ingrid back into the urn.

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Emma calls Mary Margaret with the good news that she's getting rid of her magic forever. Hook is suspicious and makes a secret call on his cell phone, but apparently Emma's not taking anymore calls and it goes straight to voice mail.

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Elsa and Anna search the castle for the urn. They go straight to the forbidden East Wing which no one has talked about before this moment. The sisters wonder what it must have been like for their mother to turn on her own sister.

*cough* FORESHADOW! *cough*

They find a cabinet with a frozen Hans inside, and the guess what? The urn is behind him.

Mr. Gold pays the Snow Queen a visit inside her winter wonderland bedroom. They both monologue about their diabolical plans. Mr. Gold has the upper hand as he sprinkles the remnants of the urn around the Snow Queen, temporarily trapping her in place.

Robin visits Will at Granny's pub/diner/laudromat with the stolen storybook. He asks Will to help him find the author.

Mary Margaret pines over pictures of Emma and wonders if they should rush out to stop her from releasing her powers. David says, "Nah, she'll be better ordinary."

Elsa eavesdrops and is disturbed that Emma's parents wouldn't accept her as she is. She takes the vial of locator spell Regina dropped off earlier and Emma's red scarf (a scarf we've never seen her wear).

Will and Robin break into the library looking for a clue about the storybook.

Regina asks Henry to talk about what happened when Emma sent him smashing into the forest floor. She magics his wound all better, but instead of saying, thanks, he gets all bummed out that he doesn't have any magical powers. Regina's all, "Don't worry about Emma, she's the hero and heroes always win."

Hook leaves Emma another voice mail about Mr. Gold's evil plan to take her power and put it into the magic hat. He then confesses Mr. Gold has the real dagger and that he didn't say anything before because of that nasty blackmail thing with the video tape of him helping Mr. Gold kill the apprentice.

Emma refuses to stop changing the radio station while driving, melting the dashboard. She gets distracted and almost runs over the Snow Queen. Instead, she swerves and crashes her yellow bug and goes unconscious.

*Yawn*

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Anna hides the urn in her jail, ready to trick Ingrid when she arrives to punish her. Oops, all of a sudden Ingrid appears inside the jail with her and puts Anna in chains. She's wise to their little scheme. Ingrid casts a spell called 'shattered sight' on Anna making her see the worst in everyone she loves.

Emma wakes up with perfect hair and the Snow Queen appears in the form of a hologram, warning her Mr. Gold shouldn't be trusted.

When Regina finds out no one is trying to stop Emma from losing her magic she goes into parenting mode. They talk about being ordinary and normal and how magic comes at a price and never dies...or something like that.

Regina and Mary Margaret walk in the dark forest looking for Emma while talking about good and evil and how the book decides all things. Blah...blah...magic comes at a price. Ordinary sucks. Go magic.

Will and Robin are at the library. Without being seen, someone has slipped a piece a paper inside Robin's pocket! He quickly calls Regina.

Thank goodness for magic cell phone reception in the deepest parts of the forest!

Emma meets Mr. Gold in the abandoned mansion. He creates a magic vortex with the hat, but he tells Emma it's just a spell to take away her magic. Emma has second thoughts. Mr. Gold tells her he wouldn't go to the room because he's a man who always chooses power. Then he pulls a little reverse psychology by saying she always does the right thing.

Hook arrives and battles outside with Mr. Gold.

Elsa follows the red scarf to the abandoned mansion, seeing neither Hook nor Mr. Gold.

Anna arrives under the spell of shattered sight and lays into Elsa about how she ignored her all those years. Elsa refuses to use her powers on her sister, even as Anna opens the urn and traps Elsa inside.

Anna comes to her senses and Ingrid freezes the whole palace. She takes the urn and leaves speedy quick.

Elsa tells Emma she can control her magic, but being supporting by the people you love isn't enough, she has to accept and embrace her own powers. Then Elsa says, "It's time to stop being afraid."

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Emma's sparks touch Elsa's icicle fingers and....the lights stop flickering.

Whoa! That's some amazing magic show.

Mr. Gold looks shocked when the house doesn't explode. But then he lets us know about the secret ingredient to cast the spell that will cleave him from the power of the dagger—he needs the heart of someone who knew him before he was the dark one...and the only one alive is Hook. He takes the heart easily without disturbing Hook's shirt or chest hair, but now Hook is controlled by Mr. Gold.

Regina meets up with Robin in the library. He shows her the piece of paper he found—it's a picture of them meeting inside the pub, instead of her running away which she did the first time. They figure this means Regina deserves happiness or something...

Back in Arendale, Ingrid retrieves the magic hat from the cave. She calls Rumplestiltskin to make a deal, but the apprentice arrives. He convinces her the wizard will reunite her with Elsa and has found a third sister that will be a perfect match. She hands over the hat, he gives her a scroll to help her find the third sister and opens a door to another world...1992 to be exact.

Everyone is happy Emma still has her powers and even better, she's in control and can make northern lights and fireworks and stuff.

Oh-uh. A yellow ribbon suddenly appears on Emma and Elsa's wrists, harnessing their power.

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Mr. Gold visits the Snow Queen, she's ecstatic that Elsa is the one who saved Emma. And now that all three have embraced their powers, the Snow Queen is more powerful.

Okay, people. Who is your pick for this episode's MVP? Click your choice on the pole station to the right.

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