'Once Upon a Time' Recap: The Dark Swan

What’s next?

As a side note, Blue convinced Belle to leave Gold’s side to help the others by providing her with an enchanted rose in a bell jar. Sound familiar? It is just like the one featured in the animated version of Beauty and the Beast, except this one is to let Belle know that Gold is still alive. As long as the rose has petals, he lives.

Belle with her rose #OnceUponATime @emiliederavin pic.twitter.com/LJqiaNCgiA

— OUAT Canada (@OUAT_Fanatics) September 28, 2015

Questions

I don’t know about you, but this episode left me with so many questions. Why is Merlin missing? Where is he? Was Arthur trying to trick Emma and the others into coming with him just to get the dagger (the missing piece of Excalibur)? Is that what he meant by reuniting them with Merlin? Of course, there is also the obvious question: What happened that pushed Emma over the edge?

After talking with the Once Upon a Time co-creators, Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, Entertainment Weekly has some clues to offer. In regards to Arthur’s involvement with Emma, Horowitz admitted that “There’s more going on than what we’ve seen so far.” He continued, “In the next few episodes [including episode 2], you’ll see more of that explained and explored.” He also commented on the missing six weeks.

“While there is this mystery of what’s going on about what may or may not have happened, we’re going to see the relationships move forward in a new way in the present, which is where we have a very dark Emma appearing. At the same time, in the past, we’re going to be seeing these relationships interacting and a lot of choices are going to be made, and choices are going to be made by different characters, both Emma and the people who care for her. Some choices that seem like they may be the absolute correct thing to do are going to turn out to be the worst thing to do.”

We can look forward to Gold waking up (although no indication was given as to when), Zelena having her baby (they hinted at it happening during the sweeps), Henry falling for a girl, more Merida, and the return of Mulan and Red. Horowitz had this to say about our returning friends,

“We do want to give a taste of where Mulan’s been, what she’s been up to and what she’s been going through, and the same with Red. There are other characters who may return as well, and we want to do that as well. We want to honor the idea that their lives have been going on… we want to give a taste of where they’ve been and see how they can reconnect with everyone else and what that’s going to mean moving forward.”