Sunday, December 13, 2015

OUAT 5x11: "Swan Song"

This blog post is going to be a little bit different than others.

DISCLAIMER: If you have not watched this episode and do not want it to be spoiled for you, then DO NOT READ ON.

Basically, I'm still trying to get over the mid-season finale that struck us all last Sunday. Now, I usually don't shed a single tear whilst watching TV shows or movies, but the last episode of Once Upon a Time hit me right in the feels, so let the waterworks begin.

Captain Killian "Hook" Jones is the absolute truest hero that Once Upon a Time has had. He pushed through the darkness in his past and became a better man for Emma. He wanted to die a hero so that his true love and her family could be safe. He knew he'd be leaving her, that they'd have to live without each other, but he made a true sacrifice. And there is nothing more to a hero than that.

Now let's get to the one character I have despised for four and a half seasons. Rumpelstiltskin. He is the most deceitful, miserable, plain evil person ever introduced in this show. He is the reason behind Killian's death, but that doesn't mean Killian died any less a hero. Remember that. But Rumple is willing to put everyone at risk, even the woman he loves, just to gain power. And yet, he still has the audacity to ask for forgiveness.

Let's move on to Belle. I have simply lost all of my respect for her character. Belle has no self-worth, not even a little bit. In 5x10, she told Rumple that she was tired of him breaking her heart, causing me to think that she had really changed into a strong female. But what do you know? In 5x11, she just went running back to the man, excuse me, beast, who had emotionally abused her time and time again. I'm all for true love, but, not to be blunt, Belle is plain pathetic. I understand that a lot of people ship Rumbelle (Rumple + Belle), but I'm going to need some serious validation for that.

Henry Daniel Mills. What about him? He's been the heart of this show-everything started because of him. However, that's not exactly what I want to reflect on. Hook has been a kind of father-figure towards Henry for the last few seasons, so you'd have to be daft to think that Hook's death didn't affect Henry. In the scene where Killian was dying, you'd notice Regina and Robin hugging Henry, who was downright devastated.

Last but certainly not least, we have Emma Swan. I can't even begin to describe how overwhelmed she must have felt. I know I was bursting into tears just looking at her. Emma had to look her true love in the eye and kill him, as much as she didn't want to. The only man who's believed in her, who didn't leave when things got hard. Just imagine that. The most heartbreaking thing I've had to watch was Emma letting go of Killian's cold hand when he was being taken away. But don't think she's just going to give up. Emma is literally going to the depths of hell to save the man she loves.

Obviously, we now need to discuss season 5B. The promo introduced that a lot of old characters are coming back: Cruella, Cora, Pan, and the witch from Hansel and Gretel's story. And who knows? Maybe we'll see a bunch of other characters as well. The only downside to all of this excitement is that we won't be getting to see it until March 6, 2016, which, in case you haven't noticed, is a long time!

I guess there's not much left to say now. Just hang in there!

Until next time,

@onceuponatimeinhogwarts

Saturday, December 5, 2015

OUAT 5x08: "Birth", 5x09: "The Bear King", and 5x10: "Broken Heart"

Hello!! Today is going to be a longer blog because I didn't get the chance to write about the two other episodes. So sit back, relax, and relive the emotional roller-coaster with me.

DISCLAIMER: If you haven't watched these episodes and don't want them to be spoiled for you, then DO NOT read on.

5x08: "Birth"
So this episode kind of started all of the emotional trauma. First off, Arthur and Zelena forced Merlin to capture all of Emma's family (except Henry) and Hook. Arthur wanted Emma to hand over the flame and the dagger so that he could reunite the dagger with Excalibur. He threatened that if she didn't do so, he would make Merlin kill her loved ones. By the way, Rumple (in Emma's mind) did a killer impression of Merlin.

Anyway, Emma faced Arthur and told him that she would hand over the flame once he released her family. Of course, Arthur forced Merlin to fight Emma, and he won. Then, Merlin was forced to kill Snow, but he couldn't follow through after Emma told him that he could fight the darkness. Hook cunningly freed himself from the chains that were holding him prisoner and waddled over to Arthur and engaged in a little fight. Arthur scratched Hook with Excalibur and left with Zelena, leaving the sword behind.

Emma healed the cut and all was well. Regina kind of pressured Emma into lighting the fire, but then Hook talked to her and told her to stop. Hook had found a house back in Storybrooke where he thought he could begin a future with Emma. They shared a cute little moment and the fire was lit.

In present-day Storybrooke, Zelena gave birth to her baby a few months early. Since Dr. Whale is basically the only doctor in town, he made a comical appearance. I swear to you, Dr. Whale was literally the most hilarious character in this episode. Anyway, Emma showed up and captured Zelena and Hook as well.

She revealed that her plan was to kill Zelena with Excalibur and transfer all of the darkness.Obviously, she's crazy, so Zelena escaped with Hook. Hook found some squid ink and immobilized Emma with it, trying to get her to reveal her intentions. Zelena showed up again and gave Hook his memories of Camelot, and here's where it gets intense.

When Emma tried to reunite Excalibur with the dagger back in Camelot, Hook's cut from earlier started to bleed really badly. Merlin said that a wound from Excalibur can not be healed, meaning that Hook would die. Emma couldn't bear this so she wanted to transform Hook into a Dark One so he would live. Hook told her not to because he didn't want to end up as the thing he'd been hating for centuries, but Emma wouldn't listen. She used her magic to put the darkness into Hook.

When Hook got his memories back, he grew furious. Zelena was enjoying herself way too much when she said that now there were two Dark Ones. And that was the end.

5x09: "The Bear King"
Compared to the previous episode, this one was a major let-down. It basically just explained how Merida's father was killed, etc. Basically, invaders were coming to attack DunBroch, and Merida was planning on fighting alongside her father. Fergus hired a trainer for Merida, who turned out to be Mulan.

With the threat of the attackers, Fergus went to the witch for something that would help his soldiers follow him in battle. The witch produced an enchanted helmet and gave it to him, promising that the wearer's soldiers would blindly fight with him. Fergus ended up getting rid of the helmet though.

Fast forward and the witch made a visit to DunBroch informing Merida that she needed the helmet back. Merida said that she didn't have it, but the witch informed her that it was with the man who killed her father.

Merida sought out Mulan for help, and they both went to the witch's hut to get a tracker potion so that they could find the man who killed Fergus because, fortunately, they had a piece of his cloak that had been ripped off. When they got there, they took the potion and left. Coincidentally, there was a wolf standing guard who turned back into, you guessed it, Ruby. Apparently, she had come to Camelot so she could find the rest of the werewolves.

Ruby, Mulan, and Merida found out that the person who killed Fergus was in fact Arthur. He had been trying to get the helmet from Fergus so that he could use it on his own men, but failed. The three women battled Zelena and Arthur and were successful.

5x10: "Broken Heart"
This episode was by far the most emotional episode of Once Upon a Time that I have ever watched. Basically, it picks up from 5x08 and goes from there.

So Hook took Emma's memories the same way she took his. After finding out he was the Dark One, he sought out Rumple so he could get his revenge. The two dueled on Hook's ship and Rumple was this close to killing Hook with Excalibur, but decided against it. During the duel, Hook scratched Rumple with his actual hook, drawing blood. This will be important later. Anyway, after the duel, Rumple met Belle at the well and told her that he was ready to start a real relationship with her. However, Belle, bless her heart, told him that she will always love him but he has broken her heart too many times. Because of this, she now had to stop trying and start protecting her heart. I am so so proud of her for finally standing up for herself and getting out of that relationship.

Back in Camelot, Hook turned into a Dark One after reliving all of his painful memories (i.e. Rumple killing Milah, Rumple controlling his heart, Emma sacrificing herself to the darkness). When he emerged, he saw Rumple in his mind, telling him that he can exact his revenge by casting a Dark Curse to go back to Storybrooke. Hook told him that he was not willing to crush Emma's heart (since she's the thing he loves most), but Rumple told him that there was always a loophole.

Anyways, Emma showed up and Hook got really mad at her for turning him into a Dark One. Emma also lied to him about having Excalibur. So Emma convinced Hook that they'll fight the darkness together. They ended up kissing and it was really cute. However, a few moments later, the voice in Hook's head was telling him the sword was close by. He asked Emma again if she had it, and this time she told the truth. He got even more mad, telling her that when she was consumed by the darkness, he trusted her, but clearly she didn't trust him. He ended up vanishing out of anger.

Later on, Emma summoned him with Exalibur, again making him angry. She gave him the sword, telling him that she loves him and she trusts him. Again, they kissed, warming up my little shipper heart.

In present-day Storybrooke, Emma and Henry found the dreamcatchers that Hook hid from them. Emma returned everyone's memories. Also, Robin and Regina allowed Zelena to visit her daughter, who is still unnamed by the way.

Now back to Camelot. Emma and Hook walked back to Granny's to get Merlin to remove the darkness from both of them. However, Hook's intentions were different. He went into Granny's alone and cornered Merlin. The voice in his head changed from Rumple into Nimue. The loophole that Rumple was talking about earlier? This is it: since Merlin is the thing Nimue loves most, Hook was planning on crushing his heart to use for the curse.

Emma came in and told him that his happy ending was not revenge, but he didn't listen. He crushed Merlin's heart and put it in the cauldron. Emma didn't have the power to undo it, but she did add a memory wipe to the curse, making everyone forget that Hook was the Dark One. The curse swept over the entire land, and that's how we got Merida and the people of Camelot in Storybrooke.

In present-day, Rumple (as the voice in Hook's head) told him that he could open the portal to the Underworld with the blood from the man who has been to hell and back: Rumple himself. Now you see why that cut from the duel was important. Anyways, Hook opened the portal and a boat full of people emerged. A woman stepped out and took Hook's hand. The one and only Nimue. That's right folks, all of the previous Dark Ones are in Storybrooke to snuff out the light.

Ending Note:
Well that's all for now. Tomorrow's episode is the winter finale, so after that we'll have to wait until March. However, I can already tell it's going to be gut-wrenching by the promo, which you can find in my "Related Videos" section. Watch Once Upon a Time tomorrow at 8 PM on ABC.

--@onceuponatimeathogwarts