A giant sized problem in Storybrooke!! Once Upon A Time Recap!!

*WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!!*

The people of Storybrooke thought they had big problems when a stranger named Mendel arrived in town and had witnessed Gold wielding magic. The unexpected arrival of Cora and Captain Hook emphasized further trouble. However, no problem is bigger than a giant. Last night, the giant Anton, who hasn’t been seen since Emma, along with Hook, climbed the beanstalk earlier in the season, has been brought to Storybrooke by Cora. Reduced to human size, Anton is found on Hook’s ship by David, Mary Margaret, and Leroy who accompanied the notorious pirate to find out Cora’s true motives for arriving in Storybrooke. After being handed a key by Hook, Mary Margaret opens the cage. Once out, Anton immediately attacks David. Something has happened between them, but what could David have done to the giant and why. The answer lied back in the Enchanted Forest.

Anton and his brothers were celebrating a fine harvest of magic beans in the Kingdom of the Giants. However, Anton is made to feel out of place since he is smaller than his brothers so he travels to the human land and there he meets two people who wish to make him fit in despite his size—a woman named Jacqueline and David’s twin brother James. Jacqueline hands Anton a piece of a mushroom from Wonderland which makes him smaller. Anton is shown a wonderful time by his new friends unaware of their true motives. After being told an elaborate story by Jacqueline of how the kingdom will be destroyed because of money woes, Anton decides to help out. He returns to the Kingdom of the Giants to gather treasure to offer the James and Jacqueline. His eldest brother finds him and he is not happy with Anton’s decision to help humans. Anton’s brother Marlo reminds him that the humans hunted their kind to near extinction after they became greedy for the magic beans. The incident has led to the giant’s hiding themselves and severing contact with the human world. Sadly, history repeats itself when James and Jacqueline arrive in the Kingdom of the Giants to take the magic beans the giants have just grown. Anton has been betrayed. With no other alternative, Anton is told by Marlo to destroy the fields and the beans that grown within. Following the aftermath, Anton is the last of his kind. Angered by the death of his brothers, he develops hatred for humans and for the man who betrayed him.

That hatred has carried over to now with Anton hating David whom he thinks is James. Courtesy of an encounter with Regina, Anton is restored to his original giant self with the mushroom from Wonderland. He wreaks havoc through Storybrooke in search of James until David tells that his twin brother is long dead, hoping that will quell his anger. Mary Margaret tries to help by reminding Anton that Emma helped him back in the Enchanted World. Unfortunately, Emma has left with Mr. Gold in search of his son Bae. Anton pursues the royal couple until the effects of the mushroom wear off and leave him in a predicament. David offers the rescue the shrunken giant before he falls to his death through the hole he created when he tried to stomp on David. Anton realizes his mistake and that not all humans are bad. He even helps clear a field with the dwarves in order to grow new magic beans.

When Anton was first introduced earlier in the season, it didn’t seem that he was fully into his hatred of humans; like he still had doubts about them or he was confused as to which humans he can trust. He learned to trust Emma after she freed him from a trap that was intended to catch human intruders. In return, he showed how to return home. It was interesting to see how the war between humans and giants would be interpreted. Deceit and betrayal have played several roles throughout the series, serving as a way of keeping the intertwining stories of each character fresh.

The character Jack the Giant Killer is given to the woman named Jacqueline who is called Jack for short and Josh Dallas takes on a dual role as David’s twin brother James. It is these character interpretations that make this series worth watching each week and again, it keeps the story fresh. With all the reference points, I’m curious to see how big a role Wonderland will play in this. The magic mushroom was introduced in this episode and earlier in the season, Cora was revealed to be the Queen of Hearts, and last season introduced the Mad Hatter. With these points illustrated, it’s only a matter of time before we see how far the rabbit hole goes.