RECAP: Once Upon a Time 2x16 - "The Miller's Daughter"

Love, betrayal, and death all wrapped up with a pretty bow. This week the lives of few will come crashing down while others must face the consequences of their decisions. Pasts will be dissected, the unsuspecting will be deceived, and a life will be lost. 

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Fairy tale Flashback:
   Young (?) Cora is working hard at her father's mill delivering flour to the kingdom. As she walks through the castle with bags of flour, the young princess Ava...Snow's mother...purposely trips her with her foot and plays it off as though Cora was a clumsy peasant. Damn, what a bitch. The king tells Cora she will not receive any pay for her actions and commands her to kneel and apologize to the princess otherwise her father will lose their business. Cora does so and is directed to stay knelt on the ground until they pass because that is where she belongs. 

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   Cora gets all dolled up and attends a masquerade held in the castle. She catches the attention of Prince Henry with her sarcasm and charm. The two start to dance but are suspended by the King who cuts in. He easily recognizes Cora and demands she leave because she has nothing to offer the royal family other than strands of straw. She informs him that he is wrong and that she can turn straw into gold but because of his insults, he won't receive any of her talents. As she walks away, the king grabs her by the arm and announces in front of everyone at the ball that this woman claims she can turn straw into gold. He asks her to demonstrate but Cora claims she needs time to gather her thoughts. The king proclaims that Cora will spend the night locked up in the castle tower with heaps of straw. If she can turn it all into gold by the morning, she will marry the prince but if she should fail, she will die. No pressure right? If only they had access to online DIYs or tutorials.
   Held up in the tower with piles of straw and a spin wheel, Cora is startled to find a Rumpelstiltskin with her. He says it's a coincidence she is in this predicament and he is present because spinning straw into gold is one of his favorite hobbies. He demonstrates for her and Cora is instantly captivated. He notifies her that he will help her because in doing so, she will be helping him. The future will be his gift. She is cautious and questions what he'll need from her before she can receive his help. He hands her over a contract that reads she must give up her first born child to him. He tells her that she is most important. Cora asks him to teach her how to weave the gold rather than just do it for her and requests it be part of their deal. Rumpel is taken back but loves how feisty her spirit is.

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   Cora is getting frustrated during her gold spinning attempts. Rumpel tells her to focus on her emotions and to visualize a moment where someone made her so angry she would have killed them if she could. She tries to spin the straw again and recites the moment she was tripped and forced to kneel and apologize for doing nothing wrong. It was then she realized that no matter how hard she tried or how hard she worked, she was never gong to be more than she was now. She tells Rumpel as he kisses and nuzzles her neck that she wants to make them bow before her and their necks to break from it. She soon realizes that she has finally done it. The straw has turned to gold. The next morning, she performs the gold spinning method in front of the kingdom and is told she has earned the prince's hand. Prince Henry kneels before her and asks for her hand in marriage. Obviously she says yes.
   Cora is up in her bed chambers trying on her wedding gown when Rumpel appears. The two smooch- eww!- and apparently have a thing going on between them. She admits that all her life she has wanted this but now she sees it differently. She turns to him and asks what he has to offer her. Rumpel replies he can provide darkness and love to which Cora asserts she wants. Rumpel suggests updating their agreement so that Cora will give up her first born child with Rumpel rather than with a random stranger. Cora agrees and requests one thing in return. She wants the king dead for humiliating her and wants to show him his heart as she crushes it. Rumpel is mesmerized by her passion and agrees to show her how to snatch someone's heart out of their chest. They seal the promise with a kiss.

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   Cora finds the king counting his newly strung gold and admits to him that she does not love his son. The king tells her that it doesn't matter and that love is weakness. He gives Cora the choice to run off with the evil imp she thinks no one knows about in the name of love or to stay and stand next to his son, wearing a crown and having citizens bow at her feet. She replies that if the choice is love or power, then having a heart is quite the liability. She arrives back at her bedroom holding her beating heart inside a small wooden chest.

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   Cora meets Rumpel deep in the forest late that night. She greets him with a kiss but he can tell something is wrong. She admits that she was able to take the king's heart out but chose not to. She reveals she is not going with Rumpel because she has her wedding to attend. She shows him the box with her heart inside. Apparently her heart was stopping her from getting what she wanted. Rumpel catches on that she never loved him and is very angry. He tells her that she will still have to give up her first born child but Cora corrects him and reminds him that they had changed the contract earlier to him taking his first born child with Cora. There and then she informs him that they will never have a child together.
   Regina is finally born and the kingdom bows at Cora's feet as she presents the future queen.

One Life for Another:

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   Cora and Regina have been wire-tapping phone calls between Mary Margaret and David and know that Gold and Emma are on their way back to Storybrooke. Cora takes a look at the dagger and notices Rumpelstiltskin's name starting to vanish. She says that he is dying and if his name disappears completely from the dagger, all that power will wither away and there will be no new dark one. Game time. Cora states that she must stab Gold with the dagger and take his powers for her own. She will be the new dark one and all that power will be hers. Regina protests and says Henry will never forgive them and that the whole point is...wait, what is the point? Cora assures her it is for the good and protection of the family.
   David, Ruby and Mary Margaret run to the docks to greet Emma, Henry, Neal and the injured Gold. Ruby volunteers to take care of Henry while the group brings Gold to his shop. Mary Margaret is determined to stop Cora and to have her killed but David thinks they need to think this through. It cannot be done by her and not with vengeance because her heart is pure and that is who she is and that is how she will stay. Right?
   Gold is brought back to his shop and has Emma search for something important. She comes back with an empty jar but hears clinking as she shakes it around. Inside the jar is an invisible piece of chalk that Gold has her use to draw a line across the front doorway. He suggests the group prepare for battle and as they walk away, he asks Mary Margaret to grab him a warmer blanket from the cabinet. She checks inside but instead finds the dark magic candle from her past. She asks why he has this and he explains that the candle will save him. Snow is puzzled and wants to know why he thinks she would use it for him when she couldn't use it for her own mother. He tells her that she is all grown up now and for once their interests are aligned. Cora will die instead of Gold. Gold divulges that Cora's heart is out of her body and all Mary Margaret needs to do is find the heart and curse it with the candle. Simple right? Well the next step requires her to put the cursed heart back into Cora's body. In doing so, she will die and Gold will live. Emma enters the tension-filled room and asks what the next step is. Gold responds he is relying on Emma to perform a protection spell. Emma is unsure she can do it but Gold believes in her. He demands she stop thinking and use her emotions. Magic is not about intellect, it is about emotion. Emma concentrates hard and the shop front entrance is magically protected. 

   Mary Margaret is keeping the candle a secret from David. She believes using it must be done to protect their family. Regina and Cora arrive outside Gold's shop and use their magic to break through the protection spell with ease. As they enter the shop, the battle begins. Magic vs. swords? They have gotta be kidding themselves. Mary Margaret slips out the back in search for Cora's heart as the mother and daughter duo make their way through the lot as smooth as melted butter, causing the group to fly in several directions. Emma and Neal manage to find refuge in the back room where Gold is hiding and use the chalk to quickly form another protection spell. Cora starts to feel faint and realizes that someone is in Regina's family tomb meddling with her heart. She orders Regina to go see what is going on and to leave Rumpel to her. 

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   David wakes up outside the shop and gives Emma a call on her cell phone. She is alright but Mary Margaret is no where to be found. Mary Margaret is on the hunt for Cora's heart in Regina's family tomb and is determined to find it. She finally spots the beating heart inside a small box held within an old chest. She pulls the box out and unveils the heart. Mary Margaret is briefly uncertain but quickly regains her momentum. She lights the candle, holds it over the vulnerable heart, and whispers Cora's name. 
   Neal and Emma are with Gold trying to protect him from Cora who is trying to break through the protection spell. Neal can tell the spell is getting weaker, so Gold asks to speak with Belle before facing his doom. Emma gives him her cell phone and Gold dials her number. Belle picks up and reminds him that she doesn't remember him. He comprehends this but informs her that he is dying. He realizes that Belle may not remember who she is but he is gong to tell her. Cue one of the most heartfelt speeches of the series and a sure-fire tear jerker. 

"You are a hero who helped your people. You're a beautiful woman who loved an ugly man; really really loved me. You find goodness in others and when it's not there, you create it. You made me wanna go back to the best version of me and that never happened before. So when you look in the mirror and you don't know who you are, that's who you are."

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Emma and Neal are surprised Gold had that kind of love in him. He confesses to Neal that he has spent a lifetime looking for him and for a chance to stay "I love you." Gold apologizes and Neal opens up that he didn't know Gold could go back on their deal. Gold reaches out for Neal's hand and Neal finally takes the plunge. Apology accepted. 
   Regina finds Mary Margaret holding Cora's heart in a box down in the tomb. She tells Regina that she was returning it to her and that Cora can't love her without a heart. Perhaps Cora can love her now that she has it back. Regina is suspicious but takes the heart from her. David finally finds Mary Margaret, head in hands, outside Regina's family tomb. She tells him that he was right and that this wasn't her. 
   The name on the dagger is fading quickly and Cora has had it up to here. She finally destroys the protection barrier and uses her power to transport Emma and Neal outside the town. Rumpel is weak but strong enough to ask Cora if she ever loved him. She replies, "Why do you think I had to rip my own heart out?". He was her weakness and he was the only man she ever truly loved. 

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   Cora raises the dagger over Rumpel about to strike when Regina appears behind her and thrusts the heart into Cora. Cora is quickly overcome with extreme joy over seeing her daughter. Just as fast, Cora falls to the ground as Rumpel uncovers his bandage to see his would has healed. As Regina holds her dying mother on the ground, Cora tells her, "This would have been enough. You would have been enough". And here comes the tears. Cora is gone and Rumpel is back. Mary Margaret and David run into the shop and beg Regina to stop, but they are too late. Regina looks up and knows that this was all Snow's doing. Regina's hatred for Snow is in full force and all hell is about to break loose.
   

CHECK OUT NEXT WEEK'S EPISODE RIGHT HERE: