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Snow White: So what exactly is your last labor?
Hercules: It's the most difficult one of them all. Defeating the three-headed hellhound Cerberus.

"Labor of Love" is the thirteenth episode of Season Five of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Andrew Chambliss & Dana Horgan, and directed by Billy Gierhart. It is the one hundred and first episode of the series overall, and premiered on March 13, 2016.

Synopsis

In the Underworld, an escapee from Hades' prison informs the heroes that Hook is being held captive. But before the heroes can rescue Hook, they must face a terrifying beast that guards the prison. Mary Margaret searches for an old childhood friend who knows how to defeat the monster. However, once reunited, she discovers that her friend is no longer the hero he once was. Meanwhile, in an Enchanted Forest flashback, a young Snow White struggles to preserve peace in her kingdom and must learn how to be a true hero if she wants to one day become queen.[2]

Recap

This section is a detailed recap of this episode. There are major spoilers. Click to expand.
In the Past

In the early days of the Enchanted Forest, a young Snow White is asked to defend her kingdom from bandits who are working with the Evil Queen but flees into the forest, believing she cannot help them with her father away. After she falls into a hunting trap Snow is saved by Hercules, who is on a quest to complete the final part of his Twelve Labors, which is to hunt down Cerberus. He encourages Snow White not to give up, and he even offers to train her for battle, suggesting that she fight the bandits herself. When Snow faces the bandits, she foolishly drops her arrows, then loses her dignity when Hercules defends her. Using his past mistakes and learning from them, Hercules inspires her to try again, and she successfully aims at the bandits' weapons, prompting the bandits to leave the kingdom, and setting up her future as the bandit princess. Snow White thanks Hercules for helping her and says she will make a great Queen and Olympus will have a great hero like him and they kiss goodbye.

In the Underworld

Deep inside Hades' lair, an injured Hook awakens and notices a young woman who is also trapped with him in the chamber. As he struggles to move Hook convinces the young woman to run for help and asks for Emma. As they reach the exit, a three-headed hellhound creature, Cerberus, chases after the two. Above at the cemetery, Mary Margaret and David look at the gravestones of those who Mary Margaret felt she had failed as alluded in the flashback, But David is confident that they can protect Emma and tells Mary Margaret that she can be able to succeed. When she sees the tombstone of Hercules, David is surprised to learn that she knew the Demi-God, and believes that he has unfinished business with her, which gives them the idea to help him while seeking out Hook. Regina and Robin meet up with Emma and Henry. Regina tells Robin that she has maps at the Mayor's office and Henry and Robin head there but when Regina turns around Emma has taken off and calls for her. Emma notices fresh blood and traces the direction, but instead they find the young woman and she says she knows Killian. As soon as they hear the roar of Cerberus, Emma uses her magic to take them to the Underworld version of Mary Margaret's apartment. Later on at Granny's Diner, Emma and Regina are joined by Mary Margaret, and thanks to the Blind Witch, they find Hercules, who they hope he will complete his Twelve Labors before he can move on, being Cerberus.

At the Mayor's office, Henry breaks in to get the maps as Robin stands guard. Instead of finding the map, Henry sees Cruella, who explains to him that because he is now the Author, he can bring her back to life, and despite the fact that he broke the Quill, it’s still alive in the Underworld as it has unfinished business to write people's stories. She tells Henry if he helps her escape the Underworld, it will be as if she never died, and therefore, Emma’s soul will be pure again. Unfortunately when Robin asks Henry if he found the map as they leave the office, Henry lies to Robin that he didn’t find anything or anyone.

As they reached the tunnel with Cerberus waiting for them, Hercules starts to lose his courage in front of Emma, Mary Margaret and Regina. Hades then appears and tells the women that Cerberus was the creature responsible for killing Hercules (who happens to be Hades' nephew), then gives Emma Hook's bloodied hook as a gift. Back at the apartment, Mary Margaret believes its time for Hercules, who regretted fighting Cerberus alone, to fight the creature as a team. When Cerberus enters the apartment, everyone splits up, leaving Hercules, Mary Margaret, and the woman trapped inside the library. Hercules suddenly gives the woman his dagger, then grabs a pipe for himself, and Mary Margaret readies her arrows. The trio then use their weapons on Cerberus and successfully kill the creature. The woman faints and Hercules catches her, and when she comes to they introduce each other, as she revealed to Hercules her name is Megara, or as her friends called her, Meg.

As everyone meets back at Granny's Diner, they learn that it was their "unfinished business" for Hercules to rescue Meg from Cerberus, as he died during his fight with the creature and Meg later died after he failed. The crew takes them to the crossing, and Hercules and Meg ascend together to Olympus. As the clock ticks twice, Hades has decided that it's time for the outsiders to pay by punishing them. He arrives to see his prisoner Hook, and tells him that for each soul his friends help escape, one of them will have to stay forever. Hades forces Hook to decide which of his friends will pay for this by creating new tombstones for him to engrave with a chisel.

This episode summary is adapted from Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).


Deleted Scenes

"Reality Check"

This scene is included on Once Upon a Time: The Complete Fifth Season.

At the Underbrooke Blanchard loft, Emma is upset due to Hades leaving proof that he is torturing Hook. David comes to comfort her and says that they will handle it, while Mary Margaret backs off and blames herself, and remarking that she realizes the "reality" now. As she walks upstairs, Regina stops David and goes to talk to her herself.

Cast[2]

Starring

Guest Starring

Co-Starring

Trivia

Title

Production Notes

  • According to Bailee Madison, who portrays young Snow White, this episode marks her first ever on-screen kiss.[9]

Event Chronology

Episode Connections

Disney

Lost

  • The clock tower is shown at 8:16,[10] just like in the previous episode.[11] 8 and 16 are two of the Lost numbers.

Fairytales and Folklore

Props Notes

  • HIDDEN DETAILS: The name "Hercules" actually comes from Roman mythology, while Greek mythology uses the name Heracles. Interestingly, Hercules' gravestone in the Underworld reads HERCVLES.[13] On stone inscriptions in Ancient Rome, the U/V letters were both written like the letter V.[14] This is because Latin did not originally have separate letters V and U. Instead, the letter V represented both the vowel U and the consonant V.[15]
  • REUSED PROPS: Hercules' bow[16] is the same prop that was used for the enchanted bow in previous seasons.[17]
  • HIDDEN DETAILS: Cruella's office is decorated with a white greyhound statue (which she touches during her conversation with Henry) and dalmatian-like spotted cushions[18] and curtains.[19]

Set Dressing

  • HIDDEN DETAILS: The name on the headstone is a stone-based pun: A beryl is a gemstone and a dendrite is a crystalline structure with a tree-like pattern found within many types of minerals, including beryls.[22]

Filming Locations

International Titles


Videos

References

  1. Porter, Rick (March 15, 2016). Sunday final ratings: ’60 Minutes’ adjusts up, ‘Carmichael Show’ and ‘Hollywood Game Night’ adjust down. TV by the Numbers. “Once Upon a Time (ABC) (...) 4.31”
  2. 2.0 2.1 LISTINGS: ONCE UPON A TIME. The Futon Critic. “Air Date: Sunday, March 13, 2016. Time Slot: 8:00 PM-9:00 PM EST on ABC. Episode Title: (#513) "Labor of Love".”
  3. File:513Title.png
  4. TwitterLogo Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) on X, formerly Twitter: Here's another #OnceUponATime #titlespoiler -- hope to see ya Sunday! (November 10, 2015). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  5. TwitterLogo Andrew Chambliss (@AndrewChambliss) on X, formerly Twitter: Who would have guessed #Hercules taught Snow how to shoot a bow and arrow (March 14, 2016). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
    TwitterLogo Andrew Chambliss (@AndrewChambliss) on X, formerly Twitter: We've been waiting to explain that for a very long time (March 14, 2016). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
    TwitterLogo Andrew Chambliss (@AndrewChambliss) on X, formerly Twitter: We've had many pitches over the years about how. Glad we finally got to tell this one (March 14, 2016). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  6. File:513AboutToMoveCouch.png
  7. File:513HenryEntering2.png
  8. scientia. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved on January 23, 2019. “knowledge, science especially : knowledge based on demonstrable and reproducible data”
  9. TwitterLogo Bailee Madison (@BaileeMadison) on X, formerly Twitter: and that my friends was my first on screen kiss.... and it was with Hercules. i mean?!?!!? (March 14, 2016). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  10. File:513EightSixteen.png
  11. File:512Clock816.png
  12. File:513ThisMedal.png
  13. File:513You.png
  14. Why "V" Instead of "U" is Used on County Courthouses. White Deer Land Museum. Retrieved on September 16, 2020. “The alphabet that most of the world uses today was developed by the ancient Romans, except that it did not contain J, U or W as separate letters. "This situation changed in medieval times, when the consonant value of I became its own letter. 3 and V was divided into U, V and W. Hence, ILIVS means Julius, and as you have guessed COVNTY is how the Romans would have spelled county.”
  15. When Did The Letter U Enter The Alphabet?. Dictionary.com. Retrieved on September 16, 2020. “There was no letter U in the alphabet. Well, that's not the entire story. There was the sound for the letter we call U, but it didn't look like U. It looked like V. The Classical Latin alphabet had only 23 letters, not the 26 that we have today. (...) Before the use of the letter U, the shape V stood for both the vowel U and the consonant V.”
  16. File:513NotAHero.png
  17. File:219Aiming.png
  18. File:513HelloDarling.png
  19. File:513SoDarling.png
  20. File:513IfHesDownHere.png
  21. File:601CastingProtectionSpell2.png (in the lower left hand corner)
  22. DENDRITIC FACETED QUARTZ 9.50 CTS RG-831. Gem Rock auctions. Retrieved on July 7, 2019. “Dendrites can occur in other gems as well, including opal and beryl.”
  23. Silex Handybreeze Oscilating Electric Fan. Collectors Weekly (2015). “This is a Silex Handybreeze oscillating fan made in Iberville, Quebec, Canada.”
    DAY 364 – OLD SCHOOL FAN. Obsolescence Project. Retrieved on January 23, 2019. “Silex-Handybreeze Fan. Made in Iberville, Quebec. ~1940s-50s.”
  24. File:513HenryEntering.png
  25. FlickrIconTemplate Lawrence Andreutti. Once Upon A Time November 19, 2015 (November 19, 2015).  "Once Upon a Time set photos from Robert Burnaby Park, Burnaby, BC taken on November 19, 2015.(archive copy)

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