Best Laid Plans

"Best Laid Plans" is the 82nd episode of Once Upon a Time.

Summary
Hook tells Emma that Gold's plan puts her fate at stake while Regina leads the villains on a wild goose chase. Henry makes a breakthrough in his search for the Author, but Mary Margaret and David need a moment to reconsider the best course of action. In an Enchanted Forest flashback, Snow and Charming search for a way to ensure their child will grow up to be a hero; when a travelling peddler directs them to visit a kindly old hermit, the two valiant leaders are presented with a choice that could secure their child's goodness, but at a price that will haunt them for years to come.

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

Regina and Mary Margaret meet covertly, and the former asks the latter what exactly she did the Maleficent, leading the "valiant hero" to confess that, thanks to she and Charming, Maleficent lost her child. Before she leaves Storybrooke with her father, Ursula explains Gold's plan to Hook, saying that the Dark One intends to fill Emma's heart with darkness forever. While looking at the illustration of the door, August explains to Emma, Henry and Regina that it's more than it appears: the Author is trapped inside the book.

Teaser
We are treated to a shot of the calm forest floor, before Snow White frantically runs across it, bow and arrow in tow, quickly followed by her husband, Prince Charming. They hurriedly make their way through the woods, jumping over logs and ducking under branches, apparently tracking something via its footprints. Snow finds just such a print and stops in her tracks, leading Charming to ask what's wrong; she shushes him, for whatever they're tracking is close, and she gestures towards just what that is - a unicorn. The princess wants to get this over as fast as possible, but her husband stops her, saying that he knows she's worried about Maleficent's predictions. She asks if he isn't as well, for if the dark sorceress is right then their child could end up with a dark heart, but he points out that she also said that it could grow up to be a powerful hero, besides, they don't know if they can even trust her. "We'll find out," Snow tells him, approaching the peaceful white creature as she withdraws a green apple from her satchel, "According to legend, all we need to do is touch its horn, and we get a glimpse of our child's future." The unicorn happily accepts the apple, and the royal couple turn to one another and nod assuredly before reaching out and grabbing the now-glowing horn together. We zoom in on Charming's eye.

In his vision, he is standing in some sort of woodland clearing, different to the one he and his wife were running through, and in said clearing is a beautifully-decorated basket containing a baby. It's Charming's child, and he approaches it, picking it up with loving arms. He cradles it close and comments on how beautiful it is, smiling happily. He is then pulled out of the vision, and he lets go of the unicorn's horn, telling Snow that it's alright; everything's going to be alright. However, she is still holding on, and we now zoom in on her eye.

Snow is standing in the same mysterious woodland clearing as Charming in her vision, and she begins to wander through it, eventually being met by a teenage Emma dressed in a princess gown. Like her husband, she comments on her daughter's beauty, but Emma stares at her mother stoically, and takes an eerie few steps forward. Snow is confused, and then her daughter plunges her hand into her mother's chest - much to her shock - and rips out her heart. "What are you doing?" asks a bewildered Snow, "Please... I'm your mother!" "I don't care," Emma states with malice in her eye, proceeding to crush her mother's heart to dust. Snow falls to the floor, dead. Her vision then ends and she appears uneasy; an ecstatic Charming asks if she saw what he saw, saying that their child is going to be just fine... but his wife utters, "No. No it's not... It's evil." ONE UPON A TIME

Act I
"How the hell is the Author trapped inside the book?" Regina is left asking after August's recent revelation, staring down at the page which depicts the door. Emma is at a loss, pointing out that Regina is the magic expert, and, from behind them, Henry stands up in order to warn his mothers of something apparently urgent. However, Regina is too busy lamenting the insanity of the situation, wondering if they should perhaps draw a key, but Emma replies that all they need to do is figure it out before Gold does. Henry finally manages to catch his parents' attention and they ask him what's wrong, leading him to reveal that there's something the matter with August, who lies unconscious on the couch. Emma tries to wake him but he's unresponsive, and she tells Regina that they have to get him help.

We are next shown the Storybrooke nunnery, with August apparently having been relocated there. Mother Superior is looking over him as he remains unconscious in bed, and she tells Emma, Regina and Henry that he's been through a lot, for he's been changed by magic many times and will need to be very strong if he's going to survive this. Regina, wanting to be somewhat delicate, reminds Emma that they have a bigger problem, and the savior turns to the Mayor with eyes that have welled up with tears for her friend's condition. The two of them, along with Henry, are next seen wandering the nunnery, with Regina pointing out to Emma that Maleficent, Cruella and Gold are expecting her, having sent her on a mission to get that page from the book, and she can't show up empty-handed or else whatever suspicions they have about her will be confirmed. "Then give them this," Emma says, stopping and holding out her hand. With her magic, a forgery of the page appears, and Henry commends his biological mother on getting good at magic. She reveals that she's been practicing, and Regina takes the page, pretty sure that Rumplestiltskin will be able to tell if it's a fake. Emma advises her to pull out of this undercover mission, promising to protect her if she does, but Regina is reluctant to do so because they still don't know what the villains are up to, and it's a bigger risk not to know.

She rests the fake page on the book, which Henry has just opened, and answers her ringing cell phone. The villains are on the other line and she screens their call, knowing that they'll be wondering where she is, and Henry tells his adoptive mother that the forgery is good, holding it and the real page side by side so that she can compare. Regina says that it's not good enough, proceeding to suggest that what they need is a different kind of copy. She then uses her phone to take a photograph of the door, and Emma realizes, "Because Gold and those witches don't know that the page contains the actual door; all they care about is what the door looks like." Regina hopes that this photo will keep them on their wild goose-chase around town, pocketing the phone, and she tells Henry that she has to get going, bidding him goodbye with a long, deep hug. "Okay, mom..." he ends up saying, and she apologizes, not being sure when she'll be back to see him; when he appears frightened, she tells him not to worry, assuring him that she'll be fine. She gives him another brief hug goodbye.

Emma and Henry soon enter the apartment where Hook has just broken some news to David and Mary Margaret, and the blonde asks her boyfriend what's wrong. He explains that Ursula told him before she left what the villains have planned: to get their happy endings, they intend to darken the savior's heart - to turn her into a villain so that she'll no longer be the savior. This surprises Henry, who doesn't believe that one can simply "un-savior the savior", but Hook relays from Ursula that Gold has a way, and he can use the Author to do it. Emma's parents look particularly alarmed by the revelation, but Emma herself finds it ridiculous, promising everyone that she's not going dark, Author or no Author. "Darkness is a funny thing," Hook explains, "It creeps up on you." Again, Emma's parents look upset while she approaches the pirate and assures him that no one - not Rumplestiltskin, nor some Author - is to decide who she is. They share a comforting hug, while Mary Margaret asks her husband via whisper if he really thinks it's possible that Emma could go dark after what they did. David is sure that it's impossible, reminding her that they were told that they had to guide her; that her fate rested with them. Mary Margaret points out that this Author has the power to change everything; if he's going to write the villains happy endings, who knows what he could do to Emma? "We have to do something," Snow finally decides, "Without Emma finding out the truth." She proceeds to leave, rather conspicuously, and Emma turns to her father for a clue as to what's wrong. David merely assures his daughter that Mary Margaret will be fine, and exits the apartment in wake of her.

Regina, meanwhile, heads inside Gold's cabin, where he is waiting with Maleficent and Cruella. The latter comments that she feels as though she's aged a decade waiting for her, at which Regina retorts she certainly looks like it, and an impatient Maleficent asks her old friend where the page is. She pauses and Gold hopes she hasn't failed, but the Mayor lies and tells them that the page was under a protection spell - something cooked up by the savior, who almost caught her trying to break it, meaning she had to flee. Gold asks if she's sure that's what happened, clearly suspicious, and Regina answers positively. He points out that she's been gone an awfully long time, and yet she's returned empty-handed; however, she reveals that she's not empty-handed, lifting her cell phone to reveal the photograph she took of the door. Cruella snatches the phone almost immediately and calls the photo incompetent, saying that the glare blocks any clear view of the door, but Rumple takes the phone and concludes that it's not a glare... it's magic. "This door has been sealed by it," he figures out, "This is the door we've been looking for." "You think the Author is trapped in an illustration?" asks Maleficent, "But that would mean..." "The Sorcerer imprisoned him in the book... we need to get it. Bring us the page," Gold orders Regina, but she tells him that that won't be easy because the savior isn't about to let it out of her sight. However, Maleficent says that they don't have to worry about Emma, for she has just the thing.

Emma and Hook are seen sitting on the couch in the apartment when the latter asks how "he" was, referring to August. Emma worriedly replies that he's not doing great, and the pirate deduces based on how she's acted that she cares for him, leading her to realize that he's jealous; she tells him that now is not the time for it. He wonders why he would be jealous, although he does know she's partial to men in leather jackets, but Emma assures him that August is just a friend. "Of course," he says, and she goes on to ask if he remembers that video he showed her from the foster home of she and her friend Lily (see "Breaking Glass"). He does, and she explains how she was her first and best friend and she pushed her away forever, and, after that, she just wasn't great at making friends - August was the rare exception, and that's why he's so important to her; there's nothing else going on. However, he becomes distracted by something outside the window, and she asks him what it is. He moves the curtain and tells her to look, but it's too late. The purple wave emanating through the town comes through the window and passes over the two of them, causing them both to fall asleep before Emma can so much as ask what the hell it is. On the outskirts of Storybrooke, Maleficent, Gold, Cruella and Regina are all lined up while the former emanates multiple of these purple waves from her magic staff, thus putting the entire town to sleep. "It's done," she declares once the final wave has passed over, "Now let's get to work."

Act II
Snow and Charming are trekking through the Enchanted Forest woodlands when the latter demands that his wife tell him what she saw in her vision. She refuses, for saying it out loud would make it too real, and declares that they just have to find a way to save their child's future. "Pardon me!" exclaims a nearby peddler who's having some trouble getting his wagon up a hill; he asks the Charmings if they could please lend him a hand. The prince offers to help and the peddler apologizes, saying that it's heavy and over-loaded with trinkets. He adds that he's a peddler, if they haven't already guessed, but apparently not a very good one, and Charming smiles as he eventually manages to get the wagon unstuck from its position and successfully up the small slope. The peddler says that it just needed a little elbow grease and thanks the royals for their help, proceeding to shiver and comment that it's "colder than a witch's... foot out here, isn't it?". Charming offers him a flask full of brandy to warm him on his journey, and the peddler assures the prince that he never turns down brandy, taking the flask and tasting some of its contents. He deduces the "nutmeg-y" flavor of the drink, and Snow tells him to keep it, wishing him good luck before proceeding on her trek, clearly in a hurry. However, the peddler tells her to wait, realizing that they're going West, and Snow says that that is where their home is. The peddler warns them of a terrible sorceress who's taken up residence down that way; they call her Maleficent, and she's just awful. Charming assures the peddler that he and his wife are well-aware of just how awful she is, having crossed paths with her before, and the peddler wonders if they heard what happened: "She turned herself into a heinous dragon and laid an egg." "An egg?" Snow questions, and the peddler confirms it, explaining that the beast made her nest in a cave, having scorched all the earth around it to mark her territory. Everyone fled, including him, and he recommends that the two of them go East. Charming realizes that this would lead them to the Infinite Forest, and Snow worries that they could get lost for days, but the peddler instructs them to stick to the path until they come upon a cottage; there's a kind old man who'll help them get to where they need to be. "Trust me." Snow thanks the stranger, who wishes her and her husband a safe journey as they begin to head East. As they walk, he takes a swig of the brandy, still shivering due to the cold. We are shown a bird's-eye view of the Infinite Forest in all of its massive entirety, before being shown the Charmings as they wander through it, sticking to the path just like the peddler told them to do. Eventually, Charming manages to spot the cottage that the stranger told them about, and he points it out to his wife. Snow turns her head and notices it also, and the married couple approach together. Charming goes to knock on the wooden door, but it opens before he has the chance, and the Sorcerer's apprentice on the other side comments that he was wondering when they would arrive. "You were expecting us?" Snow questions, and he explains that he sensed them coming, as well as the fact that they were at a loss over their child. They are surprised by his intimate foreknowledge, and he proceeds to invite them inside for tea so that he can explain everything properly. As he heads inside, the screeching of a dragon can be heard from afar, and Snow, worried along with her husband, asks if that was Maleficent. "Oh, yes, yes," the apprentice says, clearly unworried, "Do come in, you don't have to worry about her here." Maleficent is walking back through the woods of Storybrooke in the present day along with Cruella, Regina and Gold, the latter of which is right beside her and asks her if she knows what she has to do. "Quite well," she assures him, her staff still in tow, "The question is: do you?" He reminds her that the terms of their deal involved her helping him find the Author and their happiness thus being secured, but she tells him that she's altering the deal, pointing out that he needs that page from the book to get the Author and, to do that, he needs her. He questions this, and she says that she just put the town to sleep, so she's useful; plus, they both know that Cruella and Ursula were merely a means to an end, and that end is her. That's why the Dark One hasn't shed a single tear over their "tentacled friend's" departure, because he has Maleficent, and to have Maleficent means he has to give her what she wants - "It's oh so simple. I need to know what happened to my child after those two 'heroes' got rid of it! I need to know its fate... In return, I'll get us both the Author. We'll get you the page, and, once I know what they really did to my child, those 'heroes' will pay." Mary Margaret, meanwhile, is walking teary-eyed down Main Street as David follows her, calling out to his despondent wife to no avail. He asks if she's okay and she eventually turns around, angrily exclaiming that no, she's not, reminding him that they made a vow to be good and ever since Cruella and Ursula have arrived they've done nothing but lie. David points out that they want to turn Emma dark, and Mary Margaret is aware of this, but says that if they're not careful then they're going to end up helping them do that. There is a pause, and then Mary Margaret notices something strange across the street: people sleeping outside Granny's Diner. She tells her husband to look and he does, and they're next seen heading inside, seeing that every single customer is unconscious. "Why aren't we?" David wonders, and Snow deduces that they must be immune, having both been under sleeping curses before. "But Emma hasn't..." the prince realizes, and both of them exit Granny's in a worried manner.

Trivia

 * The title card of this episode features a unicorn.
 * The same title card was featured in "The Thing You Love Most".
 * Although credited, Michael Socha (Will Scarlet) is absent from this episode.

Production

 * The title of this episode was confirmed by executive producer/co-creator Adam Horowitz, via his Twitter account, on January 14, 2015.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the episode.