Previously on Once Upon a Time… Emma came within a decision of dramatically changing her life forever by doing away with her magic, in order to protect the citizenry of Storybrooke from the Snow Queen and her powerful Spell of Shattered Sight.

Meanwhile the relationship between Robin Hood and Regina got intensified, while Operation Mongoose got placed on the back burner. Lastly, it was revealed that Rumplestiltskin’s newest agenda was to separate himself from the Dark One’s Dagger, and thereby be able to leave Storybrooke once and for all with his wife and grandson along for the journey.

One of the things that was alluded to before this episode was the fact that Gerda had written a note before their ship went underneath the seas. Since that development had been shown so much earlier, I was thankful to be reminded that Elsa’s parents might in fact not have been looking to remove Elsa’s powers, but had a different agenda altogether. The running narrative that Elsa’s parents were trying to take her powers from her had become the prevailing truth, but now that the bottle had made it’s way to the shore there might be more to the story. Lastly, to bring it back to Gerda’s sister, the Snow Queen had finally unleashed the Spell of Shattered Sight.

This week the driving plot was between sisters Anna and Elsa, and whether or not they would finally be reunited as certain circumstances came to pass. Furthermore, in Elsa’s reality the Spell of Shattered Sight was about to inflict some impending doom on Storybrooke. In this reality the unseemly relationship between Captain Hook and Rumplestiltskin saw Rumple use his leverage of having Hook’s heart against him. Lastly, in Anna’s reality the fate of Arendelle became known.

I’m going to journey back to Arendelle first before the reality that faced Elsa and Emma comes to the fore. After being released from their icy slumber, Kristoff and Anna awoke to the fact that Elsa had still been inside the urn, and that Hans and his brothers were there to confront them yet again as they had become unfrozen as well. Anna and Kristoff were able to escape, but they soon realized that they would either have to face Rumplestiltskin to get the urn back and free Elsa, or go to the pirate known as Captain Blackbeard, and in the process use the wishing star to free her using that. Ultimately, they chose Blackbeard, but what they didn’t realize was that Hans had collaborated with Blackbeard, and Hans sent both Kristoff and Anna into the deep blue sea inside of a treasure trunk. Tune in later to see where Anna and Kristoff’s trunk ended up and their fate.

“ONCE UPON A TIME”

Meanwhile in Storybrooke, the Spell of Shattered Sight is lurching over the city, and it becomes clear rather quickly that there are a lot of competing interests that are at play. From one vantage point, you see Elsa finally have the opportunity to find her sister with the locating of the star shaped necklace. From another you see the masses in Storybrooke trying to create a spell to counter the Spell of Shattered Sight. Lastly, you see the Dark One, along with the assistance of an unlikely party, work against both Elsa’s interest and the whole of Storybrooke writ large.

I’m going to further examine each entities journey over the course of the day before sundown strikes Storybrooke, and with it the impending doom. Rumplestiltskin’s new agenda is to leave Storybrooke with Henry and Belle, but in order to do so he has to acquire enough magic to separate himself from the Dark One’s Dagger. So he has Captain Hook, whose heart he’s in possession of, to go inside Granny’s Dinner, and on his cue, pull out the Sorcerer’s Hat, thereby sucking in the fairies and all of their power with it.

For the likes of Snow White, Prince Charming, the Evil Queen, and Emma, it’s about being the leaders of the city and knowing what’s best for the whole of the city. So when they realize that Anna’s necklace has not led to finding her, they decide to use that necklace, and give it to the Blue Fairy to try and concoct a spell powerful enough to transcend the Spell of Shattered Sight.

Lastly, for Elsa, at the beginning of the episode while attempting to leave Storybrooke, she comes into possession of her sister’s star shaped necklace. With that Emma and Elsa use a locator spell to try and find Anna, but initially they are led down to the caves underneath the library; however, on their first pursuit the spell leads them into a wall. Later though, against the decision of Snow White and Charming, she takes the necklace back and blasts the cave wall through along with Emma. Once she made it through she found herself on the beach, and this is where this episode, for me, became one of the greatest moments in scripted episodic in history.

There was this perfect storm that had been brewing throughout the whole season, and everything for both better and worst came together in a cataclysmic series of events. While Kristoff and Anna were under the sea inside of the trunk that Blackbeard and Hans had sent them in, water began to permeate the trunk. Fortunately though Kristoff was able to break himself free as the water nearly drowned the two of them. With the locator spell gone, and despair in her heart, Elsa made one final wish to be reunited with her sister and the sense of loss and uncertainty compelled her to make one final wish. In that moment Anna was saying her wedding vows to Kristoff as they were about to be submerged, when all of a sudden they hugged, and locked hands.

“ONCE UPON A TIME”

The big reveal in the two sisters reuniting was finally upon us after a whole season driving towards this one moment. As Elsa cast the wish that they would find each other again, light magic traveled throughout Storybrooke, and with it allowed Anna and Kristoff’s trunk to levitate from the bottom of the ocean to ascend out of the water and send a booming shock through the whole of Storybrooke. As the trunk lie there on the beach, and with Emma and Elsa on their backs from the impact of the magic, the trunk slowly opened and out came Anna and Kristoff to the sheer satisfaction of Elsa, and even Emma who had been on this journey with Elsa for quite some time.

In that moment all of the years apart, and the struggle and the drive made it all worth it. As Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff shared in their own hysteria and delirium, Anna was made aware of what was happening in Storybrooke with the Snow Queen. With that before they left Anna and Elsa shared in a hug, and for all intensive purposes the episode was over. Sadly in this moment of sheer ecstasy and bliss though, Captain Hook is summoned by Rumplestiltskin, with his life in the balance, to go do the hideous deed of both killing and stripping the fairies of their magic, including the Blue Fairy. This honestly was one of the saddest and most vulnerable moments in the series, as the Blue Fairy had always been a symbol of goodness and justice, and in an instant she was gone, at the righteous hand of Rumplestiltskin.

“ONCE UPON A TIME”

For me this arguably was the best episode ever produced by the team at Once Upon a Time, there were so many moments of tragedy and triumph, and with the shadow casting over the city at the end of the episode, they couldn’t have left it in a better space. Seeing all of the lead characters brace themselves for the reality that they were about to face, and seeing how well the episode was edited and shaped really was satisfying. For me, this was the episode that finally justified bringing on Anna and Elsa and the world of Frozen to Storybrooke, and the emotional pay off was remarkable.

Next week tune in before the winter finale, and find out just how dramatically different people will behave as the Spell of Shattered Sight blurs their reality and their relationships. The most telling moment of this new reality was after the glass had fallen from the sky, Snow White and Prince Charming broke their embrace, and Snow stared on with darkness in her heart. Will Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Emma defeat the evil Snow Queen? Will we find out what was inside of Gerda’s bottle? And what will become of Captain Hook as his life seems to approach an inevitable end at the hands of his nemesis, Rumplestiltskin?