Once Upon a Time Recap: Something Wicked This Nimue Comes 

, we and Emma learned the identity of the very first Dark One, while the heroes’ plan to pinch Excalibur was waylaid by a real witch.

At the crux of this week’s exposition-heavy hour was the original love story between Merlin, who lonnnnnnng ago had been gifted with magic by the Holy Grail, and Nimue, a young

woman whose village had been ravaged by a man named Vortigan. Merlin and Nimue fell in love, which proved to be a problem when the wizard pointed out that, as an immortal, he will assuredly outlive her. His fix: to turn the grail into a sword, with which he can “cut away” his magic, putting him and his love on equal footing.

Just as Merlin forges Excalibur, Vortigan shows up and grabs Nimue. She attempts to fight her way free, only to get critically stabbed. Then, as Merlin confronts Vortigan, Nimue sneaks up on the baddie and rips his heart out — having herself obtained magic by secretly sipping from the grail, against Merlin’s earlier wishes. Worse, despite Merlin’s strong advisory, Nimue proceeds to crush the man’s heart, thus turning her into the very first Dark One, having used her magic to kill.

PHOTOSQuotes of the Week From Once, Arrow, Flash and More

Merlin brings Emma to the site of that fateful encounter, so that she can summon the original Dark One, who is the keeper of the ember that can fuse Excalibur and the dagger back together. There are two possible outcomes here, Merlin said: Emma fends off the Darkness, or she succumbs and thusly kills him. Nimue, to be sure, does her sniveling best to urge Emma to whack the wizard, saying they have no choice but to destory this threat. Nimue, though, goes one babbling step too far by suggesting that without Darkness, Emma is “nothing.”

tell a woman she is nothing, dearie. “I am not nothing! I was never nothing” a triumphant Emma roars back at her taunter. “The power you have, I don’t need!” Emma plucks the ember away from Nimue, who then disappears, and heads back to Camleot with Merlin — until he mysteriously vanishes mid-conversation.

RELATEDOnce Upon a Time: Greg Germann Cast as Season 5B’s Devilish Mystery Man

Zelena helped Regina, Robin, Hook and the Charming sneak into Arthur’s castle for the purpose of stealing Excalibur. Left behind, Z got the drop on her “guard,” Snow White, by apparently felling the once-fierce bandit with a kick to the tummy. When the others later arrive at the Round Table and Regina “freezes” Arthur, Zelena emerges from the shows, with a bound-and-gagged Snow in tow, to free Arthur and help him “tether” Merlin to Excalibur — turning his sadly truncated (

) sword into basically a bigger version of the Dark One’s dagger, but to control the mighty wizard.

Arthur summons Merlin away from Emma and commands him to ward off the Storybrookers’ attack. Merlin does his best to convince Arthur that his prophecy is still in the course of playing out — that in vanquishing the Darkness with a restored Excalibur, Arthur

be remembered as a great king. Artie, though, just wants glory, and fast, and has Merlin magic the unwanted guests away.

Back in Storybrooke, Emma retrieves the ember she took from Nimue and uses it to reunite broken Excalibur and the dagger, while Rumple, Nimue and every other

Dark One looks on. As the sword is forged, Emma recalls Merlin’s warning from years ago in the movie theater, to

“leave the sword alone” — which she considers doing, for a moment, even as the Dark Many urge her to seize the power. Butas the episode draws to a close, Emma

reach for and wields the restored Excalibur — but to what end, we now wonder more than ever?

, or for any other show? Email insideline@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.

Nimue became the first Dark One about 500 years ago. Rumple became the Dark One 300 years ago. We saw a cave full of past Dark Ones when Emma reunited the pieces of the sword. Was Rumple just really really good at the being the Dark One or was something else going on to get the rest killed off so quickly?

Yea the timing of the Dark One’s is really weird but can be overlooked. I doubt we will learn anything about any more dark ones and seeing them in the cave was just to show there has been many of them over the years but who knows.

Maybe people always thought that they should just fight and kill the Dark One without being aware that if you do that you take the power for yourself.

I want to know who killed Nimue and became the next Dark One. Could we have a whole episode on the history of the Dark Ones?

A 1000 years, 500 years, 200 years? I’m so confused!

Really enjoyed this episode. I expected Nimue to be the Dark One, and Merlin loving her, and can see who the Dark One is and who the woman he loves is. Much like Hook sees Emma and Dark Swan.

Beautiful Emma/Hook scene, The i love yous, the ring. The faith and love.

Paralllels/contrasts and so on were their with Emma/Hook and Merlin/Nimue. I do think Emma/Hook will rise where Merlin/Nimue failed.

Hook could stop Emma crushing a heart whilst Merlin couldnt stop Nimue.

What is Emma’s plan really…. we still dont know.

One of the better episodes this season. Still want to know how Emma embraced the darkness fully back in Camelot though, should be next week we learn that though.. I hope :l

Emma seemed curious to attain the Darkness but use it to protect loved ones. So maybe that’s what she is doing….

If so and the rumours of the Underworld coming to Storybrooke are true how does that protect her loved ones? Get rid of Emma’s darkness and in place bring on the Devil.

I don’t think I have heard definitively that the Underworld arc is actually connected to the Dark Swan arc (directly). I’m guessing there will be some transition between the main stories, but I’m not sure the hell stuff has to be directly related to the Dark One. Unless the banished Dark One becomes the devil.

Cool, maybe her heart was pure…doesn’t that bring to mind some legend/tale, somewhere? We haven’t seen the episode, yet, here in the Northwest, but it is always so cool to read recaps and fan responses, before. Part of the perks of west coast living, folks!

Forgive me, as it’s been a couple of decades since I read Mallory, but I’m NOT liking what they’re doing to Nimue. Merlin’s horniness was the source of his downfall. Nimue was really the first STRONG Arthurian female, but IIRC, she was MUCH more about the light than the darkness, even becoming Arthur’s mentor and advisor after Merlin’s lust caused his own downfall. In the legend, Merlin fell hard for Nymue, but she did not return those feelings. She basically made him promise he wouldn’t use Magic to get into her petticoats, and only disabled/treed/killed Merlin (depending on the version) after he broke that promise. I’m not liking the fact they took the STRONGEST female, one who very much resembled how they USED to write Emma, and once again made her the lunatic evil witch. And that whole Zelena casting a spell so the sword became a controller, like the Dagger? Big thumbs down!

That being said, I LOVED that glimpse of the old, bailbondswoman, kick-ass Emma: “I was NEVER nobody!” I’m hoping that she’ll ultimately resist the darkness like she resisted Nimue’s attempts to make Emma strangle Merlin. I’m hoping she wants to reunite the sword to save Merlin from that ahole Arthur, (still hating what they’re doing to THAT legend), and ultimately, result in them BOTH being able to be gray, instead of the totally dark/totally light dichotomy they’ve written themselves into a corner with. And in doing so, ultimately return to the glory of those 1st 2 seasons.And maybe along the way, Snow can find her brain again so she is not the biggest, most defenseless patsy on our screens. At least Regina, the only true shades of gray character on the canvas right now, seems to have retained her intelligence, to some degree.

“Snow can find her brain again so she is not the biggest, most defenseless patsy on our screens. ”

I totally agree. I want the kick ass bow wielding Snow we had back in season 1-2. I get why she was so worried about Zelena since she was just pregnant but it’s Zelena, she should have known better.

PS: Don’t forget, it’s the 2 hour “mid season finale” next Sunday! Adjust recording devices and schedules accordingly!

It’s not the mid season finale. There are 2 more episodes after the 2 hour event. No idea why they’re doing a 2 hour event when it’s not the winter finale but hey, more episodes is more episodes.

Thanks for the correction. I assumed the 2 hour thing was due to Christmas Specials starting the week before Thanksgiving these days. Timing is perfect for the Holiday Hiatus. Hopefully, it’s the end of this arc then.

I thought the 2 hour episode was due to the AMA the following weekend?? that would make sense.

Episodes are on until December 13th (episode 12) but there is a week break after the 2 hour episode.

I’m sure all those fans stuck in traffic away from TVs will appreciate them taking the Sun after Thanksgiving off. ;)

I don’t know if anyone else noticed but Emma seemed to start using her dark one voice after she got the spark.

Another great episode. Liking this season a lot so far

And JMo seems to have a bad case of marble-mouth, making her scenes as the Dark One unintellible.

I know everyone’s going to hate me but all I can think about with this evil Emma storyline is thank god JMo is beautiful because she does not act well. Is that all she can do? She uses her angry/serious loud whisper when she’s evil? Come on.

Agree… her acting as the dark one is horrible. Her dark one is emotionless and monotonic. It is almost robotic.

I know I shouldn’t be comparing her to Rumpelstiltskin but Emma is a horrible Dark One.

FWIW the short film JMo directed, Warning Labels, is REALLY good.

The husband and I had a good laugh at your post, here.

I’m in cringe-awe of the title pun :-D had to mention it. Love Matt’s article titles.

Flashback to 1,000 years ago. Then flashback to 200 years and have Merlin say he’s 500 years old.

500 years after is 200 years before Camelot time and Camelot time is 300 years before present day.

Great episode one of my favorite so far I wonder why Emma is not scaly perhaps because she hasn’t killed yet.

I love Emma and Hook scene so much. The ring is her strength and the faith in their love.

Oh my god, she DOES look like Evangeline Lily! The whole time I was watching this, I was like, “I’m pretty she’s an unknown…..but she looks REALLY familiar.” Thanks! Haha.

Overall I really liked this episode because THINGS. HAPPENED. We learned the origin of Merlin’s powers, Excalibur, the dagger, and the Dark One, though the Nimue “reveal” was hardly a surprise. What *was* a surprise, however, was Emma resisting the Darkness and saving Merlin. I assumed she would succumb to DarkNimue’s urging and that would be what pushed Emma over the edge to become how she is in present-day Storybrooke. That piece of the puzzle is still missing, but it’s encouraging that Emma *can* successfully fight back against the Darkness. Tonight’s flashbacks actually helped the plot progress rather than being a seemingly irrelevant tangent like last week. I also like that we didn’t jump back & forth to present-day Storybrooke, where frankly nothing is happening. I really wish this season took place ALL in Camelot with only flashbacks to the past. The “time jump/no memory” curse adds nothing to the plot or character development.

As a hardcore CaptainSwan shipper, my favorite scene was obviously the ring/ILY exchange. The look on Emma’s face when Hook said he wasn’t going to propose was PRICELESS, as was his “piercing-eyed, smoldering pirate” line. It makes me sad that they don’t (or at least he doesn’t) remember this conversation in present-day Storybrooke. The foreshadowing is clearly ominous: Hook gave Emma the ring which he thinks/assumes is “the reason I’m alive,” so obviously something bad is going to happen to him (resulting in him ending up in the Underworld for 5B?).

The husband says, “I like the people of Storybrooke. Why don’t they keep it simple? I’d rather wash dishes.” And that’s where he is now, washing dishes during the episode. “It’s not that dark. You just didn’t like his date. Lots of parents do that. They have to write better plots, here. And Merlin was too into his magic to have time for women.” Sometimes, a family member becomes more entertaining than an episode.

The sword coming together at the end was very, very cool. It pulled the episode together, making it fun. The husband just shrugged, but I was dazzled.

Once Upon a Time Recap: Something Wicked This Nimue Comes

Quantico Recap: Keep Calm and Disarm a Bomb, Plus: Again, Ryan?!

Flesh and Bone: Did Starz\'s Dark Ballet Drama Earn a Curtain Call?

2Donald Trump Hosts SNL: Ratings Aside, Was It Worth It? (Um, Nope)98

3Donald Trump\'s Saturday Night Live Opening Monologue: Grade It!95

4Post-Super Bowl Timeslot: 7 Ideas for CBS, Including Live Big Bang…45

5Ratings: Donald Trump-Hosted SNL Eyes Best Numbers Since Jan. 201240

Women of Honor With Michelle Obama and Jill Biden

Once Upon a Time Recap: Something Wicked This…

Quantico Recap: Keep Calm and Disarm a Bomb…

Vampire Diaries\' Jodi Lyn O\'Keefe on Jo\'s Twisted…

Jane the Virgin Boss Defends Jane\'s Choice…

Dancing With the Stars Week 7 Recap: Did the…