Once Upon A Time Recap S03E18 Bleeding Through

Regina gets a visitor. On her doorstep is a basket of green apples, a gift from her dear sister. Zelena saw her tree and thought that she could use something a little sharper. Zelena looks around at the luxuries of Regina’s life. Zelena’s envy is showing. She thinks that Regina doesn’t take risks, that she doesn’t live her life, and that she’s just wasting her life away, which must have been why their mother was so disappointed. But Regina points out that their mother gave her away, not Regina. It’s all a ruse though, Zelena was just stalling her so that Rumple could steal her heart.

Rumpelstiltskin is facing off against Robin. He has him at arrow point, but he has a weakness, his son. Rumple uses the child, taunting him that he will use the child if he has to to get Regina’s heart. With Roman in danger Robin gives up the heart. Rumple is sorry to have had to gone to those lengths, but he gets the heart all the same. Regina arrives too late. Robin apologizes for giving up her heart, but at least no one was hurt in the process. Regina is looking forward. Zelena has her heart, and she’s up to something sinister, but it doesn’t matter what. Regina plans to stop her.

Regina rummages through Gold’s shop. Belle stops her. Regina tells her that Zelena has her heart, and although she cannot control her with it, she can still do plenty of evil. Belle doesn’t really feel very helpful, considering their tortuous past, but that’s the past. Regina needs help to defeat the woman who is holding Rumple. Regina is truly sorry for all that she put Belle through. Belle admits that she’s been trying to match the ingredients to a spell, but she needs to know what is special about Regina’s heart. It gives Regina an idea. She looks for the candle that killed her mother, its not about her mother died, but how she lived.

A young Cora serves as a bar maid. She’s a millers daughter, but she moves with grace Jonathan tells her. He plans to move on soon, has needed to for awhile, but he wanted to get to know her. She sees his royal crest, and he says that he wanted her to know him for him, and not his title. He places a ring of straw upon her finger, promising to return in two weeks to place one of gold upon her finger. She’s overjoyed with his proposal, and accepts. He’s to leave early in the morning, and Cora offers to spend the night with him, which he accepts.

Emma arrives, Hook is in a dire mood and her mother and father are fighting over baby names. Regina serves tea, a deadly poison, for her ritual. She tells the group that Zelena came as a distraction while the dark one stole her heart, and that she needs to find out more about their mother.

Zelena adds Regina’s heart to her collection of pilfered objects while her flying monkey watches. As she rummages through a wardrobe, he gets upset as she removes a black suit. Zelena gives Rumple the new suit. She feels like celebrating, she has almost everything that she needs. Rumple doesn’t feel much like celebrating, but Zelena gives him a choice between pleasure and pain.

They prepare to reach out to Cora. Emma asks about the process, and Regina tells her that they need the murder weapon and the murderer, and they begin. Regina lights both ends of the candle, and tells the group to focus on Cora. This group isn’t likely to have many pleasant thoughts about her. It’s not long before the wind begins to whip about the room, and a portal opens from above. A little bump on the table by Hook scares everyone, and the portal snaps shut. Regina figures that Cora is ignoring her.

Cora returns to the appointed meeting place, but Prince Jonathan is no where to be found. She waits in the rain, until its clear he’s not coming. She removes her ring of straw and heads to the palace. She sees him, and runs to him, but he doesn’t look pleased to see him. Her friends said it was a trick, but she didn’t believe it. He’s not the prince that she thought he was, but the gardener. He’s not a prince, there is no prince Jonathan. She claims that he took her virginity, her good name. He didn’t take anything that she didn’t throw at him when she thought he was a prince. Cora is with child she tells him, and asks that he give her enough to provide for the child, which he scoffs at. She threatens to tell the real prince of the castle on him, grabbing Jonathan and calling for the guards. He throws her to the ground before anyone comes. Prince Leopold finds her, and hears her tale of woe. He introduces himself, and Cora lights up at his title.

David hopes that Belle has found a lead. Emma, Hook and David leave while Snow stays behind to help Regina clean up, but the ladies are not alone.

Cora shares tales with Leopold of her childhood as they walk in the woods. He asks if she is warm enough, but unfortunately because of his privilege he doesn’t even know how to build a fire. Cora is more than happy to build one for them. He’s going to be king, but he cannot even build a fire, Cora teaches him how. He will have to marry soon, and start a family. She asks if he has anyone in mind, and he does. He’s been engaged to Princess Eva since he was a child, but he’s not really excited for that. Cora reasons, what’s the use of having power if you cannot chose who to wed.

Snow feels a great guilt over Cora’s death, and she doesn’t forgive herself. Regina knows her mother was no angel, and she doesn’t exactly blame Snow. But she does also realize that her mother did give up a large part of her life for her. The girls hear a noise coming from upstairs, and head up to investigate. Inside they find a spinning wheel and the spirit of a young Cora.

Emma concentrates on her cup of hot chocolate and transports it in front of Hook. She’s excited to finally have mastered it. She shows Hook another trick, making his hook appear on the coat rack. He’s as cranky as ever. That whole no kissy thing must really be eating at him. He apologizes for his rudeness, but puts off story time. Belle rushes in, she’s finally found Zelena’s plan.

Zelena admires Rumple’s new duds. He does look good in black. She sits him down at the table, she knows that he’s not there because he enjoys her company. He’s there hoping for find out her secret, and she wishes for him to be an ally, telling him that his son is out there waiting for him to find him. Neal may be dead in this time, but not all times. Zelena plans to use the baby to travel time. Time travel may be against the laws of magic, but rules are made to be broken, and there’s nothing that says that Rumple can’t travel back with her when she rips apart the fabric of time to claim what should have been her birthright.

Regina cannot believe that Cora could be there. The spell was to open a portal for talking alone, she shouldn’t be able to come through like this. Snow blames herself, she killed Cora allowing her to come through. Regina demands answers, and Cora tosses her aside. Before Cora can attack Snow Regina teleports the two of them away, but they don’t get far. Regina holds her with magic, but she won’t be able to hold her for long.

Cora admires her fancy new engagement ring, and Jonathan spies her. He’s impressed, and Cora does not look upon him fondly. Jonathan had to come to see if the stories were true, if the commoner engaged to the prince was indeed Cora. Cora thinks him a simpleton to show his face, but he wants the same deal she tried to weasel out of him. He wants money, lots of money from her for a comfortable life to keep the secret of their child. Cora agrees to whatever he asks if he will just leave. Suddenly the sun isn’t such a warm place, and worse of all her little conversation has been overheard by Princess Eva.

Regina continues to struggle to hold back Cora. Snow apologizes to Cora, but Regina tells her that her mother was nothing like Snow’s. Regina demands to know what Cora did to Zelena, and again Cora flings her aside. She jumps into Snow, and Snow sees everything.

Cora walks the halls at night when Leopold spies her. She claims that the wedding will not plan itself. He tells her that there is a rumor going through the castle that she is with child. She is sorry that the rumor has brought him pain. Leopold loves her dearly, and says that he will marry her so long as he can trust her. Cora lies that there is no child. Princess Eva makes herself known, calling out Cora’s lies. She heard her and Jonathan in the garden. Cora admits that she was in the garden, and that she saw a man in the garden and wanted him to leave. She calls Eva a jealous brat. Eva tells Leopold to check Cora’s pockets, and he finds jewelry inside. Cora is taken away, and Eva promises that a more worthy wife will give him the child that he deserves, one pure as Snow.

Regina manages to pry Cora off of Snow as Emma, David, Belle and Hook arrive. Snow is murmuring about her parents. Emma thinks they should get Snow to a doctor but Regina wants to press Snow for more information. She isn’t sure what she’s talking about knows that they have to figure it out, it could be important. Belle tells the others what Zelena is planning, and they all reiterate that time travel is impossible, but those are the only spells that require the ingredients that she’s collected. Snow tells the others that Cora didn’t want to give up Zelena, she was forced to by Snow’s mother. Princess Eva told a secret, and because of that Cora gave up Zelena. Zelena is going back to kill Princess Eva, which could affect everyone in the room. Snow wouldn’t be born, or Emma, or possibly even Regina. David figures out that the baby is the key. Zelena went though a lot of effort to get close to the baby, and maybe that has been the missing ingredient which caused all time travel spells before to fail. Until the baby is born they have all the time they need to stop her.

Cora birthed Zelena, and took her pretty baby into the forest. She tells the baby that life is cruel, but that she has to give her away to give herself a chance. Cora walks away and the baby cries. The skies turn green, and a twister takes the baby away.

Rumple apologizes to Zelena he’s wronged her he says. They share a glass of wine, and Rumple turns on the seduction. He kisses her, lifting her onto the table, but she stops him before he can get ahold of his dagger. She lashes out at him, telling him that he’s squandered the only chance he had to get his son back, but his son sacrificed himself for him. The only way to honor that sacrifice is to destroy her.

Snow’s been given a clean bill of health. The human body apparently handles ghostly possession well. Regina notes that Snow has a healthier relationship with her mother, than she does, and Snow is the one that killed her. Snow lends a helping hand in cleaning up. What she saw of Cora was vastly different from what they both came to know. Its time to put the past in the past. Snow gives another rah rah speech. She knows that Regina can still find happiness even without her heart. She knows that Regina feels things with her entire soul.

Regina meets Robin in the woods. She’s late. He vows to get her heart back, and she kisses him. Take that Zelena.