The Dark Swan

"The Dark Swan" is the 90th episode of Once Upon a Time, as well as its fifth season's premiere.

Summary
Immediately after becoming the Dark One, Emma disappears and the heroes must band together to save her, but first they have to find her, which will require the help of an unlikely ally. Meanwhile, in the Enchanted Forest, Emma struggles to resist her dark urges as she searches for Merlin in the hope that he can stop her transformation. Along the way to Camelot, she gets help from the plucky and brave warrior princess Merida, as well as King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

Teaser
Minneapolis 1989

We are treated to a shot of the city at night time, before being shown a brightly-lit movie theater which, according to the big signs out front, appears to be screening The Sword in the Stone. Inside, a woman is seen pocketing an Apollo candy bar before proceeding to take her popcorn and drink, while a group of kids enter nearby. Amidst them is a little blonde girl, who watches with a sad expression on her face as the other children get snacks for the film and she is unable to, filing on into the theater instead. The Disney animation is seen playing on the big screen, and the little blonde girl soon spots the woman from before; she's removed her coat and the Apollo bar in the pocket is now in plain sight, rife for the taking. Careful not to be seen, the little girl sneaks up from behind and successfully steals the candy, then making her way to her own seat with a large grin. As she begins to unwrap the candy bar to enjoy the film with, a sudden voice tells her, "Don't." She is startled, looking up to see an usher staring back at her. She wonders aloud what he means, but he simply repeats himself.

Thinking he's referring to the chocolate she stole, the little girl sighs with guilt and apologizes; this leads the usher to sit down beside her and say, "I wasn't referring to the candy bar, Emma." The six-year-old Emma Swan is shocked, wanting to know how he knows her name, to which he replies that he knows many things, and he's there to tell her: "Don't do it." Still she doesn't understand, and on the screen we see the cartoon Merlin yelling at his apprentice, before cutting back to the usher, who explains that when Emma does something she's not supposed to do, even if she does it for the right reasons, bad things will happen. Bad things. The movie screen shows us the young boy Arthur as he attempts to pull the sword from the stone; the usher tells Emma that one day she will have the chance to do the same with Excalibur... but she mustn't. "Leave the sword alone," is the last thing he says before another little girl in the row in front of them shushes him. Emma looks to this girl, and when she looks back the usher has vanished without a trace. She is deeply confused, and proceeds to watch the movie as Arthur finally succeeds at removing the sword, thereby becoming King. ONCE UPON A TIME

Act I
Somewhere in the great kingdom of Camelot, three knights are seen riding across the countryside, clearly geared towards somewhere specific. They soon make it onto a road, and this leads them to a small beach beside a lake where they decide to dismount. Lancelot is asked by the first to do so if this is the place, and he replies to his friend, Arthur, that Merlin's prophecy was quite clear; this is it. Arthur says that the prophecy isn't what he's worried about, pointing to a horse on the other side of the lake - it is clear that someone beat them there. The king draws his sword, and then Lancelot, and then Sir Percival; the three of them proceed to make their way forwards, into a wooded area where, lo and behold, the genuine Excalibur rests in its stone. They are pleased to see it, but another knight soon steps out and assures the trio that they're too late. This other knight is revealed to be Sir Kay, whom Arthur tells not to give into dark temptation because the sword is not his to take. Sir Kay wonders why not, questioning the legitimacy of some prophecy from some old wizard who tells him that he should accept Arthur as his King - "No thank you. I just need to take what I want, and then I shall be the greatest King in all the realms." The rogue knight proceeds to wrap his hands around the sword's handle, trying his very hardest to pull it from the stone, but doing so causes the red jewel on the hilt to begin glowing, and then... Sir Kay explodes into a pile of dust, and Excalibur remains where it is.

Arthur and the others are shocked by their old comrade's sudden death and, in an effort to keep things rolling, Lancelot bluntly points out to his friend that it's now his turn to attempt freeing Excalibur. Arthur knows this, and he slams his old sword into the ground as he begins to approach, wrapping his own hands around Excalibur's handle and pulling it free with relative ease and slowness. He is happy at first, but then the entirety of the sword comes out... only it's not an entirety. The thing is incomplete; missing its end. Arthur frowns upon noticing this, and the others look confused too, wanting to know where the rest of it is. Arthur says that what he's holding now is all there is, and Percival wonders how he's going to be able to take the throne with half the sword; "What will you tell the people?" "Nothing," Arthur decides, "All they need know is they now have a King. In the meantime, we have a new quest to begin: we must make Excalibur whole! We must find its other half." As he says this, the shot takes us along the length of the broken sword to reveal that its "other half" is in fact...

...the Dark One's dagger, which now reads the name "Emma Swan" as it rests on the street pavement of Storybrooke. "How could she be so stupid?!" is the first thing to be said after Emma disappears, and David quickly scolds the person who said it - Regina - who insists that there had to be another way. Mary Margaret tearfully assures her that there wasn't, reminding the Mayor that that thing was going to kill her and that Emma saved her life, of which Regina is well-aware. As is Henry, who arrives on the scene and realizes that his birth mother is now the new Dark One; Regina amends her son to say that now Emma's a problem, for all of them, despite Mary Margaret's insistence that she's still good. "I hope so!" Regina responds, "It's not like she rode off on a unicorn, she got sucked up by a vortex of evil!" Confused, Robin questions where she's gone, but Hook tells him that it "doesn't bloody matter". He begins to approach the dagger on the ground and Robin tries to stop him; Hook isn't in the mood to argue, however, and he shakes Robin off with anger and approaches the powerful magical weapon anyway. Lifting it up, he explains that if he can't find Emma then he can "damn well" bring her to him. He proceeds to hold it out in front of him and issue: "Dark One, with this dagger I command thee, return!" When nothing happens, he reiterates with, "Dark One, appear!", but his attempts appear to be fruitless. Regina orders him to put that thing down before he hurts himself, addressing him as "Guyliner" before going on to say that she thought he knew the dagger's rules. He turns to face her, knowing that, with it, he can summon the Dark One from any corner of the world. "Well, there's your answer," Regina clarifies, "She's not in this world." The others aren't quite sure what to make of this.

We are shown an overview of the Enchanted Forest as is stands in the present day, before being taken to a round seal on the woodland floor that we know to be the Vault of the Dark One (see "Quiet Minds"). It opens suddenly, and inky blackness begins to pour into its center. It isn't long before a form starts to rise from it, and soon enough Emma Swan is standing atop the re-sealed vault, having formed from darkness, dressed in a set of unfamiliar grey robes. She is deeply confused, wanting to know where she is, and quickly becomes alarmed when she hears the sound of someone whistling behind her. She demands to know who's there, removing her hood as she turns around - Rumplestiltskin, in all his former glory, stands to greet her, much to her surprise. The new Dark One recalls that he's supposed to be in Storybrooke in a coma, to which Rumple replies, "Yes, I am. Or rather, he is." Puzzled by the implications of this, Emma asks what he is, and he explains that he is many things: he is the voice in her head; the Dark One's powers inside her; inside all the Dark Ones, of which Rumplestiltskin is but one of many.

He suggests transforming into another, then changing himself into Gorgon the Invincible, a fire-breathing boar that Emma begs to stop. The Darkness settles on the form of Rumple, who decides that it's probably easier this way. While Emma tries to gain a sense of her surroundings, Rumple asks if she's ready to begin training to be the Dark One, telling her to think of him as her guide until she's learnt to embrace her powers. "I will never embrace the darkness," Emma assures, but Rumple tells her that they all say that; everyone who sips from "this well" (the vault) enjoys the taste (of darkness) too much, and the only way to stop is to be stopped. This is the fate of all Dark Ones. Emma tries walking away from the vision, but it assures her that she can't, proceeding to appear magically in front of her. She tells the fake Rumple that she knows she's in the Enchanted Forest, which means Merlin can't be far from where she is and the Apprentice told her that he can destroy the darkness so she's going to find him. "Merlin? Oh, you're better off with me," Rumple tries, but Emma profusely protests, refusing to be like all the Dark Ones before her and hurt the people she loves; the people who, in turn, love her. She walks through the vision and continues on her quest.

Hook, Regina, Robin and the Charmings file into the back room of Mr. Gold Pawnbroker & Antiquities Dealer, where Mother Superior is tending to a very weak Sorcerer's Apprentice. Hook reveals to the old wizard that "that monstrosity" took Emma, and he needs to know where it went. The Apprentice reveals in turn that she is now where all darkness is born: in their realm, and Hook demands that he take them there. The Apprentice says that he's too weak now, but is able to make his magic wand appear in his hand, telling them that it will help. It was a gift from the Sorcerer - from Merlin - on the day he became his apprentice; inside it is all the light magic. Mary Margaret asks if it can take them to her daughter, but the Apprentice explains that, in order to cross realms, the wand must be wielded as it was forged: with both sides of the coin; the light and the dark. As he utters this, his eyes close and his body goes slack. The wand drops to the floor as he finally dies, and Mother Superior looks sorry for her patient.

Regina takes this to be her queue and lifts the wand up off the floor, proceeding to aim it upwards in an attempt to harness magic. However, nothing happens, and she looks to be about to strain herself trying. Hook angrily tells her to stop before she embarrasses herself and wastes their time in the process, but she tells him to watch it; she knows what she's doing. The pirate says that that's not enough - like the man said, it needs darkness, and she's gone soft. "You wanna see soft? Why don't I use that hook to show you your intestines?" Regina threatens, finally lowering the wand, and Hook tells her that she has the fire but not the blackness, not anymore. "How's this for irony? You've done too much good! No... we need someone wicked." Realizing that he means her sister, Regina shuts this suggestion down right away, insisting that that witch isn't only wicked but deranged as well. Hook believes it to be worth the risk for Emma's sake; "She sacrificed herself for you, 'you majesty', because she believed that an Evil Queen could be good! Don't you think you owe it to her to repay the favor?" Regina appears conflicted.

Emma continues to journey through the Enchanted Forest when she comes across a lowly peddler, whom she runs toward and begs for help. He stops to aid her and she explains that she needs directions to Camelot, wanting to know if he knows the way. He does, and reveals that the information will cost her two pieces of silver. She humbly tells him that she doesn't have any silver, and the price quickly rises to three pieces. When she stresses that she's in a hurry, it goes up to four, and she eventually orders, "Just tell me!" Suddenly, his windpipe is compressed and he's lifted off the ground with magic. He grasps at his throat, unable to breathe, and Emma doesn't understand what's going on. When he manages to ask her what she's doing, she assures that she's not doing anything, at which Rumplestiltskin reappears at her side and tells her that of course she is. She sees that he is making the strangle gesture with his hand and begs him to stop hurting the man; however, he says that it's not him doing it - it's her. She then looks down and sees that she is compulsively doing the same gesture. With effort, she forces herself to stop, and the peddler finally drops to the ground. Emma can't stop her hand from shaking and the peddler runs away, scared. Rumple asks the new Dark One if she enjoyed it - her first taste of darkness - and Emma is unsure of how to react.

Act II
Mr. Gold remains comatose in the back room of his shop while Belle watches over him, gently stroking his forehead with the back of her hand and looking sullen. Putting a book down, Mother Superior approaches, telling the shopkeeper's wife that she should go and help the others with Emma because she's resourceful and they could use her, even if they don't know it yet. Belle explains that if Rumple slips away, she wants to be there with him; accordingly, the Blue Fairy holds out her left hand and waves her wand with the other, causing a bell jar to appear. Inside this bell jar is a magical, hovering red rose, which glitters as it rotates within the center of its confinement. Belle takes the jar as Mother Superior explains that the rose inside of it is now linked to her beast - as long as it still has petals, he lives; "Now go." Grateful for what she's been given, Belle clutches the jar and proceeds to leave.

Trivia

 * The title card of this episode features Granny's Diner after it's been swept up and dropped off by a magical cyclone.
 * As of this episode, Michael Socha (Will Scarlet) is no longer a series regular. In turn, Rebecca Mader (Zelena/Wicked Witch) and Sean Maguire (Robin Hood) join the main cast.

Production

 * The title of this episode was revealed by Mark Isham, via his Instagram account, on June 30, 2015. . It was then officially confirmed by executive producer/co-creator Adam Horowitz, via his Twitter account, on July 7, 2015.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the episode.