‘Once Upon a Time’ Hero and Villain of the Week: A Courageous Heart
Warning: This recap for “Where Bluebirds Fly” episode of Once Upon a Time contains spoilers.
Strength isn’t just about wielding power over others — it’s also about letting others in and being vulnerable, as Zelena discovers this week.
Zelena likes to put up a tough front. She wants to be the strongest, most powerful magic wielder anywhere. But as the Black Fairy quickly demonstrates, her inner demons and emotional traumas make her unstable. Like an overconfident boxer, she puts every bit of herself into a punch — only to allow her opponent to weave and bob past her defenses.
Z’s life-long insecurity that she’s not good enough led her to become a wicked witch and a villain. Only when she contemplates giving up her magic and sacrificing her power for the greater good can she truly realize her own strength.
Here’s a rundown of this week’s episode…
Hero of the Week: Zelena
A flashback introduces teen Zelena, who uses her magic for good to rescue a bird’s nest with the aid of a young man named Stanum.
Years pass, and the now-green Zelena is barking orders and ruling over her castle when Stanum shows up. He’s been cursed to turn into tin… yeah, he’s the Tin Man! He begs for her help in retrieving an item called the Crimson Heart that could save him. Unfortunately, it’s guarded by a fearsome monster, and he asks Zelena to defeat it, in light of their previous friendship.
Stanum cleverly baits her by asking if she’s afraid. No, Zelena isn’t afraid of anything. They march off to the monster’s lair, and Zelena and Stanum work together to run off the monster, which turns out to be an oversized lion! (What a coward, Zelena remarks.)
But when Zelena finds the Crimson Heart, she discovers that it drains her magic. So, she allows Stanum to turn into tin, with only a brief flicker of regret at having possibly lost her last friend.
After a disastrous tussle with the Black Fairy in the mines, Regina is disgusted with Zelena for messing things up even more and tells her to go back to Oz. But Zelena, recalling how she treated Stanum, decides to stay. And she offers to use the Crimson Heart to drain her magic, which will turn the crystals back to light. Zelena may not be a full-fledged hero, but Regina is all she has left. If she has to give up her power to help, she is brave enough to face the outcome.
Regina is proud of her sister. They’ve dealt a blow to the Black Fairy’s plan — and strengthened their sisterly bond.
Meanwhile, Emma and the Charmings are in full wedding-planning mode. Snow White has created this massive binder with ideas, and she wants to start looking at venues. But David criticizes all of them as not grand enough for their princess of a daughter.
When Snow confronts him about his bad attitude, David admits that he wants Emma’s wedding day to be perfect. Their own was marred by the arrival of the Evil Queen. He wants Emma to get married without worrying about Gideon or the Black Fairy. Emma agrees — they’ll postpone and wed when it’s the right time.
Villain of the Week: Black Fairy
In Storybrooke, the Black Fairy approaches Zelena with an offer to team up, subtly threatening baby Robin in the process. So, Z goes on the warpath to defeat the BF all by herself. Regina argues against it, saying it’s too dangerous. But Zelena doesn’t listen, believing herself as powerful, if not more, than the Black Fairy.
They find the Black Fairy and Gideon in the mining tunnels, and Zelena throws a magic beam at her. But the Black Fairy merely uses it to turn the surrounding fairy crystals from light to dark! It was all a trick! The Black Fairy gleefully announces that now, she can start the last battle.
Later, after Zelena drains her magic to turn the crystals back to light, the Black Fairy spies on the heroes. She tells Gideon they have to stop them from waking the Blue Fairy. Blue knows where to find the other half of the wand that Tiger Lily gave Hook, which can defeat the Black Fairy. Gideon wonders if it’s really that powerful.
The Black Fairy says it’s not about the wand, really. Rather, Blue knows her deepest, darkest secret — the real reason she gave up Rumplestiltskin as a baby.
Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on ABC.
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