Up until episode 10 of Once Upon a Time‘s season five the story had centered around Emma as the Dark Swan. With episode 10, the plot expands to encompass the new Dark One: Hook. Hook’s on a rampage, ready for revenge and denying he has any feelings for Emma after she made him tap back into his darkness. Airing on November 29, 2015, Once Upon a Time‘s season five episode 10 titled “Broken Heart” was a real heartbreaker for those who are still rooting for Emma and Hook to find their happy endings together.
Recap of Once Upon a Time Season 5 Episode 10:
The Dark Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) confronts Emma (Jennifer Morrison) about stealing his memories, wiping her memory and making a deal with Zelena (Rebecca Mader) not to get in her way if she doesn’t get in his. Zelena binds Emma’s magic with a cuff.
As Hook transforms into the Dark Hook, scenes from his past flash through his head, including ones with Rumple (Robert Carlyle) aka the Crocodile. In his head, Imaginary Dark One Rumple tells him he can help him get his revenge and kill the real, living breathing Rumple.
Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin), Regina (Lana Parrilla), and David (Josh Dallas) burst into Emma’s where she admits turning Hook into a Dark One because she couldn’t let him die. Emma reminds them she was trying to get rid of the darkness forever by killing Zelena. Regina and Mary Margaret say they’ll help her now, but David comes in and tells them the dreamcatchers are gone and she can’t restore their memories. Regina wonders what “Captain Dark One” is up to.
At Gold’s shop, Gold and Belle (Emilie de Ravin) ask the Dark Hook if he’s there for revenge. Hook says he’ll take Gold’s hand as revenge for his hook, his heart for killing his love, and for giving Emma the darkness he’ll take his head. Gold tells him to get on with it, but Hook’s been waiting so long to do this that he wants to savor it. He tells Gold they’ll duel at noon on his ship. He holds up Excalibur and says it can kill him, if Gold is able to take it from him. “What say you, Crocodile? Shall we finish what we started?” asks Hook. Gold answers, “Indeed.”
Regina, Mary Margaret, David, and Emma meet with Gold and Belle to find out if there’s any way to stop Hook. They need to find out more about Nimue, but Emma says if they take off her cuff she can protect them all from Hook. They won’t take it off, and Henry (Jared Gilmore) comes in and agrees. Henry tells her she wouldn’t come to anyone for help and she only wants her dark magic back so she can work on the solution alone. He leaves the room in a huff. The rest of the group also leave, telling her they love her but they don’t trust the darkness.
Back in Camelot, Merlin (Elliot Knight) and the gang try to track Dark Hook to save him. Merlin says this was the darkest future he ever saw for Emma. She probably wouldn’t hurt them, but Hook might. They ask Lancelot (Sinqua Walls) to talk to his mother, The Lady of the Lake, to see if she can help them. David and Mary Margaret argue over Emma’s decision, and Mary Margaret reminds her husband, “We save each other. That is what our family does.” David hopes Emma’s faith in Hook is justified.
Rumple’s still in Hook’s head while Hook decides that as the Dark One he’s not going to wear the requisite cloak, transforming his outfit back to black leather. Rumple tells him that he can use the dark curse to get back to Storybrooke to kill Rumple. Emma rushes up and she’s happy he’s alive, but Hook’s beyond angry she threw him back into the darkness after all these years he’s spent trying to squash the blood lust within him. Emma says it was the only way to save him. She also says she doesn’t know what happened to Excalibur and tells him to ignore Rumple’s voice and be present with her. She even reminds him about the future and how they can still get that house together. As they talk about the future, Rumple vanishes. Emma thinks they can get the darkness out of both of them for good if they cling to those they love.
In Storybrooke, the gang leaves Emma’s house to do some research but Gold says he needs to prepare a different way. He can’t run from this battle. Belle reminds him he’s a hero now, but Gold’s not going for it. “Not wanting me to die isn’t the same as wanting to be with me,” Gold tells her. He wants to be the man she deserves and thinks that’s still possible. If he wins, he’ll go to the well. If she meets him there, he’ll know how she feels.
Zelena charges into the Storybrooke hospital, however Regina’s there to stop her. They’ve already moved the baby and Zelena’s near tears as Regina tells her they’re protecting it and she’ll never take the baby away from Robin (Sean Maguire). Regina says Zelena only had the baby because she killed Marion and deceived Robin. Regina tells her the insanity has to stop.
Meanwhile, Merida (Amy Manson) is guarding Emma at Emma’s house because Regina asked her to. Merida keeps her at arrow point, and when Hook walks in surprising her, she shoots at his head but he catches the arrow and knocks her out. Hook can’t figure out why Emma is alone and not with the “heroes,” but she says he’s there because he still has feelings for her. Hook agrees, reeling off his feelings…anger, disappointment. Hook says he now sees her as an anchor and nothing more than a pretty blonde distraction. She won’t hold him back from what he wants ever again. “The darkness is using you,” says Emma. Hook doesn’t care if he’s being used – he wants his revenge. Hook tells her she always pushes the people who love her away and that’s why she’ll always be an orphan. (How cruel!) Emma tears up but holds it together long enough to ask why he’s treating her like this. He tells her he wants to hurt her like she hurt him. The tears flow as Hook leaves.
Back in Camelot, Dark Swan and Dark Hook kiss. They separate long enough to go get supplies when he hears the song of the dagger meaning Excalibur’s close. Rumple whispers in his head that Emma has Excalibur and is lying to him. Emma comes back and Hook wants to know if she’s lying and has it. She admits to having it but she didn’t use it on him. She has it to protect him because he’s not strong enough to resist the darkness. Hook reminds her he told her to never turn him into the Dark One and yet she did it anyway. Hook says there’s never been a moment when he didn’t trust or believe in her, but she doesn’t trust or believe in him. He leaves in a puff of red smoke.
In Storybrooke, Gold’s in the shop practicing with the sword. Emma comes in and tells him she needs help getting all of their memories back, including her own. She gives him the bottle of squid ink and wants him to use it on Hook, and she’ll steal back the dreamcatchers when he’s distracted. He takes the ink and locks it up, reminding her his feud with Hook predates her by centuries. He’ll fight with honor.
Regina takes Zelena to see Robin and the baby. As Zelena enters their home she asks Robin if he missed her. “Once you go green, you’ll never go Queen.” Regina’s about to attack her but Robin stops her, and Regina tells Zelena she’s not even in her league evil deed-wise. But, Regina hopes the love of a child will turn Zelena around like it did her when she became a mother to Henry. Robin will allow her to visit their baby as long as either he or Regina are present. Zelena holds the baby and is overcome with emotions.
At the library, Belle, David, Mary Margaret, and Henry are doing research. Emma sneaks in and talks to Henry, saying she doesn’t want her cuff removed but she needs the dreamcatchers from Hook because they have her memories, too, and she must know something important. Emma wants to help everyone and thinks she can solve their problem if she gets their memories back. She tells Henry he’s the best at figuring out how to break a spell, and he agrees to make a locator spell to find the other dreamcatchers. Operation Cobra Part Two is now underway.
Back in Camelot, Emma is calling for Hook in a field of flowers at night. He won’t answer so she uses Excalibur to summon him. That makes him more angry because he feels powerless. She called him because she believes in him and trusts him to control his own fate, and hands him Excalibur. He takes the sword and she promises she will never attempt to control him again, pledging her love. He says he loves her too, and they kiss.
Back on Hook’s ship, Gold arrives for the duel. Hook wants it to be a fair fight so he fixes Gold’s knee so he doesn’t use a cane or limp. Gold isn’t afraid and will fight for the people he loves. The duel begins.
In Camelot, Hook and Swan meet up with Regina, David, and Mary Margaret, and Hook wants to know where Merlin is so the wizard can get the darkness out of him. Inside Granny’s, Merlin’s actually leaving the message for the worst case scenario, warning them the only person who can help them is Nimue. Hook enters, locks the door behind him, and takes Merlin’s heart, with Imaginary Dark One Rumple cheering him on. Hook has Excalibur and tells Merlin he needs to get back to Storybrooke. Merlin says it’s not possible without crushing the heart of the thing he loves the most. Rumple transforms into Nimue and she reminds Merlin she still loves him and always will. Hook says Nimue lives in all Dark Ones so when he crushes Merlin’s heart, so will Nimue.
On the ship, the duel continues. Gold’s surprisingly holding his own and even stabs Hook through the stomach. But that doesn’t matter without Excalibur. Hook then slices Gold’s arm.
Henry and Emma find the dreamcatchers but they can’t get to them because Emma doesn’t have magic. Henry stole the squid ink and says he’ll use it on her because she didn’t try to do this operation alone. He drops it on her cuff and her magic is restored. She promises she’ll make it up to him.
Back in Camelot, Emma comes in and finds Hook with Merlin’s heart clenched in his fist. She knows she’s been played and Hook says it’s because she lied about Excalibur. Now no one will control him ever again. He sends Excalibur back to its stone. Emma wants to know what Nimue wants and why she’s helping Hook with his revenge. Emma figures it out and tells Hook his revenge isn’t his happy ending – she is. “If you destroy this heart, you will destroy your happy ending along with it,” says Emma. Hook says he might have told her once that she was his happy ending, but that man died when she turned him into a Dark One. He squeezes Merlin’s heart and Merlin falls to the floor. Hook puts the ashes of the heart in the cauldron.
On the ship, Hook says he might have given Rumple his wife back back in the day if he’d fought with that much vigor. Hook is knocked down by a weight from the ship and Gold gets Excalibur. Instead of killing him, Gold tells him he’d like nothing better than for Hook to live knowing he bested him. Hook disappears in smoke and Gold’s left clutching his bleeding arm.
Belle finds Gold in the woods and Rumple says he’s ready to put the past behind them. Belle says she loves him but he’s broken her heart too many times. She can’t trust him, but he assures her his heart is pure now. She agrees he’s the man she’d always hoped he’d be but she needs to figure out if that’s what she wants. She’s spent too many years trying to mend his heart and now needs to protect hers.
Back in Camelot, Emma apologizes to the now dead Merlin and sends his ashes away, saying, “Rest in peace.” Hook says she’s too late but Emma has a solution: she’ll make him forget why he cast the spell and that he was ever the Dark One in the first place. She knocks him out and puts his memories in a dreamcatcher. “When you wake up, you’ll be the man you were, the man I love and the man who loves me,” says Emma. Then she erases the memories of everyone who knew she turned Hook into the Dark One. Rumple, in her head, says yeah, right, why trust her family when she can do it all herself. Emma uses dark magic to add the memory wipe to the curse. He warns her she won’t like where it leads…”Or worse, you will.” Emma holds Hook as they’re all transported back to Storybrooke. In the distance, Merida is caught up in the fog of the curse as are Arthur, Guinevere, and the people of Camelot.
In Storybrooke, everyone is gathered and Emma is ready to give them all back their memories. They hold the dreamcatchers and watch everything that transpired. Emma now knows exactly what Hook is planning on doing.
The whispering-in-your-head Rumple congratulates Hook on a semi-successful day, obtaining the blood of Rumple – a man who’d been to hell and back. He died and returned, and the pond they’re standing by is a portal to the underworld. Rumple says the blood on Hook’s hook will open it. A fog appears along with a ship full of creatures from hell led by Nimue. It’s all of the Dark Ones and they’re ready to snuff out the light. “Welcome to Storybrooke, love,” says Hook.
Once Upon a Time Season 5 Recaps: Episode 1 The Dark Swan / Episode 2 The Price / Episode 3 Siege Perilous / Episode 4 The Broken Kingdom / Episode 5 Dreamcatcher / Episode 6 Bear and the Bow / Episode 7 Nimue / Episode 8 Birth / Episode 9 The Bear King
Season 5 Interviews: Colin O’Donoghue & Jennifer Morrison / Lana Parrilla / Josh Dallas & Ginnifer Goodwin / Sean Maguire & Rebecca Mader / Robert Carlyle & Emilie de Ravin
