'Once Upon a Time' Season 4 in review

The Queens of Darkness

The midseason finale brought with it Rumple’s banishment from Storybrooke. On his honeymoon, Rumple found the Sorcerer’s hat. Realizing that it could release him from the control of the dagger while allowing him to retain his powers, it became his obsession. He no longer cared about the fate of others, except Belle, and later, Henry.

Rumple went to New York, and found Ursula working at an aquarium. He convinced her that if she helped him find the author of the story book that the author could rewrite their stories so that they will have happy endings. She finally agrees, and they head back to Storybrooke stopping to pick up Cruella along the way.

It was a little tricky getting back into Storybrooke. Cruella and Ursula had to convince Regina to let them in. Once in, they were able to come back for Rumple. The arrival of Cruella and Ursula really shook Mary Margaret and David. In their haste to get rid of these women, they found themselves being part of Maleficent’s resurrection.

Afterwards, Mary Margaret implored Regina to go undercover to find out what Cruella, Ursula, and Maleficent were planning. She finds out that Rumple is there and that they also are looking for the author to rewrite their fate. They eventually find the author, who evidently caused Snow and Charming to kidnap Maleficent’s egg, have the Sorcerer’s Apprentice channel all of Emma’s darkness into it and then banish it from the Enchanted Forest. That’s why Maleficent was so angry with them.

It turned out that Lily, Emma’s childhood friend, was Maleficent’s daughter.

Then, Rumple began having heart trouble and went back to New York to find an elixir that Walsh (the flying monkey Emma almost married) probably had. He ended up in the hospital and so convinced Robin to find it for him. When Robin delivered, the writers dropped the bombshell that Marian was really Zelena in disguise!

Emma decided to go find Lily for Maleficent, and Regina decided to rescue Robin from the clutches of Zelena. They joined forces and traveled together. Emma discovered that Lily knew the whole truth and had been plotting her revenge for years. Emma struggled with how to handle that, but Regina helped her realize that her original plan of bringing Lily back was best.

Lily wasn’t nearly as big of a problem as Zelena, though. They found out that Zelena, while masquerading as Marian got pregnant. That was definitely problematic. They ended up bringing her back to Storybrooke and locking her up in the psych ward.