Fall

Fall
Season 4, Episode 10
Airdate	November 30, 2014
Written by	Jane Espenson
Directed by	Mario Van Peebles
Episode Guide
Previous Smash the Mirror	Next Shattered Sight

Fall is the Tenth episode of the fourth season of the American fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time, which aired on November 30, 2014.

In this episode, Belle and the fairies work on an antidote; Emma and Elsa search for Anna; and in Arendelle, Anna and Kristoff learn that 30 years have passed.

Plot

Opening sequence

In the forest, snow falls over Elsa and Anna's parents' ship at the bottom of the sea. Gerda's message to her daughters lies on the ocean floor.

Event chronology

The Arendelle events take place more than thirty years after "Smash the Mirror", and before "Heroes and Villains". The Enchanted Forest events take place concurrently with the events in Storybrooke, after the scene with Ariel and Prince Eric on Hangman's Island in "The Jolly Roger" and before "The Dark Swan". The Storybrooke events take place after "Smash the Mirror".

In Arendelle and at sea

Anna (Elizabeth Lail) and Kristoff (Scott Michael Foster) are trying to find Elsa when Hans (Tyler Jacob Moore) and his brothers arrive to imprison them for treason. Anna and Kristoff escape and decide to go to the pirate Blackbeard (Charles Mesure), to look for the wishing star which they can use to free Elsa, who is trapped in a magic urn.

They tell Blackbeard that they will pay for the wishing star with his weight in gold, but Hans and his brothers suddenly appear and tell Anna and Kristoff that this a set-up. Hans then says that Arendelle has been frozen for 30 years, which surprises Anna and Kristoff. As they worry about what may have happened to Elsa and what the Snow Queen has done since then, they are put in a trunk, which is then locked and dumped into the sea by Hans and Blackbeard so Hans and his brothers can take over Arendelle.

Anna and Kristoff try to escape the trunk as it fills with water, and Anna starts reciting her marriage vows because she wants to be married before she dies. Kristoff stops her, saying that he will only marry her after they escape. As the trunk is almost completely filled with water, they are suddenly brought to the beach in Storybrooke because Elsa wished for Anna.

In Storybrooke

Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle) approaches Ingrid (Elizabeth Mitchell) and asks that Belle (Emilie de Ravin) and Henry (Jared S. Gilmore) are spared from the Spell of Shattered Sight, so that he can leave town with them. She agrees to this proposal.

Meanwhile, others in Storybrooke try to figure out how to escape the Spell of Shattered Sight. Emma (Jennifer Morrison) suggests they leave town, but the ice wall is blocking every way out and when David tries to cut it down, new ice structures emerge to block his effort. However, a crack appears in the ice, which reveals Anna's necklace, and Elsa retrieves it. Belle and the fairies try to come up with a counter spell to reverse the curse effect. They can make one with either Anna's hair or her necklace, because she is now immune to the curse, as Ingrid had already cast the same curse over her. Elsa (Georgina Haig) takes her sister's necklace and attempts to find Anna using a locator spell, but it leads her and Emma to a solid wall in the tunnels under the library. Emma convinces Elsa that it is too risky to blast through. After making it back to the library, at the constant urging of Regina, and eventually Mary Margaret, Emma explains to Elsa that she needs to think about saving more lives than just Anna's. Elsa finally hands over the bag containing the necklace, but when Mother Superior opens it, it is revealed that Elsa has swapped out the necklace for rocks and has gone to find Anna on her own.

Gold orders Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) to stop the fairies and take their magic with the Sorcerer's Hat, so he can gain the power to free himself from the Dagger. Hook reluctantly does so, and captures all of the fairies. Gold then takes Belle to his shop and locks her in for her own protection.

Emma has decided to help Elsa search for Anna. The necklace leads them to the beach, but Anna is not there. Emma explains that magic is not always accurate, and that she needs to accept that Anna may no longer even be alive. Elsa weeps and wishes that she could know what happened to Anna and that she could see her again. Suddenly the necklace begins to glow. The necklace is revealed to be the Wishing Star. A trunk appears in the water and Anna and Kristoff emerge as Gerda's message in the bottle for her daughters appears ashore on the beach, but goes unnoticed.

After a brief reunion, they run to Granny's to take Anna's hair to finish the counter spell, but find no one there, since Hook has captured the fairies. The four head to the sheriff's office, where they find Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin), David (Josh Dallas), and Neal. Mary Margaret hands Emma the keys to the jail, and says to lock her and David in separate cells, as they don't want to hurt themselves or anyone else when Ingrid's curse takes effect. Emma reluctantly does so, and takes her baby brother to protect him. Hook comes in, stating that he had to see Emma one last time and the two tearfully kiss goodbye, before Hook leaves to chain himself to a dock at the marina.

In the mayor's office, Regina (Lana Parrilla) tells Henry to stay in her office and to not let anyone in or out. She seals the door to her office and runs into Robin (Sean Maguire), who pleads he is not afraid of her and wants to stay by her side. She replies that no one will be safe when this curse hits, then runs to her vault and seals herself in.

The curse falls upon the town, an indigo thunderstorm covers the town, and mirror shards begin to rain down from the sky as Hook looks on from the docks. Mary Margaret's and David's eyes frost over and "crack," and they let go of each other's hands and begin looking menacingly at each other.

Reception

The episode received mixed to positive reviews.

Christine Orlando of TV Fanatic gave the episode a positive review, rating it 4.8 out of 5. She said, "It was quite a relief to see Anna and Elsa finally reunited and the necklace being the wishing star was a fun twist. Unfortunately, getting Anna to Storybrooke proved to be too little too late."

Amy Ratcliffe of IGN gave the episode a moderate review, saying the episode "delivered on the Frozen storyline front and brought the reunion we've been dying to see, but some scenes seemed created to fill time. They stretched to make connections with Blackbeard and spent too much energy trying to make Hans seem dangerous. However, characters such as Regina and Snow White had some nice dialogue and development. It would be a pleasant change to see the story turns back towards them instead of the villain of the moment." Ratcliffe gave the episode a 6.7 rating out of 10.

Trivia

• Blackbeard mentions that he was once forced to walk the plank by a rival and rescued by a mermaid. This is referencing Hook and Ariel.
• While fighting Prince Hans on Arendelle, Anna tells him, "And I sang with you", a clear nod to them singing on Frozen (2013).

Goofs

• When Hook comes to see Emma at the sheriff's station, his earring disappears when she kisses him goodbye.

Quotes

Regina Mills: Look at this mess. A good mayor checks that these things are kept up to code. Mary Margaret Blanchard: Yeah, well, if the mayor only has to worry about one villain, and it's herself, that frees up a lot of time for infrastructure.

Belle French: The necklace. Do you have it? Emma Swan: It's right here. [Passes a satchel] Mother Superior: [Opens it] It's pebbles from the mine. Emma Swan: What? Mary Margaret Blanchard: Where is it? Regina Mills: She tricked us so she can use it to keep tracking down her damn sister! I should know better than to trust blondes by now.

Mr. Gold: Excuse me, but I'd like to borrow my wife. I need her at the shop for a short while. Mother Superior: She's working. We need her. Belle French: Mother Superior's right. This is too important. We're really close here, Rumple. Please. Please, be patient. Mr. Gold: Of course. Well, until you can go, I'll just, uh... I'll just keep you company. Perhaps I'll be helpful. Mother Superior: This is light magic, Dark One. Mr. Gold: Well, then maybe I'll learn something.

Princess Anna: What are you doing here? Prince Hans: Hearing you confess you attacked the reigning Queen, and then lost her to another land, that sounds like treason to me. [to his brothers] Prince Hans: Doesn't it, guys? Princess Anna: And I sang with you.

Mary Margaret Blanchard: We don't fear your magic, Emma. It's what's gonna allow you to take on this Snow Queen and win. David Nolan: And when you do, you'll be right back here unlocking these doors. Mary Margaret Blanchard: We trust you. And Henry's right, you are special. And you are going to use that specialness, and save us, both of you. Queen Elsa: You have wonderful parents, Emma. Emma Swan: [emotionally] I know.

Princess Anna: We can pay just as much as he can. Prince Hans: Can you? Because my brothers and I spent Wednesday rolling around on the money in the royal treasury. Princess Anna: You rolled around in gold bars? Weird. And ouch.

Black Beard: The Wishing Star. For the right price, it's yours. Kristoff: A-and, what is the right price? Black Beard: My weight in gold. Princess Anna: So... if it's not delicate, how much... tonnage? What would you say you weigh, sir?

Prince Hans: You're what they call penniless. But, uh, that doesn't matter, because where you're going, you don't need money. Princess Anna: Where is that? Prince Hans: Death. Kristoff: ...I'm not sure that's a place.

Prince Hans: This is the treacherous area known as Poseidon's Bone Yard - the exact spot where your parents' ship went down. How fitting that mother and daughter will have their last regrets in the same place. Will you both die, wishing you'd never tried to help your freak sister? Well... maybe your bones will mingle with your mother's, on the bottom of the sea. Black Beard: Bring forward the trunk! Prince Hans: There's a trunk? How- how will their bones mingle if she's in a trunk?

Princess Anna: Elsa's gonna get out of that urn, and when she does, she's gonna take back the kingdom and kick you and your brothers back to the Southern Isles, which sounds lovelier than I bet it actually is.

Princess Anna: [after arriving in Storybrooke] What a funny-looking world. Queen Elsa: Right?

Regina Mills: I need to seal myself in that vault. Robin Hood: To keep people out? Regina Mills: Oh, no. To keep me in. Robin Hood: Regina, I'm not afraid of you. Regina Mills: But you really... really should be.