WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!
Throwdown in downtown–Zelena (Rebecca Mader) takes on her sister Regina (Lana Parrilla).
Zelena confronts Regina at Granny’s diner where she reminders her that she is her half-sister and challenges Regina to a duel. In Oz, Zelena meets the wizard where she learns about her past. He gives her the magical shoes which she uses to transport herself to Regina’s castle and meets Rumplestiltskin. In her family mausoleum, Regina finds a letter stating that Zelena is her sister. Emma and her parents make plans to remove Gold from the equation. In the woods, Robin finds Regina and reads the letter from her mother Cora. Regina is greatly concerned that she will not be able to defeat Zelena. Emma and David search the farmhouse for Zelena and find no sign of her. Belle finds Gold in the storm cellar and tries to leave with him but Zelena is there. With the dagger, she commands Gold to deliver a message for her. Hook talks to Henry about Neal. Later, the townsfolk of Storybrooke gather at the clock tower to witness the battle. Zelena arrives with Gold at her side. Regina shows up moments later. The two duel each other until Zelena attempts to remove Regina’s heart only to discover that she doesn’t have it. Zelena retreats, vowing to steal Regina’s heart.
The town gathers to bury Neal Cassidy who gave his life to save his father.
Hook is a man of many talents—pirate, adventurer, nobleman—and now he plays the role of grief counselor to Henry. Seeing Emma struggle with helping Henry cope with the death of his father, he offers to tell him more about Neal/Baelfire when he was a kid. A task the could be more difficult to complete since Henry sees that Hook and his father are near the same age and he has no memory of anything that has happened over the past year. But Hook does eventually get through to Henry and develops a bond with him just as he did with Neal. This time with Henry also served to comfort Hook as well. He has known Neal as a child and showed him the things his father didn’t. Hook also assumes another role—advisor to Emma. He keeps pressing her to tell Henry the truth even though Henry may not accept them. Emma is wary of this and likely Hook sees the wariness and hopes she make the right choice. Continuing with this bonding theme, Regina seems to be getting closer to Robin Hood. She tells Tinkerbelle about him and Tink tells her that she shouldn’t mess it up again. At first, Regina decides to keep her distance until after the duel with Zelena. Before the battle, she had Robin guard her heart which she removed and asks him to keep hold of it. She literally hands the men she is destined to be with her heart. Looks like Regina might have that drink with him after all.
In the past, Zelena was trained by Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) in the ways of magic.
Well, here we go! We get a look into Zelena’s past in Oz where she meets the Wizard of Oz. that familiar scene plays out as we—and our grandparents—remember. Zelena enters the wizard’s chamber where she sees the silhouette of Oz instead of a scary face surrounded by flames. Oz gives her the task of bringing him back something from Rumplestiltskin, a variation of Dorothy being tasked with bringing back the Wicked Witch’s broom. Oz gives her the silver slippers so she can travel between realms. Do not look for the ruby red slippers. That was Hollywood. In the original story, the slippers are silver and given to her by Oz. to complete the scene, Zelena exposes Oz for being nothing more than a man behind a curtain who reveals himself to be from Kansas. Sorry, I don’t see Dorothy being referred to in this. However, I was right about Zelena. Oz shows her Regina and tells her that she is her sister and that Cora abandoned her because Zelena could not give her a kingdom. Regina has become a queen and gave Cora what she wanted. This makes Zelena jealous. She uses the power of the slippers to transport herself to the Enchanted Forest where she meets Rumplestiltskin and asks him to train her in magic. Rumplestiltskin is impressed with Zelena’s progress but notices her jealously getting in the way and it starts to manifest itself. Soon Zelena becomes insanely jealous of Regina and thus she literally is green with envy. She confronts her sister Regina in Storybrooke and attempts to take her heart only to find it missing. Afterward, Regina learns that she is gathering ingredients for a curse but Zelena has plans to change the past. She is going to try and break the laws of magic and change the past so Regina was never born. Part of me sees her failing like Jafar did in the series finale of the “Once” spin-off. Then again, she just might succeed. To keep with the “Oz” theme, Zelena already has David’s courage and she tried to take Regina’s heart. Now it’s a matter of time before she gets her hands of some brains, or in this case, intelligence. Now who in Storybrooke is the smartest person?
