Enter the Dragon

"Enter the Dragon" is the 80th episode of Once Upon a Time.

Summary
In order to infiltrate the Queens of Darkness as a spy for the heroes, Regina must prove she's still willing to get her hands dirty. Meanwhile, Emma, David and Mary Margaret scramble to keep tabs on their undercover operative. Hook requests an unusual favor from Belle as Henry makes progress on his search for the Author. In flashbacks, Regina befriends Maleficent and helps her to rekindle her lost spark.

Plot
"''Previously on Once Upon a Time..."

Maleficent is resurrected. The Blue Fairy tells Regina she should look for the author as he left hidden clues in his work. Henry examines a page from the book with a picture of a door. Regina suggests getting Pinocchio to help, but when he cannot remember anything, she yells at him out of frustration. Snow asks Regina to go undercover and stop the Queen's of Darkness' plans. Regina asks what they did, so Snow says she caused the loss of Maleficent's child. Meanwhile, Maleficent mourns over her loss.

Teaser
On a dark and windy night, Regina is walking down the streets of Storybrooke, stopping outside Granny's Diner when she sees Cruella's car parked outside; she enters the diner. Inside the shop, Maleficent, Cruella and Ursula are sat in a booth and they watch as Regina enters and comment that it's true the former is back from the ashes. The resurrect witch asks what Regina is doing here, so she says she's making "it" easier for her, stating that if she wants to kill her then she's right here. Maleficent teleports to Regina, asking if that's why she thinks she's back, so Regina reminds her that she trapped her underground for thirty years and she's not big on forgiveness. The dragon witch states this is true, but there are far worse crimes that must be answered for. Cruella butts in, warning Maleficent that Regina is "thick as thieves" with the heroes, but Regina states it wasn't by choice. She tells Maleficent she knows how much she wanted revenge, so she had to play nice in this town to survive, alone, watching them enjoy the happiness she was denied, "If you're planning on destroying some of that happiness, I want in". Ursula tells Regina that she can't expect them to believe that, but Maleficent states that's why she's here, as she wants them to see she's still one of them. "I am" Regina says sternly, to which Maleficent replied by passing her a shot of alcohol, saying they'll find out. "Are you still a bad girl, Regina?" she asks, watching as Regina takes the drink and downs it before crushing the glass into dust with her hand, "The worst" she replies.

ONCE UPON A TIME

Act I
In the fairytale land that was, the young princess Snow White is riding her prized steed in the gardens of her castle, enjoying herself, as Regina watches from the stable in jealousy. The queen angrily slams the door shut, having seen enough, and she starts ripping Snow's ribbons off the walls. Rumple suddenly appears, who tells Regina he loves a touch of irony. The queen suddenly turns to him, hiding a book behind her back, as he explains the day she met Snow she almost died on a horse, now she's the best rider in all the land. Regina corrects that it's the horse who won those medals, but Rumple points out that good fortune seems to fall on her lap. A frustrated Regina says he promised to teach her magic so she could end her charmed life, but Rumple reminds her that he is and she's just being impatient. He magically grabs the book from behind her back to see what she snook out to read, and he reveals that it's Maleficent's spell book. The queen explains that she found it in her mother's things and starts to reveal that she can turn into a dragon, but Rumple beats her to it. Growing frustrated, Regina says she's tired of watching Snow grow up and getting everything, while she finally wants to have her revenge. Rumple laughs, telling her she doesn't know what revenge looks like and she agrees, claiming to only know what his lessons look like, and they're taking her nowhere.

"Before you start throwing stone you might want to look in the mirror, and I'm not speaking metaphorically" Rumple tells Regina, leading her to look in the mirror and magically see a baron landscape. She asks what it is, so he explains it's known as the Wasteland, but years ago it was a lush forest until Maleficent burned it down. He explains that her dragon flame burned so hot that there's still one tree on fire half a life time later. Smiling, Regina asks if he knows how she did it, so he explains that she did it with a magic she cultivated over time, stating that if you ignore the gift of time and rush into things then you'll never be ready. Regina supposes that this is just an excuse and he's not a skilled enough teacher to show her, amusing Rumple, who asks if she thinks Maleficent will help her. Regina states that she's tired of waiting, and Rumple tells her that's her problem, wishing her luck with Maleficent before magically teleporting her to the Wasteland. "Rumple" the queen angrily sighs, realising where she is. Noticing the sound of fire, Regina turns around to see the tree still on fire and Maleficent's castle up in the mountains. She appears impressed and smiles, looking at her spell book, ready to learn from the powerful witch.

Trivia

 * The title card of this episode features the burning tree set alight by the dragon Maleficent.

Production

 * The title of this episode was confirmed by executive producer/co-creator Adam Horowitz, via his Twitter account, on December 11, 2014.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the episode.