Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: B | 387 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight
By Cindy McLennan | Season 2 | Episode 8 | Aired on 2012.11.25
Team Princess finds a place to settle down, so that Aurora can take another trip to Dreamland. As Emma and Snow climb to higher ground to set up camp, Mulan notices that Aurora's arm is burnt. Mulan vowed to help Phillip protect Aurora, so she's in no way enamored with the idea of the princess risking life and limb to help some strangers. Aurora thankfully has some backbone and points out that since she escaped the Sleeping Curse, every day of her life is a gift. She wants to do something with her life. It's her turn to help someone, so she's going back in to find Henry.
Gold's shop. As Henry lies on a makeshift bed, Regina covers him with his blanket from back home. When Henry asks about how powerful Cora is, Rumpy pooh-poohs the Mother of All Evil. He's more powerful. Regina pooh-poohs Rumpy's pooh-poohing. Charming ignores them both and takes a seat on the bed next to his grandson. He wonders if Henry is okay to do this. Henry: "I was born to do this. I'm done reading about heroes. I want to be one." Charming: "Sometimes being one means knowing when not to run into the fire." Henry: "I'll be okay." Rumpy points out that whatever Henry faces in Dreamland is less dangerous than what he'll face if they fail.
Since Henry's resolve is unshakable, Charming backs up to give the kid room to drift off. Rumpy takes Charming's place and tells Henry a bedtime story that also seems to both hypnotize Henry into falling asleep faster and give him the information he needs to convey to Aurora: "Once Upon A Time, Snow White and Prince charming needed to stun a very powerful magician long enough to lock him up in a dark dungeon." Henry: "That was you. They used Cinderella to trap you with a magic quill."
Rumpy, holding his hand above Henry's eyes, slowly draws his hand down the length of the boy's face. Henry's eyes close. Rumpy says, "Yes, indeed. A quill. And yet, it wasn't the quill itself, but the ink that captured the Dark One -- harvested from the rarest species of squid -- from the bottom of a bottomless ocean. Impossible to find, unless you're a mermaid, or me. I happen to have a private supply. In my jail cell, that is where they will find it."