‘Once Upon a Time’ Season 6 Episode 7 Recap: Heartless

Once Upon a Time Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas
Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas in ‘Once Upon a Time’ (Photo by Jack Rowand / ABC)

The Evil Queen’s ready to do whatever it takes, including killing all of the citizens of Storybrooke, in ABC’s Once Upon a Time season six episode seven. Airing on November 6, 2016, episode seven kicks off with Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) in bed asleep next to David (Josh Dallas) one minute and then pulled into the forest for a talk with the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) the next. The Evil Queen reminds Snow of her 15th birthday when she received a pony from her dad, and recalls how she’s never seen such delight on Snow’s face as she did that day when the pony bowed at her feet. All those years ago Snow proclaimed her 15th birthday to be the perfect day, and now the Evil Queen is going to get her perfect day by snatching what she’s always wanted: Snow’s heart.

Since David has half of Snow’s heart, the Evil Queen will also get that. Snow reminds her they both have protection spells, courtesy of Regina. Oh, but the Evil Queen has a plan in store that will make Snow and David hand them over willingly. The Evil Queen places a small glass container of some unknown liquid in Snow’s hand and tells her she has 12 hours to figure out what it is. If she doesn’t, the whole town will die.

Next up, the Evil Queen shows up at Zelena’s where she tells her sister she’ll soon have Snow’s heart. Zelena (Rebecca Mader) figures out she’s working with the Dark One on this evil plan, and the Evil Queen confirms it’s true and that she had to give him the Sheers of Destiny in exchange for his help.

In a flashback to the Enchanted Forest, Snow tries to sell a piece of her jewelry and because she’s desperate (and wanted), she’s forced to sell it for considerably less than she wanted to. Meanwhile, David and his adorable dog are working with the family’s sheep and his mom’s worried that soon they won’t have a flock left. His mom’s ready to give up on the farm and sell it, but she thinks David doesn’t want to do that because it would mean he’s admitting defeat.


Elsewhere in the forest, Snow’s tearing down a wanted poster of herself and angrily telling Blue (Keegan Connor Tracy) about the man who gave her such a small sum for the piece of jewelry. Just then Blue warns her to run because the jewelry buyer apparently turned her in. After a hatchet barely misses Snow’s head, Blue and Snow team up to fight off the Woodcutter. Fortunately they win, and Snow says she has to leave because she’s a princess without a kingdom. The money she received from selling her family’s jewelry is enough to book passage on a ship and away from the Evil Queen. Blue and Snow part company, with Snow saying she’s on her way to Longbourne.

David’s packing up and off to find a buyer for their farm. He’s off to Longbourne along with his faithful dog.

Back in Storybrooke, Snow tells David, Regina, Emma (Jennifer Morrison), Hook (Colin O’Donoghue), and Henry (Jared Gilmore) that if she doesn’t hand over her heart, the Evil Queen will use what’s in the bottle on the whole town. Emma’s hand is shaking like crazy and it’s because her parents are being threatened with death. David reminds her they’re alive in her visions, but she says the oracle told her the future could change. The only thing certain is that she dies. Suddenly, Regina says she knows what’s in the bottle. She tries it on a tree and it immediately dies. It’s water, explains Regina, and Hook says he knew you shouldn’t trust water – rum would never do that! The water is from the River of Lost Souls which means the Evil Queen is working with Gold. If Snow and David don’t give up their hearts, the Evil Queen can destroy the town.

David and Snow walk the Storybrooke streets, and Snow’s upset all these innocent people could die. Or, that maybe this is all leading to Emma’s vision. David tells her not to give up and Snow swears she isn’t. It’s just that maybe the Evil Queen finally has them over a barrel.

Back in time, David’s dog, Wilby, finds a cup, brings it to his master, and then runs off. David chases Wilby to a carriage and the traveler thanks him for returning his lost cup. He’s also heading to Longbourne and thinks there’s safety in numbers, so he offers David a ride. David doesn’t see him open the back of the carriage where there are chains and his woodcutter outfit.

Snow and Blue walk through the forest on the way to Longbourne and Blue tells her that she can’t leave because all the people love her and that’s the most important thing. Snow argues, saying love doesn’t hold its value but money can buy her a ticket out of there. They hug, with Blue warning her danger can look harmless at first.

In Storybrooke, the gang pays a visit to Belle (Emilie de Ravin) who can’t help them but also isn’t shocked to learn Gold is helping the Evil Queen. Nothing in her books say anything about neutralizing water from the River of Lost Souls. Blue also doesn’t have a way to neutralize the water, and David says it really does come down to the whole town dying or the Evil Queen getting what she’s always wanted, Snow’s heart. But then Blue suggests a possible solution: a sapling made from the first spark of true love has enough magic to imprison the Evil Queen. She thinks the sapling is lost somewhere in Storybrooke, and a spell can point the way to it like a beacon. But, the Evil Queen and Zelena would also see the beacon and know what they’re trying to do, and it’s possible they could try to get there first. That’s when Regina comes clean about the Evil Queen/Gold alliance and says there’s more to it than everyone knows. She confesses that Rumple (Robert Carlyle) and the Evil Queen had a certain amount of chemistry. The gang is shocked, even though Regina says nothing ever happened. She writes out a note which reads, “Meet me at Gold’s shop,” and signs it “The Queen.” The note is for Zelena and Regina watches as her sister heads to the shop.

Inside Gold’s shop, Zelena spies the Evil Queen and Gold making out in the back room. Zelena now knows the Evil Queen’s been lying to her. The Evil Queen stops her before she can leave the shop, and Zelena accuses her of keeping secrets. Gold tells Zelena to calm down and the Evil Queen says she didn’t write the note, but they know Regina did. Gold quickly figures out they’re being played.

Down at the dock, Blue performs magic and the beacon shows the sapling’s location. The gang knows where they will keep the Evil Queen, and Emma and Hook volunteer to go clean out Regina’s vault.

And back in the Enchanted Forest once again, David and the woodcutter take a walk through the woods to give his horses a rest. He gives David a drink that knocks him out and poor Wilby stands by, upset his master’s asleep. The woodcutter knocked out David so that he could use Wilby’s nose to track down Snow. Once Wilby finds her, Snow gets distracted petting him and doesn’t notice the woodcutter until it’s too late. He tells Snow he’s taking her to the Evil Queen for the reward.

Meanwhile in Storybrooke, Snow, David, and Regina follow the beacon to the sapling which is hidden in the same place that Snow found David after he wandered out of the hospital years ago. David wonders if it’s a sign and Snow’s just happy to be on an adventure with her hubby. Regina finds a trap door and down they go.

Emma and Hook are supposed to be busy packing up Regina’s vault, but Emma’s worried about her parents and her hand is shaking. Hook tells her Snow and David will find the magic little tree thing and that doesn’t calm her down, but Hook has just the thing that will do the trick. He borrowed Henry’s book and tells her she has to shush and listen to the story. It’s the story of Snow and Prince Charming and how the Evil Queen will never separate them, and Hook believes true love can break any curse. He also believes Emma inherited their strength and that she can also break any curse. She’s the savior because she was born of their love. Hook’s amazing story ends with him reminding Emma to remember who she is, a product of true love. He kisses her hand, which is no longer shaking.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Wilby licks David’s face, wakes him up, and leads him to Snow who’s locked up in the carriage. David tries unsuccessfully to break the lock.

In the cave under the trap door, David and Snow touch the sapling at the same time and it provides them with a montage of scenes from their life together. David says he doesn’t need a reminder of their love, but Snow’s a little confused about one scene that flashed by. Regina breaks up their discussion, telling them they have to leave now. Of course, that’s when the Evil Queen shows up and takes the sapling from Snow. She breaks the sapling in half so that it won’t work for anyone. It turns to dust and she asks if they want to turn their hearts over now, but David says they still have time. The Evil Queen says she’ll see them at the cemetery soon because it’s a “good place for endings.”

David and Snow make it back home and Snow’s standing over Neal’s crib. They don’t have much time left and Snow says they can’t let the town die. David realizes that, and Snow’s ready to give over heart. They recall the memories they were just shown and David says he heard in the flashes, “Knowing you believe in me means I’m not alone.” That confuses Snow because that was only her memory – the only one of the visions that they weren’t in together. Snow thinks he wasn’t there for that memory, but David also believes she wasn’t there and it was only his memory. It turns out neither knew until they both touched the sapling that Snow was in the woodcutter’s carriage and David was the one who freed her. Snow didn’t let him see her face because that would have put a target on his back, and so he handed her the key and never looked in the carriage. They talked about why they were both on that road and Snow gave David the money she’d been saving as a reward so that he could save his farm. She decided that she was resourceful and that she’d liberate a fine nobleman of his cash. And that’s when she said, “Knowing you believe in me means I’m not alone.” The sapling made of true love was born at that moment.

Back in Storybrooke, the Evil Queen addresses the townsfolk in the cemetery. Snow and David have five minutes left and if they don’t show up, everyone will die. As Emma and Regina are about to try using their magic to fight the Evil Queen, Snow and David show up and yell, “Wait!” They’re willing to give up their shared heart because they know their love is true. Emma’s upset but Snow assures her they will be fine. They ask Regina to lift the protection spell, exposing their hearts. They join hands, exchange a loving look, and the Evil Queen reaches into their chests and removes their hearts. She says she’s dreamed about this moment for so long, but now she wants to give Snow her pain – the pain of being alone. She puts their hearts back in and then places Snow under a powerful sleeping curse (with a twist). The Evil Queen tells David to start trying to find Snow and then warns, “Let’s see what happens when you do!”

Gold’s looking at the sonogram when Belle visits his shop. He thanks her for the photo and she lets him know Zelena told her about the Evil Queen. Belle doesn’t care about that, but she does care about the sheers. Belle won’t let him use the sheers on their son, telling him if he wants his son’s love, he has to be worthy of it. She also tells him his fear of failing is worse than being evil. Belle leaves and Gold’s furious at Zelena.

David and Emma begin searching everywhere, racing to the woods at the edge of Storybrooke. He finds her where the Evil Queen left her before. She’s asleep and Regina doesn’t think a kiss will do it this time, but David tries anyway. As their lips part, it seems as though the curse is broken. However, while Snow awakens, David falls to the ground, asleep. Snow sits up as Regina realizes that Snow and David share the curse because the Evil Queen placed it on the heart they share. When one is awake, the other will be asleep. They will never be together.