An Untold Story

"An Untold Story" is the 111th episode of Once Upon a Time, as well as the second part of its fifth season's finale.

Summary
With the possibility of magic being destroyed and the fate of Storybrooke hanging in the balance, it's a race for Henry's two mothers to track him down before his villainous grandfather can get to him first. Regina continues to struggle with her frustrations over her formerly evil self while, elsewhere, the other heroes are imprisoned and must contend with two very disturbed individuals who just might give Mr. Gold a run for his money.

Act I
It's now daytime in the mystery realm as we are once again shown an establishing shot of Hyde's mansion, before being taken into the medical laboratory where Dr. Jekyll can be seen waking up after having transformed back into himself. He has been strapped into a straight jacket which he proceeds to try and shake free of, before noticing the note on the table which has been left by his other half. "You almost got free. Sorry it didn't work out."

- Mr. Hyde

Jekyll rolls his eyes at this, then turning to see Poole dozing in a nearby chair, having had too much to drink. He soon drops his flask full of alcohol onto the floor while Jekyll slowly rises to his feet, his hands still stuck in position. Upon spotting an array of surgical equipment, he begins creeping over to it; he stares at a scalpel as he quietly declares, "That's the thing about you, Hyde. You're not half as clever as you think." He begins to squirm, presumably about to use the surgical knife to cut himself free. We are then taken to the room with the cage where Hook is currently trying to use his namesake attachment to pick the lock and set himself, Snow, David and Zelena free. However, he seems to be having very little luck, and the formerly Wicked Witch asks the pirate if he got into his own rum, wondering if he seriously thinks that what he's attempting is going to work when her magic can't. He replies that he supposes he could just do nothing, "But then again, that's your job!" Angry, Zelena exclaims that if he really wants to get out of there then she can arrange a one-way trip right back to the Underworld, but David comes between the two hotheads and tells them both to stop, reminding them that they need to be patient because the groundsman promised to fix the Apprentice's wand and bring it back to them.

"Unfortunately, I was only able to keep half of my promise," Jekyll announces as he enters the room, and Zelena asks him what he means before demanding to know the whereabouts of the wand. The doctor assures that he repaired it, but then the warden took it from him; however, he didn't come empty handed, for it seems the orderly drank a little too much whiskey today. With this announcement, he reveals that he has the key to the cage, and, as he starts to unlock it, Snow says that they need to get the wand back from that warden and asks the doctor if he knows where he is. Jekyll lies and tells her that he does not, then going on to say that, first thing's first, before they find him they need a way to defeat him because he's quite powerful. He might have a way, but it's dangerous. "Hasn't stopped us before," Snow assures as the cage door finally opens and she steps on out of it, followed by her three comrades. Hook is the last one to exit captivity and, before he descends the steps like the others, he grabs Jekyll threateningly and informs him that he just went to hell and back; as such, he's not afraid of his warden. In response, Jekyll simply tells the pirate to follow him.

Jekyll and the four ex-prisoners are next seen venturing out into this undiscovered land, making their way through a busy marketplace with all manner of people running it. "Bloody hell..." Hook says as he finally gets a good look at the place, and David asks where they are. Like Snow says, it's like all the realms at once, and we see citizens who are distinctly from the Enchanted Forest, Agrabah, Wonderland... everywhere. Jekyll tells her that she's closer than she thinks, for this land is a refuge, filled with outcasts from all over; each forced to flee their problems and each finding a safe haven there. Snow wonders just what exactly they were forced to flee from and Jekyll informs her that the reasons are as varied as the populace, but everyone has their own tale; that's way this place has come to be known as the Land of Untold Stories. Hook sees this as a tad ironic of a name, given that this land seems to be filled with stories, and Jekyll stipulates to this before pointing out that there's only one story they need to worry about now and that's their own. "Aye," Hook agrees, "And that story better end with us getting back to our world." The five of them proceed through the market place, though the four foreigners continue to marvel at this veritable melting pot of a world.

Back in New York, Violet is chasing after Henry following him having presumably stormed out of the Midtown library. She calls out his name and begs him to stop as she finally catches up to him because his moms told them to wait where they were, but Henry points out that they could be in trouble, then asking Violet why all of a sudden she cares what they say since she already ran away with him and lied to them about the Dark Grail. Finally she gets him to stop by taking his hand, saying that she knows he's scared and that if he really thinks that this is the best thing to do then she'll help him. Henry thanks her, wanting to continue to wherever he was headed, and Violet follows, her hand still is his. "But," she adds, "I hope you have a good plan, because we don't have magic and we have no idea where your grandfather is." Henry then stops, telling her that, actually, he thinks he does. She then looks to where he's looking and sees a massive purple storm cloud hovering solitary above a nearby hotel building. It swirls around as it zaps lightning randomly, clearly magical in source, and Henry and Violet continue to stare at it as they come to the shared realization that the top of that hotel building is where they need to be.

Inside the hotel, one of the servers remains entirely oblivious to the nonsensical storm raging above his place of employment, thanks to his earphones blocking out the noise. Instead, all he hears is Rick Springfield's song "Jessie's Girl" as he pushes a trolley with a lidded meal on top of it out of the elevator and down the hall, all the way to the room at the end where a mysterious glow is emanating. This makes him somewhat apprehensive and he finally removes the earphones and hears the horribly shrill noise which accompanies the glow; intent on doing his job, however, he inches the trolley toward the room and eventually knocks on the door, which is then opened by Mr. Gold. The glow and the noise die down as soon as the server is able to see inside the room, and the guest he's serving tells him not to just stand there. As such, the server enters and is able to see the Olympian Crystal as it rests amid several runic carvings, surrounded by three lit candles which are obviously part of some sort of magical ritual. Trying his best to ignore this, the server simply announces the arrival of Gold's dinner, removing the lid from the tray as he says, "The spaghetti bolognese."

However, what's on the plate is far from what Gold ordered, consisting of steak and vegetables, and the server does his best to apologize for what is apparently the kitchen's mistake, offering to get it fixed right away. Gold tells him that there's no need because the meal is irrelevant, and then he approaches the trolley and lifts up the tray which bears the plate, proceeding to tip the food off of it as he asks if this is sterling silver. The server confirms that it is, though he's confused as to why this very strange guest needs to know such a thing, and then Gold finally tells him that he can leave. The hotel employee tries to do just this, but before he's able to make it to the door the Dark One tells him that actually there's one more thing. The server turns slowly, clearly afraid, as Gold approaches; all he does, however, is provide him with a tip, stuffing it into the breast pocket of his vest as he warns that things might get messy there. Nodding, the server manages to leave the room with his tip in tow, and then Rumple promptly closes the door where we zoom in on the sign which reads "Do Not Disturb". Like Gold forewarned, things are about to get messy...

Act II
The magical storm cloud continues to spew thunder and lightning as it grows in size above Gold's hotel building, in the plain view of Emma and Regina on the street below. The latter comments that Gold might have magic on his side but he sure isn't subtle, and Emma says that if she knows Henry then he's already disobeyed them. She wants to call him, but Regina torched his phone earlier; when Emma takes out her cell though, she sees something that confuses her. Regina asks what's wrong and the blonde reveals that Granny sent her a text about something that's happened in Storybrooke - her parents, Hook and Zelena were pulled through some kind of portal. "Again?" Regina questions, proceeding to wonder where they've all ended up, but Emma points out that Granny is an expert on lasagna, not magic, meaning all they know is that the four of them vanished with the Apprentice's wand and then they never came back. Regina looks up at Rumple's magic cloud, proceeding to storm her way over to the hotel building. Emma follows her frantically, trying to say that their loved ones might all be in danger and that they have to bring them home, but Regina asserts that the only way to do that is to get their magic back from Gold. The blonde stops her before she enters the hotel, saying that they need a plan, but Regina makes clear that she has one: "I still have a fist; Gold still has a nose! If you don't like it, I'll do this alone." Again, she tries to enter, but again, Emma stops her, proclaiming that she gets it, she wants to help her family too, but they have to be smart about this. Regina stares the savior down, formulating a new plan.

Trivia

 * The title card of this episode has no subject, bearing only the logo as it assembles within the forest.
 * This could be representative of magic being destroyed.
 * This title card is only present in the version of the episode which also includes "Only You".
 * This title card also lacks the usual musical accompaniment.


 * When this episode is aired in syndication without "Only You", it has the exact same title card as the latter.
 * Although credited, Emilie de Ravin (Belle Gold/Belle) and Sean Maguire (Robin Hood) are absent from the episode.

Production

 * The title of this episode was officially confirmed by executive producer/co-creator Adam Horowitz, via his Twitter account, on March 14, 2016.

Ratings
This episode, along with "Only You", garnered 4.07 million viewers - the highest amount since episode 13, "Labor of Love".

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the episode.