ABC’s Once Upon a Time season six episode 14 begins with a flashback of the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) hunting Snow White, ready to dispense some revenge. She wants Snow dead and mercy is out of the question. Fortunately, Snow escaped. Unfortunately, the Evil Queen turns on the villagers, demanding they tell her where Snow went. Tinker Bell (Rose McIver) arrives and tells the Evil Queen she doesn’t have to live a life full of hate. Just to prove she can love, the Evil Queen allows Tinker Bell and all the villagers to live.
Robin (Sean Maguire) is still confused as to why Regina didn’t tell him she had a double. When he voices the opinion that they have something in common, the Evil Queen takes offense. She’s a Queen, after all, and he’s a peasant. She thinks he belongs back in the Wish realm, but first, she needs him to steal something for her. She hands him a shovel and tells him to start digging in the cemetery.
Emma (Jennifer Morrison) shows off her ring to Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Henry (Jared Gilmore) and they’re happy for her. She admits she said yes before he actually asked and then reveals they’re going to hold off their wedding plans until after Gideon’s taken care of. Regina and Zelena (Rebecca Mader) arrive and they’re also happy for Emma, but they’re unhappy to share the news the Evil Queen’s escaped her snake form.
Robin digs up a box with the shears and he thinks she wants to use them on Regina to keep her from her fate. She doesn’t; the Evil Queen’s going to use them to separate herself from Regina so she can destroy her.
Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) is down at the docks, looking forlorn. Up walks Captain Nemo who’s there to say goodbye. He’s ready to set sail on the Nautilus, and he’s happy Hook has set aside his revenge and found a family. Nemo figures out there’s something wrong, and Hook confesses he hurt Emma’s family. He still considers himself a villain and he doesn’t think villains deserve happy endings. Nemo warns him that guilt is corrosive so he should tell the truth or keep it a secret and learn to live with it. He suggests Hook ask for forgiveness.
The Evil Queen visits Henry at home and snags the magical pen. She doesn’t want him to wipe her out of existence, but Henry tells her he thinks there’s good in her so he’d never do that. He asks the Evil Queen if she’s happy now that she got her revenge on Snow, and she confesses she’s not. She hands him a note and tells him to give it to Regina, saying she loves him as she leaves.
Back in Fairy Tale Land, the Evil Queen and her father have an argument over revenge. He wants her to be happy and he doesn’t believe killing Snow is the answer. He shows her one of her mother’s spell books he’s kept hidden, saying the book has a map that leads to Snow.
Meanwhile in Storybrooke, Regina, Henry, Emma, Zelena, and Snow look at Page 23, which is what the Evil Queen gave to Henry to give to his mom. It’s a drawing of Regina and Robin, which means the Evil Queen has met Robin #2. They all believe this means the Evil Queen’s sending a message she’s ready to take on Regina, and Regina says she has to do this alone because it’s only her battle to fight. Regina declares, “Our fight ends today.”
The Evil Queen has Robin tied up and she’s anxiously pacing, waiting for Regina. Robin asks if killing Regina will really solve everything, suggesting it will just make a martyr of Regina. He thinks he’s there to save the Evil Queen, not Regina, and maybe they should leave together.
Back in time, the Evil Queen and her father make it to a portal and she’s confused. It’s dripping with light magic and she figures out her father’s tricked her. Tinker Bell actually told her father about this place and they go through the portal to a statue of Cupid. Her father says the arrow in Cupid’s hands will lead her to gaze upon the man she loves the most. Instead of taking the arrow and being happy, the Evil Queen’s concentrating on her revenge.
Hook looks in the dreamcatcher and watches as he kills David’s father. Emma also saw Hook’s memory of the murder and stops him before he can toss the dreamcatcher into the fire. She asks why he wanted to burn his memories and he confesses he’s scared of losing her. Emma thinks her mom and dad would forgive him, but Hook can’t imagine sitting across from them at dinner. He doesn’t know how he can live with that, but Emma is being incredibly supportive. She tells him that he should know they agreed to handle this sort of thing together. Since he didn’t believe in that, she hands him back the ring. She says when he’s ready for that level of trust, then they can talk.
Hook catches up with Captain Nemo at the dock and admits he took neither of Nemo’s good pieces of advice. He isn’t the man he thinks Emma needs him to be, and now he wants to join Captain Nemo’s voyage. Nemo agrees, telling him they’ll leave at nightfall.
Regina confronts the Evil Queen who’s holding the shears.
Back in Fairy Tale Land, the Evil Queen uses her mom’s spell book to find Snow White. She takes the arrow from Cupid’s statue and instead of using it to find the person she loves the most, she uses it to find the person she hates the most. She fires the arrow and it soars through the air.
Regina tells the Evil Queen to go ahead and use the shears, the town isn’t big enough for both of them. The connection between Regina and the Evil Queen lights up and she cuts it after saying, “See you on the other side!” And now it’s time for a sword fight!
The arrow flies toward the Evil Queen’s castle. Instead of pointing out Snow White’s hiding place, it lodges in the wall of the Evil Queen’s wardrobe cabinet. The wardrobe cabinet opens and the mirror shows the Evil Queen her own reflection. She hates herself more than she hates Snow!
Regina and the Evil Queen continue their duel, with Regina disarmed and tossing apples at the Evil Queen. That knocks her down and Regina picks up the sword. The Evil Queen sends her flying and gets control of the sword, but Regina’s able to bind her with branches telling her she’ll never take away the good things. She grabs the Evil Queen’s heart and begins to squeeze it when she sees her own reflection. Regina stops and lets the Evil Queen free, telling her she doesn’t hate her anymore. Regina declares she’ll be brave and choose love over hate. She takes out her own heart and then combines the two hearts. She places the hearts back in their chests, giving the Evil Queen some of her love from Henry, Robin, and the people she cares most about. Regina also took some of the Evil Queen’s darkness, saying they’re a part of each other no matter what. Regina says she loves herself and the Evil Queen should also love herself. They hug and the Evil Queen actually cries.
The Evil Queen and Regina have a heart-to-heart, and the Evil Queen confirms she sent Robin back to the Wish Realm since that’s where he wanted to go. She even apologizes for Regina not getting to say goodbye. They talk about happy endings and Regina says hope is just as important as a happy ending. The Evil Queen’s not sure what she should do next and needs somewhere new to get a fresh start. Regina thinks she knows someone who can help.
Regina, Snow, Zelena, and Henry meet at the diner, and Regina wants Henry to send the Evil Queen somewhere where she can have a chance at a new life. Henry says he can do that without breaking the rules because the Evil Queen’s not in his book, technically. Snow’s not sold on this, but Regina says the Evil Queen explained everything she knows about ending the sleeping curse. They have to give her a chance like they all gave Regina. Zelena’s also not convinced but the Evil Queen arrives to say she’s truly sorry for everything. She promises to do the right thing now and Henry tells her, “I knew you could be good, mom,” and she cries because Henry’s never called her mom before. She gives him back his pen and the Evil Queen thanks Regina one more time.
“Just promise me you won’t miss a single minute,” says Regina. Henry writes, “The Evil Queen went to the place where she could get a fresh start.” She smiles and disappears. They wonder where she went, and Regina says she has an idea.
We see the Evil Queen enter the tavern and apologize to Robin for kidnapping him. She says she’s had a change of heart and asks if she can buy him a drink. Robin says, “Seeing as how this is my realm, how about I buy you one?” They smile clink glasses, and drink.
Hook’s about to leave when Snow shows up and tells him Regina gave the Evil Queen her happy ending, which stuns Hook because he can’t believe it’s possible for the Evil Queen to have a happy ending. “Love can save even the darkest souls,” says Snow, and she congratulates him for making Emma so happy. She gives him a kiss and a hug and asks him to tell Emma that Regina’s okay. When Snow walks away, Hook takes the ring out of his pocket and looks at it.
Emma arrives back at her house and Hook’s not there.
Hook tells Nemo he’s not going to make the voyage after all, but before he can leave the Nautilus it begins submerging. Gideon’s on board and he’s taken control of the vessel. He apologizes to Nemo but says Hook can’t be in Storybrooke for what he has planned next.
