Siege Perilous

In this episode, we get to see more of Emma's situation through Charming's eyes both past & present. In Camelot, he goes on a quest to find the Crimson Crown, a toadstool which could potentially be used to communicate with Merlin, with Arthur, where they develop a bromance despite them failing to obtain it in The Forest of Eternal Darkness. However, he is still knighted & ends up being given the Siege Perilous, the highest honour of the Round Table as the purest knight of all (which was previously owned by Lancelot. However, it turns out Lancelot is in fact alive & Arthur is not quite as noble as he seems as he still wants the dagger to put Excalibur back together & had lied about not obtaining the Crimson Crown. In Storybrooke, Charming tries to help everyone in town after Emma starts her quest to pull Exaclibur out of the stone (where she deduces only a true hero can do so) & ends up on yet another quest with Arthur involving reliquaries from Camelot being stolen, one of which contains a magic bean which can take the people of Camelot back home. It's shortly revealed to be Griff, who's then revealed to be a minion for Arthur who had set everything up because of the Charmings lying to him about the Dark One's identity & now wants to make Storybrooke the new Camelot. Oh yeah, and Hook gives up on Emma after about 5 minutes of her being the Dark One & Rumple is FINALLY awake, where it's revealed she wants him to be the purest hero of all to pull out Excalibur.
The parallels between this and the season 3 episode The Tower are almost unavoidable as both show the main events from the perspective of Charming & how he tries to deal with it all. While it is interesting to see this, to be honest they both end up quite weak for different reasons. I'll admit, I find this one a bit better with his development given that he's trying to lead everyone during this crisis involving his own daughter terrorizing the town & I enjoyed seeing him bond with Arthur (despite what happens later) & some pretty fun & cool action scenes. However, I must say that the plot itself drags it 6 feet under for me. This is mostly due to the change of Arthur being the villain and the predictability of it all as my thoughts on this are the same as turning King Stefan into a villain in Maleficent: they're non threatening, it's hard for me to believe one of THE greatest heroes in all of fiction is the same as this guy & the fact he wants to take over Storybrooke just makes it feel tedious by now! Anyway, I also didn't enjoy Hook's subplot because I find it absolutely ridiculous that one minute he says he's going to do everything to save Emma from the darkness & the next he gives up on her just like that! He hasn't even had to endure her darkness compared to Belle with Rumple & yet he feels she's not worth saving (along with the insulting portrayal of them from their perspective because the writers want to see CaptainSwan as an 'epic love story' while giving the rest of the couples scraps). And the whole Zelena pregnancy/Robin being excited for a father thing just came out of nowhere for me & I find it stupid because Robin seems to forget the circumstances of how the child came to be & doesn't even consider Regina's feelings in all of it.
Anyway, the only really interesting parts I found in this were the reveal of Lancelot being alive (even if it's never explained), Belle taking on a more active role in helping save Emma & finding a method to wake Rumple and of course, Rumple FINALLY being out of his coma! I'm just so glad they didn't take the direction of him being stuck in his slumber for the whole arc & I cannot wait to see him try to be a hero with his blank heart despite it being for Emma!
So, yeah, I definitely found this to be a weak one, but it doesn't mean there were some good things in it! While I LOVED Rumple's parts, seeing more Charming development and some fun action scenes, making Arthur a villain, insultingly stupid CaptainSwan scenes and the idiotic Zelena pregnancy plot coming into play are what ruin it for me.

Why does Emma need an axe...? Haha! 'Oh, Happy, if there's something I've learned from being the Dark One, it's if you have your name on something hold onto it!'

Nice seeing everyone team up to find a solution to free Merlin!

GOD, Belle's dress looks gorgeous!

Hmm, interesting information about a Crimson Crown that can be used to communicate with Merlin...

About time David played a more active role with trying to help Emma while developing his character!

Hmm, interesting seeing them actually fear Emma! Now looks like the whole Charming family are seeing how Rumple felt for all those years!

Nice to actually see how Emma being the Dark One is affecting them as her parents!

Aww!

Interesting to see Charming & Arthur parallel quests!

HAHA! 'Dwarf axes can cut through anything.' 'Nothing cuts through magic. Except maybe a kiss. Have you thought about kissing it out?' And curious over who the hero is that she needs to get Excalibur out...

'My gift to you is a promise. I will make sure your baby is fine. And loved. And safe. Just as I promise the same will certainly not hold for you.' Bit creepy Regina even if Zelena is insane over her plans with the baby.

Interesting that the Siege Perilous chair is saved for the knight with the purest heart & used to be Lancelot...why do I get the feeling it's now gonna be David?

Interesting set of reliquaries...

Hmm, something feels a bit fishy about them being stolen.

HAHA! 'What you looking at?' 'It's a picture of up inside Zelena.' 'Woah, mate!' 'No, it's of the baby! They call it a sonogram.' Can't help but find it bizarre Robin's excited about being a father again despite the awful circumstances regarding it's conception...

This isn't romantic, this is just...creepy! And how can this be like 'old times' when you haven't dated nearly as long as the other couples!

Nice seeing the two of them bond over their more humble beginnings & the loves of their lives!

Liking the design of the Forest of Eternal Night.

Sweet seeing Belle actually trying to find a way to wake Rumple up and help David & Arthur! HAHA! 'It's not magic though. That's just a souvenir from Doc's birthday party. It says Doctoberfest on it.' 

Interesting ruse over trying to find the culprit!

Never thought I'd write the sentence 'Prince Charming & King Arthur in a Fast & Furious-esque car chase trying to catch a guy on horseback!'

What the hell?!

'Are you really suggesting that we move forward in a real relationship?' 'Gold & Belle loved each other.' OK, you're absolutely NOTHING like them! Why?! Because they had to go through so much crap before they got together & continue to do so now! You though?! You haven't had ANY development whatsoever!

So after your whole 'I love her so much & not giving up on her', less than  24 hours in, you're giving up on her?! See, this is another reason why you're nothing like Rumbelle: Belle has NEVER given up on him & she's had to endure his darkness for MUCH longer!

Hmm, interesting seeing David's perspective on himself & that despite not obtaining the Crimson Crown, Arthur is still pleased with him...

So he took the reliquaries just because he doesn't like Arthur...?

Seems they've finally completed their quest despite it taking 6 weeks & a curse to get it!

Rather epic knighting even if he's already a prince!

Nice design for his coat of arms!

Very generous to give him the Siege Perilous chair!

Wait, Lancelot's alive?! And Arthur's a villain (even if he looked suspicious in the last episode)!

Why am I not surprised he lied to David over the Crimson Crown?

So they've turned one of the greatest heroes of legend into a villain who wants to take over Storybrooke, set up the reliquaries being stolen with Griff , lied about the magic bean & convinced him to poison himself to prevent their plans being revealed...?

AWW! Bless her reaction to Rumple being awake!

Uh...where is he?!

Feels so weird seeing 2 versions of Rumple at the same time...and plot hole: yes, he did touch that sword before he became the Dark One, but he also touched it during his duel with Hook after they reunited years later in his Dark One form!

Poor Belle! 

FINALLY! About bloody time he was awake! Thank God it wasn't for half a season...and interesting his white heart makes him a blank slate & Emma wants him to be the hero to pull out Excalibur!