‘Once Upon a Time’ recap: Prince Charming, knight of the roundtable

“Once Upon a Time” is, as it tends to do, expanding a solid fairy tale memory by twisting it just enough to change our perceptions, and the “Siege Perilous” episode goes so far as to take a bit of the sheen off of Camelot in the end.

The episode starts, as they seem to, with the dwarves. They are actually whistling while they work in the mines again. The Dark One Emma Swan invades their space though -- not to confront or fight with them, but to steal Happy’s ax. Will the indignities of the dwarves never cease?

It makes the dwarves restless, so they go to the sheriff, demanding justice. Prince Charming/David is upset at the theft, and vows to act. Not sure if it was meant to be, but the dwarves threatening to take matters into their own hands was a little weird. Anyway, David’s frustration was not with the theft, but more so feeling helpless at not being able to help his daughter and the town. To pile on, King Arthur comes to David saying that a magical relic or bean was stolen. It gives David a bit of a purpose, and off he and Arthur go on a quest to find out who may have stolen it.

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He could not have known that he and Arthur quested back in Camelot as well since everyone’s memories were wiped. Belle, Emma, Regina and Snow came up with the idea of trying to talk to Merlin, whom they’ve deduced is actually the tree and not just a portal to it or something. While searching through Merlin’s records in his Camelot workshop, they come upon a spell that calls for what was basically a spotted toadstool that will help people talk across dimensions. King Arthur and Prince David are going on a quest to find this magic mushroom in the Forest of Eternal Night (or somewhere like that). A twin quest, much like they are in Storybrooke six weeks later, searching for the thief that was in their midst.

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In Camelot, a little aside had Regina and Zelena arguing. Regina has made her Wicked Witch sister be a mute handmaiden to her while they’re in Camelot. Zelena is still “playing the victim,” as Regina says, and the Evil Queen is having none of it. She promises that she will try to keep the child safe and healthy as it grows inside the Oz-denied witch, but that the offer does not extend to Zelena.

In prepping for their journey, David and Arthur bond a bit. Arthur mentions the seats at the roundtable that were vacated by Percival (killed) and Lancelot, also killed, but not in defense of Camelot. David had to break the news to Arthur about Lancelot, who had been exiled from the kingdom for coveting Guinevere. The chair vacated by Lancelot is called the Siege Perilous, and Arthur had apparently never found anyone worthy enough to sit at the table in his chair since his betrayal.

In Storybrooke and Camelot, the King has a reliquary to store his magical items. It was a small detail, but in Camelot, it was very cool when they took the unquenchable flame, a torch said to contain the flame of the burning bush itself, to go traipse through the Forest of Eternal Night. Love those little touches.

Back in Storybrooke, Hook and Robin chat. He tells Robin about the room in Emma’s house that is locked. They both know something’s hidden there. As they’re about to discuss it, Emma pops by, telling Hook to meet on the Jolly Roger. She’s attempting to win his favor since she needs a hero to help pull Excalibur out of the stone -- we know this from her conversations with Rumpelstiltskin-in-her-head. Happy’s ax shattered against the stone -- just like Rumpel said it would. Is it really Hook, though, who is the hero?

In the Forest of Eternal Night, David and Arthur bond more while on their quest, talking of Guinevere and Mary Margaret and humble beginnings as shepherds. They find the toadstool, and it is seemingly unguarded, except by a creaky bridge half-submerged in water -- that happens to hold undead knights who try to pull David into the water. Luckily, with their new bond, Arthur is able to save Charming -- but he loses the magic mushroom. Oh well, they’re bros now.

Their quest continues back in Storybrooke. David has the idea of shaking out the thief of Arthur’s magical relic, which they assume is a magic bean, by faking a truth-telling magical item. It draws out the thief, a once loyal subject of Arthur’s. After a car chase and a truck-versus-horse joust, they capture him. He doesn’t have any beans, but coincidentally, David finds the toadstool he never knew he was looking for in Storybrooke. The heroes in Storybrooke are happy to finally make some headway on the memory mystery.

Emma and Hook have a calm talk on his ship. He asks about the locked door in her house, and she evades the question. Hook is holding his own, not backing down on Emma though she could easily kill him with a wave of her hand. He’s very direct in asking her what she wants -- and he knows that she needs something from him. She’s changed, and he isn’t playing along with her transparent manipulation. When she asks him if he loves her, he plainly responds, “I loved you.” Emma disappears. Deep! Never been a huge fan of Hook’s, but this was good -- even heroic.

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In Camelot, Prince David is knighted by King Arthur after their quest. He takes the place of Lancelot among the knights of the roundtable. It’s a huge honor, and the whole thing is fairy tale gold. It is good to see David, who could be a king in his own right, get accolades for just being a good guy and strong fighter.

But all is not what it seems. Back in Storybrooke, Arthur visits his now jailed subject who was accused of thievery. We find that the thief was ordered by Arthur to do the deed. Arthur is actually watching and plotting against David and the others in Storybrooke. It seems to be stemming from the fact that he believes they lied to him in bringing the Dark One into Camelot weeks ago. They did, though for them it was a harmless good cause in protecting Emma and trying to prevent her from becoming a full-fledged Dark One. Arthur seems to know a bit more about what happened in Camelot, and is out for revenge while attempting to reestablish his kingdom of Camelot in Storybrooke. First, though, he gives his trusted servant poison to take since he might not be able to resist whatever magical or conventional means the Storybrooke heroes have to extract information. The servant takes it while in jail at the urging of his king, disappearing.

A new, chilling chant, once a heroic war cry by courageous knights, is uttered: “For Camelot!”