Mother

After the events of the last episode & the shock pregnancy bombshell, we now get to see the aftermath in Storybrooke as Lily & Maleficent have finally reunited in Storybrooke! However, given that Lily still has her darkness inside of her, she can't get over her vengeance for Snow & Charming & has inherited the ability to turn into a dragon, she ends up abandoning her mother while she wishes to move on & be happy! However, they make up as Lily promises to stay in Storybrooke for a week along with Emma and her parents reconciling (finally) after Mary Margaret is injured from Lily! And Rumple's health takes a turn for the worse as Isaac needs help finding the special ink to help alter the stories, and Isaac ends up enlisting Regina, who gets Lily's blood for the ink as it technically contains the darkness intended for the Saviour! However, Regina plans to do it in order to get rid of Zelena (who's in the asylum & isn't lying about the pregnancy) for good before she realizes that she's turning into her mother and decides not to as Robin is only a part of her happy ending. In the flashbacks, during Regina's Evil Queen days, it turns out Cora returned from Wonderland (thanks to the White Rabbit) during the anniversary of Daniel's death in order to make up for what she did & to help her daughter find love again, as she had encountered Tinker Bell who told her about the man with the lion tattoo as her soul-mate. But of course, Regina is suspicious of her real motives, and Cora ends up enlisting the Sheriff of Nottingham to pretend to be her soul-mate and Regina sees through it immediately, but it turns out the reason why was that she wanted Regina to have a child and she genuinely wanted her to be happy. However, Regina ends up taking a potion which causes her to be infertile, and sends her mother packing back to Wonderland, but not before some motherly advice: that the only person out of the way of her happiness is herself. However, in Storybrooke Isaac manages to get away with the ink & Rumple ends up making him write a new story in the book with a new title: Heroes and Villains!
Honestly, I was worried about this episode because it seemed pointless with the flashbacks. Although story-wise, yes, admittedly they were, but the message behind them along with paralleling what was going on with Regina in Storybrooke was what made them interesting. Seeing Cora again (despite her creepy interactions with the Sheriff of Nottingham and using him to pretend to be Regina's soulmate), trying to make up for what she did and being genuine this time round with the reason why she wanted Regina to have a child was also genuinely surprising, although it begs the question how did she revert back into the power obsessed villainess from season 2? Or maybe she was still lying then given how easily she can manipulate people including her daughter...And it's also sad to find out that Regina is infertile as she had believed her mother would use a pregnancy to gain power and the throne despite the revelation she wanted her to be happy, although it is funny for once that this episode had me rooting for Cora & Zelena as Regina in Storybrooke had pretty much turned into her mother despite trying so hard to do the complete opposite. Anyway, I loved the Storybrooke scenes as we got some pretty solid development from Regina, going back down into the slippery slope to evil again this time round with planning on getting rid of Zelena before realizing all she'd be doing is causing more pain for herself, despite Zelena's pregnancy with Robin's child getting in the way, although the way they resolved that was really interesting. Also, seeing Maleficent and Lily interact throughout was so so heartwarming as the former had finally decided to let go of her revenge and wanted to move on and have a happy life with her daughter despite being grown up now, while the latter was so intent on getting her revenge despite it being futile at the end of the day (and it was admittedly cool seeing Lily turn into a dragon & I loved seeing Maleficent being friendly with Mary Margaret and David!). And it was nice to finally see Emma reconcile with both her parents after constantly and harshly ignoring and not trusting them despite what they did to Lily as she's now reunited with her mother, although in a way it feels like Rumple trying to corrupt her ended up being a bit pointless if Regina figured out that Lily's blood would also be accepted to make the ink. And the situation Rumple's heart has definitely gotten more interesting now as it turns out Rumplestiltskin will technically die, but not the Dark One entity/curse as it'll takes over his body completely along with losing any ability to love! And the new title of the book...funny that the midseason finale 5 months ago was pretty much foreshadowing it!
If I had another problem other than the situation with Cora's characterisation/the flashbacks plot-wise (don't worry, they're only minor problems), it'd probably be that the ending was predictable given that we have a 2 hour finale to go and it'd obviously end in some sort of cliffhanger involving changing up everything! And we don't see Belle, so it's pretty annoying that we'll have to wait until the finale to see the fate of her relationship with Will after last week's heartbreaking scene with Rumple!
So overall...I just wanna go and give my mum a hug now! With nice parallels, very heart-warming moments and interesting development, this one is a more emotional chapter in the build-up for next week's finale (the problems I mentioned are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things in this compared to the other 'OK' episodes this season) along with some nice resolutions to the plots for this arc!
I am so so pumped for next week judging the promo as we'll get to see every character reverse roles in an alternate universe thanks to Isaac and Rumple as the villains play the heroes while the heroes play the villains, including Snow being The Evil Queen, Regina being a bandit and the one I'm most excited for, Rumple as a knight living a happy life with Belle (although I do question the show's official Twitter account changing it's name to Heroes and Villains)!

Interesting outfit Regina!

OK, kinda mean & random to kill him just for trespassing! Although bit of a random place for a wedding when they could've done one in the forest!

Nice to see you again Henry Sr!

Aww!

Nice to see you again Cora...

Very awkward...

I hate you Zelena...

HAHAHAHA!

I hate you Hook...

So they need Emma's blood in order to make the ink work...

Aww!

Aww, so sweet finally seeing mother & daughter reunite!

Nice mentioning the White Rabbit! And interesting Tink told her about her soulmate!

I'm so glad they're putting her right where she belongs!

Nice to see you again Severe Nurse! Seriously, never thought we'd see her again!

Oh God...

Regina, what are you doing?!

Eww, really creepy they're flirting...

Haha! 'It's a shame. I mean, writing a happy ending for The Evil Queen! Well, you've always been a favourite of mine! Very clear goals, plus totally damaged personality with a self destructive streak! A recipe for compelling And all the characters I've written for, you really do get screwed over the most!'

So he was planning on writing another book with that page!

Aww, bless her looking so happy at her daughter! And interesting she's the one who says they shouldn't get revenge, move on & be happy!

'Please! If you go, if you leave town you can't come back in! I can't leave at all! I'll crumble back into the dust I was before Gold revived me!' 'Wow, that's a bummer!' Wow, that's cold Lily! She's your mother who loves you!

Interesting she's seeing them of all people for help!

Strange Regina's acting all evil again!

Liking her style!

Aww, she looks pretty!

That's not Robin...

Nice seeing her apple tree again!

What the-?!

Ah, so that's why Rumple said bringing Lily back would accelerate his plan!

Lily, why are you channelling Vivian from Blood and Chocolate...?

Well, clearly turning into a dragon is genetic!

Haha!

Haha! 'Oh, visitors! I'll put the kettle on!'

Regina, what are you doing...?

Meh, don't care! Moving on!

WHAT ARE YOU DOING, MALEFICENT?!

Eek, that's gotta hurt!

Aww! About time they reconciled!

AWW!

Aww!

'I thought that you'd be this scary dragon bitch and we'd go and get our revenge, you know, blasting those two who did us wrong. But you're just...this real person. You're so freaking open. It kills me! 'But why does it kill you? I don't understand, what is it?' 'Because you want a relationship. A future! And anyone who's ever wanted that with me just-it's never worked out. I've always let them down. I destroy everything that I touch. That darkness they put in me! Serious business!' Pretty sad when getting down to it with Lily!

AWW!

OK, she may be insane, crazy, psychotic, and a murdering sociopath, but she's still your sister and is pregnant (curse my morality that pregnant women should never be harmed)!

'I never knew our mother! But I imagine I'm getting to know her right now.' 'Is that so?' 'She tossed me in a basket, sent me to Oz! She gave up a baby without even blinking an eye! And look at you now! You are EXACTLY like her!' For once she's got a point...

Pretty sad that she's infertile!

'I wanted you to have a child for your own sake! If I wanted to take your power, I'd find a much more direct way. Now please take one last piece of motherly advice. I hope you learn what's taken me a lifetime to

realize about myself: The only one standing in the way of your happiness is you.' Rather wise words, Cora!

'Don't get me wrong, Greenie, Robin isn't my happy ending. My happy ending is finally feeling at home with the world. And Robin is just a part of that world. A world that you're going to be forced to watch  from a distance! With the most restrictive visitation rights in history! See you at the next ultrasound! Interesting way of resolving this sisterly feud!

Oh God...

Interesting title!

A Once Upon a Tale: Reawakened

Yep, we're still carrying on the Once Upon A Time book reviews with this novel, released back in 2013! It's probably going to be shorter than the others & there's no illustrations, so this one will probably be a quickie compared to the graphic novel reviews and I apologise in advance!

The story when getting down to it is pretty much one big season 1 recap, but we really see everything from Emma and Mary Margaret's perspectives in the Storybrooke scenes and Snow White's in the Enchanted Forest scenes (as evidenced by the cover only showing Snow and Emma). There are also some changes here & there including the addition of deleted scenes from the show like David with Archie in the bar in Skin Deep and August going to Jefferson's house in Hat Trick, along with some additional scenes like Emma out with Henry talking in Skin Deep during the bit where Mr Gold reveals he remembers who he is to Regina and more of the superfluous affair subplot from Mary Margaret's perspective. And the backstories of the other characters that aren't Snow are mostly mentioned by Henry like Rumplestiltskin, Cinderella and Charming's (bit odd though cos in the show it was implied he didn't figure out Mr Gold was Rumple) to Emma when talking about the curse.

However, I do have a few problems with this book and they are pretty big, in particular with the perspective soley being on Emma & Snow and because of that, characters we know & love, in particular Mr Gold and Regina, aren't given the same dimensionality as in the show and their stories are only mentioned as throwaway lines by Henry talking to Emma about them. Not only that, but despite the chapters being named after the episodes they take place in, they skip a few which contribute a bit like The Shepherd, Fruit of the Poisonous Tree and The Return along with switching up events and those focusing on other characters like Desperate Souls and The Stranger are hardly given any time to get to know them, making them one dimensional as a result. And it really bothers me because there are so many lovable characters in season 1. I can understand kind of why the author went this route since Emma and Snow were the main focus in season 1, but the thing is that another one of season 1's greatest strength was it gave other characters equal time and dimensionality. In this however, recurring characters like Kathryn, Granny, Leroy, Belle and Ashley hardly appear and barely have any personality because of the time constraints in this! I really feel disappointed with the story because season 1 is beloved to me, but this book makes it lose all the magic of it, and it honestly felt like a chore to read!
The writing itself, I didn't particularly like as only the basics are included with hardly any dialogue and only describing what the characters are talking about instead of what they actually say, along with a severe lack of description of the surroundings, which pretty much forced me to remember the locations in the show (which thankfully are ingrained in my brain cos I've seen every single episode & have a photographic memory), also showing that this really isn't great as a stand-alone book, let alone one for a TV series. But the biggest problem is there's no charm to it! Everything I have mentioned is partly why and I can't be emotionally invested in the characters because this never goes into who they are or how they feel along with how their backstories affected them, especially with Mr Gold because he just comes across as an unlikeable asshole in this with his very tragic backstory being insultingly glossed over!
I know I'm rambling on, but I did notice quite a lot of flaws in this, but it's not 'bad' per se because it felt kind of nice to remember events in season 1 & looking back at how much has changed now (the half added onto the rating is purely for nostalgia goggles of season 1). Honestly, for a recommendation to anyone like fans or newcomers, I say just go and rewatch season 1 because it's much more fun, most if not all of the characters are well developed & loveable and it's much more emotionally engaging to watch rather than just reading a laundry list of what's going on with hardly any emotional depth and adding in cut scenes which don't contribute anything in the grand scale of things. Sorry, this really was a disappointment to read, and I'll just finish right now and give my rating!
Rating: ** 1/2

Once Upon A Time: Shadow of the Queen

Since I reviewed the Out of the Past graphic novel yesterday, I thought why not immediately follow it with the other graphic novel they did, Shadow of the Queen, released back in 2013 and featuring the return of the beloved character the Huntsman (Graham in Storybrooke)!

The story in this sort of acts like a sequel to Child of the Moon episode as Regina enlists the help of Anita's wolf pack (who are out for revenge on Red for killing her) and threatens them with silver arrows if they don't help her kill Snow, causing chaos wherever they go. This also connects with the Huntsman as he was her slave at the time and he ends up siding with Red and Snow as they all try to get to Lake Onondaga to stop Regina & turn the werewolves into wolves permanantly to make them easier to defeat, giving him his heart back in the process which he managed to swipe from Regina during a fight against the werewolves. However, it doesn't last long though as he ends up sacrificing his heart and freedom in order to spare the lives of the werewolves, Snow and Red, being forced to say goodbye to her once more as Regina tries to find another way to get her revenge on Snow and destroy her.

I just want to start off by saying that the illustrations in this graphic novel are amazing, managing to have a stylized yet realisitic look to them so that the characters can easily be distinguished resembling their live action actors, especially when it comes to Snow & Regina! Given that each chapter is illustrated by different people, I love how they manage to show off their own styles and interpretations, but they all still seam well together overall. Seeing characters return, in particular the Huntsman, was so so nice to see given that he hasn't been heard from in quite a while & he was a very popular character (too bad Jamie Dornan is too busy with Fifty Shades of Shit as I like to call. it...) along with Anita's wolf pack and giving one of the background characters, Adair, a bit more personality and a story of his own by knowing the Huntsman.

If I had a massive problem though, it's honestly the story itself! Sure, I'm happy they brought back characters like the Huntsman & Anita's wolf pack, but the plot feels like a quintessential season 2 flashback: it's pointless in the main story in the grand scheme of things, does nothing to forward it & they go back to square one in the end with the Huntsman's heart! It's just the same 'Regina trying to kill Snow plot' despite it being painfully obvious she's not going to! And the third chapter involving the characters briefly going to Atlantis came right out of nowhere with the tone feeling disjointed & honestly, it would've been better for them to explore it in the show itself. It doesn't really help that we learn nothing new about the characters like Snow, Red or Regina other than that Red & the Huntsman flirted for a bit and Adair and the Huntsman knowing each other!

Anyway, there is bonus material at the back which was pretty cool like concept art for the novel, character models, sketches, background art and concept art for each scene. There's more, including a wanted poster of Snow, Charming's love letter to Snow and Snow's letter to Regina which caused the Huntsman to spare her life. There are even character descriptions which give some insight to them for those just starting out with the show below some costume design sketches, which are also nice to see!

Despite the weak story, pointlessness and dark tone, the bonus material and look of the novel kind of make up for it! I wouldn't say that it's bad at all and it is worth looking at, especially for those who love the character of the Huntsman or the friendship between Snow and Red! Given that it was their first attempt at a graphic novel, it's a pretty good effort along with giving something for fans who missed the Huntsman (would be better if he returned to the show somehow, but too bad Jamie Dornan is now too busy being fawned over by the world for playing an arrogant douchebag)
Rating: *** 1/2