S06.E21: The Final Battle Part 1 / S06.E22: The Final Battle Part 2

[BoPeeps]

This was pretty much true to the lackluster talent of the stagnant, repetitive writers.  It was indeed time for this story book edition to close.  They had no idea what to intelligently do about anything.

What "could" have been was never going to be because, inspite of the appeal of the actors, the plot was a badly scratched broken record.  And Disneyesque power/control tends to annoy me these days.

I gave up on the scripted versions making any sense a long time ago.  Not a Twitter reader, don't follow online entertainment articles, just watched the show for some fun moments and shallow eye candy delights.

It fulfilled those well enough for ultra light Sunday night entertainment.  Being deeply invested wasn't going to happen, ever.  I will momentarily miss the fun parts.  I still get a kick out of the premise no matter how they mangled it.  But six seasons will give me plenty of re-watching opportunities.

Hook is coming back, that might be fun.  I will be loyal to the kick in the libido he gives to my aging, cranky soul.

[Rumsy4]

It was disgusting to have the dwarfs bowing and scraping to Regina and calling her "Queen". Mass murder and rape pay, people! There are no lasting consequences. The Evil Queen and Rumplestilskin, original caster and motivator of the Dark Curse have their Happy Endings. In fact, two copies of the Evil Queen get Happy Endings. Who cares about their victims? 

Emma's role in the "Final Battle" was so passive. It was all about accepting "fate" and whatnot, while the massive a-hole Rumple got to play the hero. Emma pretty much had no arc beyond savior-shakes and death-prophecy this season. Her last good episode was The Other Shoe.

Emma and Hook were so completely sidelined this season. They didn't even get a cheap-ass TLK. Their relationship was set-back this season and made shallower.

As for Snow and Charming, they slept through most of it. 

I cannot believe I spent so much time watching this Show! I'm stil grateful for the forum and fanworks, but if it were not for fandom, I would seriously be depressed at the wrap up.

Edited May 15, 2017 by Rumsy4

[Curio]

2 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

I cannot believe I spent so much time watching this Show! I'm stil grateful for the forum and fanworks, but if it were not for fandom, I would seriously be depressed at the wrap up.

I don't know, I'm still pretty depressed right now.

What was the point of Regina's pep talk to Emma?

"Listen, I'm going to tear you away from your husband you just reunited with and have a private conversation with you even though I could easily say this in front of everyone. First off, let me ramble on about how much we hated each other when you first got here. Remember those good times when I killed Graham? Oh wait, you still don't know about that, never mind. But listen, Emma, I know you think there's only two options here, but there's actually a third option."

"What's the third option?"

"Well, I don't know, but I'm here to motivate you to think of a third option for me."

"So, basically, this motivational speech amounts to I don't have any clue what you should do but think of something. You want me to do all the hard work?"

"Yep."

[superloislane]

You know I actually think they originally had their story involve Hook going through a portal to Emma but they decided not to at the last minute and couldn't be bothered to rewrite everything previously.

There's just too much build up for it to have never been an idea. They focus on Snow telling Hook to get to Emma to get her to believe and it being far more important than finding David. You had the whole beanstalk dialogue between Hook and Charming which was very much about how Emma and Hook started and how he needs to get to his wife and how it definitely needs to be him to do it. You have Hook asking why Charming was putting all their fates in the hands of a pirate which led to the son-in-law line. You have Emma looking at the burning book and seemingly recognising Hook's picture. There's just way too much foreshadowing for that not to have been an idea.

It was either dropped randomly or they put it in there because they knew people wanted a CS adventure and for Hook to get to Emma and they thought it would be funny to build it up but never let it happen.

[Shanna Marie]

I like @Curio's Hook beanstalk fall scenario. That would fix a lot. The other possibility writing itself in my head when we didn't see Hook use the bean to simultaneously save himself and get to Emma was that the whole gang in the palace would use it to escape the encroaching void. I was highly entertained by the idea of non-believing Emma suddenly having an army of fairy tale characters, still in their fairy tale clothes (since in traveling via bean rather than curse they wouldn't be changed) appear in front of her.

I was also kind of hoping we'd get a callback to the musical and the Song in Your Heart spell. The way Blue described it, that was for a time when she'd really need it in the Final Battle, and all it was used for was a minor skirmish that didn't even have to happen. Then the Final Battle might have been able to involve other characters and have some reason for coming out the way it did other than Because Magic. The army of fairy tale characters brought over by the bean, or even just the returned family, is standing there as Emma faces Gideon. David remembers the spell and starts singing (mostly because Josh Dallas is the strongest singer and should be the one to get the solo, but he's also Emma's dad). Hook, as Emma's biggest cheerleader (and the second-best singer), figures out what he's doing and joins in. The rest of the group picks it up. That's what makes Emma's heart so strong that Gideon can't kill her.

Possible fankwank for why Hook was okay in spite of falling from a greater height and David was injured/killed/whatever while on the beanstalk: Once Hook disappeared from view, he managed to snag his hook on the stalk, stopping his fall, so when the beanstalk fell, he was closer to the ground and fell a shorter distance. I still don't get how a kiss healed physical injuries, though.

I still think the TLK that saved Emma should have been with Hook, for story symmetry purposes. The series started with the TLK between Emma's parents, so this chapter of the story should have ended with a romantic TLK with Emma. They went overboard on callbacks but missed the big bookend potential there.

While I liked Hook's speech with David at the beanstalk, it's not entirely accurate. Hook knows that Snow and David didn't have some easy, pre-ordained true love. He was there. He saw how it started, saw that the tiniest change in events could have prevented them from ever meeting, and it took a lot of effort to set things right -- and even when they were set right, there were still a lot of struggles and ups and downs. The Charmings were separated even more than Hook and Emma were. I remember back in 3B when people were complaining about how slowly the relationship between Hook and Emma was moving, and I pointed out that the Charmings' relationship only seemed relatively quick and easy because we already knew it from the fairy tale and knew they'd end up together, and because we saw it in flashbacks rather than in real time, so we saw a sped-up highlight reel instead of really watching it unfold. If we'd seen their relationship in real time as the present-day plot, we'd be frustrated about how long it was taking them to get together. That's another reason why they should have bookended the series with Hook giving the TLK. I remember that sometime in season 2 or 3 someone did a video where they cut together the moments of the Charmings' relationship with direct parallels for Hook and Emma. They seemed to be setting it up as the present-day version of what happened in the backstory.

So there was no magically ordained, destined, easy True Love for the Charmings. They had to fight for it the same way Hook and Emma did. They had magical true love because they fought for it. Though I guess there was that magic baby tree thing retcon, which may be what Hook was thinking about? But on the other hand, Emma had Hook's song in her heart from before she was born. Anyway, the scene was nice on the surface but doesn't fit the way I saw the first two seasons. Also, I don't recall Hook trying to kill Snow and Emma during 2A. He locked them in the cell, but that was after they had suggested tying him up and leaving him for the ogres and after Emma left him chained at the top of the beanstalk. Funny, that didn't get mentioned.

It is funny how they did this big, romantic wedding, with the couple's story arc being a major part of the plot, but they barely interacted all season, with story lines that didn't intersect much. If you didn't know anything about the behind-the-scenes stuff, it would be easy to assume that this is one of those TV couples where the actors loathe each other in real life, so they have to write the relationship in such a way that they seldom have scenes together. But we know that's not the case, that Jen and Colin are very close and she's good friends with his wife. So there's no offscreen reason why they couldn't have a lot of scenes together.

[superloislane]

4 minutes ago, Curio said:

First off, let me ramble on about how much we hated each other when you first got here

And they had Emma say 'Regina' like she was about to say she never hated her! and Regina then has to say 'No it's true' (because God forbid someone hate precious Regina). And then Regina makes it sound like it was only because they were both Henry's mothers which made them hate each other! I couldn't groan loud enough.

[JonasArm]

Emma has now faced countless vilains and she still look as barely competent as ever. Henry saved her last time by bringing her the page and he does it again making his mother look like an amateur and the Black Fairy an idiot for underestimating him twice. Twice she lets him loose while she gets rid of the others and twice he manages to undermine her ludicrous atttempt at manipulating the Savior. The first time was already funny: "I am the evil that makes all evil shudder in fear. I have been at it for thousands of years in my realm: pampering babies, facing a myriad diapers, telling them goosbumps stories. My evil has no bound because I know my way around the Orphans..."

 

The Lana/Regina love fest has seriously reduced my appreciation of an otherwise mediocre ending. As if this insulting and pointless story about Regina/EQ who are not the same person because they are, but the also are the same person or maybe not certain convenient moments. The page was supposed to be closed on this screen hogging story but they also had some with the dwarfs. The best she has done for the people of this town was to tell them that she didn't always make it easy for them, and even that huge understatment took more out of her than the tasteless dinner she tried to prepare for Owen and his father.

 

Belle is now forced to hide behind the furniture... that little side story had as much consistency as Emily's actiong skills and it was it disappeared faster than a dragon rushing after David and Hook. Belle is like the entire season: a mess. We went from Land of Untold stories with Jeckyll & Hyde to EQ surfing on lameness to Giddeon to Jafar to the Black Fairy. This season was never focused on anything and characters that usually suffer suffered more. I find it hard to say anything positive without dissing the same positive aspects. The episode was just weak.

[Daisy]

Okay I have a lot of thoughts and it think they'll go here, there and everywhere, but I think this fits the best because it does address the final episodes. I know that the show got renewed May 11th , but TS, TW have said in interviews that they didn't do alternate endings. this was it, the end, period. So we'll go with this premise, so they were always going to end it with the little girl, going to Henry's door and saying the exact same words that Henry said to Emma six years ago.  Whatever. 

I mentioned before that this season was one big Joss Whedon ripoff. (Done horridly. I know that for a lot of fantasy shows, people do tend to rip off Buffy/Angel, and I bet if i watch back enough, Joss probably ripped off someone and made it into the Buffy-tropes we know).  But after some sleep, it really surprised me that they also tried to lean on Buffy Season 5. Joss said that a lot of people thought that Buffy's love interest in season 5 was Riely, but it wasn't. They were having it 100 percent focused on Dawn, Dawn's love for Buffy, and more importantly, Buffy's love for Dawn, to the point where Buffy felt 100% at ease sacrificing herself, not really for the world, but for her little sister. 

And you always got that essence from Henry/Emma in season 1, 2 and 3. Emma finally realising she loved Henry and saving him, Henry's love knowing that Emma will come back for him, Emma being the one to "awaken" Henry again to channel his belief.  So having Henry being the one to do it again would have been touching and sweet... you know. If life didn't happen. Somewhere down the road (probably when Emma became more and more magical), Henry stopped seeing her as Mom who happened to be the Saviour, she was the Saviour who just happened to be his mom. And every speech and crap Henry made pushed that. Even in the end, I believe in you because you're the Saviour. Season 1 Henry would have been "I believe in you because you're my MOM, and you can do this." So the fact that TLK was reversed (Season 1 Emma to Henry, Season 6 Henry to Emma) was ideologically sound and appropriate to the mythos.. it falls flat. It falls flat because you made someone else important to Emma who logically should be doing the TLK'ing. You know. Captain Killian Jones, call me Hook, luv. 

And I think that's where they failed. [and this isn't coming from an Anti-Captain Swan fan].  The show did this, so they should have just stuck by it. I was expecting Hook to be the one to rescue Emma, to swoop in by magic portal (again why didn't he just scream "Let go" to David drop that sucker think of emma, and BOOM), and TLK her into Remembering (instead of flash-back to the wedding), and more importantly, when Emma was glow-worming, he should have been the one to wake her up. That's how the story ends in fairy tale-land if you give Emma true love/happy ending beginning. 

So it should have been either - this season (especially if it was evident that JMo wasn't coming back) break up Captain Swan and you had more than enough material to make it logical and make sense. for example

 

1: Emma lying about the Saviour DTs, and needing to figure it out on her own. 
2: Henry not liking the fact that Hook is actually in their lives. (lame but it could have worked)
3: Killian lying about killing David's father (which again. lame and not even THIS Killian but still). 

(I can't come up with a better appropriate version right now so we have to use these). then during the season, Henry + Emma have a talk where Emma basically tells the truth - I feel that no one sees me as Emma. they see me as the Saviour first and always, and that always comes first. not me, not my life, not my wants or needs, it's been happening since i was a baby. even you see me like this, kid. And then Henry realises that that's true. and it all culminates into the end, where Emma is dead and (let's be honest) I think the first reaction would be no. Mom, mom please don't go, etc etc. lay a kiss, and you've got a reversal of season one. (again. not sure when TLK actually reverses death, but hey). 

This season basically had no idea what it wanted to do (more so than usual), and then they heard they could get cancelled, so they turned ship and tried to ramp up the final battle thing, realised they could get renewed so they had to "white-wash" some of the ending so it wasn't SO final. This entire season should have been a ramp up for the final battle. Forget Aladdin/Jasmine, Jekyll/Hyde, the Evil Queen Split. this should have been a clear re-focusing on the core of your show. Make Fiona worth being afraid over (again. the best villains on this show was Pan, Hades and Snow Queen. Two of which gave zero craps to anything, and the Snow Queen was imo perfectly shade of grey, no pun intended there). Fiona was woefully flat and boring. and it was made worse by Gidiot. Make Fiona, Pan-esque (which was there), but have her own it. stop making it about "my family!" (which someone upthread said it was getting very Oedipal). If you are going to use Gidiot, use him as ransom, not the person fighting the battle (because that's just a cop-out). 

If the saying is crap or get off the pot applies here, they crapped, but utterly missed the pot. 

[iMonrey]

I thought it hit all the right emotional notes even if the story itself was pretty clunky. This was especially true of Hook and David's little side adventure - too much time standing around talking and hashing out their emotional baggage when time was running out and they should have been in constant go mode. Didn't really understand the curse, didn't really understand "the final battle." But feelings-wise, it had a nice ending. 

Can't decide if I'll give the next season a chance. Frankly the only reason I've kept watching this long is because there's really nothing else on at 8:00 that I want to watch. Whether or not that changes next fall will probably be the biggest factor in my decision.

Oh, and apparently Henry got a nose job at some point growing up.

[Curio]

21 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

It is funny how they did this big, romantic wedding, with the couple's story arc being a major part of the plot, but they barely interacted all season, with story lines that didn't intersect much. If you didn't know anything about the behind-the-scenes stuff, it would be easy to assume that this is one of those TV couples where the actors loathe each other in real life, so they have to write the relationship in such a way that they seldom have scenes together. But we know that's not the case, that Jen and Colin are very close and she's good friends with his wife. So there's no offscreen reason why they couldn't have a lot of scenes together.

This is what makes me so depressed. It's extremely rare to have the combination in Hollywood where: A) you find two actors who have chemistry, B) those two actors actually get along outside of work, and C) their characters are interesting and have well-written stories. A&E had lightning in a bottle with both Snow/Charming and Emma/Hook, but they separated those couples for the majority of Season 6. At least Snow and Charming had some decent amount of time together in the finale and Snow got to kiss David awake, but it's crazy to think Hook and Emma uttered less than a dozen words to each other in this "epic" 2-hour essentially series finale. This makes me wish that Jen and Colin work together in the future on other projects because it's a shame to see that chemistry go to waste.

It actually seems like it took more effort to keep Emma and Hook apart in Season 6 instead of naturally allowing them to work together. All organic storytelling signs pointed towards those two working together as an adventure couple, but it's like A&E went out of their way to make sure they had as minimal interactions as possible. The Wish Realm had Emma hang out more with August than Hook. The wedding took all of 5 minutes. The series finale barely had them interact. I did not stick it out for years to see this relationship end with a fizzle. And the sad thing is A&E honestly believe they did the couple justice. "But we gave them a wedding. They're sheriff and deputy now. They're sitting next to each other at dinner. What more do you crazy shippers want?" SCREEN TIME. Those big moments mean nothing if there's absolutely no build-up to it.

[Twilight Man]

44 minutes ago, Socks said:

The show can end here for me. 

 

44 minutes ago, Lexx said:

For me, that was the series finale.

 

31 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

I am actuality not looking forward to another season.........Right now as far as I am concerned I just watched the series finale.

 

13 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Boy, this sure was a nice series finale, right yall?

I think I will also just pretend that was the end of this show.

(Evil Rumple appears)

ER:  Now just hold on there, dearie.  You can't just pretend that the "TRUE" end of this show will never exist.

Me:  Really??  You mean like, the final season of "Scrubs"?

ER:  Well, I suppose "that" show was a special circumstance.

Me:  And the last season of "RoseAnne"?

ER:  Well, "that" was just an obvious choice.

Me:  And the last season of "Lost"??

ER:  Trust me, dearie.  It will do you good to just pretend that whole SHOW never existed.  The last time I tried to comprehend that show, I couldn't blink for a week.

[KingOfHearts]

So, Rumple is still the Dark One. He killed his own mother without even flinching. Not to save the town, but to get his revenge. He has made right choices briefly before, so how is this any different? Is Clippy!Rumple going to let him be? Does he still crave his power? He just refused to help everyone.

Wouldn't something awful happen five minutes after the finale, because that's just how Storybrooke goes? Why are the characters happy being in perpetual danger?

[Rumsy4]

22 minutes ago, superloislane said:

There's just way too much foreshadowing for that not to have been an idea.

You're joking, right? ;-) This Show centered an entire episode on a magical sapling, only for the EQ to crush it in 2 seconds flat.

 

16 minutes ago, Curio said:

I did not stick it out for years to see this relationship end with a fizzle.

This really makes me want to cry. But this was deliberate though. A&E gave in to the "Stop Once Upon a Hook" campaign and anti-CSers. They were led by either SQers/ERs or Rumbellers. And guess who got the most focus this season? Regina and Rumple.

[justmythoughts]

I grew tired of villains getting happy endings and happy lives during this entire show with minimal effort. 

Most of us agreed, besides Hook, EQ and Rumple (even Zelina) are "reformed" villains for no reason. Regina still has a vault full of hearts. Rumple still has power, is the DO and only chooses the good side when is convinient for him (because Belle is watching or he will gain as much or more...). 

Snow and Charming lost 28 years of their daughter's life, more countless years with new curses... Emma had to grow alone... But Belle and Rumple and Gidiot get a do over. Sounds about right.

Emma is stabbed by Gidiot... But either she is Harry Potter and the love of sacrifice sabes her (and she passed out) or she is Jesus and resucitated...

Hook and Emma, my Babies... Had barely no time together... Great CS adventure this season, A&E said... Sure, they were setting out on the yellow bug, facing a live full of love and adventure together, with the Charmings sometimes stopping by at inapropriate times, we just need imagination, cause A&E don't write this normal stuff, they are special, they write for deeper and more complex characters like the EQ... Who, by the way will be back...

They will get a good 4 years of happines before Henry knocks out some girl. Because no way a happy and well raised Henry would abandon a baby... Someting will happen.

Edited May 15, 2017 by justmythoughts

[tennisgurl]

Alright so...I've got thoughts.

For one thing, it really is super sad that the final battle that has been built up this whole time is just so very lame. We get a villain who is supposedly the Ultimate Evil for no reason at all, and we get the actual fight between Emma, and a guy who isn't even in control of his actions. And Emma didn't even do anything in the end. She threw down her sword and waited on her goofy son to save her by kissing her. That's what we`ve been leading up to this whole time? Weak. And all that Captain Swan build up, all we get is one hug? And no TL Kiss? Grated, TL Kiss doesn't mean much more, but it would still be nice.

Also, for an episode where the entire fictional multiverse is almost wiped out, this episode felt the way a lot of its big issues do...weirdly small. I know its TV and there's a budget and all, but as the entire multiverse is about to be wiped out, it looks like its only affected like 10 random people. Aladdin and Jasmin evacuated their whole world? How many people live there, three? Seeing the other worlds was cool (Hi Sven!!!),but it didn't make things seem any bigger or more epic. Speaking of, what the hell does Emma have to do with the rest of the multiverse? Why does her not believing in magic affect Wonderland or Arendale? I don't get this at all.

I admit, I actually did enjoy seeing the finale sequence where everyone is together again and happy. I even had some nice feelings for Rumple and when they played a bit of their theme song, and that never happens! There were some cute moments, so cute that I could ignore that silly Last Supper moment, and the ickey feelings I got when the dwarfs ending was kneeling to Regina. Really, it was a solid ending.

So, I guess Henry and Violet aren't going to stay a thing as his daughter is quite clearly mixed race. First hearbreak sucks, kid, but your future daughter is cute

[Daisy]

13 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

You're joking, right? ;-) This Show centered an entire episode on a magical sapling, only for the EQ to crush it in 2 seconds flat.

 

This really makes me want to cry. But this was deliberate though. A&E gave in to the "Stop Once Upon a Hook" campaign and anti-CSers. They were led by either SQers/ERs or Rumbellers. And guess who got the most focus this season? Regina and Rumple.

Well. as someone who isn't overly fond of Captain Swan, I didn't like the end either. and I don't like Swan Queen or Rumpbelle.  but Regina and Rumple have been getting the majority of focus has been a thing since Season Two.  which is..

 

9 minutes ago, justmythoughts said:

I grew tired of villains getting happy endings and happy lives during this entire show with minimal effort. 

Most of us agreed, besides Hook, EQ and Rumple (even Zelina) are "reformed" villains for no reason. Regina still has a vault full of hearts. Rumple still has power, is the DO and only chooses the good side when is convinient for him .

I don't know why the end got caught off. sorry i should go re-read it because i'll agree. but I have to say - this is what happens when you fall in love with the characters and don't have the Story Focus. Rumple should never have been whitewashed. (which is why he should never have been the Beast. he didn't need to be the 'bad guy' in every legendary story). the struggle for power over what was right is story enough. (which is why knowing the backstory of Fiona intrigued me because Fiona chooses power over Rumple. Malcolm chooses youth (and ultimately power) over Rumple. Rumple chooses power over Douchefire (and Belle). he really needed someone who embraced that darkness with him. 

Zelena didn't bug me too much but she was again someone who really didn't 'have' to come back. but she had some of the best quips on the show so it's fine. 

[Inquirer]

2 hours ago, Curio said:

I can't help but feel like I just witnessed another HIMYM-esque ending where the showrunners were too stubborn to change their original finale plan they plotted out six years ago.

They flat-out confirmed this in a recent interview - the family dinner scene was the final image they had in their head for a long time now.

The problem is that it no longer works for several reasons, especially where Rumple is concerned.

[justmythoughts]

5 minutes ago, Daisy said:

Well. as someone who isn't overly fond of Captain Swan, I didn't like the end either. and I don't like Swan Queen or Rumpbelle.  but Regina and Rumple have been getting the majority of focus has been a thing since Season Two.  which is..

 

I don't know why the end got caught off. sorry i should go re-read it because i'll agree. but I have to say - this is what happens when you fall in love with the characters and don't have the Story Focus. Rumple should never have been whitewashed. (which is why he should never have been the Beast. he didn't need to be the 'bad guy' in every legendary story). the struggle for power over what was right is story enough. (which is why knowing the backstory of Fiona intrigued me because Fiona chooses power over Rumple. Malcolm chooses youth (and ultimately power) over Rumple. Rumple chooses power over Douchefire (and Belle). he really needed someone who embraced that darkness with him. 

Zelena didn't bug me too much but she was again someone who really didn't 'have' to come back. but she had some of the best quips on the show so it's fine. 

While the story may be good as real life lesson, in a show about hope, what sticks the most is: do whatever you want, no matte the consequences. Magic has a price, BS. 

I loved Cruela, even Rumple had great shining moments, but for me he specially (closely followed by Regina, Zelena far behind) is too much evil to deserve a happy ending. Belle could love him, but she seems not to know him, she loves the idea of what a good Rumple with all that power could do. Maybe I am also toi innocent and hoped people who did really bad things would pay for those deeds... 

[Inquirer]

8 hours ago, Cindy McLennan said:

If TWoP still was, my recaplet tomorrow would have been one word: CODSWALLOP.

Eff Eddy and Adam with an actual, working chainsaw. Wow. I went from fangirl to hater in 2 hours. Die in a fire, boys, and please save me from breathing in the fumes. This was THE most disrespectful end to a story -- any story -- ever. My hatred can not be expressed.

I just want to recognize that "Last Supper" visual, because I did notice it.

But now, I want to douse the entire series with gasoline and drop a match, because what a load of shit.

Please give a more in-depth review on what you hated, I really would like to hear it from you (and I'd likely agree with every word.)

[Lexx]

It's pretty messed up that Rumple, who in this very episode was fine with letting the multiverse be destroyed as long as he found Belle, gets a happy ending while a truly repentant Milah is a dissolved spirit-thing swimming in misery.

[Inquirer]

8 minutes ago, Lexx said:

It's pretty messed up that Rumple, who in this very episode was fine with letting the multiverse be destroyed as long as he found Belle, gets a happy ending while a truly repentant Milah is a dissolved spirit-thing swimming in misery.

5x21 showed that the souls are coming out of the river now that Hades is gone, so Milah probably will return (& Gaston, Auntie Em, James, Pan, etc.)

Still doesn't make what Rumple did right and still infuriating that nobody found out about it and he gets a happy ending with his new abused wife.

Edited May 15, 2017 by Inquirer

[tennisgurl]

Its sad that some of the best scenes in the episode were between Hook and Charming, in a subplot that ended up going absolutely nowhere. If A & E did anything right, it was seeing the awesome chemistry that Colin and Josh have and running with it. Granted, its at the cost of them actually having scenes with Emma, their wife/daughter, but I will take the enjoyment I can get.

David: "I'm not trusting a pirate, I'm trusting my son...

Hook :*super big eye brow raise*

David: "...in law. *smirk that screams "don't push it you lovable asshole"

6 minutes ago, Lexx said:

It's pretty messed up that Rumple, who in this very episode was fine with letting the multiverse be destroyed as long as he found Belle, gets a happy ending while a truly repentant Milah is a dissolved spirit-thing swimming in misery.

If I have learned anything from this show, its that only characters whos actors are in the main credits are allowed to have Happy Endings. And even that's up in the air sometimes *pours one out for poor Will Scarlett*

I'm going to headcannon that when Hades was defeated, she got away and moved on to the next life.

Edited May 15, 2017 by tennisgurl

[CCTC]

20 minutes ago, Lexx said:

It's pretty messed up that Rumple, who in this very episode was fine with letting the multiverse be destroyed as long as he found Belle, gets a happy ending while a truly repentant Milah is a dissolved spirit-thing swimming in misery.

Yes - and he betrayed the who team right before the wedding last week - it is hard to imagine they would want to sit down and break bread with him.   I first thought he was maybe playing the BF joining forces with her, but he was not.  If she would not have betrayed him and taken Belle etc., he would have been ok with everyone else being cursed.

Another the reason him at the dinner felt so disingenuous, is that he does not really like any of them.   Betrayal and dark-one aside, the last place he would want to be is eating with them at Granny's.  He might have had some grudging respect for Emma and Regina, but he basically thought they were all beneath him and not worth the time of day.  (Other than Gold - I did like the scene at Granny's, although I am surprised they did not have Regina bring lasagna and have everyone praise it this time).

Do you think he and Belle are going to have  a healthy discussion dealing with the issues such as she took a sleeping curse to get away from him, he put her in a box, he locked her on Hook's ship, she felt she had to speed up her pregnancy hide Gideon from him?  There might still be a few issues in their relationship.

[KingOfHearts]

45 minutes ago, Lexx said:

It's pretty messed up that Rumple, who in this very episode was fine with letting the multiverse be destroyed as long as he found Belle, gets a happy ending while a truly repentant Milah is a dissolved spirit-thing swimming in misery.

You know, I really don't mind that Rumple turned himself around in the end. But is stopping your son from killing someone really the good deed to upend his years of evil? Hell no. If Gideon were someone else's son, would he have done the same thing? Nope. For all we know, he just didn't want blood on his son's hands. It would have been far more satisfying if he sacrificed himself or gave up his DO powers.

Quote

Its sad that some of the best scenes in the episode were between Hook and Charming, in a subplot that ended up going absolutely nowhere.

It's infuriating that, other than Henry and Rumple, no one in Emma's family helped her win the "final battle". They did not contribute in any way to saving the day. They passively waited as Emma believed via Henry's scribbles and Rumple broke the curse. It looked like the Charmings and Mills were doing a lot, but they pretty much just stood at the sidelines. Nothing they tried to do helped. 

I thought Emma and Hook were on the journey together, but I guess not. What else is new.

Edited May 15, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Kktjones]

Just wanted to say I am so glad that I was spoiled for the "reunion" scene, so I knew not to expect Hook to play any role in helping Emma or breaking any curses. I love the idea of him using the bean and getting to Emma in Boston, but I'm glad I already knew that didn't happen or I might be even more bitter. Like they do, A&E built up these moments (Emma remembering the wedding, Hook finding a magic bean) that look like they are going to mean something, but then have no payoff in the end (similar to the 4A finale when Emma sensed something was wrong with Hook, but then nothing came of it). I guess we just have to be happy with what Hook said that he and Emma were basically the "real" couple that wasn't pre-destined or guaranteed a happy ending. They fought for their relationship and are together by choice, rather than pixie dust or anything like that. 

[InsertWordHere]

3 hours ago, sharky said:

Actually, if you move to the left from Emma and go by actual face-to-face matches, Judas is Baby Neal. As I posted on tumblr, this would make sense depending on what happens to him next season. Baby Neal was named after a man who abandoned Baby Neal's orphaned sister and left her to rot in jail where she gave birth to his nephew. 

I've always thought if they did a Next Generation of this show, Snowflake would be a brat and Gideon and either Robyn or another child of Regina's would be the "heroes." I don't think the writers can resist this fascinating role reversal that no one saw coming.

[Rushmoras]

So... what the hell happened in the end? The show will be rebooted with new actors, or something? I'm confused. Also, perhaps this was one of the best episodes in this season, primarilly, because there were no flashbacks, thank God.

[Kktjones]

3 hours ago, Curio said:

What was the point of Regina's pep talk to Emma?

I think the point was two-fold. One was to appease a certain sector of the fandom and reiterate that they are all about the relationships between their "strong women". The second was to close the loop set-up in the pilot. Just like everything else they needed to re-visit the first meeting between Emma & Regina. It's similar to the Season 4 finale when they had Emma take on the darkness to protect Regina's happy ending. Eddy pointed out in an interview that it was a callback to the Season 4 premiere where Emma had promised Regina a happy ending (since she ruined it by not letting Regina kill Robin's wife). They were so focused on calling back to the pilot that they ignored relationships and things that have come between.

(Can you tell I'm bitter that Emma got a longer conversation with Regina than she did with Hook, Charming or Snow during the entire episode?)

Edited May 15, 2017 by Kktjones

[oncebluethrone]

As an episode whose goal was to function as both a season and a series finale, it did a pretty good job. I loved the majority of it, however, it wasn’t without faults.

6x21: I honestly thought new guy and new girl were brand new characters and wondered how they had the book, the reveal at the end of 6x22 made this scene make a whole lot more sense. The Final Battle was not what I was expecting it to be. I did like how it was Emma’s belief vs The Realms of Story since that goes back to the fact that the show is centered around belief and hope. One thing that bothered me about this episode was how long Emma didn’t remember/believe. I loved Killian’s determination to get back to Emma and how he went straight to their beanstalk to retrieve a magic bean. David followed him and we got Beanstalk Adventure Part 2 Featuring Captain Charming. I loved how Killian referred to Emma as his wife and how he described his and Emma’s story. This was one of my favorite parts of this episode. I loved how Killian was the one to get the bean and that that the dragon chased them. Another one of my favorite parts of this episode was the rooftop scene with Henry. I loved how Emma remembered her wedding and that she said, “I married Captain Hook?” Yes, Emma, you did. I didn’t like that Emma wanted to leave Storybrooke, though. I liked Regina’s and The EQ’s banter.  Fiona pushing Henry down the stairs was interesting. When Emma was burning the book, I thought that her looking at the picture of her husband would jog or memory, but I guess not. The burning of the book catalyzed the dark clouds of destruction to roll in, which was a nice touch.

 

6x22: When Killian fell of the beanstalk, I got really scared. I knew he was going to be okay based on spoilers, but still. I liked how Snow found Killian and he said “Hello there mummy.” I really wished Killian had gone to Emma. I was surprised that Emma’s apartment was exactly as she left it. I didn’t mind that Henry’s homemade storybook was what made her believe. I loved the Snowing parallel to the first scene in the series. I wasn’t surprised at Rumple being awake under the curse or that he didn’t want to help Henry.  Henry’s take on the Black Fairy monologue to the magic mirror was annoying (was his arm magically healed?). When the EQ stayed behind to hold off the magic, I couldn’t tell if it was her or Regina, their costumes were to similar. I loved how Emma wanted to be the Savior before she remembered anything. Cursed Belle ran away from Rumple apparently. Henry’s scribbles held the key to winning the final battle. I liked how high the stakes were if Emma lost the final battle. I thought Fiona’s destruction was very underwhelming, but I wasn’t surprised Rumple did her in. The reunion in Main Street was also underwhelming.  I was expecting a CS kiss, but we didn’t get one. They were holding onto each other for basically the entire time after they were reunited, though. I really enjoyed Emma’s fight with Gideon and her “I am the Savior” monologue. The visual of Emma’s magic bursting out of her is probably one of my favorite visuals of the entire series.  I was disappointed that Henry TLKed Emma instead of Killian. The time being 8:15 PM was a nice parallel. I liked that Gideon was de-aged, but I hated that Belle took Rumple back. I loved the happy ending/beginning montage (minus the RB stuff) and the book closing on the OUAT reenactment of The Last Supper would have been the perfect way to end the series. But it’s not the end and we learn that new guy is Adult Henry (not surprising) and that his daughter is named Lucy. And that something bad happened and his family needs him. If you take away the scenes of Adult Henry and Lucy, this episode would have functioned perfectly as a series finale, but since those scenes exist, I am considering this a half-series/half-season finale and will definitely be watching Season 7.

[apgold1]

They should've called the first part "Henry has 4 Mommies (and a daughter)." Between the two Reginas, the Black Fairy and Emma, no wonder he's all confused about what is real, lol.

The best part was Gold/Rumple killing his mother b/c he realized she would always be manipulating him to get what she wanted and he wanted revenge on what she did to Belle.   Gideon getting a second chance at childhood made no real sense, but whatever.

Part of me wishes this had been a series finale since the Charmings were the central story of the show and the themes are getting rinsed and repeated ad- nauseaum.  And was it a coincidence that the painting of the dinner at Granny's looked like The Last Supper?

[tennisgurl]

Can I just say that those fake pictures Fiona gave Rumple to "prove" that Belle left him to explore the world were the fakest looking photo shopped pieces of shit I've seen since the mid 90s? Like, this woman can destroy the entire multiverse, but she cant handle faking an Instagram feed? I guess something that an eight year can do in three minutes on a IPAD was just too much for our Super Evil Ultra Villain.

[andromeda331]

I hated this episode. Emma and Hook were separated the entire time except for a few minutes. The rest of the characters leaving the show were barely there. Heaven forbid A&E devote  precious seconds to the Charmings, Belle or Emma and her new husband in the last episode when we could be seeing two Reginas again. How nice that Snow's kingdom is now being ruled over by one of the Evil Queens and the Dwarves bowed to the other one. How nice that Rumple saved the day by murdering his mother for revenge and was reward with being able to raise his son and invited to dinner with the people he's repeatedly betrayed. Its so nice to see villains being rewarded. Ironically, the only thing the episode did was reinforce my reasons for quitting the show. I'm tired of watching Emma get crapped on season after season, I'm tired of watching the Charmings never allowed to do anything, be mad about what Regina did to them or interact with their daughter, I'm tired of watching Rumple betray everyone and nothing happens, I'm tired of Belle claiming Rumple's still good despite every sign he's not, and I'm tired of Regina period. I'm tired of storylines that never go anywhere and that nothing means anything and villains constantly winning. I'm not even sure I'd have stayed if Emma was staying. I'm tired of A&E's storylines. Thank you A&E for making it so much easier to quit. I'll still hang out in the forums but I can't watch another episode. 

Edited May 15, 2017 by andromeda331

[KingOfHearts]

49 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Can I just say that those fake pictures Fiona gave Rumple to "prove" that Belle left him to explore the world were the fakest looking photo shopped pieces of shit I've seen since the mid 90s? Like, this woman can destroy the entire multiverse, but she cant handle faking an Instagram feed? I guess something that an eight year can do in three minutes on a IPAD was just too much for our Super Evil Ultra Villain.

Oh my gosh. Yes. That cracked me up. It looked so intentional that I was waiting for Rumple to comment on how fake they were. She may as well have cut out pictures of Belle with scissors and then pasted them on other photos. Rumple's expression as he's looking through them is priceless.

Edited May 15, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Shanna Marie]

While I was okay with the closing montage as it happened, it really doesn't hold up to scrutiny because if you think about it, it's really screwy.

There's that family dinner, where most of the people there have killed loved ones or family members of other people there. Rumple murdered Hook's lover/Henry's grandmother (twice!) and cut off Hook's hand (and still has it in a jar). Hook killed David's father. Snow killed Regina's mother (though she had it coming, as Regina's mother murdered Snow's mother). Regina murdered Snow's mother. Zelena's sitting there with her rape baby.

Meanwhile, in the montage of their lives, most of them aren't in their situations or jobs by choice. I guess David is getting to go back to where his life was before Rumple and George so rudely interrupted him, but has he expressed any desire to be a farmer again? Snow's teaching job has her doing what Regina's curse that was designed to punish her forced her to do. But Regina gets "Queen" on her office door, when she's the one who brought all these people to this town against their will and forced them into these lives that they didn't choose. These guys obviously have paid no attention to royalty because Regina isn't the rightful queen. She was a queen consort. Snow is the rightful heir to the throne. Regina usurped her by murdering Snow's father and kicking Snow out/trying to murder her. Regina shouldn't be rewarded by getting to be called Queen and being bowed to while Snow's stuck in the job Regina's curse gave her. Regina being declared the queen is like if, after Queen Elizabeth II dies, Camilla murders Charles and starts calling herself queen, kicking William and William's kids out.

Rumple made one right decision that was still actually a selfish decision, and now things are totally okay with Belle, even though she was so afraid of him during her pregnancy that she moved onto the Jolly Roger with Hook. Rumple faces no consequences for choosing to become the Dark One again, hijacking Hook's sacrifice. No, he's all part of the happy family with the people he's been tormenting.

Did these people choose to stay in Storybrooke? Would any of them want to go back home? What about the ones who were physically transformed into different species by the curse, like Archie and the dwarfs?

That's what made it ultimately unsatisfying to me. These people are all where they are, doing what they're doing, because of the curse. Is that really a happy ending?

[Camera One]

7 hours ago, sharky said:

If the writers really wanted a pilot call back, I was hoping we would've had Emma leaving town only to be stopped in the road by a random pirate falling from a green light in the sky. Then you could get a call back to the pilot, that time Hook got hit by a car and their beanstalk stuff. Another missed opportunity.

I was half expecting the Wolf.  Good thing that was explained, eh?

[InsertWordHere]

6 minutes ago, Camera One said:

I was half expecting the Wolf.  Good thing that was explained, eh?

The wolf could see where this was going a long time ago, so he got out of town fast. Wolf has the true happy ending. 

[Inquirer]

2 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

Regina murdered Snow's mother. Zelena's sitting there with her rape baby.

You mean her father, Cora murdered her mother.  Also, Zelena killed Neal, so there's also that.

[Camera One]

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Can I just say that those fake pictures Fiona gave Rumple to "prove" that Belle left him to explore the world were the fakest looking photo shopped pieces of shit I've seen since the mid 90s? Like, this woman can destroy the entire multiverse, but she cant handle faking an Instagram feed? I guess something that an eight year can do in three minutes on a IPAD was just too much for our Super Evil Ultra Villain.

What made me laugh was the gasp and the horrified expression that Rumple had.  You'd think he was looking at gruesome crime scene pictures.  Instead, it was Belle in front of famous tourist attractions.  The horror.

6 hours ago, justmythoughts said:

They will get a good 4 years of happines before Henry knocks out some girl. Because no way a happy and well raised Henry would abandon a baby... Someting will happen.

I don't buy that Henry got a girl pregnant when he was 18.  The older Henry looked pretty young.  

[Into Dark]

THANKS for the Neverending Story reference I thought I'm the only one notizing that XDD

[CCTC]

18 minutes ago, Camera One said:

What made me laugh was the gasp and the horrified expression that Rumple had.  You'd think he was looking at gruesome crime scene pictures.  Instead, it was Belle in front of famous tourist attractions.  The horror.

I laughed a bit at the pictures as well.  I am surprised they did not show one of her at Disney World.

[Camera One]

So for 1.5 hours, the Final Battle was all about getting Emma's soul to lose her belief.   But then, in the last 30 minutes, it turned into a literal battle of Light versus Light.  Huh?  Which is it? 

Why didn't Henry scrunch up the cryptic paper and put it in his pocket?  Why didn't they use the Black Fairy's wand to try to read it earlier?  Why didn't The Black Fairy go get her wand when she arrived in Storybrooke?  

What would The Black Fairy have done with Emma's heart if they hadn't deflected her actions with the songs?  Why didn't Henry try to use song to help Emma to remember?

[Last Time Lord]

6 hours ago, justmythoughts said:

They will get a good 4 years of happines before Henry knocks out some girl. Because no way a happy and well raised Henry would abandon a baby... Someting will happen.

That's assuming he even knew about the baby. Having a random tryst or one night night stand resulting in a pregnancy he was unaware of is very real possibility,

[CCTC]

7 minutes ago, Camera One said:

Why didn't Henry try to use song to help Emma to remember?

From the one line he had at the wedding, he did not exactly inherit Gramps' pipes, it might have had the opposite effect.

[Last Time Lord]

3 minutes ago, CCTC said:

From the one line he had at the wedding, he did not exactly inherit Gramps' pipes, it might have had the opposite effect.

I seem to recall reading that Jared is well aware he cannot sing, which is why he only did the one line.

[CCTC]

Just now, Last Time Lord said:

I seem to recall reading that Jared is well aware he cannot sing, which is why he only did the one line.

That sounds familiar, and to be fair, Jared sounded better than I would have.

[Camera One]

So Zelena knew how to use the Mad Hatter's hat without magic to get to The Enchanted Forest, and she also had an ample supply of them in the Oz throne room?  

[Last Time Lord]

1 minute ago, CCTC said:

That sounds familiar, and to be fair, Jared sounded better than I would have.

You ever seen Scanners?

That's what happens why I attempt to sing, so I am right there with you.

[justmythoughts]

30 minutes ago, Last Time Lord said:

That's assuming he even knew about the baby. Having a random tryst or one night night stand resulting in a pregnancy he was unaware of is very real possibility,

I guessed A&E would love the paralel of Henry meeting his daughter at 28, just like Emma with him, but everything is possible.

And yes, although it is quite impossible for a woman not to notice when she delivers a baby, the same does not apply to the father. Henry may not know, or the mother ran away, or they were separated by something (perhaps a curse, a not so much rare item as I would like it to be). But I am assuming, more than all, something goes sour since the actor was casted as once happy and now lost hope, love, family... 

[AudienceofOne]

49 minutes ago, Camera One said:

So for 1.5 hours, the Final Battle was all about getting Emma's soul to lose her belief.   But then, in the last 30 minutes, it turned into a literal battle of Light versus Light.  Huh?  Which is it?

The battle was within the Saviour all along.  Duh.

Except it, like, wasn't. It was also literal. Oh, and it involved the darkness.

Except it didn't.

The battle was within the Saviour all along. See? That totally makes sense.

[KingOfHearts]

43 minutes ago, Camera One said:

So Zelena knew how to use the Mad Hatter's hat without magic to get to The Enchanted Forest, and she also had an ample supply of them in the Oz throne room?  

It was a plot point in S1/S2 that the Mad Hatter only had one hat. If he were a real hatter with multiple, why couldn't he construct one for Cora? It's not a very big plot hole, but it does undermine Jefferson's entire arc.