‘Once Upon A Time’ episode recap: 'The Queen Is Dead'

We open in the fairy tale world, in the past. Queen Eva (played by Rena Sofer) was making preparations for a ball in honor of young Snow’s birthday. Then, young Snow came in to show her mother her gown. Eva then took young Snow to her quarters to give her a gift, the queen’s crown, which Eva told young Snow had been passed down to her from mother to daughter for generations. As they went in, they find a servant, Johanna, trying on the crown. Young Snow scolds Johanna for doing so and Eva apologized to Johanna on young Snow’s behalf. She then told young Snow that everyone in the kingdom “deserves love and respect and that everyone is the same.”

Eva then asked young Snow what the upcoming ball represented and corrected young Snow when she replied that it meant to honor her. Eva replied that it was meant for young Snow to honor the people of her kingdom and to show them that she will always hold goodness in her heart. Young Snow then replied that she understood and Eva gave her the crown. Then, Eva collapsed, suddenly feeling deathly ill. Johanna caught her and rushed to get the royal doctor as young Snow stayed by her mother’s side.

Shoot to present Day Storybrooke: David was making breakfast at the apartment and Mary-Margaret told him that she knew what he was trying to do. He admitted that he thought she would change her mind about celebrating her birthday now that the curse had been broken, but Mary-Margaret replied that she still felt the same. As they talked, Mary-Margaret noticed a birthday present on the table and David explained that someone left it had left it on their doorstep and he brought it in. Mary-Margaret opened it and found her crown inside, along with a note from Johanna. David and Mary-Margaret were unaware that Johanna was still alive and in Storybrooke, and Mary-Margaret decided to go and see her. David wished her a happy birthday as she went and wished that the day made her happier. However, Mary- Margaret told him that they both knew that it couldn’t.

Shoot to David going to work at the sheriff' office, but suddenly Hook appeared, ambushed him, knocked him out, and recovered his hook from the evidence cabinet.

Shoot to Mary-Margaret finding Johanna's house and they hugged each other. Johanna told Mary-Margaret that she found the crown in Gold's shop and bought it, knowing that she had to give it to her former employer. Then, Mary-Margaret noticed the snowdrops that Johanna was growing in her garden and Johanna explained that she was raising them in honor of Eva. As they talked, Mary-Margaret heard someone moving in the nearby forest and went to investigate. She found Cora and Regina using Gold's map to try and search for the Dark One's dagger. As Mary-Margaret watched, unseen, Cora wondered if Hook lied to them when he translated it, but assured Regina that it didn’t matter because she could use her magic to decipher it eventually. She then added that once they had the dagger, they could use it to force Rumplestiltskin to kill anyone they wanted.

Shoot to New York, in the present. Neal (Baelfire) took the others on a tour of the city. While he went to get pizza with Henry, Emma worried that Henry would never forgive her for lying to him about Neal but Gold told her that Henry will eventually forgive her. He then asked Emma to convince Neal to come back to Storybrooke with them and warned her that if he didn’t, Henry would eventually run away to find his father, just as he ran away to find Emma. Emma figured that Neal would eventually let Henry down like he did with her, but Gold suspected that Emma was more concerned with protecting herself than her son. Then, he suggested that Emma wanted a second chance with Neal, but Emma denied it. Neal and Henry came back and Neal said that he was going to take Henry to the museum. As they went, Henry made another comment reminding Emma that she had lied to him.

Shoot back to present day Storybrooke. Mary-Margaret went to the sheriff’s station to find David and woke him up. He told her that Hook had ambushed him. Mary-Margaret then told David about Cora’s plans to find the Dark One's dagger and control him or become the Dark One herself. Mary-Margaret then told David that she had already left a message for Gold on Emma's phone but until he called back, she suggested that they try and slow down Regina by playing on her doubts about Cora and offered to call Regina and set up a meeting.

Shoot to Mary-Margaret arranging a meeting with Regina at the diner, claiming that she had heard from Henry. When Regina got there, Mary-Margaret admitted that she hadn't talked to Henry and told her that she knew that she was working with her mother. Mary-Margaret gave Regina one last chance to choose good. Regina then asked Mary-Margaret if she "ever considered that perhaps, I am good? I was always Queen, it was you who added evil to my name." She then pointed out that all being "good" ever got her were insincere acceptance from people that would never forgive her, and told Mary-Margaret to stay out of her way. Regina got up to leave and Mary-Margaret warned her that Cora didn’t care about Henry except as a way to use him to gain power. Disgusted, Regina asked Mary-Margaret what she knew about mothers and walked out.

Shoot back to the fairy tale world, in the past. After the Royal Doctor examined Eva, he told young Snow that he wasn't sure what was wrong with the queen. He then had Johanna summon the king from his journey and left, while young Snow went to her mother. Eva told her that she would be fine in time for her daughter's birthday ball but young Snow insisted that her birthday didn’t matter. Young Snow went out of the room and Johanna hugged her, and then admitted that where medicine had failed, magic may succeed in curing Eva. She suggested that young Snow may be able to call upon a fairy who granted wishes if the requestor's heart was true. Young Snow insisted that her heart was and Johanna told her to go to a clearing in the woods and wish upon a blue star and the Blue Fairy would appear to her.

Shoot back to present day New York. Henry asked Gold if he should now call him “grandfather.” Gold fired back rather rudely that he could call him anything he wanted. Meanwhile, Neal told Emma that he was trying his best with their son. Emma said that she was taking Henry back to Storybrooke and suggested that Neal come with them. Before Neal could respond, they arrived at his apartment and Neal went upstairs with Henry to get his camera for their trip to the museum. Suddenly, Hook burst in behind Emma, knocked her out, and then slammed Gold against the wall, piercing his chest with his hook. As Hook prepared to finish the job, Emma clubbed him unconscious from behind. Neal and Henry heard the commotion and came running down to investigate. As Neal examined his father, concerned, he recognized Hook, much to Emma's surprise.

Shoot to Emma locking Hook up in a storage room and finding a map on him. They realized that he had sailed from Storybrooke to New York on his cloaked pirate ship. Neal described the ship as being able to sail between worlds and then tried to tend to his father. Henry went to his grandfather but Gold shoved him away, saying that it was Henry’s that he was hurt. Then, they realized that Hook's hook had poison on it and Gold was dying and they could only cure him in Storybrooke using magic. A car wouldn’t be fast enough and Neal suggested that they use Hook's ship... and admitted that he knew how to sail it.

Shoot to present day New York as Mary-Margaret and David went to the nunnery to see Mother Superior (Blue Fairy,) who told them that she knew what Cora and Regina could do with the dagger and the couple asked for her help.

Shoot back to the fairy tale land, in the past. Young Snow went into the woods and started to make a wish, but the Blue Fairy appeared immediately, saying that she could sense someone was in need. When young Snow told her what she needed, the Blue Fairy warned her that fairy magic was the purest magic of all and that cheating death required black magic. Then, young Snow realized that the fairy was holding something back and asked what she can do. The Blue Fairy then admitted that there was a form of magic that was forbidden to her kind except under the most dire of circumstances. She asked young Snow to promise not to ever tell anyone what she was offering and then gave the girl a candle. The Blue Fairy explained that it could save a life but only at the cost of sacrificing another life. She then instructed young Snow in how to use it, but she insisted that she couldn’t kill someone not even to save her mother's life. The Blue Fairy warned her that if she didn't then Eva would die.

Shoot back to present Say New York. Neal made a call to arrange for a car and admitted that he had spent some time in another world before coming to this one. Henry checked Emma's phone and heard Mary-Margaret's message explaining that Regina was seeking the danger. Emma warned Gold that if Mary-Margaret and David didn’t find it then Regina and Cora would obtain it and control him. However, Gold refused to tell Emma where it was, insisting that it hadn't been discovered in centuries and never would be. Then, Emma told him that he was going to have to trust someone eventually and that he should start with his family.

Shoot back to present day Storybrooke. Mary-Margaret, David, and Mother Superior went to Gold's shop. Mother Superior tried to use her wand to get in but discovered that Gold's protection spell was too powerful. David suggested that they use black magic and Mary-Margaret agreed, reminding Mother Superior that she once gave her black magic to cure Eva. Mother Superior didn’t remember the conversation. However, before she could ask Mary-Margaret for more details, Emma called David and told him that Gold said where he hid his dagger. David then told the others the information and they looked up at the clock tower on the library.

Shoot back to the fairy tale land, in the past. Young Snow returned to her mother's chambers and told Eva what had happened. She confessed that she couldn't bring herself to kill another to save Eva's life, and the queen assured her daughter that it was all right and said that young Snow's failure to kill proved that she has the strength to resist the darkness and rule kingdom as a great queen. Young Snow then begged her mother not to leave her but Eva told her that as long as Snow held the spirit of goodness in heart, she'd never leave her. As Eva passed away, Johanna hugged a crying young Snow.

Shoot back to present day Storybrooke. David and Mary-Margaret went to the top of the clock tower and David removed the dagger from where it was tied to one of the clock hands. Before they could do any more than grasp it, Regina and Cora teleported in. Mary-Margaret then told Regina that good had won but Cora then teleported Johanna in. Regina took Johanna’s heart and told Mary-Margaret to turn over the dagger or watch her friend die.

Shoot back to the fairy tale land, in the past. As young Snow dressed in black was getting ready to go to Eva's funeral, Johanna gave her the crown and told young Snow that the kingdom would find strength through her goodness, and that young Snow would find strength in what Eva told her. Young Snow then put on the crown and went to the funeral. After laying a snowdrop on her mother's chest, young Snow knelt and the people joined with her. Young Snow remained kneeling for hours until long after everyone else had left. Johanna finally told her that it was time to let Eva go. Once they left, the Blue Fairy flew in... and Cora dropped her disguise. She went to Eva’s body and admitted that her daughter (Regina) didn’t love her the way that young Snow loved Eva. Cora then said even though she had failed this time, she would eventually turn Snow's heart as black as coal, destroying Eva and her legacy, and then Eva would know what Cora went through as the daughter of a miller.

Shoot back to present day Storybrooke. Cora easily disarmed David when he tried to draw his gun. Then, she taunted Mary-Margaret about how she refused to use the candle and Mary-Margaret realized that only Blue Fairy would know about that conversation, which meant Cora had been disguised as the Blue Fairy. Mary-Margaret also realized that it had been Cora who had poisoned Eva and the sorceress admitted that the candle would have worked. When Mary-Margaret wonders why, Cora explained that she killed Eva so that Regina could become queen. Then, Mary-Margaret insisted that she wouldn’t let them win again but Regina prepared to crush Johanna's heart and a sobbing Mary-Margaret finally dropped the dagger. Cora snatched it up and Regina returned Johanna' heart to her chest. Johanna then went to Mary- Margaret but Cora smashed her through the clock face, letting her fall to her death on the street below. The two women then teleported away as Mary-Margaret broke down into tears.

Shoot to Regina and Cora going to the mayor's office and Cora asked her daughter why she was troubled. Regina replied that after considering the matter, she asked Cora why she didn't tell her about her involvement in Eva's death. Cora replied that she didn't want to burden Regina with it, but Regina realized that Cora set it up so that she would rescue Snow as part of her plans for Snow and her family. Cora wondered if Regina's realization changed anything and Regina wondered why they still needed Rumplestiltskin's dagger. She pointed out that it was useless to them as a means to force Gold to kill Emma, Mary-Margaret, and David without Henry realizing that Cora was responsible, now that they would tell Henry what happened. However, Cora assured her daughter that she had a way to achieve what they both wanted.

Shoot back to present Say New York. As Emma and Neal went to the car he was borrowing from a friend, Emma admitted that she was surprised that Neal was helping his father. Neal insisted that Gold was his father no matter what, and Emma figured that it will be good for Henry to spend time with his father. As they got to the car, Neal started to explain who he was borrowing it from. However, a woman, Tamara, came over and interrupted them. She asked Neal why he needed the car and he reluctantly introduced her to Emma as his fiancé.

Shoot back to present day Storybrooke. After Johanna's funeral, Mary-Margaret wondered how many people would die because she kept doing the right thing. She reminded David that if she had let Regina be executed years ago, none of their troubles would have happened. She then remarked about how doing the good thing had brought much pain into their lives and perhaps it wasn’t Regina or Cora who needed to change, but herself. David assured her that had to keep trying to beat Regina, but Mary-Margaret wondered if the cost was worth it. David then pointed out that the dagger was useless until Gold returned to Storybrooke and they still had time to bring Cora and Regina to justice. Mary-Margaret then told David that she didn’t want to bring them to justice. Snow ignored his comment and vowed to kill Cora once and for all.