"Ill-Boding Patterns" is the thirteenth episode of Season Six of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Andrew Chambliss & Dana Horgan, and directed by Ron Underwood. It is the one hundred and twenty-fourth episode of the series overall, and premiered on March 19, 2017.
Synopsis
When Gideon resumes his mission to kill Emma and become the Savior, Mr. Gold steps in to ensure that the use of dark magic does not poison his son. Meanwhile, Robin proves willing to ally himself with anyone offering the possibility of escape from Regina and Storybrooke. Hook gathers the courage to come clean to Emma, but not before she discovers he’s been keeping a secret. And in a flashback to Fairy Tale Land, the legendary folk hero Beowulf sets his sights on Rumplestiltskin after the Dark One uses his powers to defeat the ogres and win the war for humanity.[2]
Recap
In the pre-first curse Enchanted Forest, the events of the first Ogre Wars are detailed. A young soldier is being encouraged by his leader, Beowulf, to keep fighting against the creatures. Beowulf then displays the sword, Hrunting, that Emma will take possession of in the future and leads his men into battle. However, despite killing some ogres, his men are all killed, and he is left as the only survivor. When Beowulf sees an ogre general and goes after it, it knocks his sword out of his hand and moves in to kill him, but then, Rumplestiltskin intervenes. He uses his dagger to genocide all of the creatures. His actions would cause a deeper rift between Rumplestiltskin and the teenage Baelfire. Later on at a village, the people ask Rumplestiltskin to defend them against a creature named Grendel. Baelfire, hoping that saving the village will restore Rumplestiltskin's good name, believes that he can do it without resorting to dark magic, so Rumplestiltskin gives him the dagger to keep him from using it.
When they arrived to the cave to draw out Grendel, Rumplestiltskin and Baelfire discover it was a setup by Beowulf, who wanted revenge on Rumplestiltskin for denying him victory during the Ogre Wars, by setting him up to frame the Dark One for the murder of the villagers. After Baelfire fails to stop Beowulf, Baelfire summons Rumplestiltskin, who defeats Beowulf. Baelfire wants him to stop Beowulf, but Rumplestiltskin refuses, opting to send them to a new village instead, but in the end, Baelfire killed Beowulf after he commanded his father to do so. Rumplestiltskin also collects the sword Hrunting after this. The events convinces Baelfire that they should use Dark Magic to protect themselves, but Rumplestiltskin feels otherwise, and secretly gives Baelfire a forgetting potion he slipped inside his drink to make him forget about what happened, to keep him from going dark. Unfortunately, Baelfire's memory would later come back when he saw Hrunting, and this time, he accused his father of killing Beowulf.
At Granny's, Archie finds Hook drinking, now that he realized that he killed Robert, who happens to be Emma's grandfather; however, he decides not to divulge details. When he later visited Emma at the house, he wants to tell Emma the truth, but Emma thinks he is keeping something from her and she shows him the engagement ring that he wanted to give her, and she tells him that she will marry him. Hook gets down on one knee and proposes, but decides not to tell Emma about Robert, by keeping that to himself.
Meanwhile, Belle and Mother Superior search for Gideon, believing that he is after the sword Hrunting that Emma had the night they first met, and as expected they were right, because at the Sheriff's Station, Gideon is caught by Gold while trying to obtain the sword fragment and his father uses his magic to knock Gideon out. At the Clock Tower, Gideon comes to and is tied up, with the magic-draining cuff on, as Gold tells him about what happened during the first Ogre Wars when he attempted to stop it. Gideon then told his father about what the Black Fairy did to him and why he wanted revenge. Gideon soon catches on to Gold's plan to erase his memory after he was given a tea that was laced with the forgetting potion, but his time with the Black Fairy has shown him how to counter it, and during a hug, he takes the dagger to control his father. Gideon then uses the dagger to force Gold to reveal the sword's origin and its forger, and Gold tells him that it was the Blue Fairy who created it. As Gideon keeps Gold from stopping him, he goes to take Mother Superior's powers after he freezes her, Gold arrives and drains her magic for him, so Gideon won't go dark. This ends up putting the Mother Superior into a coma-like state. After the sword Hrunting is newly forged, Gideon returns the dagger to Gold.
At the same time, Robin has shown up at Zelena's place, and the witch is stunned to find him there. He wants to leave Storybrooke, and she agrees to help him, since she also wants to leave for New York City. However, Regina is waiting for them at the city limits, having caught on to Robin stealing the heart from the vault, and the anti-magic potion. However, when Robin attempts to use the anti-magic potion, it fails to break the protection spell, and instead, the barrier blasts him backwards. Knowing that he is stuck in Storybrooke, Regina, now convinced that the Wish Realm Robin will never live up to the one she remembers, offers to help him leave if he wants to do so. Later on, Regina and Zelena finally come to an understanding as sisters, but suddenly become aware that the Regina's other half, The Evil Queen, is missing from her cage. Unfortunately, the "serum" Evil Queen (still in her form as a cobra) doesn't stay missing for long, because afterward, Robin is bitten by the aforementioned creature, and it turns out that the anti-magic potion really works, since the spilled anti-magic potion on Robin's hand restores The Evil Queen to her normal form. Then, the Evil Queen offers to take Robin on a tour of Storybrooke from her viewpoint.
Cast[2]
Starring
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Guest Starring
Co-Starring
Uncredited
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Trivia
Title
- The title card features an ogre.[3]
- The title of this episode was revealed by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on November 15, 2016.[4]
- The episode's title appears in a 2001 translation of the poem Beowulf, by the Irish poet and translator Seamus Heaney. Heaney's translation of a passage in line 1459 to 1460 reads "The iron blade with its ill-boding patterns had been tempered in blood."[5] The passage is about the Hrunting, the sword given to Beowulf by Unferth.
- Note that the original description of the blade in Old English, "ätertänum fäh," does not actually translate as "ill-boding patterns": It literally means "adorned with poison-twigs" or "patterned by twigs of venom."[6]
Production Notes
- HIDDEN DETAILS: When the ogres are fighting the soldiers, sending them flying through the air one by one, a Wilhelm scream is heard. The Wilhelm scream is a stock sound effect of a man screaming that has been used in hundreds of movies and television episodes.
- ABANDONED IDEAS: In the episode script, Regina visits Snow to talk with her. Snow is surprised to see her, and asks her what is wrong.[7]
- REUSED FOOTAGE: The exterior shot of Granny's Diner in the evening, is a close-up version of stock footage from the Season Four episode "Heroes and Villains." This can be seen from the identical position of the pavement sign and leaves on the ground, and the identical foliage on the climbing plants.[8] Footage from this shot was also used in "A Bitter Draught."[9] Even though the people walking by the diner are different, the parked car and the leaves on the ground are exactly the same.
Event Chronology
- The Enchanted Forest flashbacks take place after "Desperate Souls" and before "Nasty Habits." (For more details, see the Enchanted Forest timeline)
- The Storybrooke events take place after "Murder Most Foul" and before "Page 23." (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)
Episode Connections
- Rumplestiltskin became the Dark One in "Desperate Souls."
- Emma defeated Gideon in "Tougher Than the Rest." The Hrunting sword was broken in the same episode.
- Mr. Gold mentions the loss of his first son, an event that took place in "Quiet Minds."
- Gideon mentions how his mother gave him her copy of Her Handsome Hero, which happened in "Changelings."
- Hook addresses Archie as "cricket," just like he did in "The Cricket Game."
- Gideon transformed the Evil Queen into a snake in "Wish You Were Here."
- Gideon and Mother Superior talk about how Mother Superior became his fairy godmother and was supposed to protect him, referring to events in "Changelings."
- Regina calls the Evil Queen "queenie," just like she did in "Dark Waters." Emma used the same word to address the Snow Queen in "The Snow Queen." It is also similar to "greenie," Regina's nickname for Zelena in "Mother."
- Emma notices that Hook has been drinking rum and playfully comments that she "thought they were switching to water," referring to what she said in "Tougher Than the Rest."
- The chest where Emma says she found Hook's engagement ring is the same chest that Hook brought with him from the Jolly Roger when he moved in with Emma in "Strange Case."
- Hook comes clean to Emma about his secret in "Page 23."
Disney
- Mr. Gold (aka Rumplestiltskin/Beast) gives Gideon a cup of tea. In Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the living china bring Belle some tea.
Fairytales and Folklore
- This episode is a rendition of the Beowulf poem with Beowulf, his sword Hrunting and a mention of the Grendel.
- It also features Rumplestiltskin from the "Rumplestiltskin" fairytale, the ugly duckling from the fairytale of the same name, Robin Hood from the ballads, Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story, the evil queen from the "Snow White" fairytale, and the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz story.
Popular Culture
- When Emma kisses Hook, she finds that he tastes like Captain Morgan, a brand of rum.
- When Wish Robin tries to convince Zelena to team up with him to cross the town line, Zelena answers that "grand theft sorcery is not her thing," referencing the series of best-selling action-adventure games, Grand Theft Auto.
Props Notes
- PAUSE AND READ: According to the label, the bottle that Hook is drinking from contains Hector's distilled and hand blended River Rum from Oracabessa, Jamaica.[10]
- HIDDEN DETAILS: The ropes used by Mr. Gold to tie Gideon up are gold colored,[11] and the top and bottom of his thermos are golden.[12]
- PAUSE AND READ: The first two pages in Mr. Gold's Mr. Gold's spell book[13] are adapted from The Book of Ceremonial Magic by the American-born, British poet and scholarly mystic A. E. Waite. The book was first published in 1889 and is an attempt to document many of the famous grimoires (textbooks of magic). The excerpt in Gideon's book is from the section "The Conjuration of the Book"[14] in Chapter VII,[15] which is about The Grimoire of Pope Honorius, an 18th to 19th-century grimoire, claiming to be written by Pope Honorius III. Note that in The Book of Ceremonial Magic, the text on page two of Mr. Gold's book actually appears before the information on page one, with the information on page one being a direct continuation of the text on page two. Also note that most of the information on page two is too blurred to read on-screen. It can be read in its entirety in an online prop auction from October 2019[16] (the illegible text is set in fuchsia):
(differences are set in bold) | |
You shall obey, serve, instruct, impart and perform all in your power for the benefit of those who command you, and the whole without illusion. If perchance some of the invoked spirits be unable to come or appear when required, they shall be bound over to send others vested with their power, who also shall swear solemnly to execute all that the reader may demand, and ye are all hereby enjoined by the |
You shall obey, serve, instruct, impart and perform all in your power for the benefit of those who command you, and the whole without illusion. If perchance some of the invoked spirits be unable to come or appear when required, they shall be bound over to send others vested with their power, who also shall swear solemnly to execute all that the reader may demand, and ye are all hereby enjoined by the |
Names of the Omnipotent Ones, |
Most Holy Names of the Omnipotent Living God, ELOYM [sic], JAH, EL, ELOY, TETRAGRAMMATON, |
to fulfil [sic] everything as it is set forth above. If ye obey me not, I will force you to abide in torments for a thousand years. |
to fulfil [sic] everything as it is set forth above. If ye obey me not, I will force you to abide in torments for a thousand years, as also if any one of you receive not this Book with entire resignation to the will of the reader. |
I conjure and command you, O Spirits, all and so many as ye are to accept this Book with good grace so that whensoever we may read it, the same being approved and recognised [sic] as in proper form and valid, you shall be constrained to appear in comely human form when you are called accordingly as the reader shall judge. In no circumstances shall you make any attempt upon the body, soul |
I conjure and command you, O Spirits, all and so many as ye aye, to accept this Book with good grace, so that whensoever we may read it, the same being approved and recognised [sic] as in proper form and valid, you shall be constrained to appear in comely human form when you are called, accordingly as the reader shall judge. In no circumstances shall you make any attempt upon the body, soul |
or spirit of the reader, nor inflict any harm on those who may accompany him, either by mutterings, tempests, noise, scandals, nor yet by lesion or by hindrance in the execution of the commands of this book. I conjure you to appear immediately when the conjuration is made, to execute without dallying all that is written and enumerated in its proper place in the said book. |
or spirit of the reader, nor inflict any harm on those who may accompany him, either by mutterings, tempests, noise, scandals, nor yet by lesion or by hindrance in the execution of the commands of this Book. I conjure you to appear immediately when the conjuration is made, to execute without dallying all that is written and enumerated in its proper place in the said book. |
- One of the accompanying illustrations[13] is a modified version of the first pentacle of Venus, an illustration from Key of Solomon, an old grimoire incorrectly attributed to King Solomon, which probably dates back to the 14th- or 15th-century Italian Renaissance.
- Another page reads:[17]
in time with scores of differing hands on
the hilt. Like an oft blood letted vein, energy
escapes. To invigorate the instrument in
question, the practitioner should find the smith
who originally forged the blade. Some blood of
that might will needed [sic] to commence the great
work.
Make a magic circle with rope and estab-
lish the four quarters with a dedication to
the old ones. Mix the blood of the smith
with some wolfsbane and some juniper berries.
Pour this concoction into a cauldron and
stir it in a deasil motion on a clear evening
when the moon is waxing gibbous.
When the concoction has cooled, dip the blade
into the cauldron while willing the lost magic
to return.
North
Sanguinem et
ferrum*
South
- REAL WORLD FACTS: According to magic lore, wolfsbane can be used to prevent shapeshifting, and has traditionally been used to protect homes from werewolves. Bundles of wolfsbane can be placed around barns and pastures to protect livestock from predators (this requires taking care that the livestock have no access to the plant, as wolfsbane is highly poisonous, and ingesting even a small amount can kill you). It can also be used to bring harm to another by creating "elf bolts" of sharpened flint dipped in wolfsbane juice and using it to pierce a poppet for the victim.[19]
- In "The Black Fairy," wolfsbane is the last ingredient Fiona needs to create the Dark Curse.
- The spell book is the same book that Mr. Gold was reading in his pawnshop when the serum queen dropped by in "Dark Waters." He was flipping through the same book when Hook and Emma attempted to steal the Dark One Dagger from him in "Changelings."[20]
- As Zelena prepares to leave Storybrooke with Wish Robin, her suitcases are green.[21]
Costume Notes
- BRAND INFO: Belle is wearing[22] a J.Crew Sailor skirt in Double Serge Wool[23] (no longer available).
- The skirt was also worn by the character Sabrina Pemberton on The Mick episode "The Country Club."[24]
- BRAND INFO: Emma is wearing[25] a Jenni Kayne Striped Cashmere sweater[26] (no longer available).
- BRAND INFO: Regina is wearing[28] a Helmut Lang Pixel Suit Jacket[29] (no longer available).
- USE IT AGAIN: She also wears this garment in the Season Two episodes "The Cricket Game,"[30] "In the Name of the Brother"[31] and "And Straight On 'Til Morning."[32]
- The jacket was also worn by the character Laurel Lance on the Arrow episode "Suicide Squad"[33] and Robin Scherbatsky on the How I Met Your Mother episode "The Stamp Tramp."[34]
Filming Locations
- Some scenes of the episode were filmed at the Deer Lake Park[35] in Burnaby, British Columbia.
- Some of the outdoor scenes with Rumplestiltskin and Beowulf were filmed in a forested area of Vancouver.[36]
- The scene with Robin of Locksley and Regina in the Storybrooke forest was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia.[37]
Goofs
- The Evil Queen's appearance has changed since she was turned into a snake in "Wish You Were Here."[38] Her earrings have been changed and a scarf has been added around her neck.[39]
International Titles
International Titles | ||
---|---|---|
Language | Title | Translation |
French | "La Guerre des Ogres" | "The Ogres War" |
German | "Sieh, das Böse liegt so nah" | "See, the Evil is so Close" |
Italian | "Figli" | "Sons" |
Portuguese | "Padrões Agourentos" | "Foreboding Patterns" |
Videos
References
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