Once Upon a Time‘s season five episode nine filled the second hour of a two-hour Once block on Sunday, November 15, 2015. While episode eight dealt with Emma and Hook’s relationship and what went on in Camelot, episode nine centered around Merida’s quest to find her father’s killer and to retrieve a magical item. The folks from Storybrooke are absent from this episode and instead Merida, Arthur, and Zelena play key roles along with two familiar faces from previous seasons: Mulan and Red. And although it’s not the usual Once Upon a Time tale, episode nine titled “The Bear King” was welcome break after the heartbreak of episode eight.
Recap of Once Upon a Time Season 5 Episode 9:
Zelena (Rebecca Mader) and Arthur (Liam Galligan) are back in Camelot after their fight with Emma (Jennifer Morrison) in the forest, and Arthur’s upset he still has to work with Zelena to defeat Emma and Merlin (Elliot Knight). He thinks there’s something in DunBroch that can help them do just that.
Merida (Amy Manson) visits her dad’s grave to tell him she saved her brothers and proved her worthiness to rule, but she wishes he was there to tell her how to do it. Her mom, Elinor (Caroline Morahan), tells her her father will always be there for her.
DunBroch, several years earlier… Merida’s dad, King Fergus (Glenn Keogh), visits the witch (Lily Knight) who turned his wife and sons into bears. He needs magic to fight off invaders and insure the future of his kingdom. The witch takes his IOU in exchange for the magic, telling him she’ll need something in the future. She creates a helmet that if worn in battle will give him exactly what he wants.
Two years later in DunBroch, the clans offer a crown to Merida at her coronation. The witch breaks up the ceremony and shows Merida and her mother the IOU. She demands 10,000 in gold or the helmet, or else she’ll curse the entire kingdom. Everyone will turn into bears in one day if they don’t give the witch what she’s owed.
Elinor frantically searches for the helmet without any luck, and Merida reveals her dad was wearing it in battle when he was killed. Merida knows the knight who killed her dad took the helmet, but her mom says she’s not allowed to go after him. However, Merida’s determined and claims her arrow won’t miss this time.
Two years earlier, Fergus gets upset when the clanspeople make fun of Merida. Fergus is teaching her about war, and Merida sees men writing their wills in case they die. He shows her his first war bow and gives it to her for her first battle. Fergus hired a soldier to tutor her in the art of war, but Merida doesn’t think she needs a tutor. It’s obvious she does after being easily knocked to the ground by her tutor who it turns out is Mulan (Jamie Chung)! Merida is fine with a female tutor who promises she’ll teach her to fight better than any man.
Flash-forward two years and Mulan is collecting debts. The men she visits to collect from are much larger but she’s more skilled. As she’s facing the last man standing, Merida shoots an arrow through his sleeve. Mulan knocks him out and Merida says she needs her help. Mulan’s not into honor anymore – she needs money now. Merida tosses her a bag of money and Mulan agrees to help her if she doesn’t ask any questions.
Zelena and Arthur visit the witch and are met by a wolf. Zelena knocks it out and the witch makes herself known. They want the helmet but the witch says she sent someone out to find it for her. She doesn’t know where it is and Zelena threatens her until she gives up Merida’s name.
Merida and Mulan go to where her father was killed and Merida finds an arrow she made. The arrow still has a piece of her father’s killer’s cloak attached to it and they’ll use that to track him down. Merida wants to know why Mulan closed off her heart and Mulan says, “A true warrior doesn’t let anything hurt them.”
Zelena and Arthur show up and Merida and Mulan demand to know why they want the helmet. Arthur says it’s the only way he’ll save Camelot and reveals the helmet has the power to make other men fight your battles no matter how dangerous they are. Merida is shocked and doesn’t believe it. Arthur says that’s how he’ll get his knights to fight Merlin. Zelena takes Merida’s bow, which was her father’s, and is going to use it plus a locator spell to find the helmet.
Merida is ready to go home but Mulan says they can use the cloak material to find the killer. It’s over for Merida because if her dad couldn’t lead without magic, there’s no way she can do it. She’ll tell the clan she’s not their leader and let them come up with a way to pay the witch back. Mulan tells her she can’t give up, but Merida points out Mulan did.
Flashback two years, Fergus clutches the helmet and stands alone on a river’s bank. Merida joins him, wanting to know how to inspire the clans and her father looks down at his helmet. He doesn’t answer at first but then says it’s by showing them you’re the first one willing to die. He thinks he can handle whatever the invaders throw at them.
Back with Mulan, she’s now at the witch’s wanting to find out who the cloak belongs to. The wolf approaches Mulan and although it looks like it’s about to attack, Mulan quickly figures out it’s not a real wolf. She knocks over a cauldron onto the wolf and it transforms into Ruby (Meghan Ory), who tells Mulan her friends call her Red. They go off together and Red says wolfing out is her thing but the witch put her under her thrall. Red says she’s heard of Mulan through Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Emma, and Mulan wants to know how she ended up back in time.
Flashback to the day David (Josh Dallas) and Mary Margaret introduced the town to their baby. Red was watching from the back of the room and Mary Margaret came to her to find out what’s going on. Red doesn’t think she fits in because she’s the only one of her kind in Storybrooke. She wants to find more people like her and she has a bean that will allow her to go back to the Enchanted Forest. Mary Margaret says she needs to do whatever will make her happy, but she’ll miss her desperately.
Red tells Mulan she never found anyone like her. Mulan explains why she was at the witch’s and Red takes the cloak and says she’ll find the killer. (Having a werewolf’s sense of smell comes in handy sometimes.)
Merida tells her mom what’s going on and Mulan and Red barge in, telling her not to give up. They think they can find the knight who killed her father because Red can sniff him out.
Two years earlier, Mulan keeps Merida busy while the invaders show up (it was Fergus’ plan). Fergus leads his men into battle against unknown invaders and it’s a fierce (but not bloody because this is a family show) battle. Merida doesn’t want to miss the fight and she sees her father about to be killed. She shoots but misses, piercing only the knight’s cloak. He strips the helmet off of Fergus’ head and lifts his visor, revealing his face. It’s Arthur, but he’s not facing Merida so she didn’t see his identity.
Back to the forest with Arthur and Zelena… The bow has led them to the river bank where Fergus watched for the invaders to arrive. Zelena uses magic to lift it out of the lake. As it’s about to be Arthur’s, Merida knocks it away with an arrow. Red says Arthur’s scent is all over the cloak and that he killed Fergus. Merida confronts Arthur and he acknowledges the battle took place during his quest to find the missing piece of Excalibur. Arthur explains the helmet Fergus was wearing when he died wasn’t enchanted. It didn’t do anything magical during the battle. Merida figures out the troops followed her dad because they believed in him, not because of the helmet. However, she and Arthur both still need the helmet and Arthur says, “I’ve already killed DunBroch’s king. Now it looks like I’ll have to kill its queen.”
They attack each other while Mulan squares off with Zelena. Red throws sleeping powder on Zelena and knocks her out. Arthur tells Zelena to reach for the helmet and he’ll cut her down like he did her father, and just then three clansmen show up and have Merida’s back. Zelena awakens enough to magically transport Arthur back to Camelot. Merida thanks her clansmen who say they couldn’t let their queen fall. They will follow her because she’s just like her father.
Merida’s coronation finishes up as the witch barges in again. Merida has the helmet but she’s going to destroy it instead of handing it over. She will not be bullied into giving it back. The witch was hoping that was what she’d say. It was a test because Fergus had come to her to do a spell to insure the future of his kingdom. Lesson learned. The witch brought a gift: magical ale. One cup of it can summon the spirit of anyone who’s passed away. Merida will be able to talk to her dad.
At her father’s grave, Merida thanks Mulan and Red for their help. Mulan was trying to get over a broken heart and that’s why she changed so much. Red confesses she ate the only boyfriend she ever had, but she thinks Mulan might heal if she helps her search for werewolves. They hug and Mulan and Red take off on a quest to track down werewolves. Merida uses the ale and Fergus appears. Merida apologizes for losing faith in him and he says she made him realize he couldn’t use magic and be a true leader. All Merida wants to do is make him proud. They hug, cry, and hold each other until the ale’s magic wears off. Merida turns away from her father’s grave stone, looks fierce, and says, “Arthur, you have no idea what’s coming for you.”
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
Season 5 Interviews: Colin O’Donoghue & Jennifer Morrison / Lana Parrilla / Josh Dallas & Ginnifer Goodwin / Sean Maguire & Rebecca Mader / Robert Carlyle & Emilie de Ravin
