As the heroes try to find a way to send Anna, Elsa and Kristoff back to Arendelle, they realized that the Snow Queen marked up the border by preventing anyone to ever come back to Storybrooke once they left the town. While Regina has saved Marian yet again, she and Robin Hood have to make a difficult choice when the remains of Ingrid’s spell threatens Maid Marian’s life once more. Meanwhile, a magic gauntlet from Camelot allowed Belle to finally face the truth and realize that Rumplestiltskin’s true love is also his greatest weakness.

The whole gang is here to talk about the mid-season finale, Heroes and Villains and we’ve got a mother-load of information going! Although this wasn’t as good as the third season’s mid-season finale, we thought that it’s still a good episode. Last episode, Shattered Sight, was more like a mid-season finale; it feels more like an epilogue. The first forty minutes feels a bit like a drag, but as the episode progresses, it got better and better. It was to get some closure to the Frozen storyline. It makes us want to tune in more to the next coming episodes.

Something that we haven’t heard before, unlike Rumplestiltskin repeatedly says the entire half season, was something that Emma said was when they were in the town line when she said that she thinks some of Ingrid’s magic remains. Can she also sense magic now? Now that the town line is cursed, is Emma also part of this new curse? Can she still leave Storybrooke like she always used to?

Queens of Darkness

Maleficent is looking more like Angelina Jolie in this episode, but she also looked exactly like the ones from the original Disney animated movie. Was this Maleficent the one like the recently Maleficent movie shown with Jolie? Rumple told Ursula that they have two more stops to make; that does to somehow imply Maleficent, so where is Maleficent at the moment? The last time we saw her she was down in the cave when Hook faced her. Did she, somehow, got into our world through a different means? How did they get to our world? How many more fairy tale characters live in our world?

So far we only really know that Ursela is outside of Storybrooke. Since Rumple cannot return to Storybrooke and he said they had two more stops to make, we assume that the others are outside of Storybrooke as well. Maleficent used to be in Storybrooke, so if she is outside of it now she must have found a way to leave. Perhaps she flew over the ice wall or vaperized some flying monkeys. With magic it is possible that she could have crossed the town line at several different points; Rumple found a way as far back as season 2. By extension it is possible that Cruella and Ursela also started in Storybrooke and left at some point – possibly to await the right time to put their plans into action. Regina and Rumple both would have had motivation to include Ursela in the Dark Curse if they could have managed it. I can’t think of any other options for how Cruella got here. Ursela potentially could have swam here. Mermaids can cross worlds under the sea, so presumably the Sea Witch / Sea Goddess could as well. — Gareth

Can Cruella turn herself into a Dalmatian? If not, where did that puppy come from? Why did these three Queens of Darkness go after the Dark One who, by the way, is the most powerful sorcerer in all the realm? In our initial reactions, we brought up whether Cruella has magic but after re-watching the episode, we found out that it was Maleficent who poofed them out. In this trio of villainess, it seems that Cruella DeVil is the odd one out, so what is she doing in the Enchanted Forest?

Was the puppy actually Pongo that we saw that appeared in front of Belle?

Can Cruella turn herself into a Dalmatian on command? Maybe this is her superpower, because Kitsis said they are going to make her Magical. I love Maleficents new look. She finally looks legit, i thought she looked dumb in season one. Cruella also is spot on. She already is terrifying. Those eyebrows haha. I dont care for Ursula so far but hopefully shell grow on me. My pet theory is Lilly is Cruella DeVil because Lilith is a demon in many stories and De vil.. Devil so theres that. One question, Rumple needs to make 2 more stops? Maleficent is a wraith beneath the clock tower… How does he think he can find her? —Chris Tipton

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How are they going to get back to Storybrooke? How did Rumplestiltskin get money to purchase his clothes and everything? With the dagger still in Storybrooke with Belle, does he still have his powers despite being out of Storybrooke? What’s in it for Rumplestiltskin to want to cleave himself of the power of the dagger and still retain his all of his powers? Why does he seem like bipolar when it comes to his powers?

Throughout the seasons, the show seemed like shifting the language within the show. Before, they always tell that heroes always win but now, it was as if they are shifting gears, instilling how villains always lose and does not deserved a happy ending. Was the book recording their decisions and the choices they make?

Speaking of the Evil Queen, it looks like Regina has been fully reformed. The whole scene between her and Rumple inside the car before Robin, Maid Marian and Roland stepped over the town line clearly showed two different characters; one who has moved on from her evil doings, and another who is still choosing darkness and power over a much better path.

On the other hand, Robin told Regina that he needs to set an example for his son by choosing to live truthfully and follow his heart.

I agree with Jeremy about not really liking Robin’s speech about following his heart and all, but I am glad that he went with Marian. I do want him and Regina to end up together, but not with Marian hanging around (although I thought Marian handled everything quite nicely though, and it made me like her more). I don’t think having Marian leave with someone else would have been a good option. Roland would then be saying goodbye to one of his parents, and making Marian or Robin choose who he stayed with wouldn’t have been a good idea. I definitely don’t want this to be the last time we see Robin this season, so I am hoping that it will play into the story coming this second half, like you suggested. At the very least I would hope they could find their way back to Storybrooke with Rumple somehow. —Jessica O.

What if that, somehow, Rumple’s way to get back to Storybrooke is through Robin Hood and Regina’s love?

Rumple and Belle

The Rumple and Belle scene down at the town line is so heartbreaking. However, it just showed how strong Belle is than what we give her credit for. Their acting was really good; made us feel all emotional, very well done. The creators once said that Belle will have a bigger part in this but we never thought that she was the one to stop Rumple from more harm than good.

Why the gauntlet, though? Was it because the fingerprint can somehow point to someone? Will we go to Camelot eventually? Was Rumple really afraid of losing Belle or was he still pulling Belle’s leg?

But one person who’s probably glad with Rumple being gone is Hook. We also noticed that Hook’s heart have some dark spots in it. What was it about when Hook touched Emma’s arm? Was he trying to tell Emma that something is wrong? Had Rumple known all along about the portal inside the Sorcerer’s house? Or did he just figure it out after knowing that that’s the way Ingrid got into our world?

What will happen to everyone in the hat? Moreover, it was nice seeing Belle saved Hook’s life again.

The visual effects was excellently done in this episode, especially in all the Arendelle scenes; it looked more natural compared to the past episodes that we’ve seen.

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Are we done with the abandoned mansion? Does it really belong to the Sorcerer? Was the Sorcerer a he, she or an it? Where is the hat now? Are they going to let everyone out? How are they going to do that, especially since the apprentice is in the hat? Are we even going to meet the Sorcerer this season? Or do we have to wait for another season to meet the author of the book? Will it be the hook of the fourth season to take us into season 5? During the Pilot episode, Henry told Emma that the final battle will begin once the Savior got into Storybrooke. But were they really over and done with that battle? Or is it still actually going on now that Regina is on to find her own happy ending?

Does that automatically make that the Sorcerer was the author of the book? After all, the hidden library filled with potential storybooks was found in his house.

On the other hand, it was nice to see a closure of the Frozen arc. We liked how they wrapped this storyline and not leave it for us to completely wonder what happens to them next. Speaking of the Arendelle sisters and Kristoff going home, why didn’t they just use the wishing star and say, “I wish I was home”?

It was nice to finally see Emma and Regina not just co-parent Henry, but also see their relationship grow. It is so completely amicable now, compared to how they used to view one another in earlier seasons. Seems like they have, truly, finally settled their differences. Was Regina no longer the Evil Queen?

Here’s my crack theory on Cruella. Let’s assume that Rumple banished her to the land without magic. In the EF, Cruella had magic, but since in our world she does not, the events in the classic 101 Dalmatians animated movie take place after the banishment; hence why she had to rely on henchmen and was usually commenting how she was surrounded by idiots to get things done. Most likely Rumple will connect with her as a current or ex convict thereby tying the 2 versions of Cruella. — Leslie

Reading this theory, we wonder what if Cruella needs Dalmatian puppies as secret ingredients to make potions? If what Regina said is true about lots of potions that requires babies, can it also be true with puppies?

I am just curious about what happened once Anna and Elsa went through the door back to Arendelle. Did the door disappear again, or is it still there connecting the two realms? It would be kind of fun to have them have a way to come back at some point (even though I doubt that will happen). Also, does Elsa still have the wishing star, or is that gone now? I kind of feel like that was a little under-utilized by them. Even if it wouldn’t have worked like they wanted, they didn’t even seem to mention it to try to use it again.

— Jessica O.

What happened to the door to Arendelle after they went through? Does it still work? Can they pass back and forth? ‘Coz it seemed like Elsa and Emma had a great friendship now. Are they going to be pen pal buddies? Throw notes door to door?

Just first looking at the title “Heroes and Villains”. it doesn’t say heroes or villains. I think this is very telling of the whole show in general. In Once Upon a Time, there is so much grey areas that heroes are not just heroes and villains are not [just] evil. Evil is made, not born, and people can be both. Villains want to be heroes and want their happy endings too. This seems like what we are seeing this episode and what next season is going to be about. Rumple believed in the first part of the episode that he could be a hero and a villain and have his cake and eat it too but soon after he hit rock bottom and left Storybrooke he is going to have realize what it is going to take for a villain to truly rewrite his story. — Jessica F.

Can someone be both a villain AND a hero at the same time? Is Rumple really the new villain? Will he truly embrace being the villain now?

Is there anything we missed from the episode? Share your thoughts by commenting below or simply head over the forum and continue the conversation about Heroes and Villains, and other episodes coming up next March.

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