The Evil Queen

For the character, see Queen Regina.

"The Evil Queen" is the 42nd episode of Once Upon a Time.

Summary
With the aid of Hook, Regina attempts to put a plan in motion that will help transport herself and Henry back to the Enchanted Forest... but her plan revolves around a fail-safe that was planted within the curse, which if triggered could wipe Storybrooke off the map - and kill all of its inhabitants; and Emma's suspicions about Tamara grow. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, the Evil Queen asks Rumplestiltskin to transform her into an unrecognizable peasant in order to kill an unsuspecting Snow White, with the twisted aim of earning the love and respect of her subjects.

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

Captain Hook stabs Mr. Gold with his poisonous hook. Tamara cuts off August's phone call to Emma and outside, where August lies dead, Emma comments that someone killed him to stop him from telling them something. Mary Margaret and David show Emma the dwarfs' crop of magic beans and the blonde realizes that her parents want to use them to return to the Enchanted Forest, and Snow says that they can start over. Regina tells Emma that she knows she's hiding something and assures her that she will find out, and later, she discovers the field of beans. Greg asks Tamara if she was able to get "the package" and she tells him that it's right outside town. Later, Tamara drives into town with a trailer attached to the back of her car and opens it up to reveal Captain Hook tied up and gagged inside.

Teaser
"Actually, I prefer it with the lights on," we hear Captain Hook saying, his eyes blinded by darkness. The black hood covering his head is removed by Tamara, one of his captors. He tells her and her partner, Greg Mendell, that he's spent enough time below deck to not be faded to dark, so if this is their idea of torture, they're gonna have to try better - this last part he utters in a patronizing tone. He is tied up to a chair, and the three of them are shown to be on the last floor of the public library's tower, with Hook sitting in front of the broken round window (see "The Queen is Dead"). It's nighttime. Greg explains that they just wanna offer him a job, and Hook, in a tone of mockery, says, "Then you can let me go?" and starts laughing. He then "apologizes" and states that he already did his last job: he killed Rumplestiltskin, so he's sated, replete, his life's purpose met. Tamara, who knows better than this, plays along, telling him that she wishes she could have been there to see him stab the Dark One. "Well, look who's up to speed," Hook tells her, to which she replies that she's a quick learner. He fires back that she then knows his work is done, to which Greg responds that he doesn't think so. The two of them proceed to move his chair closer to the large window; Greg tells him to take a look and Tamara hands the pirate his monocle. He looks out the window through it and spots Mr. Gold, alive and well, coming out of The Rabbit Hole in the company of his girlfriend, trashy Lacey. The captain can barely believe his eyes, and is horrified at the notion that his vengeance wasn't triumphant. Tamara takes the monocle back and tells him that he's alive. They move his chair back again and Greg rubs it in Hook's face that Rumple beat him. He then goes on to say that the Dark One has powerful magic; he's untouchable, and Hook will never get another chance to take him down. Hook replies that he will indeed. "Not unless," Tamara says, "we help you." Hook asks how they can help, and she tells him that they know how to kill magical creatures. Hook lets this sink in and asks what their price is, to which Greg responds that he needs the pirate to help him find someone: his father, who was taken in that town, a long time before. Hook wonders why Greg thinks he'd be able to help him with that, to which Greg promptly responds that Hook knows the woman that took him, Regina. Greg then holds up the pirate's hook before him, and asks if they have a deal. Hook ponders about it.

ONCE UPON A TIME

Act I
Nighttime back in the fairy tale land that was. Queen Regina and her legion of knights make their way to a village, hoping to find Snow White. The dark knights, riding on their steeds, bring with them lit torches, and the Queen, dressed in an exquisite magenta outfit, hosts an evil smirk on her face. Some knights descend from their rides and make their way to a cabin, apparently having come to be in the wiser regarding Snow's whereabouts, and the Queen steps down from her horse as well and follows after them. One knight bursts through the door, and another one follows him in to take a look around. The Queen enters the cabin and is told by Berkley, the knight who forced his entrance, that the place is empty. She retorts that she can see that, with spite, and recounts that Snow White was hiding there, but she's gone, so someone must have tipped her off and thus she ran. She leaves, being followed by her two knights, and orders her minions to pan out and bring her the villagers. Shortly afterwards, the knights have made it so that the entire village's frightened population has been gathered in front of the Queen, with the cabin once inhabited by Snow White behind them. The regal beauty then starts up her speech, telling the villagers that Snow White has betrayed them, having poisoned her own father - whom Regina then refers to as her 'dear husband' - so she could try to ascend to the throne herself. Regina then tells them Snow now stalks the outer villages, being a bandit, a murderer, and a traitor. She then tells the people, with a grin, that information leading to Snow's capture will be richly rewarded. Nobody speaks up. "No one?" Regina asks, with relative surprise. Her grin has vanished, and she moves closer towards the villagers and wonders if none of them wants gold. "No?! You're telling me she lived there and not one of you saw her!" The Queen is exasperated. She turns back towards her knights and Rivers inquires his majesty as to what they should do now, to which she promptly replies, "Kill them all. No mercy. Find me Snow White."

Nighttime in Storybrooke, nowadays. An elderly fisherman is seen tending to his naval chores as David Nolan and Mary Margaret Blanchard are seen sitting on a bench in the docks, drinking coffee under the drizzle, their laps covered by a blanket. The twosome of cuteness are discussing their plans to leave Storybrooke to go back to the Enchanted Forest, and the princess asks her prince if they are really going to leave Regina behind when they do that. David tells his wife that Regina is too dangerous to bring with them, so they have to leave her. Mary Margaret states that Henry won't like it, because Regina is his mother, despite all the horrors. He insists that those horrors will continue, and then asks if she wants to give Regina another chance, because everytime they do... "She slips, I know," Mary Margaret says, before asking what they do. David suggests that, instead of a second chance, they give her a choice: come back and live out her days in Rumple's cell, or stay there. The fisherman steers away from them, and morphs back into Regina Mills, who had put herself under a transformation spell. "Jail cell?" she says, "I don't think so..."

"Rumplestiltskin," Queen Regina calls out to her foe/confidant as she enters one of her resting chambers in her Dark Palace, in the Enchanted Forest of yester days. The Dark One is suddenly seen sitting on her bed, commenting that Regina's taken to power quite well, and that it gives her cheeks a nice rosy color. She walks towards him, claiming not to understand the villagers, for she offered them a fortune and still they protect Snow White. He asks why they are loyal to Snow and not to her, if she is their Queen, and he gets up and reminds her that she did just slaughter an entire village, which is maybe why she is called the "Evil Queen". She responds that she is not 'evil', and that they call her that because of Snow, who is truly the evil one. "They're her people, dearie," he says, as he walks around the chamber, "You're gonna have to be content with their fear. They'll never love you." Regina tells him that they will, when Snow is dead, they will see her kindness. Rumple jokingly says that that will be perfectly clear through the charred remains of the peasants' homes. Regina, hopelessly dellusional, says that in time it will be, Snow's death will allow it. Rumple sits down and tinkers with her belongings, as she goes on to say that she just has to find her nemesis, and apparently has to do it herself. He points out, sarcastically, that, in that outfit, finding Snow should be easy, which gives Regina an idea. She promptly asks the Dark One to teach her her mother's shapeshifting spell, in order to allow her to hide. Rumple tells her that it took her mother months to learn that, and quips that perhaps in a week Regina will be able to change a hair - he then jokingly suggests "highlights". Regina is frustrated, but not beat. She tells him that, if she can't do the spell, he can, and asks that he put it on her. He gets up as he tells her that, if he does, she won't control it, and she won't have any magic while the spell is working. Regina states that she doesn't need magic, as long as she can get close enough to snap Snow's neck with her bare hands. "I can see you're determined," Rumple says, to which Regina smiles, wickedly, and he then tells her that, once the deed is done, she is to call upon him, for only he can return her to her regal self. Before he can cast his spell, however, she stops him, to ask what the price is. He tells her that it's a boring matter of state: he needs her to cut off all trade with King George's realm. She asks why, to which he responds, "I need him bankrupt, what's it to you?!" She agrees to this, and urges him to just do it, for time is of the essence. He twirls his finger and envelops her in a cloud of blue smoke. The smoke dissipates quickly and Regina is shown looking haggard, but claiming not to feel any different. She notices the less-than-prim outfit she is now donning and comments that those ghastly rags are all that's different. However, whereas we all see the Regina we're accustomed to, Rumple tells her that 'this' is what the world will see. They walk in front of her mirror and she can now see that she looks entirely different, having taken the form of a young peasant woman. Delighted, Regina exclaims that she looks "about as regal as a potato". Rumple tells her to be careful, because a queen strutting amongst peasants might not like what she hears. Regina puts her shall around her head and neck and tells him it won't matter; when she is done, they'll be singing her praises over Snow's smoldering villainess remains.

Back in Storybrooke, Mayor Mills approaches the front patio of the Charming family's apartment building and spots Henry, backpack in tow, putting feed in a bird feeder. She greets him, and he asks her what she is doing there, to which she replies that she missed him and she wanted to show him something. She removes a small plastic casing from her coat pocket and shows him the bean pod inside, telling him that Emma, Mary Margaret and David have been keeping this from him. She says that they've been growing magic beans in secret, and they want to take him to the Enchanted Forest without her. Henry tells her that maybe they're all going and they just haven't told her yet. Regina denies this, telling him that they won't let her help, because they don't see the good in her, the good he's seen; they only see the 'Evil Queen' - which, she adds, they made her. "And I don't wanna be that anymore," she tells him, face to face. She then goes on to say that the beans are her chance to go back and start over, for her to be the hero. "And you'd like that, right?" Henry says that he'd love it, and Regina then starts to explain to him how it will work: there's a fail-safe built into the curse, a trigger. "Like, a self-destruct button? Like you never did it?" Henry wonders. Regina confirms this, and comments that it's the next best thing to turning back time. Henry tells her that that's amazing, and asks what happens to Storybrooke. Regina tells him that it disappears, forever. He tells her there's no need to worry, because they can get away first, back to the Enchanted Forest, using this. He asks about everyone else, and she says that they die. Henry is horrified. She tells him that she doesn't have any other choice, as long as there are other people in their lives, he can never fully be hers. "You loved me once. With them gone, you'll love me again, and you can see me for what I truly am: a hero." "Not if you kill everyone," he tells her, "You're a villain!" Regina is hurt, and fires back that they're the ones that have been keeping them apart, they're the villains. Henry asks how he could ever love anybody who would do such horrible things, and then wonders why she would even tell him this. Regina, rather sadly, tells him that she doesn't have anyone else to talk to. Henry tells her that he's gonna stop him, and she removes her spell book from her purse and tells him that everything she just said will come to pass. He promptly denies this, asking why he'd ever let her do any of this, to which she says, "Because you won't remember a thing." This said, she moves her hand in front of his face and he is struck with a memory-erasing spell. She then puts away her book, and Henry recovers from his daze, reliving his confusion over seeing his foster mother there with him. He asks her what she's doing there, and Regina smiles and tells him that she just came to say 'hello'. She says she's missed him, and he smiles. She then suggests that he show her the bird feeder, which she claims is sure to make the birds very happy. Henry does just this, and Regina keeps up the charade, never forgetting her true intentions.

Act II
Back in the Enchanted Forest that was, Queen Regina is seen fitting in with the peasants in a common village, walking amidst them through a fair, with no one recognizing her disguised self. She approaches an attraction, wherein a carny is seen juggling, and she notices the effigy of the Queen - herself - behind him, with a heart-shaped fabric ornament on her chest. She points out that it's the Queen, to which the man corrects that it's the Evil Queen, as he urges people to step right up and sink an arrow in her heart. A peasant boy prepares to try his luck, and Regina tells them that's not right. The carny says that the game is fixed, actually, you can't hit the Queen in the heart... because she ain't got one. The villagers around the attraction laugh, and the boy shouts, "Kill the Evil Queen!", being met with loud excitement. Regina is horrified. The boy then lunges his arrow straight into the effigy's heart, and the crowd is pleased. She asks him how he could do that, for Regina is their Queen, and the boy tells her that Snow White should be their queen. Regina tells the people that Snow White is a bandit, a murderer and a menace, to which everyone nods their heads in denial of this. "Lies!" the carny tells her, adding that the Queen is evil, to which Regina says that he doesn't know her. The boy tells her that he can thank his lucky stars for that, and then urges the crowd to burn the effigy, and their excitement continues. He grabs a flaming torch, but Regina stands between him and the effigy, telling everyone that this is treason, and she won't stand for it. She takes the torch from his hand and waves it at the crowd, and then the people disperse as they witness the arrival of Rivers and Berkley, two of the Queen's dark knights. The carny leaves his own attraction, and the knights rush to it. There, Regina tells her soldiers that it's about time, and asks where they have been. Berkley asks her if she did this, which the disguised Regina denies, claiming that she was trying to stop it, as she puts the torch out. Berkley turns to his partner and asks him if that's what it looks like to him, to which Rivers says that it looks to him like some 'dirty slag' was defacing an effigy of their Queen. He then jokes that it does look just like her though, and they both scoff. Regina, offended, removes an arrow from the effigy and says, "How dare you? I will have your head for that, Rivers!" He takes the arrow from her right away, and Berkley comments that she knows his name. He then asks her how she dares to address a knight of the Queen's guard in such fashion, and Regina tells him that she knows their names - then referring to them as 'idiots' - because she is the Queen. The knights, assuredly, aren't convinced, and move up towards her. Regina, as a natural instinct, prepares to ward them off with a spell, but is suddenly forced to be reminded that she is no longer in control of magic. The knights laugh and Berkley overpowers her, walking her off of the attraction and through the fair, as she commands that he let go of her.

Regina is seen admiring the development of the magic beans she has stored in an incubator in her office, and she is then distracted by the sound of footsteps approaching. She walks towards the center of the office, hoping to swerve the attention from whomever is coming away from the beans, and is surprised to find that her visitor is none other than Captain Hook. He lets himself in, and she tells him that he looks like he's had a rough time. He comments that he has indeed, and states that he's come to ask her for her protection. Her eyes stray to the incubator momentarily, but Hook walks past it without even glancing at it. She asks if he means to be protected from Gold, and says that she's surprised he'd show his face in Storybrooke, once he noticed his murder didn't take. Hook tells her they have bigger problems: Greg Mendell, the man who hit him the night he shot Belle, is in league with some woman, who abducted him in New York and dragged him back to Mendell. He tells her that they want him to make an alliance with her, and then betray her, which is why they let him go. He then suggests that they make an alliance instead, and skip the unpleasant betrayal business. Regina asks why she should trust him, and he tells her that he took up with her mother for a reason, and suggests that perhaps the three of them could re-establish their alliance. Regina breaks the news to him that her mother died, and Hook, apparently surprised, tells her that this is sad news, and gives her his regards, claiming that Cora will be missed. He then goes on to say that he knew her mother well enough to know that what she wanted most in the world was to see her win. He failed in his revenge, and the best tribute he can give Cora is to help Regina with hers. Regina then decides to show him something. He follows her towards the incubator, and he quickly realizes it's an escape plan. He tells her Cora would have loved that, because she brought the giant over for the beans, so that she could go back and start over with her daughter. Regina explains to him that now she's going to do that with Henry, if Hook will help her. "This is how we're going to escape the total destruction of Storybrooke. If I can trust you." He asks her if, when she says "total destruction", she is including 'the crocodile'. Regina confirms this right away, reassuring him that Rumplestiltskin will die... if he helps her.

Trivia

 * The title card features Regina's Dark Palace.
 * Although credited, Meghan Ory (Ruby/Red Riding Hood) is absent from this episode.

Production
The title of this episode was revealed by executive producer/co-creator Adam Horowitz, via his Twitter account, on February 21, 2013.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the episode.