- Title: Once Upon a Time – Ariel
- wiki: link
Continuing to prove to himself he’s a good man, Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) chooses to tell Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) about Peter Pan‘s (Robbie Kay) message that Neal (Michael Raymond-James) is alive and on the island. Despite Regina (Lana Parrilla) objections which cause the witch to abandon the group, Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) decides to rescue Neal but is unprepared for the games that Pan is prepared to play which leads the group into Echo Cave where the only chance each member has to survive and rescue Neal is to admit their darkest secrets.
The extended flashbacks from “Ariel” deal with Snow White encountering the mermaid Ariel (JoAnna Garcia Swisher) and spending the 12 hours the young woman has on land to help Ariel meet her true love Prince Eric (Gil McKinney). Regina decides to impersonate the mythical Ursula to trick Ariel into bestowing her tail to Snow White in order to leave her enemy defenseless. To save Snow, Ariel must give up any chance she has to remain on land with the man she loves. Although Regina’s plans fall through thanks to Ariel’s selflessness, the Evil Queen steals Ariel’s chance at a happy ending.
Meanwhile both Pan and the hallucinatory vision of Belle (Emilie de Ravin) try to convince Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle) to turn his back on the family that hates him and leave Neverland for good. Regina’s arrival helps destroy the illusion and create a new pact between the two villains to give Pan a fate worse than death and rescue Henry (Jared Gilmore). The episode ends by uniting the flashbacks and current storyline as Regina calls on Ariel and offers to restore the mermaids voice and legs, and reunite the Ariel with Eric, in return for helping the villains with their plan by journeying to Storybrooke.
