'Once Upon a Time': The origins of the curse-From Inside the Box-Zap2it

We get some more background on the Evil Queen's curse in the second episode of "Once Upon a Time." There was also some wonderful stuff between Emma and Snow.

Storybrooke

We pick up with the next morning after Emma decided to stay in Storybrooke. The clock tower is working and everyone is taking notice.

Regina once again threatens Emma, under the guise of bringing her a basket of apples. But Emma's no pushover and goes toe-to-toe about looking after Henry's best interests and sets off to talk to Henry's therapist (Jiminy Cricket, if you'll recall).

But twist - the Mayor set it all up and had Doc give Emma Henry's file on purpose in order to have her arrested later for "stealing" the file. Miss Blanchard bails her out because she just trusts Emma (aww) and then Emma awesomely chainsaws the Mayor's prized apple tree.

Regina eventually tries to make peace, but that again is a set up - Henry overhears Emma tell Regina she thinks Henry is crazy. Henry is really upset about it, but Emma comes to him later and apologizes, telling him she had to tell Regina what she wanted to hear.

We think it's a little that she actually believes him, but mostly that she's humoring him and just wants to help.

Mr. Gold comes to offer his assistance in getting rid of Emma for Regina and we find out that Mr. Gold procured Henry for Regina as a baby and we find out good ol' Rumpie remembers Fairytale Land. He also clues Regina in on Emma's identity as the daughter of Snow/Charming.


Fairytale Land

We meet Maleficent, who Kristin Bauer tells Zap2it is a "frenemy" of the Evil Queen's. She and the Queen face off for a dark curse that the Queen traded to Maleficent for a sleeping curse. But the sleeping curse was broken when Charming kissed Snow, and this dark curse is the Big Bad that will plunge them all into Storybrooke.

The Queen steals the curse, but it doesn't work. So she appeals to Rumpelstiltskin, the person who gave it to her in the first place. He tells her how to enact the curse in exchange for his status in the new world - he wants wealth, comfort and the Mayor at his beck and call.

The curse, it turns out, needs the heart of what the Queen loves most; the heart of her prized stallion she used the first time wasn't enough. It turns out what she loves most is her father and she kills him.

The curse is successful with her father's heart and we find out his name was Henry.


Thoughts & Tidbits

• The Storybrooke Daily Mirror - great name for the Magic Mirror's newspaper.
• Love the stone dwarf being in the Mayor's garden.
• The look on Emma's face when she finds out Mary Margaret Blanchard is her mom was lovely and heartbreaking.

This article was written by Andrea Reiher.

Link to the original article:'Once Upon a Time': The origins of the curse - From Inside the Box - Zap2it