‘Once Upon a Time’ Season 6 Episode 8 Recap: “I’ll Be Your Mirror”

Once Upon a Time season 6 episode 8 star Josh Dallas
Josh Dallas in ‘Once Upon a Time’ season 6 episode 8 (Photo by Jack Rowand / ABC)

ABC’s Once Upon a Time season six episode seven found Snow and David’s lives turned upside down by the Evil Queen who cursed them with a twisted sleeping spell. David and Snow can not be awake at the same time, which means they’ll never see each other again unless someone figures out how to break the spell. Episode eight, titled ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’ and airing on November 13, 2016, opened with Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) talking to a sleeping David (Josh Dallas), and with Regina (Lana Parrilla) insisting it’s all her fault. She wants to sacrifice herself to kill off the Evil Queen, but Emma convinces her they’ll find another way solution.

Snow has had her turn awake and is about to kiss David to swap places when she figures out the Evil Queen is watching them. Snow smashes the mirror, while elsewhere, the Evil Queen looks into her mirror and smiles.

David whips up breakfast for Snow, leaves her a note, and then swaps places. They go through each day this way, taking care of their baby, and leaving notes and videos on their phones for each other. They seem to have made the adjustment as well as could be expected and are making the best out of a horrible situation.

Emma visits Regina in her vault, letting her know she hasn’t been able to track down the Dragon – the one person who might have a cure. But now Regina has an idea: they can trap the Evil Queen in the world behind the mirror. Regina wants to use Henry (Jared Gilmore) as bait, and he’s fine with it because he needs a distraction from the school dance. Violet stood him up for their John Hughes film date, and he doesn’t know if she even likes him anymore. Emma gives him advice, reminding him she won’t always be there to dispense it in the future.

Henry meets up with the Evil Queen on the lake’s shore, and she tells him someday he’ll understand they’ll all have to make hard choices. Henry claims he’s not afraid of her anymore, but when the Evil Queen reaches out to touch him, it turns out he’s not actually there. Emma and Regina are though, and the Evil Queen’s mad they used her son to trap her. Regina holds up the mirror and thinks she’s going to enchant her sister, but it turns out the Evil Queen traded mirrors. She uses the real enchanted mirror to trap Regina and Emma, telling them they’ll be imprisoned behind the glass for the rest of their lives.

Emma and Regina wind up in a world full of mirrors but no doors. Emma can see Storybrooke through the mirrors, but she can’t actually visit the town. She’s surrounded by mirrors, and she randomly touches them. No one on the other side can see or hear her, and Regina tells Emma to stop trying to get through to anyone in Storybrooke. They don’t have magic in this world, and Regina says it was the perfect prison for the Evil Queen which makes it the perfect prison for them. But, Emma reminds Regina she has people who care about her and Regina figures out Henry is the key to their release.

Back in Storybrooke, the Evil Queen transforms into Regina and visits Henry, Snow, and Hook (Colin O’Donoghue). She tells them the spell to trap the Evil Queen worked and that she finally feels free, and she lets Hook know Emma is driving to New York to find the Dragon by herself. Snow’s happy Regina got rid of “that monster,” and the Evil Queen has a hard time maintaining her masquerade as Regina while being insulted. She changes the subject, helping Henry get ready for his dance.

Elsewhere in Storybrooke, Belle (Emilie de Ravin) tells Zelena (Rebecca Mader) that Gold has closed the shop, and she wants Zelena to help her keep him away from her son. Belle refuses to leave until Zelena does help her with Gold, reminding Zelena she knows what it’s like to love someone who always lets them down. She’s not going to let her son go through this, and she believes Zelena can get her out of Storybrooke safely. Zelena needs the sorcerer’s wand, and Gold has it under lock and key.

Belle and Zelena sit down at the diner with Jasmine (Karen David) and Aladdin (Deniz Akdeniz), and they want to hire Aladdin to steal the wand since he’s the best thief in any town. Jasmine doesn’t want him to do it, but Belle tells him that if any part of him is still a hero, he’ll help her escape from “this beast.”

The Evil Queen, still dressed as Regina, visits Gold and he knows right away she’s the Evil Queen. She needs the Hammer of Festus, an item that is useful for people who want to use magic but have none. She wants to give it to Henry and Gold decides to give it to her, but she must give something in return. She says if he gives it to her, they’ll be on the same team. He reminds her love is weakness and she turns it around, saying love can also be a weapon, a weapon she can use on Henry.

Hook tries returning Emma’s call, but his call goes straight to her voice mail. It doesn’t feel right and as he hangs up, he spots pieces of the shattered mirror on the ground and Emma’s cell phone. The Evil Queen shows up and knocks him out after telling him she won’t say what she did with Emma and Regina.

Back in the world behind the mirrors, Regina tries to figure out which mirror will show them Henry. Emma remembers Henry was going to take Violet to Granny’s before the dance.

In Storybrooke, Henry sits alone in a booth at Granny’s, glancing at his watch. He gets up and looks at himself in a mirror and Emma and Regina watch him. They know he’s terrified, and try banging on the mirror. He hears it making noises but can’t see them or hear their voices. The Evil Queen, still disguised as Regina, shows up and asks him what’s wrong.

Emma and Regina realize Henry doesn’t even know they’re missing, while the Evil Queen gives him advice on Violet. She tells him Violet’s a commoner who’s lucky to have a “prince” like him. She also tells him he’ll always be royalty no matter what world they live in, and the Evil Queen says one day they may return to her castle and he’ll be king. She tries to convince him being royalty is in the way he carries himself, and to act like the prince he is. She reminds him to stop slouching, and it appears Henry realizes something’s up.

Once Upon a Time Season 6 Episode 8
Olivia Steele Falconer and Jared Gilmore in ‘Once Upon a Time’ (Photo by Jack Rowand / ABC)

Violet (Olivia Steele Falconer) shows up and Henry hands her a rose, and she asks if the homecoming dance is like a ball. As they’re talking, the Evil Queen remains behind Henry in the doorway. She can’t hear what he’s saying, so Henry tells Violet to just smile no matter what he says. He tells her the woman behind him is the Evil Queen and Violet needs to come up with a reason for them to leave. She asks if she can show him the dress she really wanted in a dress shop window, and he tells the Evil Queen he’ll be back soon.

Regina and Emma are upset the Evil Queen is going after Henry and as they talk, Emma is convinced someone else is there with them. She’s right as the Dragon appears. The Evil Queen paid a visit to his shop after they left her for dead. He’s angry at Regina for letting out the evil within, telling her this is a lesson learned at a great cost. They tell him they just want to get back to Henry, and the Dragon says he’s found a back door but hasn’t been able to open it.

Back in Storybrooke, Aladdin breaks into Gold’s and searches for the sorcerer’s wand. He spots Gold in a back room, weaving, and Gold looks up when he hears a noise. Fortunately, a little toy monkey starts moving and Gold believes that’s what made the noise. Aladdin hides, thanks the monkey, and finds the wand.

Back in the mirror world, the Dragon is sorry he can’t break Emma’s parents’ curse. He does, however, think the three of them may be able to put a mirror back together that’s possibly the way out.

Henry visits his mom’s vault and speaks into her mirror. He asks Emma and Regina to say something if they’re in there. Just then the Evil Queen arrives and catches him, telling him she’s the mother who made him face his fears as a child. She just wants him to be great and have whatever he wants, he just has to stand on his own. He tells her she can’t “Darth Vader” him and promises he’ll never join her. She claims to not really be evil – although she’s not a hero, either. She picks up a beating heart and tells him she’s a leader who will do whatever is necessary.

Returning to the mirror world, it turns out the Dragon is being controlled by the Evil Queen. She put the Dragon’s body in the mirror, but she kept his heart. The Evil Queen lets them see Henry, and Henry see them as the Dragon groans in pain. He says he doesn’t want to do this as he transforms into a fire-breathing dragon.

The Evil Queen commands it kill Emma and Regina, and Henry tells her to make it stop. She’s giving him a choice: use the hammer to smash the Dragon’s heart or leave his mothers to die. He thinks he’ll turn evil if he smashes the heart. Meanwhile, Emma and Regina decide to aim the dragon’s fire at the mirror. They have a short argument about who should risk their life to do it, and Regina admits she’s scared to raise Henry by herself while Emma reminds her she has a death sentence anyway. They decide to do it together as Henry attempts to make up his mind about using the hammer.

Emma and Regina yell for Henry’s help and the Evil Queen keeps telling him to smash the dragon’s heart. He decides instead to smash the mirror. The Dragon aims his fire at the mirror and it cracks. Henry grabs the heart and Emma and Regina come flying through the mirror. The Evil Queen accuses Henry of being weak and needing to hide behind his moms, but he stands up to her and says family makes him strong. He tells the Evil Queen she’ll always be alone and as she approaches Henry about to do something evil, Hook comes up from behind and threatens to put his hook through her neck. She disappears.

Aladdin and Jasmine take a nighttime walk down Storybrooke’s main street, and she’s proud of him for being a hero. She, on the other hand, isn’t happy with herself for not helping him with Belle’s problem. Aladdin makes her feel better by revealing he snagged a magic lamp that, unfortunately, doesn’t house their old friend the genie. But, Aladdin thinks whoever is inside it now might be able to help Jasmine with her kingdom.

Apparently, Aladdin wasn’t as clever a burglar as he thought he was. Gold shows up at Zelena’s as Zelena and Belle are about to get underway with the spell using the sorcerer’s wand. Gold takes it back and slaps a gold bracelet on Belle’s arm, telling her he’ll always be able to find her. He says it’s love, but Belle says he’s just scared. She threatens to run away fast and far, and he’ll never see their son. He reminds her Rumple takes children, not the other way around.

As he attempts to silence Zelena’s retort, he groans in pain. When he tried to grab her throat using magic, he brought on a heart attack. Zelena got him to agree on a deal when she saved him all those months ago in New York: if he hurts her, he hurts himself. Rumple says he’ll find a loophole and leaves.

Snow tries to write another note for David, but starts crying and says she can’t do it anymore. She says she misses him before kissing him.

Henry apologizes to Violet for missing the dance and he’s decorated Granny’s to look like a prom. He asks if she’s getting bored with him and she admits she’s having a hard time adjusting to school. She feels out of place, and then starts wondering which of the Breakfast Club characters she is. He tells her she’s Violet and doesn’t need a label, and then asks her to dance. His moms watch from outside, and Regina finally notices he’s grown up and they both did a great job raising him.

Gold is looking at the sonogram again when the Evil Queen arrives. She says Henry will realize some day what she’s doing to make him strong, and Gold asks her how far she’s willing to go to get her new beginning. She says she’ll do anything, and they kiss. Gold says maybe they’ll both get their happy endings, but first he wants the Evil Queen to kill Zelena.