#1x13 - Fated to Pretend

[brinleyparke]

Beth: How would you like your coffee?

Human!Mick: As dark and bitter as my soul.

Beth, to barista: I need one vanilla latte with extra cream and sugar.

[brinleyparke]

Beautiful scene.

“Listen to me, alright?! He has Beth. He has my Beth. So please. Please brother.”

[adhd-merlin]

I've read the Will post you reblogged, it's all very sweet, but: Merlin himself has said that the years before he came in Camelot were the loneliest years of his life. His mother, Will, the entire village of people not hostile to magic were less dear to him that his destiny service to Camelot. So, no: relationship with Will is secondary to him, there ficwriters are right writing them in such manner. This passage about loneliness was probably created by the writers to emphasize Arthur & Merlin's unusual kind of friendship, like they only have each other, but in fact it devaluated Will for Merlin and the knights for Arthur.

Hi anon! Cool glasses.

Yeah, I haven't analysed that post that deeply, I just thought there were some interesting points in there (as someone who's never given much thought to Will). And for the record, sometimes I might agree with 90% of a meta post and go "eh, I don't know" about the rest — I might still reblog it, because it's still food for thought, and I'm okay with not agreeing 100% with everyone all of the time. (Unless I think they are blatantly wrong about the remaining 10%). People can interpret things differently and that's alright. That's what makes things interesting!

That said.

Merlin himself has said that the years before he came in Camelot were the loneliest years of his life.

This passage about loneliness was probably created by the writers to emphasize Arthur & Merlin's unusual kind of friendship (...) but in fact it devaluated Will for Merlin

Merlin was always lonely. He might have been less lonely in Camelot than he was in Ealdor, just by virtue of being around more people and feeling like he was working towards a bigger purpose, but he was lonely. He is so lonely it's heartbreaking.

It's... lonely. To be more powerful than any man you know, and have to live like a shadow. To be special, and have to pretend you're a fool.

It's a loneliness born out of having to hide his true nature and, at the same time, being unable to befriend those he could be open with about his magic, people like him — Morgana and Mordred, of course, but occasionally also the Baddie of the Week — because fate and prophecies have set them on opposing sides. It's tragic.*

(Colin Morgan himself briefly touches upon Merlin's loneliness in his commentary to Ep 5x02, when he says "there's a sense of loneliness in all the magical characters, I think. [...] All united in the loneliness.")

So, personally, I don't think Merlin talking about his loneliness says anything negative or even especially significant about the quality of his friendship with Will. Merlin was (and remains) lonely because of his nature and of his circumstances. It's not really anything to do with Will.

His mother, Will, the entire village of people not hostile to magic were less dear to him that his destiny service to Camelot

Just because magic isn't banned in Cenred's kingdom, it doesn't mean that the people there are less hostile to magic. If people in Ealdor were tolerant towards magic, Merlin wouldn't have had to hide it the whole time he was there. He might not have been burnt at the stake for it, but it's very much implied he would've been (at the very least) viewed with mistrust or even ostracised by the other villagers.

And I don't believe S1 Merlin considered his mother less important than his destiny. He tries to bargain his life for hers in 1x13. (Even in 2x09 he is ready to give up his destiny to run away with Freya. Also almost killed Arthur, btw. And yes, in my book that is pretty much a murder attempt).

I assume you're saying that because he initially refused to use magic to defend his village? But like I said, Ealdor was only slightly less hostile to sorcerers than Camelot, and Arthur was right there. It wasn't just a matter of what was more important to Merlin, it was a matter of his own survival too. S1 Arthur wasn't ready to hear about Merlin's magic. He literally lectures Merlin about magic being dangerous while he's watching his childhood friend burn on a funeral pyre (dick move, by the way). The man who died saving his life. So that didn't leave Merlin with much choice, despite what Will's rebuke implies.

In the end he does use magic, and he's almost discovered — he only gets away with it because Will takes the blame. So his reluctance in using magic to defend his village wasn't completely unfounded.

Was Will more important than Arthur to S1 Merlin, or even equally important? I suppose that's a matter of interpretation.

The author wrote:

I feel that Merlin’s relationship with Will is something that is important to him, and something that he has never considered to be secondary or less important than the relationships he built in Camelot.

IMO, Will was clearly a dear friend to Merlin, regardless of his comment about feeling lonely in Ealdor. And I don't know if Merlin's relationship with Will was as important to him as the relationships he built in Camelot (in which I include people other than Arthur, like Gaius and Gwen), but it clearly was important.

Will was literally the only person who knew about Merlin's magic, other than his mother, before he met Gaius. The only person he didn't have to hide his true nature from. That's got to count for something.

And as much as Merlin cared about Arthur, he never had that with him. It was, tragically, a very one-sided relationship, until almost the very end.

I think you might still argue that Merlin's relationship with Arthur was more important — if you were so inclined — because of the whole destiny thing and how it gave Merlin a sense of purpose. But based on the friendship alone? Very one-sided, like I said. And I don't think Merlin was significantly less lonely around Arthur.

Sorry, I've just rambled on.

_____________________________________________

*I'm 100% sure I wrote a short meta post (well, random thoughts) about this because it's something I've thought about so much. And now I can't find it. Why do I even tag posts when I can't find anything half of the time!!

ETA: found it

[stahlop]

Once Upon a Time 2x03 “Lady of the Lake”

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10 1x11 1x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17 1x18 1x19 1x20 1x21 1x22 2x01 2x02

So we officially have three different storylines going now. Past EF, current EF, and Storybrooke. Thank goodness the characters can only be in two at once. We are introduced to Lancelot, who unfortunately is Cora in disguise. And we get to see the utter heartbreak of Mary Margaret seeing the life she never got to have with her daughter. But we also get to see Emma completely out of her element and try killing an Ogre with a gun (ha). This episode has so much to unpack so this is a really long review.

Summary: In the past, Snow and Charming have a wedding ceremony for Ruth before she dies. In the EF the Princess Squad goes to Snow’s castle to see if they can use the wardrobe as a portal to get back to Storybrooke. In Storybrooke, Henry really wants to help David work out how to get Emma and Mary Margaret back home and also helps Jefferson reunite with his daughter.

Opening: Lancelot in armor.

New Characters:

Lancelot: I’m only going to talk mainly about past Lancelot, since current Lancelot was really Cora masquerading as him. We first hear about Lancelot as the new general that George has hired. He’s nicknamed Leviathan because he ‘attacks like a monster striking from the depths of the sea;  you never see him coming and you never survive.’ Okay, a leviathan is usually a sea creature, but how that applies to Lancelot is beyond me. Is he attacking from water? This is Lancelot’s path to redemption, both from being ousted from the Round Table over a woman, and  accidentally letting George ‘curse’ Snow with infertility. He switches sides to let Snow know that George has sent men to kill Charming’s mother. Unfortunately, they arrive too late as she’s already been struck by a poisonous arrow. Charming remembers the healing properties of Lake Nostos so they journey there. The lake is dried up, but Lancelot, who was raised by the water, says you just need to know where to look to find water. He manages to find the one shell in the entire lake and it just happens to have some water in it. Just enough for a sip. Lancelot puts it in Charming’s flask. After Ruth drinks the water and it doesn’t work, she hands the flask back to Lancelot and gives him a look. You have to look closely to see it, but this is when you know that she’s signaling for Lancelot to get that water to Snow somehow. Snow and Charming decide to hold an impromptu wedding before Ruth dies and Lancelot performs the ceremony. He not only pours the water from the flask into a cup for them drink from, but even manages to slip in a little bit about the Holy Grail and it giving eternal life. He hopes the love between them will always be strong, true, and eternal. They bury Ruth at the cottage and Snow discovers she will have a child. She figures out Lancelot knew that Ruth didn’t drink it and had him put it in the wedding cup for her to drink. Lancelot plays it off as if he has no idea what Snow is talking about. His redemption has been fulfilled. 

We are introduced to Lancelot as the leader of the Safe Haven in the present EF, but we find out that Cora killed him years ago and has been pretending to be him. So, presumably, no one in the Safe Haven ever met the real Lancelot.

Character Observations:

Snow/Mary Margaret: We have a great juxtaposition in this episode of Snow’s desire to be a mother and seeing it snatched away, with Mary Margaret figuring out how to be a mother to a grown daughter since being her mother as a child was snatched away. It seems as though we might finally get to see some of battle Snow again, as she and Charming are planning on taking back the castle from King George (can you technically take a castle back from someone that is the ruler? Isn’t what they’re doing is staging a coup?), but instead we get resigned Snow for most of the episode. Red warns them about the new general and Snow wonders just how close George’s army is, which is when an arrow shoots their tent right onto their battle plans. Charming makes the decision to have him and Snow split up, which means she gets captured by Lancelot pretty much right away. She is brought to George and she immediately tells him she won’t give up Charming to him. But George is calm and just asks Lancelot to give her some water. George goes on and on about his losses. Losing James, losing his wife, and knowing his wife had been cursed to never bear children. And now Snow will suffer the same fate with Charming. Snow realizes the water’s been poisoned, or ‘cursed’ as George puts it. Now she’ll never be able to have a family with Charming. The guards throw Snow back into the forest where Lancelot comes looking for her. Snow takes this opportunity to knock him off his horse and almost bashes his face in, until Lancelot tells her that George has sent guards to the cottage to kill Charming’s mother. By the time they get there, Ruth has already been hit by a poisoned arrow. On the way to Lake Nostos Snow is taking care of Ruth. She’s thanking Snow for giving Charming something to believe in and says that Charming has always dreamed of having a family, which upsets Snow. And, of course, Ruth has some pendant that’s supposed to tell you the gender of your first born even before you’ve conceived and wants to see what Snow and Charming will have. Snow tries to dissuade her and Ruth realizes why when she finally gives in and the pendant doesn’t swing. Snow is close to tears now. She relates to Ruth what King George did to her. Ruth says that if the waters from Lake Nostos can heal her, it should break the curse on her as well. But unfortunately, as we learn, Lake Nostos has dried up. Charming manages to find a tiny sip of water in a shell. Ruth wants Snow to drink it but Snow doesn’t want her to die. Ruth tells her that parents always put their children first and that she’ll understand someday, but Snow won’t let her. She was raised without a mother, she wouldn’t know how to be one anyway. And that’s so heartbreaking and total BS. That’s even more reason why Snow should want a chance to be a mother. Ruth ends up ‘drinking’ the water to appease Charming. Ruth tells Snow to have faith, they’ll find another way. Ruth is still dying though, and she wishes she could live to see Charming and Snow marry. Snow decides they’ll have an impromptu wedding with Lancelot as officiant. Ruth dies and they bury her by the cottage. Snow is so sorry that Charming lost his last bit of family, but he says he has her, which brings the guilt back up. She tries to tell him about the curse when he brings out that darn pendant again, but then it starts to swing, and Snow is ecstatic that they will have a child someday. So yeah, all that BS you were giving Ruth before Snow was just to hide your own hurt. Of course you wanted a child someday, you just never thought you could have it. Now you’re so close to being with your true love and having a kingdom again after being on the run for so long. Lancelot asks what the pendant predicted the child will be and Snow tells him it will be a girl.

Mary Margaret: She is more Snow than meek Mary Margaret now. She is taking charge of things and she’s getting to play mom to Emma, even if Emma doesn’t appreciate it yet. Mary Margaret is still out at the start of the episode, but the minute she wakes up she is on the defensive when she sees Cora. She tells Emma that Regina is bad but Cora is much worse. I love how she immediately goes all mama bear and puts herself between Cora and Emma to protect he from Cora. Because that’s what parents do. Emma wants to hear her out and lets slip about Henry and who he is to Regina. Mary Margaret tells her to stop talking to her, but before anyone can say anything else, a rope is dropped in and they’re told their leader wants to speak to them. Mary Margaret is mad that Emma isn’t listening to her and Emma thinks Mary Margaret doesn’t trust her. Mary Margaret reminds her that this is her land and she knows its dangers. Emma takes this to mean that Mary Margaret thinks she’s helpless in the EF and that’s why she came after her in the portal. Mary Margaret is a little sad that Emma thinks that. No, she just wanted to be with her. Snow is ecstatic to find Lancelot running the Safe Haven. They eat and Mary Margaret questions him about how they are there as the land was supposed to be torn apart. Lancelot doesn’t know, just that an area of land was untouched by the curse. Snow wants to know if Lancelot can help them find a portal so they can get back to SB. Lancelot doesn’t want them to leave citing that it’s unsafe and the Ogres have returned. Emma confuses Ogres with Giants and Mary Margaret is a tad bit condescending when correcting Emma, but then tells Lancelot she may know where a portal is. Mary Margaret doesn’t want to say where though because Cora is near. Lancelot says the curse stripped her of her powers and because of her reputation, she’s been locked up. Lancelot will only let them go find the portal if they take Mulan with them. Emma gets defensive about it but Mary Margaret takes the deal. Mary Margaret takes a bow and arrows when they’re grabbing weapons for the journey. Mulan is telling them to follow her lead and tread carefully when Emma reveals that she killed a dragon last week. Mary Margaret look slightly stunned at this. Part of her mama bear instincts telling her she should have been there to help her. Mulan makes some over the top statement about the Ogres and you can just see Mary Margaret rolling her eyes in the background, it’s hilarious. Mary Margaret lets Emma know she won’t let anything happen to them. Emma wants to know what the plan is and Mary Margaret reveals they’re going to see if the wardrobe still works. She tries to sound cheerful as she tells Emma they’re going home, but you can also hear the pain in her voice and that she’s slightly scared to see what’s become of her castle. They get to a clearing and decide to camp for the night. Emma questions them starting a fire if Ogres are around but Mary Margaret tells her that Ogres are blind. She tells Emma, in her best teacher trying to avoid conflict voice, that Emma should guard the campsite. Mary Margaret is gathering firewood when Aurora comes up behind her and holds a knife to her throat. She takes back control of the situation pretty easily because Aurora knows nothing about battle. Mary Margaret tells her she is not responsible for Phillip’s death, she’s trying to get back to her own love, and to channel her anger somewhere else. Mulan pulls Mary Margaret off of Aurora and says she’ll deal with her and then Emma comes in, sees the struggle and shoots her gun, alerting an Ogre. Emma doesn’t deal with the Ogre very well, but Mary Margaret shots it in the eye with an arrow (the only way to kill it apparently), and she is stone cold when doing it. Fierce warrior mama for the win! Emma is impressed since Mary Margaret hasn’t shot an arrow in 28 years. Mary Margaret is happy that she’s impressed, but at the same time, reminds Emma to listen to her. They get to the castle and into the nursery where the wardrobe is. Mary Margaret is close to tears (me too) as she sees everything she missed out on with Emma. All the hopes and dreams Regina destroyed with the curse. She says they never got to be a family (and she’s clutching a teddy bear the whole time). Emma says their family is in Storybrooke. Mary Margaret wants to bring the wardrobe back to the Safe Haven, and luckily, Lancelot shows up right then. He claims he heard about the Ogre attack and came to check on them. He’s very impressed by the portal and Mary Margaret is getting suspicious. He says he just wants to help them get home to her husband and Henry. Mary Margaret immediately draws her sword, freaking out Emma. Mary Margaret says Lancelot isn’t who he says he is. She only told one person her son’s name. Emma correctly guesses this is Cora. She transforms into her real self and tells them she killed Lancelot a long time ago. Cora uses her magic to trap Mary Margaret against the wall and thrown Emma down. Mary Margaret is frightened, she probably thinks this is it, and she just got her family back. While Cora monologues about wanting to see her daughter and grandson, Emma manages to start a fire in the wardrobe. Cora draws it out and goes to throw the fireball at Emma, but Mulan lobs it back into the wardrobe with her sword. Cora poufs away and Mary Margaret is free, but the wardrobe is burning. Mulan is berating herself for not knowing Lancelot was Cora in disguise (how would she know, she’s apparently never met the real Lancelot) and wants to know what they’ll tell their people. Mary Margaret says the truth, that he was killed by a villain and he died an honorable death. She’s so mad that she even has to tell Mulan to say that. Mulan wants Mary Margaret to lead the kingdom in Lancelot’s death. Mary Margaret is honored, almost speechless, but she needs to get back home. Mulan says she and Aurora will help them. Emma apologizes for torching the wardrobe, but Mary Margaret says she did what she had to for Henry. She understands that sacrifice. Emma starts talking about how she grew up with nothing and Mary Margaret goes on the defensive, until Emma says she now understands that she gave up everything for her. Mary Margaret smiles, because she’s been trying to get Emma to understand this, and seeing how much they wanted her has finally opened Emma’s eyes to that. Emma cries that she’s not used to someone putting her first, and you can see how hurt Mary Margaret is about this statement. She hugs Emma and tells her resolutely (but also with tears in her eyes) that she needs to get used to it. Mama Bear will always be there for Emma. They go to leave and Mary Margaret turns back to get her bow and arrows and sees the nursery how it was before the curse, complete with the sounds of a happy baby. And that’s when she finally breaks down having been so strong for Emma throughout this whole journey. And I’m about to cry just writing this. 

Emma: She has lived her life always feeling out of place, so I can imagine, having finally fit into somewhere (Storybrooke), and then your whole world turning upside down (curse breaking) and then finding yourself in an entirely new world would put you on the defensive like Emma is throughout most of this episode. Emma is talking with Cora, who does admit to being Regina’s mother, but says the apple fell very far from the tree. Mary Margaret wakes up and tells Emma that Cora is much worse than Regina ever was. Emma wants to hear her out and talks about Henry and his connection to Regina, and Mary Margaret is getting angrier at Emma for not listening. Luckily, a rope comes down to break the tension. Mary Margaret is sternly telling Emma to listen to her and Emma is being stubborn as a donkey by saying that Mary Margaret doesn’t trust her. She thinks Mary Margaret thinks she’s helpless and that’s why she came in to the portal after her. Mary Margaret is a little offended, but lets her know she wanted to be with her. Emma gives a cute little half smile because someone wants to be with her. Emma and Mary Margaret are eating with Lancelot and Emma doesn’t say much in this scene, but her facial expressions are hilarious as she tastes things. She thinks whatever she’s drinking is okay. When the subject of Ogres is brought up, Emma confuses them with Giants. To be fair, who knew she’d need to know the difference? Mary Margaret brings up that she may know where a portal is and Emma is genuinely shocked at this. Lancelot negotiates them bring Mulan along with them. Emma thinks they can take care of themselves, but Mary Margaret brings her royal negotiating skills to the table and agrees. It’s weapon time, and Emma does pick up a knife that she puts in her boot, she also wants her gun back. Mulan asks if it’s magical; Emma says it depends on who’s pulling the trigger. Mulan tells them to follow her lead, but Emma thinks she knows everything because she killed a dragon last week. Yes, you shot your gun at it, which did nothing, and threw your sword at it as a last resort. Hmmm, I wonder what will happen if our women come across an Ogre. Mulan tries to intimidate Emma, but Mary Margaret tells her not to worry, she won’t let anything happen to her. They just need to stick to the plan. Emma gets exasperated because Mary Margaret hasn’t told her anything yet. Mary Margaret tells her they’re going after the wardrobe and Emma sounds so cute when she says ‘the wardrobe that sent little baby me to Maine.’ Mary Margaret informs her that it’s at the castle and is Emma ready to see where she’s from. Emma just looks like she is taking so much more than she can handle. Emma continues showing how out of her element she is when she questions starting a fire with Ogres around. Mary Margaret informs her they’re blind and hunt by sound. Mulan seems to think she’s pretty inept. Mary Margaret basically tells her to guard the campsite. I truly do feel bad for Emma at this point. She’s been on her own and figuring things out on her own for so long, and now she’s been thrust into a completely bizarro world where her friend is now her mom and she’s surrounded by Disney and Arthurian characters, and who wouldn’t feel out of their element with all that. Aurora comes after Mary Margaret and they, plus Mulan get into a bit of a whisper fight, that is until Emma comes barging in and shoots off her gun to break up the argument. She’s trying to protect Mary Margaret, but all she’s done is bring an Ogre and Mary Margaret is pretty pissed off that Emma didn’t listen again (welcome to motherhood). Mary Margaret and Emma go off in one direction and Mulan and Aurora go off in the other. Emma immediately trips over a tree root, once again showing her ineptitude, and then the Ogre comes out from the trees. Emma tries to shoot it (again? Guns don’t work against fairy tale creatures!), but the Ogre just knocks it out of her hand. Emma isn’t sure what to do at this point and just lets the creature roar in her face. But then Mary Margaret calls out for it and shoots it in the eye with an arrow (how they’re killed). Emma is in shock. She wants to know how Mary Margaret knew she could kill the Ogre considering she hasn’t shot an arrow for 28 years. Mary Margaret says she didn’t. Then she nicely tells Emma to listen to her from now on, guns won’t work here. Emma is finally getting that she really doesn’t know how this place works. Emma is impressed that Mary Margaret can take care of herself, something she didn’t do very well in Storybrooke. Emma’s finally beginning to understand that. Aurora is complaining about everything, but mainly about being cold so Emma gives her her jacket to wear. Aurora wonders why since she just tried to kill her friend. Emma says Mary Margaret is her mom, which, wow! That’s a big step for Emma; to actually acknowledge her as her mom!  She also admits to screwing up a lot lately. Emma is finally making some progress! And she let’s Aurora know that Mary Margaret can take care of herself. They come to the castle and see it pretty much in ruins. And now the nursery scene. Emma announces that she recognizes it from Henry’s book, while Mary Margaret is remembering it from before the curse. Mary Margaret talks about all the things she didn’t get to do with Emma, and it’s making Emma uncomfortable, too emotional for her. When Mary Margaret says they never got to be a family, Emma reminds her that they do have a family waiting for them in Storybrooke. It’s almost like she’s dismissing Mary Margaret’s feelings, but she’s just not used to this kind of emotion. She wants to figure out how to get the wardrobe to work. Mary Margaret wants to get it back to the Safe Haven and hopefully they can find someone with enough magic to help activate it again. Emma’s skeptical because how are they going to get it there? Lancelot arrives at that moment, citing the Ogre attack as to why he came. He and Mary Margaret talk about the wardrobe and how to reactivate it and then he mentions getting them home to their family and Henry. Emma smiles sadly at this, until Mary Margaret pulls her sword on Lancelot freaking Emma out. Mary Margaret helps Emma realize it’s Cora and not Lancelot. Emma manages to get knocked down by Cora not once, but twice trying to save Mary Margaret. She finally realizes what she can use her gun for. She opens up the bullet casing and creates a spark and sets the wardrobe on fire! Good job, Emma! Cora uses magic to take the fire out and tries to throw it at Emma, but Mulan whacks the fireball back into the wardrobe with her sword. Cora poufs away. Emma seems to be confused about where Cora went. She apologizes for burning up the wardrobe but she couldn’t let Cora get to Henry. She had to put Henry first. Mary Margaret understands completely, and so does Emma. She’s finally realizing what it means to be a parent, and what that meant for Mary Margaret and David to do what they did. They didn’t want to give her up. They had plans for her, but they had to put her needs first and Mary Margaret is still putting her needs first and Emma doesn’t know how to deal with that because no one has ever put her needs first. They hug for the first time acknowledging they’re mother and daughter (because Emma still couldn’t wrap her head around it the first time after the curse broke). She’s smiling and yay for mother/daughter bonding, even if it was by torching their only way home. And then Emma gives a little giggle, like she’s so happy her mom was there to help her in a tough situation, and she walks off to go find Mulan and Aurora.

Charming/David: All Charming wanted was to introduce his fiance to his mother and take over George’s castle as his own. Unfortunately, George decides to make good on his threat about killing Charming’s mother if he didn’t marry Abigail (again, didn’t Abigail call off the wedding because they revived Frederick, or is the fact that Charming intervened at all that’s the problem), so by the time Charming gets home, they’re practically already surrounded by George’s guards. And Charming does tell Ruth to get in the cottage and proceeds to take on about five guards all on his own and killing all of them in an over exaggerated fight. In typical overprotective mother fashion, Ruth comes out before the battle is finished and has found herself with a poisoned arrow in her chest. Snow and Lancelot arrive and David is heartbroken about his mother. Charming and Snow brainstorm ideas on how to save Ruth, but Lancelot tells them it has to be something more than fairy dust (how does he know what kind of poison she’s been hit with and how strong the antidote needs to be). Charming remembers Lake Nostos so they decide to make the trip. Considering that most of this episode is Charming trying to save his mother from dying, I really don’t get that emotional charge from him. It’s nice to see him and Snow get married so Ruth can see her son happy before she dies, but there’s still not a lot from the actor in these scenes for me. Even at Ruth’s grave, which should be sad, Snow gives her condolences to Charming about losing the last of his family, and he just says he has Snow and they can start a new family. It’s like he completely forgets about his mother. I know, Ruth just wanted Charming to be happy, but takes some time to grieve Charming.  The best reaction is when Snow tells him they are going to have a child after he uses his mother’s pendant, and he wonders if there’s something she needs to tell him. 

David is doing his best to try and wrangle Henry in from his next Operation (Scorpion or Viper). He lets Henry know that Jefferson can’t help them and they need to find another way to get the hat working. He’s going to need to find magic and he can’t let Henry anywhere near that. He starts to mention about magic always coming with a price, but Henry says it before he can, mentioning that he read the book. I really expected David to say he lived it, but he just says that  he can’t let Henry anywhere near magic. He’s trying to be a good grandparent and sends Henry off to the bus, but doesn’t actually check to make sure he gets on the thing. If I knew my grandson had a penchant for being in places he wasn’t supposed to be, I’d definitely make sure he got on the bus and have the school call me when he gets to class. David ends up saving Henry from the Agrabah Vipers that Regina has in her vault. Regina went to him to find Henry after he stood her up. Henry just wants Emma and Mary Margaret back. He wants to be in the EF learning to horseback ride and sword fight. David understands. He goes to take Henry back to school and says he needs to make sure no one else finds their way into the vault. At the end, we see that while David says he wants Henry to help out, and he has bought two wooden swords to teach him how to sword fight. He’s the grandson of a prince after all.

Cora: We don’t physically see much of Cora, but we see enough. At the beginning she is in the pit with Emma and a knocked out Mary Margaret. She’s playing the victim to Emma, pretending she’s in the pit only because Regina is her daughter. She’s even softened her look, hair half down, holding a shawl like she’s cold. She knows that Emma is from wherever the curse took them. She asks how they got back to the EF. The second Mary Margaret wakes up, though, she warns Emma away from her. Cora continues to plead her case as the poor, abused mother of Regina. Emma doesn’t see anything wrong with hearing her out and mentions Henry. Cora, of course recognizing the name of her husband, is very interested in learning who Henry is. We don’t see Cora again until everyone ends up at the ruins of Snow and Charming’s castle. Mary Margaret and Emma figure out that Lancelot is really Cora and the disguise comes off and so does the ‘poor me’ attitude she’d been sporting previously. Mary Margaret demands to know where the real Lancelot is. Cora says she killed him a long time ago. She’s very callous about it, as if it’s no big deal, just something she had to do to get what she wanted. She’s posed as him ever since because the remaining people wouldn’t listen to her. Cora uses her magic to pin Mary Margaret to the wall and throw Emma aside. She’s been looking for a way to get over for a long time and Mary Margaret lead her right to the wardrobe. She wraps Emma’s legs in the carpet when she tries to get in her way again, causing her to fall over. Mary Margaret wants to know why Cora is doing this, and Cora says she wants to see Regina.  It’s been too long. And she’d love to meet her grandson Henry, which Mary Margaret and Emma balk at. So Emma sets the wardrobe on fire which Cora is not happy about. She directs the flame at Emma, but Mulan comes in at the last second to block it with her sword and knocks it back into the wardrobe. Cora looks at everyone in the room as says she’s not done and poufs out. After everyone leaves the nursery, Cora poufs back and grabs some of the ash from the wardrobe and puts it into a beaker which then starts to glow with magic. Uh oh!

Jefferson/Henry/Regina: Jefferson is basically afraid that his daughter won’t want to be with him now that she remembers because he left her in the EF. We see him looking at the drawing she made because she’s looking for him. Henry comes to see him because he wants to get to Emma and Mary Margaret and Jefferson says that Regina must have something in her vault that can help him. Henry hadn’t realized that the vault was here in Storybrooke. He sees the picture Jefferson was looking at and starts begging him to see his daughter. He thinks Grace will hate him. Look, I get that he’s insecure about this, even though he kidnapped Emma and made deals that backfired with Regina to try and get Grace back, but she made a poster looking for him, so she obviously is looking for him and wants to see him. Henry tells him anything is better than nothing. She’ll spend her whole life wondering why he left her. Not knowing is the worst. Jefferson ponders this. Then Henry calls Regina and asks her out to lunch in the middle of the school day! She’s so excited that Henry’s making an effort so she agrees. Henry has been hiding somewhere in her office (seriously, what is that, a bathroom?) and he sneaks out and steals her keys. Now, if Henry had been smart, he would have gone to lunch with Regina and then gone to the vault and no one would have been any wiser, but I guess it’s good she stood her up, because otherwise he’d be dead in the vault due to the Agrabah Vipers he discovers! Luckily, David saves him from the same death as his Great-Grandfather. Regina was smart enough to know that Henry was scheming and deduced that he’d stolen her keys to get into the vault and let David know. That’s some real growth on her part. Jefferson finally gets over his fear and goes to see Grace when she gets off the bus. She’s so happy he found her. Henry watches from Emma’s bug (does he just hang out in there because he misses Emma, aww.).

I know I didn’t mention George/Spencer, but we got a lot of him with both Lancelot and Snow. And he just glared at David and Henry in Storybrooke, so we can assume that he’s going to do something to retaliate against David.  Aurora wants justice for Phillip, but Mulan tells her there’s a fine line between vengeance and justice and to be careful. Both are on Mary Margaret’s side by the end. Ruth was covered through most of Lancelot, Snow, and Charming’s stories. 

Questions:

I’m really confused about the whole King George thing. Didn’t Snow, Red, the dwarfs, and the fairies take control of George’s castle in 1x21 An Apple Red as Blood when they went to rescue Charming? Didn’t George run off after Regina made the deal with him for Charming? How did he get his castle back?

Was the arrow shot into Snow and Charming’s tent a warning shot? If they could make that shot I’m pretty sure they could have hit any of the people in the tent as well.

Did Cora really expect Mary Margaret to welcome her after everything Regina did?

I know that Regina told Snow about what Cora did to Daniel, but what else does Snow know about her that makes her think she’s worse than Regina?

How was Cora masquerading as Lancelot when a meeting was requested of Snow and Emma? Cora was in the pit with them talking to them. How could she have also been Lancelot? Is she able to astral project in one of these situations?

Does Ruth not know how skilled with a sword Charming is? He knew how to wield a sword before slaying the dragon, so someone had to have taught him. That isn’t something he could just pick up in a day.

How old is Aurora supposed to be? Was she the one cursed to prick her finger on a spindle at 16 or was that her mother? If it was her, than she’s only around 17-years-old, which would account for the way she acts this episode. If she’s older, than I have to assume she’s been really spoiled throughout her life.

So is the infertility potion a curse or is it poison? If it’s a curse shouldn’t true love’s kiss make it go away? Or does George mean it metaphorically?

Lancelot says that only those in their bubble were spared from the curse, but Aurora’s castle seemed to be outside of the bubble since Phillip and Mulan couldn’t look for her until recently. So why wasn’t she part of the curse in Storybrooke?

I get that Ruth was concerned for Charming, but there is a battle going on. Why are you out of the cottage?

Why didn’t Regina wonder why Henry wasn’t in school when he called her for lunch? Or can he, a fourth grader, leave campus for lunch?

How does Aurora manage to sneak up on Mary Margaret? Snow is a trained hunter and tracker. She should have heard her coming a mile away.

Exactly how long were Mary Margaret and Mulan collecting food and water for? When they left the sun was out and not setting. By the time Aurora joins them, it’s practically pitch black.

How does Emma know that Aurora tried to attack Mary Margaret? Did she not stay at the campsite and follow them? They were all pretty quiet through the whole thing.

Henry figures out where the vault is from the book.

Do the Agrabah Vipers not require food or water? Not counting the 28 years, they’ve been in that box for at least 9 months.

Where did Regina get the vipers? They’d been caught when she used them on King Leopold, that’s how they knew to blame Genie.

Why take Henry back to school at this point? It’s after lunch, he probably only has an hour or two left.

Ruth is close to death and they move locations and build an arch for their impromptu wedding instead of just having at Lake Nostos?

Would Snow and Charming’s impromptu wedding be considered legally binding?

How does Cora know that Snow and Lancelot were once friends? The only other person that is alive to tell the tale is Charming. Did she grab Lancelot’s memories from him somehow before she killed him. Has she been posing as him for the past 28 years they were frozen?

Does Mulan actually trust Mary Margaret now? She only trusted her because of Lancelot but he was actually Cora in disguise. Is Mulan only trusting her now because Cora tried to kill her?

Observations:

A Chimera has the head of a lion, a body of a goat, and a serpent (complete with head) as a tail. Although some versions have the head of a goat next to the lion’s head as well.

George makes good on his promise that he’d kill Charming’s mother if he didn’t go through with his marriage to Abigail from 1x07 The Shepherd.

Regina has been asked to leave office and she’s agreed.

The terrain around Lake Nostos is completely different than in 1x13 What Happened to Frederick. The ground was rocky and had lots of stones. This terrain is dusty and sandy. I get the lake dried up, but the terrain around it should have stayed the same.

In many Authurian legends Lancelot was raised by the Lady of the Lake.

Mary Margaret and Emma don’t question how Lancelot knew about the Ogre attack, although, Mary Margaret does start seeming a little suspicious of him right away.

Lancelot mentions the Holy Grail which was one of the main quests Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table went on.

Now we know how Snow knew Emma was going to be a girl before she was born, Ruth’s pendant told her.

At first I thought Charming was confused about Snow saying they were going to have a child because they hadn’t slept together yet, but after further viewings, I think they have had sex and that’s why he asks if there’s something she needs to tell him.

This is not the best episode. It’s not a bad episode. It’s middle of the road for me, but the mother/daughter bonding that’s happening between Mary Margaret and Emma is wonderful character development. Emma is finally seeing the sacrifice her parents made for her and she’s accepting Mary Margaret as her mother. We’ll see how she reacts to David the next time they’re together. Mary Margaret has dealt with her grief and is eager to step into the mother role for Emma. If you think about it, Mary Margaret, as Snow, last saw Emma immediately after she was born. Yes, she got to know her as Mary Margaret, but as Snow, she had just given up Emma to Charming to put into the wardrobe. So to see them moving past the hurt and finally bonding is great for both of them.

Please leave comments and reblog! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future reviews.

@searchingwardrobes​​​​ @thisonesatellite​​​​ @justbecauseyoubelievesomething​​​​ @laschatzi​​​​ @profdanglaisstuff​​​​ @mariakov81​

[brinleyparke]

I would have loved to see more of Mick and Guillermo's friendship.

Moonlight S01E13

[kalinara]

The Updated/Revised List of Rip Hunter’s Angst and/or Trauma on Legends of Tomorrow

So, a while back, I made a list of all of the horrible/traumatic shit that has happened (or has been established to have happened) to Rip Hunter on Legends of Tomorrow.  Because, honestly even for the lead on a CW show, this is a little ridiculous.

I’ve been updating that list via reblogs, but that’s getting a bit cumbersome, and I wanted to refine a few of the entries anyway.

So, here we go, an episode by episode list of angst or traumatic events (updated as of 2x14, Moonlight):

1x01/1x02 - The Pilot

1.  Rip Hunter starts off this series with a sledgehammer of angst in the form of his dead wife and child.  We also see that his family home is the site of the second London Blitz in an Apocalyptic future.  I possibly could space these events into separate entries.  But honestly, this list will be long enough without that.

2.  Rip has also been cast loose by the organization to whom he has devoted his life, an organization that apparently thinks that sending assassins to stop a grieving widower is more appropriate than sending a grief counselor.

3.  Rip Hunter has recruited a team of people who he cannot remotely control or keep in line.  And sadly, one of them dies, because he recruited him.  Rip is devastated enough by this to scrap his own plan to get Savage to reclaim his body.

1x03 - Blood Ties

4.  We learn that Rip made a previous attempt to go back in time to stop Vandal Savage, and hesitated.  A failure which haunts him to this day.

5.  During the course of fighting Savage, Rip slips and gives Vandal Miranda and Jonas’s names.

6.  There is an implication at least that some of Rip’s experiences as a Time Master were unpleasant (” I've seen men of steel die and dark knights fall, and even then I accomplished my mission no matter what.”)

1x04 - White Knights

7.  Rip meets up with his former mentor, Zaman Druce, a man that he respects and trusts considerably, who seems to be offering a reasonable deal.  Instead, it turns out to be an ambush.

1x05 - Failsafe

8.  Gideon’s records indicate that, with Martin’s capture, the Russians will unlock Firestorm and weaponize it for an invasion.  Rip asks Sara to be ready to kill Martin to save the world, if there is no other choice.  (It didn’t happen, but he still has to live with making that order)

1x06 - Star City 2046

I don’t think there is any specific angst in this episode.

1x07 - Marooned

9. We see more of Rip’s backstory with Miranda, and their treatment from the Time Masters when discovered, including fairly horrific public humiliation and Miranda's resignation.

10.  We get Eve Baxter’s reaction and rejection of Rip’s help.  Both personally humiliating and even worse as a representation of the Time Masters and his old colleagues/family.

11. We get the fight with Mick Rory, where Rip, after some provocation, says some inexcusable things, providing Mick with the trigger to betray the group.

1x08 - Night of the Hawk/1x09 Left Behind

There really isn’t any specific angst in these two episodes to add to the list.  Unless you count Rip’s old bosses turning Mick into Chronos...

1x10 - Progeny

12.  Going by Rip’s scene with Mick in the brig, he does seem to have some self-blame for Mick’s predicament.  As we see from the way he tries to take the blame and divert Mick’s anger onto himself.

13.  The Per Degaton blunder - in which Rip chooses not to kill the dictator that will murder 1/4 of the world’s population, and in the process, speeds up the event.

1x11 - Magnificent Eight

14.  We learn, in this episode, that at some point in his career, a younger Rip Hunter befriended Jonah Hex and engaged in some heroism.  However, he ultimately chose his career over love heroics, and left the town of Calvert to its fate.  A decision that clearly haunts him to present day, and makes him quite unwilling to face his old ...friend.

1x12 - Last Refuge

15.  Early backstory angst!  Rip Hunter was once a starving five year old street thief.  And while we have no details about that time, it was apparently bad enough that he grew the instinct to stab any adult that threatens him.

(In my first draft of this list, I noted that they’d probably given him this angst so he has something to suffer about when his family angst was finally resolved.  I HAD NO IDEA what was to come.)

16.  We learn that the Time Masters recruit their members as children.  Which means that they aren’t just Rip’s bosses, they’re also the people who raised him.  Getting raised by a creepy time cult that forbids attachment totally counts for this list.

17.  We also have guilt over the risks to both his crew’s loved ones and the extreme danger of the Omega Protocol, and this ridiculous temporary solution.  Which leads into a much riskier decision.

1x13 - Leviathan

18.  In this episode, we get that lovely revelation that Rip didn’t just watch his family die once.  He actually tried to save them, only to watch them die “countless” times.

19.  Savage has set up a situation where Kendra, the only one who can kill him, has to choose between killing him and saving Carter.  Rip protests, but then accepts her decision, even though it removed his one guaranteed chance to save his family.   

1x14 - River of Time

20.  In the flashback, we learn more about what happened when Rip failed to kill Vandal Savage.  He was captured, starved, and implicitly tortured.  (”Ramses’s men inform me that still you refuse to speak...”).  It’s not clear how long he was there, but it was definitely an unpleasant experience.

21.  Rip makes increasingly bad decisions trying to get the Waverider to Vanishing Point, culminating in putting Jax in a very deadly situation.  His self-loathing after is palpable.

22.  And then of course, Rip finally gets Savage to the Time Masters, proof in hand, only for that lovely, final betrayal.

1x15 - Destiny

23.  Rip learns that not only are the Time Masters working with Savage, they DELIBERATELY sent him after Miranda and Jonas, in order to set their plans in motion.

24.  The death of Leonard Snart, which Rip takes so badly, that he tries to abandon the entire crew in the next episode.

1x16 - Legendary

25.  Rip achieves his goal of killing Vandal Savage, but fails at saving his wife and child.  It’s not quite a pyrrhic victory, but it’s still fucking depressing, almost culminating with suicide by sun.

2x01 - Out of Time

26.  This is subtle, but Rip spends most of the episode looking anxious and perturbed.  Like he’s waiting for the other shoe to drop.  As we saw from his goodbye message (which, as we see in Raiders, he had to have recorded much earlier), he definitely expected to have to flee.  From the look on his face in the flashback in JSA, he may well have realized what happened to Rex.

2x02 - JSA to 2x08 - Chicago Way

Rip isn’t in these episodes (except a tag scene and flashback.)  So no angst.  A few secrets, like the armory and tape.  But no suffering.  Yet.

2x09 - Raiders of the Lost Art

27.  We learn exactly what happened after the nuclear blast in Out of Time: Rip Hunter, in an attempt to hide a piece of the Spear of Destiny, undergoes “temporal electrocution” obliterating his identity and memories.

28.  “Phil Gasmer”, film student, is attacked out of the blue by the Legion of Doom.  He has no idea what’s happening or why.  In the process, he loses his script and film.  He also has terrible hair.

29.  “Phil Gasmer” is arrested without any clear charge or cause.  He is kept in an interrogation room, with no visible access to a telephone or an attorney.

30.  “Phil Gasmer” is kidnapped by people straight out of his script (pretending to be his psychiatrist!), informed that his life is a lie, and insulting him to his face.  And then, in an attempt to save them, he is kidnapped.

2x10 - Legion of Doom

31.  “Phil Gasmer” is tortured for an undisclosed amount of time, by two expert torturers.  He loses a tooth and is forced to wear a terrible purple suit as well.

32.  Eobard Thawne gets access to Rip’s mind and makes alterations.

2x11 - Turncoat

33.  Well, look, if you don’t think Rip isn’t going to be torturing himself for years about this entire episode?  You don’t know Rip Hunter.

2x12 - Camelot

34.  There are more things that Rip is likely to torture himself for, including the murder of Doctor Mid-Nite, the dead knights that he’s mind controlled, Galahad.  He also got abandoned and left to die by Damien Darhk.

2x13 - Land of the Lost

35.  Yet more guilt (this time for overriding Gideon and crashing the ship).  We also learn what the inside of Rip Hunter’s mind looks like: with the last bit of his own, true identity, imprisoned, hurt and terrorized by evil version of his friends.

36.  The team uses a machine that Rip himself thinks is too barbaric and violating to use, in order to go into his mind.  I doubt Rip will complain, as it had the desired results, but well, two mind-rapes make a right, I suppose.

(I considered adding the Gideon thing, but well, let’s see where that goes.)

2x14 - Moonshot

37.  Rip, having left an amiable Commander Steel in 1965, is greeted promptly by a punch to the face, and a cold shoulder from someone he seemed to think of as a friend.

38.  Rip is also dealing with the changes to the team since he was gone, and is at a loss regarding his role going forward.

39.  Rip’s proposed solution (opening the hatch) worked to save the ship.  However, Commander Steel sacrificed his life to do it.  More angst.  Yay.

--

39 incidents.  In 30 episodes.  He wasn’t IN SEVEN OF THOSE EPISODES..

And what are the odds that an episode called “Doomworld” will go remotely well for him?

At this point, I can’t bring myself to ask for a beach episode, because I think it would end with a shark biting off his foot.

[brinleyparke]

Sleepwear Outfit Inspired by Mick St. John

Inspired by his pajama pants in 1x13 "Fated to Pretend". The pajama set is Averie Sleep, and the perfume is Versace.

[brinleyparke]

Casual Outfit Inspired by Mick St. John from Moonlight (TV 2007)

Inspired by his outfit in 1x13 "Fated to Pretend". The shirt is Balenciaga, the jeans are Hudson Jeans, the jacket is Prada, the purse is Dior, the lipgloss is Chanel, and the mascara is Too Faced. The jewelry is vintage white gold.

[brinleyparke]

After Mick took the cure

Beth: Guess what's in this box?

Mick: Donuts?

Beth: No.

Mick: Muffins?

Beth: No.

Mick: Corn dogs?

Beth: No.

Mick: Chocolate?

Beth: No, it's not food.

Mick: Then who cares?

[brinleyparke]

Professional Outfit Inspired by Josef Kostan

Again, since Josef is filthy rich, I chose only high-end products. The shoes are Giuseppe Zanotti, the pants are Veronica Beard (I'm pretty sure), the purse is Alexander McQueen, and the shirt is Valentino. The earrings are white gold because silver is toxic to vampires. I chose a subtle smokey eye because I didn't want anything too dramatic since this is a professional look, but I wanted a bit of edginess, a bit of darkness. This look is inspired by his outfit in 1x13.

[brinleyparke]

"Outfits Inspired by Mick St. John" Masterlist (pt. 1):

[random-fandom-whump]

Moonlight S01E13

[whumpygifs]

“Listen to me, alright?! He has Beth. He has my Beth. So please. Please brother.”