I was VERY excited about this next episode. Episode 13, “What Happened to Frederick”, begins with Princess Abigail arrives at the king’s palace where the king welcomes her with open arms, eager for her to join his family. But all is not well in the kingdom. Prince Charming is missing. He is then seen running from a few king’s men, and just as he narrowly escapes them, two mysterious men catch him and cover him.
David is eating dinner with his wife, but things are slightly strained between them. She tells him that she applied to law school, but it’s in Boston. She wants to make a new life with him and just start off fresh.
The two men approach the bound and kneeling prince. He seems ready to embrace death as one of the men brandishes a knife, but he frees the prince from the rope instead. Up walks none other than Princess Abigail. She wanted to speak with him before the king got to him. She knows that he loves Snow White, and he does nothing to deny it. He admits it and says he is willing to pay the consequences, even if it meant laying down his life for her. She tells him she didn’t come to watch him die; she wants to help him escape. She doesn’t want to marry him either.
Mary Margaret and David meet up in town to talk about his moving to Boston. She says she is done with lying. They need to tell her the truth about everything, but he is obviously hesitant. She tells him that he has to make a choice. “I choose you,” he says. “Then it’s time to tell Kathryn.” Mary Margaret is firm in her decision, and she walks away.
Emma runs into the stranger at the diner, and he reminds her of the drink she’d promised to let him buy for her. She tells him that she doesn’t go out with anyone who doesn’t tell her their names. “It’s August. August W. Booth.” She meets with Mary Margaret, and Mary Margaret laments about David and Kathryn.
David tells Kathryn that he can’t go to Boston with her. He feels as if something is blocking him from connecting with her and remembering their past, and it’s not fair to her. She needs a fresh start, which won’t be with him.
Princess Abigail and Prince Charming finally reach her father’s realm. She has provided him with provisions, but he throws them on the ground. He won’t take any of them until she tells him what is really going on. She tells him that her heart belongs to another man, a man named Frederick. Lost love is one of the most difficult tragedies to deal with, and she felt if she could reunite James with his true love, she would feel better. She leads him to the middle of the forest where a gazebo stands with a knight’s golden armor. It is the spot where Frederick gave up his life. He was saving King Midas’s life during an ambush, and he was instantly turned to gold. He wants to help her bring Frederick back, but the only way to do so is to go to Lake Nostos. The water there will return something that had once been lost, but it is guarded by a creature that drowns whoever visits the lake. James promises he will face this creature and return with the water necessary to undo the curse.
The Stranger takes pages from Henry’s book and inserts others in their place, staining them to match the old paper from the book. Suspicious!!!!
Kathryn barges into Regina’s office and tells her about David leaving her. Regina tells her about Mary Margaret and shows her pictures for proof. The truth is finally out!
Abigail and James leave an offering at the shrine of the lake creature asking for its mercy. She begs him to take her with him, but he doesn’t want to be responsible for another life. He scoffs at the shrine and quickly leaves to face the creature.
David calls Mary Margaret and wants to meet up with her after school. Just as she hangs up the phone, Kathryn confronts her. Mary Margaret realizes that he didn’t actually tell Kathryn about her. He has been lying to both of them.
At the edge of the lake, James takes a cupful of lake water, but he hears a noise and draws his sword. Shock registers on his face as a beautiful woman surfaces.
The Stranger shows up at the diner and coerces Emma to get on his motorcycle. He takes her to a well in a very remote place. Creepy! 🙂 Emma assumed that he wanted alcohol when he said he wanted a “drink.” He tells her that the water from the well is fed by an underground lake that has magical properties. If anyone drinks from the water in the well, something lost will be returned. Sounds slightly familiar….
The woman in the lake tries to tempt James into being with her, but he knows what she is and is not fooled by her actions. She is a siren trying to lure him to his death. She doesn’t believe him, and she turns herself into Snow White. He is clearly more affected by this, but he still tries to tell himself that she isn’t real. He finally gives into temptation, however, and he kisses her, dropping his sword into the water. He reminds himself that she isn’t real, and she tries to convince him that she truly is Snow White. He tells her that he knows the differences between fantasy and reality. “Congratulations, Prince Charming. You’re the first.” With that, she leaps on top of him and drags him down to the depths of the lake. He sees all the remains of the men that gave way to temptation, and he tries to swim away, but he gets caught in the seaweed and is dragged further into the water. A knife sits on the bottom of the lake. The siren kisses him again, and he stabs her.
Someone has spray painted the word “tramp” on Mary Margaret’s car, and David desperately tries to scrub it off. Everyone around town is talking about her and treating her very differently. She confronts him about lying to her. He wanted Kathryn’s feelings to be spared, and he didn’t want anyone to get hurt. That plan majorly backfired on him! She tells him that what they have isn’t love and that it needs to stop.
Emma’s car is covered in leaves, and as she clears them off, she finds the box with Henry’s book behind her tire. The Stranger eerily hides behind the corner…
Kathryn enters Regina’s office a lot less distressed than she was the day before. She felt like she owed Regina an apology. She holds a picture of Mary Margaret and David and envies the way David looks back at her. He never looked at Kathryn that way. They had never truly been in love. She admits that her marriage to David felt like an illusion. It never felt real, and she is finally realizing that. She wants to find her true love. She decides to move to Boston alone. She wrote a letter to both David and Mary Margaret telling them that they should be together. Regina is not a happy mayor. 🙂 She hugs Regina, and she awkwardly hugs back. She asks Kathryn if she’s really going, and Kathryn tells her that she always had an irrational fear of leaving Storybrooke, like something was holding her back.
James returns to a very happy Abigail. She is shocked that he has returned unscathed. He presents her with the water from Lake Nostos. She pours the water all over the golden armor, and it slowly melts away. Frederick is finally freed from the curse. James asks for something in return: a horse to go find Snow White. True love is worth fighting for. Abigail warns him to hurry and find her before the king’s men catch up with him.
Regina takes her very large key ring with tons of antiqued keys and enters David and Kathryn’s house. On the counter sits the note Kathryn left for David, and Regina smugly puts it in her purse.
Emma meets Henry at his school and gives him the book. Henry seems very optimistic. I wonder how long it will last.
James arrives at Snow’s cottage in the field and runs into Red. Snow never returned from her journey to the palace. He learns that Snow has always wanted to be with him more than anything. Just then, the king’s men arrive wanting James’s head. He grabs Red and pulls her up on the horse, and they ride away.
Regina takes the note for David and burns it as Kathryn drives away from Storybrooke. Frederick’s counterpart, the school gym teacher, comes across her car in a ditch at the side of the road. The airbag had deployed, but she is nowhere to be seen. The last scene shows Regina sitting over the fire, looking extremely smug. Pretty much like her normal self! 🙂
I think this was my favorite episode so far. Didn’t I say that about the last one? My first thought was that Frederick was the Stranger, as we have yet to meet his counterpart. I am very eagerly awaiting the next episode! Sadly, we will all have to wait! Once Upon A Time returns Sunday, March 4th, due to the Academy Awards. I’m sure we’ll all be watching!
