Black Knight (5.12)

This black knight dies during Regina's birthday celebration when his heart is swapped with Snow White's, and crushed. He appears in "Souls of the Departed".

Before the Curse
The shot moves up a large, extravagant, black-frosted birthday cake with a single lit candle sticking out of its top tier that Regina, as the Evil Queen, stares at intensely. However, a jester's rattle soon enters her line of sight, jingling before the royal jester himself leans over and invites the Queen to make a wish. Annoyed by his overenthusiastic presence, Regina blows the candle out with gusto and allows the smoke to drift into his face. He continues to smile though as he asks what what it is she wished for, and she replies, "That you were amusing, Jester. And it didn't come true." With that, she waves her hand and her magic compels him to fall down dead; his jingling rattle finally ceases making noise as it hits the palace floor, and all those in attendance of the Evil Queen's birthday party suddenly become very unnerved. The music stops playing and Regina orders her guests and staff to wind this up, picking up a gift and slamming it back down again as she declares that she's had enough reveling. "Oh, don't go yet," says someone from by the doors.

The guests part to reveal Cora standing there, and Regina spits, "Mother," with venom in her voice as she deals with the shock of seeing the notorious Queen of Hearts gatecrashing her ball. She asks how she got out of Wonderland but receives no answer; as Cora simply continues to approach, Regina grows worried and asks where her father is, thinking that maybe her mother has done something to him. Cora is now standing face-to-face with her daughter and she reveals that she lost track of Henry hours ago, when she had him wrap the box she's carrying. "Happy birthday, darling," she says as she presents her daughter with the perfect gift, but Regina makes clear that she doesn't want anything from her. Cora is certain that she'll want this, for she's done what no one else could do: she's brought her her revenge. She pulls back the wrapping to reveal that what she's carrying is a heart box, and she pops open the lid to further reveal the glowing, beating heart of Snow White. "Crush it, and she dies at last." Regina smiles, staring at it intently, but soon grows sad, and Cora realizes that it's because she doesn't believe her.

As such, she decides to show her, ordering some nearby Black Knights to bring forth the Magic Mirror. They do as she wishes, moving it from the sidelines to the middle of the ballroom, and Regina starts to giggle as she finally takes the heart of the one she hates most into her hands. She looks at herself in the mirror, holding the heart with a smile on her face, and Cora orders it to show them Snow White. Once she does, we are shown a spy's view of her through the mirror's glass, before being taken into the scene to see that she's drinking at a tavern with Prince Charming and the seven dwarfs. She raises a toast to her stepmother, "may she spend the rest of her birthdays searching for me", and Grumpy too toasts to the Queen. The others clink their tankards together before drinking, and Regina despises this. Her lip snarls in anger as she stares from the heart in her hand to the girl currently occupying her mirror, and then... she squeezes. Snow stands up from her seat in pain, gasping as she feels an intense sensation in her chest.

Those around her appear concerned, with Charming wondering what's wrong, and she quickly begins attacking her clothes in an attempt to get to the source. She doesn't know what's going on, not remembering the earlier encounter she had with Cora, and Regina takes great joy in all this as she squeezes harder. She knows the end is near, that her revenge is seconds away from completion, and she gives the heart one last, big, earth-shattering squeeze before... Jiminy Cricket pops out from betwixt Snow's bosom, having somehow found himself down her top. He is holding a match and lands on the lid of the princess' tankard, and the dwarfs laugh as they realize that this was the reason for their friend's sudden discomfort. Snow herself finds it funny while Jiminy readjusts himself, but Regina is just confused. Obviously, her squeezing the heart was doing nothing to add to Snow's pain, and when she crushes the organ to dust all that happens is one of her Black Knights falls dead to the floor. The heart was his all along. Cora deduces that someone must have switched them and Regina demands to know who it was, exuding more venom than before as blind rage overwhelms her.