Mermaid (3.01)

"Let me go! Or die."

The mermaid is the unnamed mermaid who was caught by the Jolly Roger crew and called on a storm to trouble them in "The Heart of the Truest Believer".

After the Curse
After young Henry is taken to Neverland by Greg and Tamara, his two mothers, Emma and Regina, along with Hook, Rumple, Snow and Charming, set sail to the same realm through a magic portal, atop the Jolly Roger. There, and after Rumple leaves them, Emma and Hook share a moment to honor the memory of the allegedly departed Neal. The ship is suddenly rocked, and they are startled. Emma asks what that was, and Hook instantly gets up and rushes upstairs. David and Mary Margaret are shown to be struggling with the steering wheel of the ship as they sail through stormy waters, whilst being attacked by something. Regina asks them what they are doing, and is told that they are trying to keep it steady. Hook joins them and tells them to prepare for attack. Regina tells him to be more specific, and he tells her that if she's got a weapon she should grab it. Emma comes up from out of the hatch and closes it, and asks what is down there in the waters: "A shark? A whale?" David joins in and asks, "A kraken?" Hook tells them, "Worse", and the rest of the gang look overboard and are surprised to witness pretty women looking at them from below the surface, and swimming around with colored fish tails attached to their torsos. Hook finishes his line, saying "Mermaids!" The school of mermaids is then seen swimming towards the ship and flapping their fins above the surface, as they screech.

"Mermaids!" Emma screams as she looks at the half-fish, half-women creatures attacking the Jolly Roger from below. The sirens' tails glisten in the sea as they swim around and towards the ship, and the storm grows denser. Hook tells his new crew that mermaids are quite unpleasant, to which Regina replies, "You think?" The mermaids hit the ship with their fins, and Emma wonders how many of them there are. David, bemused, says that he will not be capsized by fish, and heads towards the cannon. He loads it up with gunpowder and chains, and Mary Margaret calls for her daughter's help with the fishing net, while Hook tries to maintain control of the steering wheel. David lights up the cannon's fuse and aims it at the school of mermaids. The cannon blasts and hits one of them, who shrieks in pain, and Snow and Emma throw the net overboard. David loads up the cannon again, and fires another blast into the sea. A mermaid is then caught in the fishing net. Mary Margaret says they caught one, and Regina, unimpressed, says "One? There are dozens of them." Emma and Mary Margaret pull the net up, David fires another blast, and Regina, having had enough, conjures up a fire ball in her hand and throws it at the sea. The fire hits the waters and spreads, and she hurls a second ball of fire afterwards, and a third one soon follows, effectively scaring the mermaids away. Their glistening tails are seen distancing themselves from the ship, and Regina says, "There. They're gone." Snow points out that not all of them are gone, reminding her of the mermaid they caught and are trying to bring on board. With a tiny hand gesture, Regina magically brings the net and its captive mermaid onto the deck. The mermaid starts flapping about like a fish out of water, looking frightened.

As the Jolly Roger continues to sail through the waters of Neverland, the mermaid stills finds herself on the deck of the ship, against her will, lying on the net that imprisoned her. Hook, at the wheel, commands that they get the mermaid off his ship, but Regina rejects this, because now they have a hostage. David points out that - despite hating it - he's with Hook, for those things just tried to kill them. Regina says that they should perhaps find out why, and Mary Margaret asks, "How, by torturing her?" Regina says maybe, if it is necessary, and the mermaid reaches for a conch shell that was brought in with her and blows on it, causing a deafening sound. The crew cover their eyes, and Emma then asks the mermaid what that was, to which she replies that it was a warning - either they let her go, or they die.

David picks up the shell and asks the mermaid what it is, and what she's done. The mermaid looks at him seductively and begs him to let her go, and Regina tells her they won't until she tells them, or they will make her tell them. Mary Margaret says that threatening the mermaid isn't the way to motivate her, and Regina snidely says that she's all out of fish food. Hook brings up that it doesn't matter if they get her to talk because they can't trust her, mermaids are liars. Emma says, "Of course they are." Snow says that maybe the mermaids are just scared of Pan, and if they let her go the school will be on their side. Regina counter-argues that maybe the mermaid and her friends will just come right back to kill them. The mermaid says that she doesn't need her friends to kill them, they'll kill themselves. Emma is confused. She orders them to let her go, and lightning rips through the sky as the storm surrounding them gets stronger. They are all startled, and Hook says that she called the storm, and tells them not to let her go because she'll swim off and leave them all to die, and at least with her they've got leverage. David picks up a sword and points it at her neck, ordering her to call off the storm, and then they'll let her go. The mermaid, not the least bit intimidated, gives him a provocative look. Annoyed, Charming moves behind her and wrings her neck. Regina, amused, tells him to filet the bitch.

The mermaid starts choking, but David looks at his wife and daughter, who are horrified by his behavior, and lets her go, commenting that they're not barbarians. The stormy waters and winds continues to rattle the ship, and Regina comments that what they are going to be is dead. Hook reassures them that he can turn it around, for he's outrun many storms, but Regina tells the mermaid that either she makes it stop or she dies. Mary Margaret says, with conviction, that they are not killers, but the mermaid herself rejects this, saying that they are and that they brought this death upon themselves. Snow says that this is why they should free her, and Regina retorts that that feel-good nonsense might work in the Enchanted Forest, but this is Neverland. The ship is rattled again as the storm grows more intense, and David shouts at Hook to keep his grip. He says it wasn't him, but rather the ship. Hook leaves the steering wheel to check the deck and says that the ship is taking in water. Regina asks if she may resume killing the mermaid now, to be given a "No!" by both Charmings. Snow tells her that if she kills the mermaid, her kind will have a personal vendetta against them. Hook tells them that the Queen is right, they've already tried to kill them anyway. Emma shouts at them all to stop, because they need to think this through. Regina, bemused, looks at the titilated mermaid and says that she already has. This said, she waves her hand and magically transforms the mermaid into a wooden statue of herself. Regina says that that should stop the storm, but quite the opposite happens. Emma says, "Regina!... What did you do?!", as they all look up to witness a giant wave coming their way. They all hang on for their dear safety as the waters fall down upon them. Eventually, Emma makes the connection between the storm and their own stormy behavior, and makes a rash decision that leads the rest of the gang to cooperate and work together, thus making the storm disappear.