The Tower

"The Tower" is the 58th episode of Once Upon a Time.

Summary
While Emma, David, Regina and Hook continue their search for the Wicked Witch, she, in turn, is planning a dark surprise for David, and Zelena's prisoner is powerless under her watch as she plots her next course of action against the townspeople. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was in the previous year, Prince Charming stumbles upon Rapunzel, who is trapped inside a tower, and must help her confront her fears in order for her to be free.

Teaser
We are treated to a panoramic view of the Dark Palace as the shot slowly moves in on the extravagant layout, making its way through one of the windows and settling up Prince Charming, who's wandering the halls and appears lost. He looks out to the balcony and open sky, but is soon distracted by the sound of a crying baby. Confused, he makes his way through a wooden doorway at the end of the adjacent hall, through which is Emma's old nursery. It's clean and proper and still has the wardrobe in the corner; Charming closes the door behind him as he steps in to take a closer look. He comments that this isn't possible, for the nursery should be in his old castle, not there. As he inspects the room, his eyes settle upon the unicorn mobile hanging above the crib, and he approaches it. He again looks confused and says to himself that this is all wrong, but to his shock, a familiar voice replies. "You're right," says the adult Emma Swan, who's dressed in a ball gown and full princess attire.

She continues speaking, telling her father that a full-grown princess shouldn't still be living in her nursery, adding that she doesn't even have a proper vanity. Charming asks her what she's doing there, knowing that this isn't possible, but she simply replies that she was looking for a place to practice as she's a little nervous about tonight. Her father wonders what's happening tonight, and she reminds him of the upcoming ball, admitting that she's never been to one before. She outstretches her arms and takes Charming's hand, telling him that she doesn't even know how to dance, and, after a twirl, she requests that he teach her. As ballroom music begins playing, Emma and David begin to dance elegantly to it, with the latter telling his daughter that she's a natural, just like her mother. However, she assures him that he's the best teacher a daughter could hope for, and Charming lifts her into the air and spins her, commenting that this is everything he had ever hoped for her. "Me too," she says, "It's a shame I never got it." He lowers her to her feet where they continue to dance, and the prince asks the princess what she meant by her previous statement. She points out that she's not really there, and never was; she should be, but she isn't, and all for one reason: "You failed me."

With this, the music and the dancing end, and a flash of lightning turns the nursery dark. The room begins to rattle and things begin to fall from the shelves. Emma's hair is now down and messy, the fun now over, and the head of one of her dolls begins to spin round uncontrollably, as does her mobile. Suddenly, the doors to the magic wardrobe burst open to reveal a large portal, which tries to suck Emma inside. She quickly reaches out to her father for support, and he manages to grab her hand to prevent her from leaving. "Goodbye, daddy!" she yells, still being drawn towards the portal in the wardrobe; the haywire equipment of the dark and stormy nursery becomes even more out of control. Charming apologizes, promising his daughter that he'll save her, but she refuses his help, saying that he can't save her because he failed her and there's nothing he can do. The prince refutes this, pulling Emma away from her fate with all his might, but before she's ultimately sucked into the portal and shut into the wardrobe for good, she simply utters, "Don't fail the next one." With Emma's words still haunting the inside of his head, Prince Charming's eyes shoot open as he wakes up from his nightmare, utterly terrified. After a few heavy breathes, he looks to see that Snow isn't lying in bed beside him, becoming curious as to where she is. He calls her name and we see that she's standing by the balcony, gazing fondly outside. She appears happy that her husband is awake and he forces a smile before getting out of bed and approaching her. She comments on the view, adding that she forgot how beautiful it was there, and the prince dons his dressing gown before pointing out what a good mood his wife seems to be in. Snow confirms this, saying that she has some pretty wonderful news: "We're pregnant." Charming looks shocked beyond belief, and Snow asks him if he's not happy, to which he replies he isn't. "I am thrilled," he assures her, and the princess lets out another big smile before hugging him ecstatically. His facial expression, however, continues to convey dread and fear. ONCE UPON A TIME

Act I
Nine Months Later In his apartment, David asks, now that they know who they're dealing with, why don't they find this Wicked Witch. Hook starts by asking if anyone's seen a woman with green skin running around, but Regina reminds him that they're cursed in Storybrooke, meaning she'll look like any one of them. Emma suggests that they start somewhere they already know the witch has been: Regina's office; however, the Mayor says that she's already been over it with a fine-toothed comb and there was no trace. The blonde points out that there could be physical evidence that Regina missed due to her use of magic and David tells his daughter that this is a good idea, assuring the others that they'll be able to track her. Regina tells them to be her guest if they want to waste their time playing Nancy Drew, but she for one will not allow Henry to wander around alone with a Witch and her flying monkeys out there. "Especially since one of those flying monkeys could turn out to be his father," Hook comments, leading a stunned Mary Margaret to ask Emma if there's been any sign of Neal. Emma replies negatively, clearly saddened by the subject, but Regina interjects by explaining her point: someone needs to protect Henry as he doesn't even know what's going on. Emma takes this to mean that the Mayor is volunteering, and she shrugs, telling Henry's other mother to call her if she finds anything. Before Regina leaves, she is told to remember that Henry thinks he's in town because Emma's on a case, leading her to comment how good the blonde has got at lying. "Just don't slip up. As far as Henry knows, you're just Madam Mayor, and... that's it," Emma points out, but Regina assures her that she's well-aware of how Henry sees her, proceeding to exit the apartment. "Time's wasting," says Hook, "There's something Wicked in your town. What do you say we go find it?" Elsewhere in Storybrooke, Zelena magically opens the door to her storm cellar with a simple wave of her arm, proceeding to make her way down the steps. Down in the cellar itself, the resurrected Rumpelstiltskin is busy spinning at the wheel within the cage he's locked in, and Zelena, who removes her gloves and turns on the light, asks her prisoner if he's enjoying his little toy. Rumple begins chanting that spinning "cleans the mind and soothes the soul", but Zelena simply laughs, having removed her coat and scarf, commenting that he looks as awful as he sounds. This makes him stop spinning, halting his wheel, and the Wicked Witch asks him what's wrong, wondering if he maybe isn't enjoying his cage or appreciating his jailer. When he doesn't respond, she comments that he looks like he wants to hurt her, telling him to give it a go. She unlocks his cage and opens the door, saying that she'd love to see him try; "Especially since we both know that you can't, not when I have this!" she exclaims, taking out the Dark One's dagger and forcing an apprehensive Rumplestiltskin to cower, but remain standing. She tells him that he's a slave to his magical weapon, and therefore to her, commenting that frustration can be so intoxicating on others. She says that the only one doing the hurting will be her, before ordering Rumple to "be a good boy" and sit back down. He obliges, and Zelena sits down on the stool opposite him, still with his dagger in tow.

The Dark One asks her what she's waiting for, telling her not to let him stop her, and the Wicked Witch appears confused, looking from the dagger to her prisoner. Rumple sings, "All the voices in my head, will be quiet when I'm... dead," but his jailer chuckles, admitting that she's not there to kill him; "But you really do need to keep up appearances." Mr. Gold wonders why as Zelena grabs a cloth with which to wipe the dagger, and he requests to continue spinning so that he may "spin the madness away". He begins to do so, repeatedly chanting this, but Zelena simply says, "No," and he settles down immediately. She tells him that she thinks the spinning is bringing the madness, before telling him to come closer and taking hold of his face. She requests that he keep still, lest he want her to nick that pretty face, and proceeds to shave the stubble from his cheek with his dagger. As she wipes hair from the magical knife, she realizes that Rumple is probably wondering how she knows how to do this, asking if she ever told him about her father. He doesn't reply, but she launches herself into story nonetheless, explaining that her father's hands used to shake from drink, or worse - she didn't ask, and he didn't tell her - but he couldn't abide going a day without a shave and so she had to learn how to do it for him. Having scraped another load of stubble from Rumple's cheek, Zelena continues, telling her prisoner that her father used to say that no matter what they were feeling on the inside, they had to put on their best face.

As she gets started on shaving Gold's other cheek, she comments that, in their land, she and Rumple never had that choice because, no matter what they did, their outside always showed exactly what was rotting on the inside. Giving his face a few final scrapes with the knife, the Wicked Witch says that they're in a new land now and have new worries, the least of which is to look their best. As she says this, she accidentally-on-purpose nicks Rumple's chin with the dagger, drawing a small amount of blood. She shows him the drop of red on her thumb, having taken it from his now fully-shaven face, and asks him if it stung; she then simply laughs before stroking her prisoner's face and commenting that he's handsome as ever. She drops the cloth, still with the dagger in tow, as she leaves the cage, and Gold points out that if she really cared about appearances then she'd provide him with a change of shirt. "Just exactly what is it you want?" he asks her, and as Zelena shuts and locks the cage, she tells Rumplestiltskin that what she wants is what he spent a lifetime seeking... something that goes against his very nature... something that she can't afford to wait that long for. Spouting another laugh, she turns out the light after saying, "Luckily, I won't have to." Zelena is soon seen making her way into Mr. Gold Pawnbroker & Antiquities Dealer where Belle is working behind the counter, surprised to see a customer. She asks if she can help, and Zelena comments that she must be Mrs. Gold, leading Belle to have to deny this. Zelena then asks if Mr. Gold is around, but Belle answers negatively, painfully explaining that he died. The disguised witch offers her condolences, and a thankful Belle introduces herself by name, being told how pretty it is. Zelena places her hand on the beauty's and apologizes for bothering her, saying that she was hoping to buy a baby gift for a lovely woman she met at Granny's Diner who goes by Mary Margaret in this land. Belle immediately knows who this is, and Zelena continues to explain that she's helping Mary Margaret with her pregnancy and today's her first day on the job, commenting that, curse or no curse, a girl's got to work. Belle tells her customer that she think she may have just the thing, turning around for a moment in order to locate the item, but when she does so, Zelena uses her dark magic to freeze her, making the poor girl oblivious to her surroundings. She then heads behind the counter and removes a painting from the wall, revealing a safe. Still having a spot of Rumplestiltskin's blood on her thumb, Zelena presses it against the keyhole and the safe door unlocks magically, allowing her to open it. Looking through the possessions inside, she eventually takes out a jar, inside which is a mysterious root. She opens up the jar and takes the root for herself, smiling upon inspection and placing the jar it came in back into the safe, closing the door behind her.

Trivia

 * The title card of this episode features Rapunzel's tower.
 * Although credited, Michael Raymond-James (Neal Cassidy/Baelfire) is absent from this episode.
 * According to the press release and promotional pictures for this episode, Raphael Sbarge (Archie Hopper/Jiminy) was supposed to appear in it. However, his appearance was excluded from the final cut of the episode.

Production

 * The title of this episode was revealed by executive producer/co-creator Adam Horowitz, via his Twitter account, on December 20, 2013.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the episode.