Episode two of ABC’s Once Upon a Time season five finds our heroes still trying to figure out what they could possibly have done to Emma (Jennifer Morrison) to turn her into the Dark One back in Camelot. Airing on October 4, 2015, episode two also finds Robin taken by a Fury and a Knight of the Round Table attacking Regina (Lana Parrilla). A lot went on in “The Price,” yet we’re not much closer to knowing what made Emma fully embrace the title of the Dark One.
“The Price” Recap:
The dwarfs debate who will be the one to step over the city line and find out what the new curse does. They all want to flee now that Emma’s the Dark One, and poor Dopey is the sacrificial lamb who steps over it and becomes…wait for it…a tree. Regina, David (Josh Dallas), and Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) warned him not to, but of course, he didn’t listen.
Flash back to six weeks ago in Camelot, our not-so-merry band of travelers is introduced to Guinevere (Joana Metrass). King Arthur (Liam Garrigan) and Guinevere welcome them and say they’ve been waiting 10 years for them to arrive, which means they’ve had 10 years to prepare for a Royal Ball. Regina snags Zelena’s voice when she threatens to reveal they’ve brought the Dark One with them. Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) is anxious to start the quest to find Merlin because he’s worried about Emma, and Arthur says Merlin’s stuck inside a tree.
It will take the savior to free him, and Regina steps up and says she’s the savior. She’ll free Merlin, and then they’ll get to go home. Whoa, there, Regina, not so fast.
Present day and Hook’s asking Belle (Emilie de Ravin) why true love’s kiss didn’t work for her and “the crocodile.” She says it did the first time, but his desire for power won out over love. He pulled away from Belle and the darkness regained its grip. Belle warns him that it’s far easier to hate the Dark One than love one.
Henry (Jared Gilmore) repeats Emma Swan three times, she shows up, and he wants to know what happened that turned her this way. He’s sorry they failed her in Camelot, but she says he never did – everyone else did. Regina arrives and tells Emma to get away from Henry, and they engage in a back-and-forth over why Emma erased their memories. Emma reminds her it takes a savior to save the town, and Henry tells Regina he believes she can be the savior. Emma warns her there’s a problem coming to Storybrooke that will take a savior to solve.
King Arthur arrives, having no idea how he ended up in Storybrooke. Regina explains it was a curse that wiped their memory, and Mary Margaret admits their daughter is the Dark One. David adds that they thought Merlin would tell them how to get rid of the darkness. Robin arrives and tells King Arthur some of his townsfolk from Camelot also made the leap to Storybrooke, and Robin and David set out with the merry men and the dwarfs to round them up.
Regina’s completely confused about Emma’s warning. It can’t be King Arthur and his men that Emma was talking about because she can easily wipe them out. “I’m telling you, something else is coming our way,” says Regina to Mary Margaret.
Back in Camelot, Emma and Regina argue over Regina stepping in as the savior. Emma isn’t happy about it, but Regina is determined she’ll get Merlin out so Emma won’t ever have to use dark magic again. Emma thanks her and actually seems to mean it.
Back in Storybrooke, Robin thinks they’ve rounded up all the people who came over from Camelot. Regina tells him that Emma upset her, telling her she didn’t think Regina could actually be the savior.
Guinevere arrives, and King Arthur’s excited she’s there. But he’s missing Excalibur. David assures him they’ll find it, if it made the trip, and Arthur wants to know how he knows anything about the sword. David laughs, “In this realm, you’re kind of a legend.”
Robin gathers wood and then is snatched up by a dark tree creature/fairy thing (actually, come to find out, it’s a Fury). He calls for Regina’s help before the Fury flies off with him.
Hook talks to Emma’s VW bug, wondering where she is. She arrives and in a flash, they’re at her place. She pours him a drink, they kiss, and…it doesn’t work. Hook thought true love’s kiss would bring her back. “It didn’t work because there’s nothing to fix. This is who I am now,” says Emma. She won’t tell him what happened in Camelot. And although she wouldn’t mind fooling around, Hook turns her down and leaves.
Regina battles the Fury, but she’s not strong enough. It knocks her around and flies off again with Robin. The gang want her to go to the hospital, and she’s finally convinced to do so.
Back in Camelot, Percival gives Regina a gorgeous jewel for her to wear to the ball and tells her he’s looking forward to a dance that evening. Here’s an interesting tidbit: Regina can’t dance. She tries to get out of going to the ball before admitting that. When she does finally cop to her lack of dancing skills, Mary Margaret and David teach her how to foxtrot. It’s a really sweet scene that shows just how far the relationship between the three has come over the years.
Little do Mary Margaret, David, and Regina know, Percival is able to spy on them via the necklace.
The ball begins, and Robin and Regina (who is introduced to a huge round of applause as the savior) dance.
In Storybrooke, Regina yells at a comatose Gold, telling him he made her the Evil Queen. She’s going to prove everybody wrong. Belle tells her that what took Robin was a Fury and that someone in Camelot used magic and didn’t pay up. It’s taking Robin to the underworld when the portal opens, and the only way to save him is someone will have to give their life in his place.
The ball continues. Belle dances with Leroy, Regina and Robin look great together, and Mary Margaret and David stop dancing to help Henry flirt with a girl. Henry brings the girl a drink and shares his music (via headphones) with the pretty teen who introduces herself as Violet. Everything’s going splendidly until Percival interrupts Robin to dance with the savior. He knows!
He recalls a story about a young boy who watched the Evil Queen burn down his village, smiling at him as she left the Enchanted Forest. No one else knows and Robin stops Percival from stabbing Regina and gets stabbed in the process. David comes to his aid and kills Percival.
In Storybrooke, Regina tells Emma she knows the Fury needs a price paid. Regina won’t sacrifice another life to save Robin. She wants Emma to call off the Fury, but Emma’s done fixing their problems. Emma says she did not summon the monster. It was Regina who did it and Regina who needs to make it right.
Flashback to Camelot: the blade was enchanted and Regina can’t save Robin, but Emma can. Regina asks her to please use her magic, with Rumple whispering in Emma’s ear that if she does so, a price must be paid – and it must be paid by Regina. Now we know why the Fury is specifically after Robin in Storybrooke. Emma kisses Hook after saving Robin and says she’s a little woozy, leaving the room to lie down.
And now we’re back in Storybrooke at night and the Fury drops Robin by the lake as a boat emerges in a fog. Regina yells at the Fury, “If you want a life, take mine!” Mary Margaret won’t let her sacrifice herself alone, with David and Leroy joining hands to help her save Robin. It works and the Fury vanishes. Leroy tells Regina, “Standing up to that monster proved one thing. If anyone’s going to save this town, it’s you.”
The gang settles in at Granny’s diner and Hook nurses a bottle. He tells Belle he kissed Emma and she didn’t even flinch. He’s still determined and willing to spend a century, if necessary, to get back the woman he loves. Emma is the odd woman out, watching the goings-on from outside the diner.
In Camelot, Guinevere confesses to Arthur she’s frightened by the Storybrooke gang. “Percival’s dead. Who knows what other trouble they’ll bring,” she says.
At Emma’s house, she traces her finger up and down the blade of her dagger. Rumple tells her she needs to free herself from her family, friends, and loved ones, and that will allow her to fully embrace the darkness. A door opens in her house and Excalibur stands in the stone. Rumple tells her she can pull it out, but of course, she can’t and gets thrown across the room. “If you want that sword, you’re going to have to play the price,” he says, maniacally giggling.
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