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New Show Recap: Once Upon a Time 4×20, “Lily”

In the flashback, we see the sorcerer’s apprentice contacting his master, the apprentice tells the sorcerer that the author broke the rules and changed some stories, and that Snow and Charming channeled their daughter’s capability for evil into Maleficent’s child. Unfortunately, nothing can be done, and the two girls’ fates will forever be entwined. The apprentice has locked the author in the fairy tale book and can no longer change the fate of other realms; he can only record the stories.

At Cruella’s funeral, the author expresses some regret over Cruella’s death, as she made him into what he is today. Rumpel isn’t too concerned about how Cruella died. In his eyes, she is collateral damage. Now that Emma is on the path to darkness, the author can begin writing happy endings for the villains. No, not those kind of happy endings!

Emma is ready to go after Rumpel because of the things he has done. She is cautioned not to, as she is still clearly reeling from having killed Cruella, but Emma feels only regret for what she had to do. Maleficent comes to Emma and the Do-good-er Club (the Charmings, Regina, Henry, and Hook) for help in tracking down her daughter, who was sent to our world. Maleficent believes that if Emma leaves Storybrooke, Rumpel’s plan will be delayed. Maleficent knows that her daughter ended up in Minnesota thirty years ago and that she was adopted by a wealthy couple who named her Lilith. That name sure bodes well, doesn’t it? Emma is shocked as she realizes she ran into Maleficent’s daughter all those years ago, before she was sent to live in the Snow Queen’s foster home. She goes to the library and finds some information on the girl. She confides in Regina about her acquaintance with Lily. Regina reminds Emma that fate has a way of making things happen, even if our actions are our own. She proposes that Emma accompanies her to New York City, since she has to rescue Robin Hood from Zelena anyhow. Emma can redeem herself and can help Regina find her way around New York City. Road trip!

In a flashback to 1999, Emma is getting ready to go on a camping trip with her new foster family. In Minnesota. When she goes out to the garage to get the rest of the sleeping bags, she finds Lily hiding there. Lily begs Emma for her help because she’s apparently in big trouble. Emma’s foster father finds them, and Emma introduces Lily to her new family. Lily eats dinner with Emma and her foster family. One of Emma’s foster brothers asks Lily about her star-shaped birthmark, but Lily laughs it off. Lily tells Emma’s foster parents that they met in a group home and that they’re the best of friends. As they argue, they see a newscast about a bank robbery, and the report shows security camera footage of a young woman who looks remarkably like Lily. Lily tells Emma that she can explain. Lily’s boyfriend robbed a bank with her in tow.

No matter what Lily does, she can’t do anything right. Lily begs Emma to help her get her necklace, which is the only memento she has of her birth mother. After that, Emma tells Lily she has to leave. Emma goes to the house where Lily and her boyfriend are squatting and finds the necklace for Lily. When she returns to the foster home, she finds that her foster parents are looking for her. It looks like Lily broke into Emma’s foster father’s desk and stole the vacation money. Emma’s foster parents are shocked that they let Lily come into the house and endanger their biological children. Emma knows that to them, she’s just a foster child. She runs away and buys a bus ticket so she can leave town. She encounters Lily at the bus station and demands why every time Lily comes into her life, something gets ruined. Lily claims she set Emma free and that they can go anywhere they wish, even though Lily has a family. Lily explains that her parents kicked her out and no matter what she does, she can’t do anything right. She wants Emma to stay in her life and help her, but Emma decides to stay away from the train wreck that is Lily’s life. Later, Lily is on a bus out of town. Another passenger compliments her necklace, and it’s the sorcerer’s apprentice. He promises to tell her who she really is and to explain to her that she was a victim of fate. The sorcerer blames himself for this and wants to set things right. He tells Lily about her mother, Maleficent.

Rumpel and the author know that Emma and Regina are leaving town, and Rumpel thinks that the trip with Regina will darken Emma’s heart. Emma and Regina bid good-bye to their loved ones and head to New York City. It seems that Emma has an old address for Lily, and that the two had lived close to one another their entire lives.

At the pawnshop, Belle says good-bye to Will Scarlet, since she’s going to babysit Snow and Charming’s baby. When Belle leaves, Rumpel accosts Will and coerces him into stealing Belle’s heart back from Regina. Maleficent is keeping tabs on Belle’s heart for Regina, and the heart is currently being kept in the mayor’s office. Rumpel orders Will to steal it back for him.

Emma and Regina arrive at Lily’s semi-shitty apartment. It seems that Lily was killed in a car accident while drunk driving, according to a neighbor, The neighbor tells Emma that Lily was a real loser and that she was someone people wanted to stay away from. Emma loses her temper at hearing the neighbor talk about Lily like this and catches the him in a choke hold. Regina is the one who talks her into letting the man go and leaving. Regina knows that something is up. Emma refuses to talk about what happened. Regina reminds Emma that she wasn’t responsible for what happened to Lily, but Emma insists that Lily’s darkness was meant for her. Emma nearly runs over a wolf who is sitting in the middle of the road, and as she swerves out of the way, the car gets a flat tire. Regina and Emma decide to go to the gas station to get a new tire. Emma stops in the diner and orders coffee for herself and Regina, and she sees that the waitress has a star-shaped birthmark on her wrist. Emma believes that the waitress, whose name tag says Starla, is Lily (Agnes Bruckner).

Maleficent is sitting in the mayor’s office, ruminating over her lost daughter. Snow and Charming approach her to apologize for what they did to separate Maleficent from her daughter. Maleficent says that they do not owe her an apology, but that they owe her daughter an apology because the things they did affected her life. Lily could very well be an evil person, and like her mother, she might not be so forgiving of Snow and Charming.

Emma confronts the waitress and asks her if her real name is Lily. The waitress admits that Lily is her real name, and that she had gotten into some trouble some time back. She’s curious about how Emma found her. Emma explains that there is a connection between them and that they share fates. Emma wants to help Lily, but Lily, who has moved on with her life and has a daughter and a husband, wants nothing to do with Emma. Regina tells Emma that they should go, since Lily seems to have a good life, but during the course of their conversation, we see Lily bribe a little girl into pretending to be her daughter. Emma suspects that something is up. She swipes Lily’s time card and uses it to find Lily’s real address. Emma still wants to help Lily and get her back to Maleficent. They break into Lily’s mobile home and see that there’s no sign of a child there. Regina discovers something very odd in one of the rooms of the mobile home: Lily has been tracking Emma’s movement over the years and knows everything about Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest. As the two women stare in wonder at the information Lily has gathered, they hear Emma’s car pull out of the driveway. Lily has stolen it! The Snow Queen’s scroll is also in Emma’s car, and Lily can use that to get into Storybrooke. Emma hotwires what seems to be Lily’s car, and she and Regina take off after Lily.

Rumpel confronts Maleficent in the mayor’s office. He is unable to enter and get Belle’s heart because Regina has cast a protection spell keeping him from doing so. Maleficent makes it clear that she is no longer working with Rumpel to make Emma turn to darkness. Maleficent only wishes to be reunited with her daughter and for nothing to happen to Emma. Rumpel mocks Maleficent, asking her whether or not she thinks that Lily is the one who would lure Emma down the dark path, since fate keeps bringing the two together. His dialogue with Maleficent is enough of a distraction, though, as it catches her off guard, allowing Will Scarlet to sneak in and fetch Belle’s heart.

As they chase Lily, Regina cautions Emma to slow down and clear her head, or else she might do something she later regrets. Emma is more concerned about Storybrooke and her parents. Every time Lily comes into her life, something horrible happens. Emma knows that Regina wants to have her revenge against Zelena, and she points out that her desire to protect her parents from Lily is no different. Regina admonishes her that she sounds like a villain, and Emma retorts that in the real world, there are no heroes or villains, but real people with real problems. As they near Storybrooke, Emma cuts Lily off and forces her off the road. She confronts Lily and asks her how she knows about Storybrooke. Lily has a score to settle with Emma’s parents. The two begin to fight, and Emma pulls a gun on Lily. Lily begs Emma to put an end to her life, since Lily would only destroy everything Emma loves. Regina steps in and urges Emma to put the gun down. She reminds Emma that she has a choice as to whether or not she fires the gun. Emma believes she needs to protect Henry, and that it wouldn’t matter since she already killed Cruella, but Regina points out that what happened to Cruella was an accident. Rumpel wants Emma to kill Lily and start down a path of darkness, but Emma has a choice. And Emma chooses to lower the gun.

As Regina talks on the phone with Maleficent, Lily asks Emma why she didn’t kill her. Emma replies that she simply couldn’t do it. Regina interrupts them and tells them they have to get to New York City since Rumpel was able to steal back Belle’s heart. Lily joins Regina and Emma to help them.

Will returns to the pawnshop and returns Belle’s heart to her. Rumpel is present during all of this, and Belle demands why Rumpel has returned. Rumpel only wants to see that Belle gets her heart. He only wants to see Belle happy, because all he has done is hurt her, and he lets her go so that she can live a happy life with Will.

In New York City, Regina knocks on Robin’s door. He is surprised to see her, and she demands to know where Marian is. Regina urges Robin to leave before Marian returns. She explains that Zelena went back in time and killed Marian and has used a glamour spell to pretend to be Marian. At first Robin doesn’t believe this, but when Marian/Zelena returns, she very gladly lifts the glamour spell she placed on herself and reveals herself as Zelena. Robin is overwhelmed, and as Regina urges him to take his son and leave Zelena, he insists that he can’t. A smug Zelena reveals that she’s pregnant. Regina is shattered at the news.

We only have two more episodes left in the season. It seems that the show will be renewed. Let’s just hope that they explore the effects of last season’s time traveling stunt and that they quit shitting all over Regina. But I guess I spoke too soon. Look who’s back next episode.

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