BWW Recap: Heroes Rise and Villains Fall on ONCE UPON A TIME!

On tonight's winter finale of ONCE UPON A TIME, we said more than our share of goodbyes to a few Storybooke residents. With the Snow Queen defeated, Anna and Elsa were eager to return home to Arendalle, especially since Hans and his brothers had taken over the kingdom. However, the Snow Queen's magic still affected the town's boundaries, meaning no one could cross the town line with hopes of returning.

Rumpelstiltskin wanted Anna out of the picture because she knows a lot about his dark past. Therefore, he uses his power over Hook (Rumpel has Hook's heart, for those who don't remember) to force Hook to talk to Emma about Anna's departure. Hook says that Rumpel has found a portal to Arendalle, and will let the sisters use it to return home. But of course, Rumpel has mischief up his sleeve.

As the Arendalle sisters walk through the portal and the usual gang is distracted, Rumpel seizes the opportunity to use the Sorcerer's hat to rid himself of the dagger's power. But as he begins casting the spell, he is halted by Belle, who furiously orders him to take them to the town line. Belle had found the real dagger Rumpel had been hiding from her and figured out his plan. Belle felt incredibly betrayed by Rumpel's actions, and commanded him via the dagger to leave town permanently. Left without a choice, Rumpel leaves town.

Meanwhile, we finally found resolution to the Regina-Robin-Marion storyline, and it was nothing short of heartbreaking. Regina and Robin were able to wake Marion up from her ice curse, but the spell quickly resurfaced to freeze her heart. In order for Marion to live, she must cross the town line and enter our world without magic, meaning the spell would not be able to harm her. Regina insists that Robin and his son accompany her so that Marion can start a new life with her family alongside her. Robin is reluctant to comply and leave Regina forever, but he eventually gives in and leaves Storybrooke with his family.

At the end of the episode, we discovered where Rumpel went after leaving Stoybrooke: New York City! He is now seeking out the three Queens of Darkness, Cruella DeVil, Ursula, and Maleficent, whom he believes can help him get back to Storybooke. Together, the quartet plan to prove that villains can indeed have their happy endings, and will do so by locating the the infamous author of the ONCE UPON A TIME book. But, Emma, Regina, and Henry have the upper hand, for they have found the author's house!

I'm crossing my fingers the author's identity will finally be revealed this spring! For some reason, I can't shake the feeling that the author is the Sorcerer. He seems to be an all-knowing, god-like character who would be capable of such things, but who knows? It could be a resident of Storybooke we just haven't met yet.

I'm also hoping we see the return of Robin Hood. He's proven time and time again that he is Regina's true love, so their happy ending is long overdue. And if Rumpelstiltskin is thinking of a way to come back to Storybrooke, it has to be possible! Could Rumpel and Robin somehow come back together?

In terms of relationships, I think this episode marked the end of Belle and Rumpel's relationship for good. I don't see Belle ever forgiving him for such intense betrayal, and she was serious enough to command him to leave town forever. But, in my humble opinion, Belle made the right decision. He was a horrendous husband, and it's time that Belle moved on from being treated so terribly!

And of course, we've got three new villains to worry about in March. This is the most amount of villains Storybooke has ever seen in one time period, so I'm interested to see how the town reacts! Will Storybrooke once again have to defend itself from yet another curse?

We've got a long wait until ONCE UPON A TIME returns in March, but I believe it will be worth it! ONCE returns on March 1st at its usual time slot, 8pm EST on ABC.

Photo Credit: Jack Rowand

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