‘Once Upon a Time’ Season 5 Episode 21 Recap: Last Rites

By
Rebecca Murray
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Once Upon a Time Season 5 episode 21
Lana Parrilla and Sean Maguire in ‘Once Upon a Time’ (ABC/Jack Rowand)

ABC’s Once Upon a Time season five episode 21 included the tragic death of a main character, a touching reunion, two supporting characters biting the dust, and a pivotal moment that altered the relationship between siblings. Fans weren’t happy with the loss of a key character but at least one fan favorite returned to Storybrooke after performing a heroic act in the Underworld. Episode 21 titled ‘Last Rites’ was jam-packed with potentially game-changing moments, and it’ll be interesting to show how the season finishes up and if we lose any more key characters.

Outside of Storybrooke, Present Day: Hades (Greg Germann) is thrilled to be in the land of the living, telling Zelena (Rebecca Mader) he’s finally becoming himself. Zelena’s anxiously awaiting her sister, but Hades says it’ll be fine. Zelena also wonders why they’re outside of the town and Hades says he’s worried they will all still think of him as a villain. Passing off her daughter to the surprised Hades, Zelena heads into Storybrooke. As he’s waiting with the baby, King Arthur races up and wants to be unshackled. He says he was destined to rule a kingdom, and Hades introduces himself as Hades, God of Death. Hades thinks he’s destined to rule this kingdom, and so he kills off King Arthur.


Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) is upset Merida (Amy Manson) allowed King Arthur to escape and sends everyone out to search the town. Just as Snow says to her baby that they need their family back, in walks David (Josh Dallas) followed by Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and Henry (Jared Gilmore). Only Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) wasn’t able to make the journey. Snow hugs Emma and tells her at least she got to see Hook one last time. David then breaks the bad news that Hades and Zelena are also back and they have Robin’s baby.

Zelena meets up with Regina (Lana Parrilla) and Robin (Sean Maguire) on the way into town, and Robin tells her Hades has absolutely not changed. Zelena’s confused and Regina says Hades tried to trap them in the Underworld, but Zelena absolutely won’t believe them. Zelena doesn’t want to give up Hades’ location after Regina confirms they’ll do whatever they have to do to protect themselves from him. Zelena reminds them Hades is a god and if they try to hurt him, they do so “at their own peril.”

King Arthur (Liam Garrigan) shows up at the diner in the Underworld and has no clue where he is. Hook’s there and King Arthur threatens him with death if he doesn’t explain where he is. Hook simply says you can’t kill a dead man, which should answer King Arthur’s question. King Arthur won’t believe it…he had so much left to do. Hook demands answers from King Arthur about who killed him, and King Arthur says it was Hades. The Blind Witch butts in saying Hades never reveals his weakness. That gives Hook the idea that he and King Arthur should take off on a quest to find out what Hades is hiding and learn the secret to defeating Hades.

Meanwhile back in Storybrooke, Merida, Emma and David find King Arthur’s dead body and know it’s Hades’ work. Emma wants to immediately rush off and fight Hades but David tells her she has to stop and think about her actions and she has to deal with Hook’s death by grieving.

Zelena’s back with Hades and he says he’d give up his freedom to save her and the baby. Liar, liar, pants (and everything else) on fire! Zelena’s buying into it for some reason (she used to be so smart!) and stops him from turning himself in. If he can’t do that, then Hades says they have to defend themselves. If it comes to a fight, he has something that will end the feud. He has the Olympian Crystal that belonged to Zeus and he’s waited a long time to use it…

Regina and the gang show up at the town hall only to discover Zelena’s placed a protection spell around the building. But, Regina knows there’s a secret tunnel under the town hall that can help them get Robin’s daughter back. No one wants Emma’s help because she’s too emotional and they tell her she can’t help them until she works through her grief issues. Robin and Regina head down into the tunnels where Regina apologizes but to Robin it sounds more like Regina’s continuing to defend Zelena.

At the flower shop, Gold shows up to ask if Belle’s dad will try and wake her with a kiss. He won’t do it, mainly because he hates Gold so much. Until Gold’s gone for good, she stays asleep. Gold shows him a gold handled cane…but Emma barges in and tells Gold she needs his help. She has to stop Hades and needs to know how to kill him. Gold won’t tell her because she’s the one who got them into this mess in the first place.

Down in Hades’ throne room, Hook and King Arthur look around for anything that can be used against him. The Holy Grail they’re looking for is pages from the storybook that Hades kept them from seeing. They’re tearing his place apart when Hook admits it’s all about Emma and he has to move on but can’t while Emma’s still in danger. Nearly in tears, he asks King Arthur where he hid his treasures while he was king. Arthur says the one place no one would ever dare touch: his throne. And there they are…Hook’s Holy Grail. The pages will allow Emma to destroy a god!

Hook and King Arthur meet with Cruella and she’s overcome with their hunkiness. They need the phone booth she ripped out but it’s been destroyed. She didn’t want anyone to resolve their unfinished businesses. So, Hook needs the book but she put it in the River of Souls. The book could be their way to get the pages to Emma.

Emma shows up at the library where Snow, David, Henry, and Merida are looking through books for a clue how to get rid of Hades. They want her help but she doesn’t want to go through books. She tells them she can’t grieve for Hook because he’s still trapped in the Underworld and can’t move on.

Hades puts the crystals back together – something he can do because he now has a beating heart. He promises Zelena they can live any life they want or they could even rule Storybrooke, but that’s not something she really thought they wanted. Hades convinces her they may have to make a show of strength to survive. Gold rings up, asking if Hades wants a deal. Hades says no, but then Gold reveals he knows Hades has the Olympian Crystal. Still, Hades refuses the deal.

In the tunnels, Robin thanks Regina and she says, once again, she feels horrible for what she did. She’s trying to make up for it. Robin agrees they owe Zelena another chance and tells Regina she is his future. They kiss, deeply, and then he reveals he doesn’t have a plan on how to actually get his daughter out.

Hook and King Arthur sail the River of Souls and find the book. Hook goes for it, trusting Arthur to stay with book. Arthur’s grabbed by a soul but he tells Hook to go for the book. Hook doesn’t and instead saves Arthur. The soul then goes for the book instead but Arthur wipes it out with a torch and Hook saves it just before it falls into the river. Hook says the Olympian Crystal can kill Hades, putting the pages that contain the info back in the book.

As Emma’s at the library, she picks up the storybook but puts it away without looking at the new pages. Thankfully, it opens itself to the pages and she knows they’re from Hook. Awww. Meanwhile, Hades has completed the process to make the Olympian Crystal whole again. Zelena wants to leave Storybrooke and not fight, but Hades will have none of that. Fortunately, Regina and Robin overhear their plans. Outside, Emma is trying to break in. Zelena and Hades leave the baby and go out to see Emma, leaving Robin and Regina to get to Robin’s baby. Outside, Emma’s working on a spell and when Zelena pops out, Emma explains she doesn’t want to hurt her. She has figured out a way to kill Hades and knows he has the crystal. Zelena grabs the pages from Emma, demanding to know if Regina agreed to it. As Robin and Regina pick up the baby, Hades reappears thwarting their escape. He tells them the crystal ends them – no Underworld, no anything. As he tries to use it on Regina, Robin steps in front of her and absorbs the blow. He dies but smiles one last smile as he disappears. Just as he’s about to kill Regina, Zelena comes in and Hades lies that he killed Robin only to save her. Regina tries to convince Zelena it’s all a lie, but Zelena doesn’t know who to believe. Then Hades admits he did trap Regina and the rest of the gang in the Underworld and now he must kill them and create a new kingdom. Hades says it’s about getting back at the families who didn’t believe him. While he’s distracted, Regina knocks the crystal from his hand but Zelena gets to it first. Hades wants Zelena to end Regina, and Regina says Robin tried to defend her. True love is sacrifice and that’s what Robin did when Hades killed him. Hades twists the story to make Regina the bad guy again, but now Zelena isn’t buying it. Love would never have been enough for Hades so Zelena stabs him through the heart with the crystal. Regina rushes back to Robin’s side, holding her love’s dead body. Zelena and Regina hug, crying.

Hook thanks Arthur for his help, but he’s just glad to have finished one quest that was righteous. Hook’s sure Emma did what she needed to. All of sudden a bright light appears and Hook heads toward it, but he thinks the defeat of Hades might have been Arthur’s unfinished business, too. But, Arthur tells him to go without him because he believes he has to repair the Underworld. They shake hands and Hook again heads toward the light. He’s pulled through and meets Zeus, who thanks him for helping to destroy the God of Death, Hades. He’s there to escort Hook onward to where he belongs. Hook heads down a hall.

Meanwhile in Storybrooke, Emma visits Hook’s grave and thanks him for the pages. She’s crying and says she hopes he’s in a better place. “It just feels like now you’re really gone,” completely breaking down.

The gang gathers at Robin’s grave, each stepping forward and placing an arrow on his casket. Zelena and Regina are together and talking about Robin never being able to name their daughter. Zelena says it has to be Robin, and Regina agrees. Emma and Snow are the last at the grave and Snow tells her it’s not her fault. Emma just wants to say goodbye alone, and Snow leaves after one last hug. As she’s standing there she feels an electric charge. Killian’s back!!! They kiss and Emma can’t believe he’s back, and Hook says it was Zeus who sent him back to Storybrooke. She then tells him Robin was killed.

Gold walks over to the pile of Hades dust and finds a piece of the Olympian Crystal. “Like I told you, this is my kingdom.”

Once Upon a Time Season 5 episode 21
Colin O’Donoghue and Jennifer Morrison in ‘Once Upon a Time’ (ABC/Jack Rowand)

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