{ enchanted forest }

20. { the evil queen }

Hook was bound inside a clock tower and offered a job by the two strangers. He tells them that he's not interested as his mission is complete: killing the Dark One. After all, he could have never survived his potion which contains Dreamshade, the deadliest poison in all the realms.. until Greg and Tamara show him that Rumplestiltskin did survive. In exchange for the possibility to murder the all-powerful Dark One he has to find Greg's father by questioning Regina.

Speaking of the Evil Queen. The next day she decided to find out what the Charmings will do with the magic beans that they have secretly been growing. She did not have to hide long in the skin of a stranger to hear it. They would go to the Enchanted Forest, either taking her with them and locking her up in Rumplestiltskin's cell or abandoning her here to die when Storybrooke disappears.

Lucky for her, she has taken one bean from the field as proof. She could use it to win Henry over for her cause. She tells him about her perfect plan to trigger the 'self-destruct'-part of the curse. Before it would destroy Storybrooke, Henry and her would be back in the Enchanted Forest. Henry asks her what would happen to the others, to which she responds that they will die. Her son reacts shocked to it, but she explains how he then can fully be hers and she can show what she can be, if given the chance: a hero. Henry tells her that he will stop her from killing everybody, but Regina wipes his memory of their conversation.

She returns to her office and was just looking outside her window when she hears footsteps. Regina walks to the door of her office to see Hook entering. The Evil Queen was surprised to see the pirate, to say the least. He asks her for protection, to which Regina assumed that it's from Gold. The pirate starts telling her about the 'deal' he made with Greg and a woman who's name he doesn't know. He has to win her over betray her. Regina was skeptical as to why she would believe him.

He tells her that he hooked up with her mother for a reason and that they might go back to their alliance of three from earlier. Regina told him that Cora has passed away. Hook tells her that her mother would love the most in the world was to see her win and that he, as tribute to her, will help the Evil Queen with that. She shows him the beans and tells him of her plans to escape with Henry. Regina promises him the death of Rumplestiltskin in exchange for his help.

At that moment Emma walks into Granny's and sees Tamara taking an order without mayo to go. The blonde has to smile softly when she remembers Neal's absolute hate for the white sauce. She accidentally-not-accidentally bumps into the dark haired lady and sees a list escape from her grip. Fairytale characters and their curse names.

Emma always had this special ability to see through lies and Tamara is one big lie wrapped up in a pretty smile. She had an odd feeling about the woman and was going to find out what she's lying about. Later that day she tells Mary Margaret about her suspucion: that Tamara is the 'she' thar August was talking about. She leaves, but tells Emma to keep it low for a while until she knows more.

But of course Henry had heard their whole conversation on Emma's distrust on Tamara and decides to come down. She tells him to grab his coat so they can start a second Operation Cobra. They start by observing from inside her yellow bug. Henry makes a comment about adventures in the Enchanted Forest and Emma asks if he would like to go back. But Henry is a smart kid and connects the dots of his mother's face and her tone and words and translates them into: the giant brought beans and there is a way back.

He was excited, talking about castles and how he, his father and his mom would live there. Emma immediately stops him, but Henry yells for them to duck. Neal and Tamara walks out of Granny's, arm in arm as Henry says that Operation Praying Mantis is now on. When they see the two lovebirds go a different direction, Emma and Henry sneak inside. She tells her son to stand guard while she picks the lock.

She begins to understand what Mary Margaret meant with 'giving him hope on his parents getting together': Henry was constantly suggesting them two together, of course with him as added bonus. Emma forgets about it for a moment and focuses on picking the lock. Once it clicks, she goes inside and Henry tries to follow her inside, but she says he has to be lookout. He promises to hit the door someway if someone's coming. The blonde closes it and starts looking around in the closet when she notices that one floorboard creaks.

Emma was about to investigate it when Neal returns and Henry stumbles against the door, their warning sign. He wasn't fooled as he was the one to to teach her that trick and pushes Henry inside to enter his room. Neal asks what's going on, so Emma decides to be honest. He reveals that he helped making the mysterious list after Emma begins on her arguments to distrust Tamara.

She just asks to check the floorboard so that she can prove and that if there was nothing, she would leave. Neal agrees and so Emma opens it. There was nothing there. She and Henry leave, but Emma was certain. Tamara is up to something and she will prove it.

During all these events,  Hook and Regina went to the library, and so straight to the elevator, which is abandoned now Belle has become Lacey. They get down to find the trigger that would wipe out all excistence of Storybrooke and the curse.

Once beneath Hook asks her to walk forward when Regina notices a piece of hide around his wrist and orders him to give it to her, as he tells hed it had belonged to her mother. She puts it around her own wrist and goes first.

Regina tells Hook to distract Maleficent while she finds the trigger. She then throws him over the edge of the cliff, like canon fodder. While he distracts her, Regina takes her sweet time finding the tomb the trigger lays it, cracking the glass and taking the small embroidered sack she hides it in. She goes back to the elevator and was surprised to see Hook in the library when she was back up. She was sure he would die. He reveals that her whole story was so touching that he would almost stop his own plan, which confuses Regina. She thought she had him, not the other way around.

Greg and Tamara show up behind him. He comments that the two saved him from Maleficent and that they have a way against magic. Regina tried to summon a fire ball and throw it at them, but she couldn't make one. Her magic was blocked by the piece of hide she put on and she knows she was tricked by Hook. Tamara looks at her note and asks Greg who she was. He tells her the answer and Regina asks if this was all to find his father. But his missions wasn't only that, but of course he won't tell her that. They kidnap the magicless Evil Queen there and then.

When Henry and Emma got back to the condo and found it empty, with the exception of a small note from David which tells them that he and Mary Margaret are at the fields, they get some icecream from the freezer and eat it together. Henry tells his mom that he believes her and that once they prove it, they could go back to the Enchanted Forest.

But if only he knew how difficult that would be now, as Mary Margaret and David find the field of beans destroyed by fire. They couldn't save one. All was destroyed. No way back to the Enchanted Forest now.