Ruby Slippers

"Ruby Slippers" is the 106th episode of Once Upon a Time.

Summary
In flashbacks, Ruby and Mulan meet Dorothy when they find themselves in Oz, and together they witness Zelena's return to her homeland and proceed to look for a way to defeat her once and for all. However, Dorothy mysteriously disappears and Ruby's search for her new friend lands her in the Underworld, where she teams up with Emma, Regina and Snow. The latter struggles alongside David with not being able to protect their son; as such, they devise a plan so that one of them can escape back to Storybrooke.

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

Mulan is about to be mauled by the big bad wolf, only for some stray magic to transform it back into Red Riding Hood. The two of them later form a friendship and Mulan decides to go with Ruby to help search for more werewolves. The latter points out that helping someone else find their path will help Mulan find her own. Regina uses the Apprentice's wand to create a magic cyclone to get rid of Zelena. The Wicked Witch vows that her sister will see her again as she's sucked into the tornado portal, only for Regina to tell her to enjoy Oz. Zelena receives a dead flower as a present from Hades; earlier, when Regina asked her what happened between her and Hades, Zelena revealed that Hades fell in love with her and vice versa. Emma and Regina stun a deadly creature roaming the woods, only for Snow to realize that it's actually Red in her wolf form. The cloak is used to return her to human but she remains unconscious. ONCE UPON A TIME

Act I
"Is she okay?!" Snow asks frantically as her best friend Ruby is laid down on her bed back at the Underworld version of the apartment, and David asks further why she's down there at all. Henry worries that she might be dead but Hook assures that she's still breathing, leading Snow to wonder how long Regina thinks the former waitress will stay knocked out. Regina isn't sure, for it was a pretty powerful blast she and Emma fired at her, and David brings up the question of where she's been since she left Storybrooke. Snow isn't sure, only knowing that she went to find her pack, and Regina surmises that unless Red's pack is all dead then she's probably sniffing in the wrong place. Hook queries if there's any explanation at all for what she's doing there, and Emma says, "Just this," as she leans over the unconscious woman to retrieve a scrap of gingham dress material she seems to have brought with her. It appears Ruby has spent some time with Dorothy; the shot lingers on her sleeping body as her memories are delved into... OZ, Some time ago... Red and Mulan are running through the woods of the land of Oz in flashback, with the former using her enhanced sense of smell to help find what they're tracking. Mulan is right behind the girl in red, but then she, Red, stops, revealing that she lost the scent again. She appears dismayed but Mulan assures her that it's okay - that they'll find her pack - but Ruby points out that that's what she said yesterday and the day before. Slowly she is losing hope. It's now late and she wants to get moving; she hightails over a log and Mulan follows, sad for her friend. As the two of them continue to trek, Mulan orders Ruby to tell her everything she knows about this land. Ruby tells her that there's supposed to be a lot of singing, to Mulan's confusion, and she explains that that's how it was in the movie she saw in Storybrooke, which she believes was based on a book. Mulan points out that this isn't a book or a movie but Ruby says that whatever it is there's no trace of her pack's scent and she now thinks that they were never there to begin with. As such, Mulan says that they better start looking for a way back to the Enchanted Forest, but Ruby tells her to wait because she senses something. It's then that the growling of a great beast is heard and Mulan draws her sword while Red prepares to shed her cloak on the defense. They spin round, back to back, ready to face whatever monster may be awaiting them... only for a tiny terrier to emerge from a nearby bush. It runs up to them and Ruby smiles, assuring her friend that it's okay and that she thinks she might even know who this little guy is. She addresses the dog as Toto, knowing him from the movie, but a sudden voice warns her not to try anything. It's Dorothy, and she's wielding a crossbow. Red and Mulan return to their defensive stances and Dorothy declares that Toto only barks for one reason - when he has sniffed out a witch. She demands to know which one of them it is but Ruby reveals that he's not barking because she's a witch, and then she's reluctant to say more. Mulan promises that it's okay and that she can tell her, and finally the red-cloaked girl admits to being part wolf. She makes clear that there's nothing to be scared of and tries to prove it by reaching out to Toto, but this only makes him run away into the dark woods. Dorothy tries summoning him back and goes running after him and Ruby demands that the girl in gingham let them help her. Said girl exclaims that they've done enough, at which Red tells her that she's going the wrong way. Dorothy is insulted that Red thinks she's more of an expert on Oz than she is, but Red is simply using her sense of smell again, able to say for certain that Toto is heading North-West, straight into the wind, through a juniper field into a valley of pines. This assures Dorothy of her legitimacy and she allows for them to help her find her pet. However, they are suddenly distracted by a large magical cyclone which hits the land, and Dorothy realizes that it contains the Wicked Witch. The newly formed trio move with haste. Zelena is sat in the Underworld version of her farmhouse where the dead flower Hades gave her has been placed in a glass in the center of the table. She is fiddling with the card which bore her name when suddenly Hades himself poofs into the room, asking if she'd prefer he send her chocolates next time. She says that if he's looking for a "thank you" then maybe he should try putting his name on the card next time, but he says in turn that he's afraid he did not come to woo her; in fact, he came to warn her. He turns the dead flower in its glass as she asks what he's warning her about, and he tells her that she has a visitor from Oz. This shocks her, not knowing who it could be, and Hades comments, "Let's just say a werewolf landed here. Feisty. Looks good in red." The Wicked Witch is shocked further, believing this to be impossible after what she did to Ruby. Hades believes that it must have been quite wicked for her to chase her all the way down to the Underworld, but Zelena reveals that "wicked" doesn't even begin to describe it, and all of the goodwill she's earned with Regina will evaporate the moment she learns the truth of what she did to their friend. She decides that she needs to leave before the heroes find her, at which Hades points out that it's easier said than done. Zelena points out in turn that she's very much alive and that she brought a way home, and Hades wonders if she's planning to just leave her daughter down there. Zelena says that she's the reason she's leaving, for if she stays and faces that wolf then she's just going to do something else that she'll regret, and then Regina will never let her see Baby Hood again. Hades assures that she certainly won't get her daughter back by running; he then picks up the flower and begs her to stay and face them. "Let me guess, with you?" she scoffs, and Hades says that they'd make quite a team, promising that she can trust him. He offers her the flower as he adds that he'll give her everything she wants. "Sorry Hades," she responds, rejecting his offer, "My time in the Underworld is over." Hades takes a few steps back in disappointment, telling her to do what she must because either way he's going to take care of Red. He then disappears in a swirl of blue flame and Zelena is left deeply conflicted.

Act II
The busted sign of Mr. Gold Pawnbroker & Antiquities Dealer is shown before we see Belle in the backroom, flicking through Gaston's copy of Her Handsome Hero. When Rumple walks in on this, he advises his wife to stop torturing herself, but she says that she gave Gaston this book to teach him that a true hero needs to show his enemy compassion while, in the moment that she could have shown him mercy, she sent him to a fate worse than death. Rumple points out that she was trying to protect their child and she stipulates that if Hades had actually destroyed the contract then maybe she could live with what she did; "But he found a loophole and I darkened my soul, Rumple, just... just to save you." Rumple tries putting across that this means they can now free their child from Hades' grasp together, but Belle disagrees, believing that she needs to make this right on her own because if she leaves it up to him then he'll just make her do something else she'll regret. The Dark One appears saddened as Belle exits his shop in a huff. Ruby, meanwhile, has woken up and is sitting on Snow's bed as all her old friends gather round her, and she is shocked to discover that she's in the Underworld. She explains that she used a tracking spell so that a cyclone would bring her to Zelena and Emma reveals that the Wicked Witch is down there too. Hook wonders why the werewolf was looking for Zelena in the first place and Regina, who wonders to herself why she isn't surprised, demands to know what it is her sister did now. Red reveals that Zelena did something to her friend Dorothy, having wanted her magic slippers so that she could get back to her baby. Snow asks what it is exactly that Zelena did to her friend but Red doesn't know exactly; all she's aware is that Dorothy went to face the Wicked Witch and then she disappeared. She adds that Mulan and herself looked everywhere but they couldn't find her, and she proceeds to say to Snow that this is all her fault because none of this would have ever happened if she hadn't shown up in Oz. "Just one more life destroyed because of what I am." Snow insists that that's not true and she knows it, promising that they'll find out what happened to Dorothy; Emma points out that there's only one way they're going to do that - "It's time to talk to Zelena." Everyone gets up to go and face her, with Regina lamenting the fact that she actually thought they were getting somewhere with her sister, while Snow stops David to request that he do something while she's gone. He agrees, wondering what it is she wants him to do, and she says that Neal hasn't heard their voices in days and she's getting a little... "Yeah, me too," David nods, assuring that he'll call their son for the both of them, and Snow thanks him. She then adds that he should take Hook with him because the streets aren't safe for anyone to be alone right now and he promises to be careful, adding in turn that he will explain to Neal that the reason his mother is not on the line is because she's out doing what she does best: being a hero. He watches proudly as his wife heads out with the other women on their latest adventure. Across town, Hook is warning Henry to be careful because Hades has eyes and ears everywhere; meanwhile, Regina's old Black Knight Claude is working on removing the telephone from the haunting booth, and the young Author proceeds to ask if the line is always this big. David, who realizes that this isn't merely a line, identifies that something's wrong and calls out to Cruella De Vil, for she is the one standing by Claude as he carries out this deed. She replies that she's fulfilling her mayoral responsibilities by supervising some municipal improvements, then ordering Claude to "get on with it" and rip the phone out. David begs the handyman brute to stop, exclaiming that this is the only chance these people have to contact their loved ones, but Cruella knows it to be his only opportunity to reach out and haunt his infant son. "Looks like Chiseled Chin, Jr. will just have to go to bed without what I can imagine are terribly dull bedtime stories." David demands to know why Cruella is doing this and Henry wonders if it's because he won't write her back to life. She denies this, revealing that she's not the one that ordered all the phones to be ripped out, and Hook realizes that it must have been Hades. Cruella points out that, with all the little heroes running around the place, the Lord of the Underworld feels there's a little too much hope bubbling up in his realm. David tells the fur-coated villainess to relay to her boss that it's going to take a lot more than ripping out some phones to discourage them, and she promises to do so... "But in the meantime, if you wanted to strike a deal, I could look the other way while you made one last call, and assuming I'd have the Author and his pen to write me back to life." She tries advancing on David softly as she proposes this, but he grabs her by the arm so as to push her away, enraged. He angrily refuses to make any deal of the sort with her and, as such, she orders Claude to do it. The former Black Knight rips out the machine's phone and walks away with it, with Cruella bidding the proclaimed darlings "ta-ta" and leaving them disheartened. "I'll come back to you when the time's right, my little sweet pea," Zelena is saying as she exits her farmhouse with the silver slippers on her feet, "But, for now, you're with the people that can give you what you need." She proceeds to click her heals together once... twice... and then her legs are frozen together by magic, with Regina declaring that her sister's not going anywhere as she arrives on the scene along with Emma, Snow and Ruby. The four of them approach, crowding around the witch so as to get some answers out of her. Zelena, annoyed that she's been caught out, asks how Regina expects her to become mother material if she won't leave her be, and Regina says that they were planning on it until someone she screwed over literally dropped out of the sky. In a no-nonsense yet also very worried manner, Red orders the Wicked Witch to tell her what she did to Dorothy.

Trivia

 * The title card of this episode features Red Riding Hood in the forest amid the red skies of the Underworld.
 * Similar title cards are featured in "7:15 A.M.", "Red-Handed" and "Child of the Moon".
 * Although credited, Sean Maguire (Robin Hood) is absent from this episode.
 * This is the first episode of the fifth season to not feature a teaser.

Production

 * The title of this episode was officially confirmed by executive producer/co-creator Adam Horowitz, via his Twitter account, on January 27, 2016.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the episode.