‘Once Upon a Time’ Season 6 Episode 19 Recap: The Black Fairy

Once Upon a Time Season 6 Episode 19
Colin O’Donoghue, Keegan Connor Tracy, Josh Dallas, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Carlyle, Emilie de Ravin and Jennifer Morrison in ‘Once Upon a Time’ (ABC/Jack Rowand)

ABC’s Once Upon a Time season six episode 19 starts off with a flashback to many years ago as Fiona (Jaime Murray) delivers a healthy baby boy. Tiger Lily (Sara Tomko) and the Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) arrive just after the birth and reveal a prophesy declared a baby would be born with great light magic that very night. The child would be known as the Savior and Tiger Lily would be his fairy godmother.

Flashforward to Storybrooke where Rumple (Robert Carlyle) believes a stinky unhatched dragon egg will revive Blue. Rumple’s upset when it doesn’t work and storms outside, and Belle (Emilie de Ravin) catches up to reassure him they will not let the Black Fairy harm their son. They’ll get Gideon’s heart back. Rumple confesses he thinks it’s his family’s fate to always get torn apart. Emma (Jennifer Morrison) interrupts with good news; the dragon’s egg worked and Blue is waking up. Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin), Hook (Colin O’Donoghue), and David (Josh Dallas) are also on hand to see Blue wake from her coma.

Before she’s fully awake, Hook asks where the other half of the wand he received from Tiger Lily is hidden. She struggles to answer it’s in the center of Storybrooke, and suddenly Snow puts her hands around Blue’s neck, telling her she shouldn’t share her secrets. Snow is actually the Black Fairy and David is actually Gideon (Giles Matthey), there to keep Blue from spilling dark secrets. The Black Fairy disappears with Blue and before Gideon can do anything, Rumple slaps a bracelet on his arm to block him from doing magic.

Zelena (Rebecca Mader), minus her magic, attempts to put together a crib and is fighting a losing battle. Regina asks if she needs help and reminds her sister that she went 28 years without magic. Regina promises it gets easier and Zelena’s worried because she was just defeated by a crib from IKEA. How will she protect her child? Regina says, “I have a thought,” and shows her a key.

Belle tries to get Gideon to reveal where the Black Fairy’s keeping his heart, but Gideon’s in pain as he talks to his mom and dad and so they stop. Emma comes into the shop and asks if they’ve had any luck locating the wand, but they haven’t. Rumple has an idea on how to speak to Gideon without hurting him but he needs Belle to trust him. She does and Rumple uses the Sands of Morpheus on Gideon, Emma, and himself, sending them all into the dream world.

Rumple says the Black Fairy can’t control the dream world and he tells Emma she’s there so that she won’t kill the Black Fairy before he gets his son’s heart back. They search for Gideon and instead find Rumple’s birthplace. The crib is rocking and they hear singing, and Rumple and Emma realize they’re in Rumple’s dream not Gideon’s. Still, Gideon is there somewhere too and they’ll find him.

A trip back in time finds Fiona unable to eat or sleep after finding out about the Savior. She’s armed with a sword in case someone tries to take her baby, and Tiger Lily arrives and apologizes for giving her The Book of Prophecy. The book tells of a great evil coming and her son will die during the final battle. Tiger Lily has brought more books because Fiona’s been researching the great evil which was born the same time as her son. Fiona cradles her baby and then offers to let Tiger Lily hold him. When Tiger Lily does, Fiona picks up her wand and chanting a spell, turns herself into a fairy so she can protect her son. Tiger Lily’s shocked at this turn of events.

Regina takes Zelena outside and tells her she needs to get out of Storybrooke and escape to New York when the final battle goes down. The only catch is that Zelena doesn’t know how to drive anything but a broom. Regina offers driving lessons which definitely don’t initially go well. Zelena can’t handle a stick and crashes into trash cans. She’s frustrated and says she’ll find another way, but Regina explains she needs Zelena to take Henry far away from the battle. She wants her sister to take Henry to New York with her to start a new life. Zelena’s touched that Regina trusts her to raise Henry, and Regina corrects her saying she trusts Henry to raise Zelena.

The driving lesson is put on hold when Snow calls asking for help. She, David, and Hook are at the clock tower which is the center of Storybrooke and they can’t find the wand. Snow reminds Regina that since she made the town, she must know what Blue meant when she said the wand was at the center of town. Regina figures out when a fairy talks about the center of something she means its heart, which means the wand is at Granny’s.

The Black Fairy holds Blue captive down in the mines, and she’s ready to torture her to get the location of the wand.

Back in time, Fiona and Tiger Lily search for the baby with the crescent scar without having any luck, but Fiona won’t stop until she finds the baby destined to kill her son. Fiona reveals she’s going to create a new spell, but Tiger Lily forbids her. (Fairies aren’t allowed to do that.) Fiona asks for her help, saying everything they need is in the sacred fairy vault.

Over in the dream world, Rumple and Emma continue their search for Gideon. Emma wants Rumple’s assurance he won’t turn on her when she tries to kill his mother, the Black Fairy. Rumple assures her he won’t, saying he doesn’t have any positive memories of his time with his mother. She didn’t even give him a name, and he won’t cry when she dies. Gideon shows up just then, and he and Rumple hug. Gideon thanks his dad for fighting for him and Rumple cries, as does Gideon. He asks where Gideon’s heart is, but he doesn’t have any idea. However, Gideon reveals the one thing the Black Fairy is afraid of is Rumple learning her darkest secret – the reason she gave him up.

Rumple, Gideon, and Emma look at Rumple’s baby blanket in a basket. Gideon’s figured out the answer to defeating the Black Fairy is buried deep inside Rumple.

In Storybrooke the gang is busy disrupting Granny’s business to search for the wand. They look everywhere and finally Hook and David decide to move the jukebox. They find a secret compartment under the floorboards and inside the case is the other half the wand. As they argue about turning it over to Regina, wondering if she’s the Black Fairy in disguise, the real Black Fairy shows up. Hook gives Regina the wand and the Black Fairy demands she hand it over. Regina refuses and the Black Fairy relishes the idea of killing a queen, something she’s never had the pleasure of doing before. Regina’s never killed a fairy before so now it’s game on. They disappear, leaving Hook, David, Snow, and Granny behind.

The Black Fairy and Regina materialize on Main Street, circling each other as Regina warns the others to stay back. The Black Fairy attacks but Zelena runs her over with her car. The Black Fairy vanishes and Zelena’s quite proud of her driving ability.

Meanwhile in the dream world, Rumple stares at the blanket wondering what to do next. Rumple says nothing’s happening, and Emma tries to reassure him they understand he’s scared. He’s never faced anything as terrifying as learning the truth about why his mother gave him up. Emma tells him to do it for his son. Rumple agrees and stares again at the blanket.

Rumple, Emma, and Gideon see back in time to when Rumple was a baby. They watch as Fiona sings to her child in the secret vault of the fairies, and Gideon’s shocked to learn Rumple’s mother wasn’t always the Black Fairy. They watch as Fiona mixes up a spell, and then Tiger Lily discovers it’s a curse. She can’t let Fiona cast the dark curse which will send every child far away to a land without magic. Fiona pleads with Tiger Lily to let her protect her child, and Tiger Lily reminds Fiona her son is destined to die so others may live. He is destined to be the Savior. The adult Rumple watches this and is shocked by what he’s learning. (Robert Carlyle is simply brilliant in this scene.) Fiona rips Tiger Lily’s heart from her chest, threatening to kill her to protect her child. It’s then that Fiona’s transformed into the Black Fairy. On her wrist is the crescent scar she’s been searching for among the babies. Tiger Lily says, “Evil was not born this winter, it was made.” The great evil is Fiona and she and her child are destined to destroy each other.

Once Upon a Time Season 6 episode 19
Jennifer Morrison, Lana Parrilla, Emilie de Ravin, and Robert Carlyle in ‘Once Upon a Time’ (ABC/Jack Rowand)

Rumple, Gideon, and Snow wake up back in Storybrooke just as Regina arrives with the wand. She tries to hand it to Emma, but Emma says Rumple is the Savior destined to fight the Black Fairy. Regina and Belle ask if it’s true and Rumple confirms it is. Belle says she’s known all along there was a good man behind the beast. Gideon says he’ll help but Rumple believes he needs to face his mother alone.

Rumple, wand in hand, meets his mother on the foggy banks of the river. He reminds Fiona he was meant to destroy her with this wand, and she now knows he discovered the awful truth. He knows he was meant to be the Savior and believes she left him because he was meant to kill her. He’s wrong. The Black Fairy reaches out and touches his face, revealing the real reason she left him.

Back in time, Tiger Lily begs Fiona not to do this. Blue arrives and snags Tiger Lily’s heart from Fiona, placing it back in Tiger Lily’s chest. Tiger Lily believes there’s a way to change their destiny, showing Fiona the shears that will sever her destiny from her child’s. The catch being Fiona must give up her powers. But, Fiona decides on a different option. She’ll sever her son’s destiny and he won’t be the Savior, therefore she won’t kill him. Blue begs Fiona not to do this because the child is destined to be a great hero. Fiona does it anyway and Blue and Tiger Lily send her away and keep the child.

Flashforward and Rumple wants to know why his mother never told him the truth. Fiona admits it was easier for him to hate her, and Rumple reminds her she made the decision to take his destiny and keep her power. She seems to believe she did it to protect him, but Rumple understands the truth and the appeal of power. Fiona tells him it’s a dangerous world and if her choice was wrong, at least she did it out of love. She apologizes for causing him pain and says the pain she caused Gideon made him strong. He tells his mother he became the Dark One to save Baelfire and that now he’s tried to keep Gideon from his fate.

Fiona says she loves him, believing they can now be a family. She asks for her son’s forgiveness.

Another flashback finds Blue and Tiger Lily visiting Rumple’s father. They let him know Fiona will not be coming back, telling him she tried to protect their son and it was an accident that she’s gone. He blames the baby for Fiona’s death and angry, with tears in his eyes, he names the child Rumpelstiltskin.

Rumple arrives at Granny’s and shows Emma, Hook, David, and Snow the Black Fairy’s heart. He assures them Blue is okay and back with her kind, and Emma says, “You did good, Savior.”

Rumple returns Gideon’s heart and frees him from his restraints. They hug and Gideon tells them he’s missed them, and he apologizes for letting the Black Fairy take control of him. Rumple assures him he’ll never have to worry about the Black Fairy again. Belle’s proud of Rumple, proud he fought for their family and saved Gideon. Rumple assures them everything he does is to keep them safe.

Henry (Jared Gilmore) arrives home and Hook pounces on him, stopping him from going up the stairs. Hook talks about the missions they’ve gone on together and says the most important mission is coming up: Operation Best Man. Henry says he’s honored and Hook makes him the keeper of the wedding rings. Emma wonders what they’re up to and wonders why Henry says he’ll see Hook tomorrow when Hook lives there now. Hook apparently is very old-fashioned and refuses to see the bride before the wedding, telling Emma, “A seafaring man does not take superstitions lightly.” He adds, “After tomorrow there will be no getting rid of me.” They kiss and off Hook goes.

And now we learn the truth… Rumple did not kill his mother. She asks if they believed him and he confirms they did. The Black Fairy wants him to admit he adores being the Dark One and he does, calling it the family trait. Belle and Gideon have no idea what’s to come, and the Black Fairy assures him it will be a happy ending for their family. The Black Fairy says tomorrow will be the day Emma dies. The final battle is here!

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