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Despite what you may think, there's nothing for me in Oz. Anyone who ever cared for me there now hates me. Look, I know you and I aren't exactly the sisters that our mother wanted us to be, but... you're all I've got, Regina.

Zelena to Regina

"Where Bluebirds Fly" is the eighteenth episode of Season Six of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by David H. Goodman & Brigitte Hales, and directed by Michael Schultz. It is the one hundred and twenty-ninth episode of the series overall, and premiered on April 23, 2017.

Synopsis

In flashback, Zelena befriends a young woodcutter who has been cursed and turns to her for help finding a new heart. Zelena is forced to choose between keeping her powers and her friendship with him. Meanwhile, in Storybrooke, Zelena decides to take on the Black Fairy and put a stop to her, once and for all, against Regina’s wishes, and the Charmings disagree over Emma and Hook’s wedding plans.[2]

Recap

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

In Oz, a young Zelena is testing out her magic on a bird's nest by restoring it back on top of a tree after a group of kids knocked it off. When a young boy named Stanum sees Zelena, he tells her that he likes her, regardless of whatever the children say about Zelena, whom they see as a freak. Flash forward years later, where a now-adult Zelena (now the Wicked Witch at this point) receives a surprise visit from an adult Stanum, this time requesting her help. He explains that Wicked Witch of the North cursed him and he is slowly turning into a tin man. Stanum is seeking out the Crimson Heart, which could restore him to human form, but moments after Zelena turn him down, Stanum accuses her of being afraid, prompting Zelena to change her mind. During their quest, Stanum tells Zelena that she doesn't have to be lonely but she is doing her best to deny his advice. Suddenly, a lion comes out of nowhere to attack Stanum, and Zelena uses her magic to make the lion go away (at this point the lion has become as Zelena would put it, cowardly). When they finally arrived to the location of the Crimson Heart, the two learned that the only way to make it work is through the absorption of another person's magic. Unfortunately, Zelena's actions and selfish greed for magic causes her to betray Stanum, whom she suspects is aligned with Dorothy (at this point has not returned to Oz yet). By keeping the Heart for herself, leaving Stanum to transform into the Tin Man permanently.

In Storybrooke

At Zelena's farmhouse, Zelena is ready to give Robin her bottled milk, when she is surprised by the Black Fairy, who is holding her child. She offers Zelena a chance to join her in the final battle against Emma, but Zelena is furious with her unwanted visitor and asks her to leave after she turns down the offer, knowing that this was far from over. At the same time, Emma and Hook's planned morning is interrupted; Snow is ready and excited to help plan Emma and Hook's upcoming wedding, which is followed by Regina asking them if they'd seen Zelena. Hook then gives the wand piece he brought back from Neverland to Regina for her to examine. Snow encourages David, Emma, Hook and Henry to go looking for wedding venues to take their mind off the Black Fairy.

At the Pawn Shop, Gold tells Belle about how Mother Superior, when she was the Blue Fairy, knew about how his mother turned to Darkness, but since he had to put Mother Superior into a coma in order to protect Gideon, Gold decided to research more on what his mother is planning. When Zelena stops by the shop, she asks Belle to watch Robin while she goes after the Black Fairy. Moments later, after she studied the fragments, Regina shows up at the shop and realizes that Zelena has gone, leading her to the mines, since she finds her sister there and is hunting down the Black Fairy. This leads to a fight between the sisters with Zelena escaping the scuffle just in time to find the Black Fairy and Gideon, who then holds back Regina while the Black Fairy shows Zelena how powerless she can be, admitting that she was using her in order for Zelena to make the wrong decision. The Black Fairy absorbs Zelena's unstable dark magic to create the crystals needed for the final battle, then she sends them back to the outside of the mines. This causes more tensions as Regina tells Zelena that she should go back to Oz.

Around the same time, David notices the loft opened and finds Henry still trying to write the final chapter but discovered he can't do anything to change the outcome. Snow is looking at a series of venues, including Granny's and the Town Hall, to hold the wedding, but David isn't happy with his wife's ideas. Snow pulls him aside to voice her anger over this, but David says that the timing isn't right as long as the Black Fairy is in Storybrooke. Snow argues that they might not be around to give Emma a peaceful wedding. Emma however, takes her father's side and tells her parents that she's willing to wait until after the Final Battle for the right time.

Back at the Pawn Shop, Zelena is ready to take Robin and return to Oz, when she suddenly changes her mind after she created a tornado to take her back. She soon meets up with Regina, Emma, Snow, David, Hook, and Henry, and reveals that she still has the Crimson Heart (that was bought from Oz via the tornado), which she used to absorb all of her magic in order to render the crystals useless. Zelena decides to sacrifice her magic in order to help Emma and Regina by restoring the crystals in the mines - it gets the attention of the Black Fairy and Gideon. After Zelena told them about what Gold did to Mother Superior, the three then visit the Pawn Shop, where after they convinced Gold and Belle, allow Emma to use one of the magic crystals to free Mother Superior from her coma. At the same time, the Black Fairy sees this on her crystal ball and finally tells Gideon the truth about her real reason behind why she fears the Blue Fairy, and it is tied to her secret behind why she abandoned Rumpelstiltskin in the first place when he was an infant.

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


Deleted Scenes

"Wedding Lasagna" (Scene 7)

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

An extended version of the scene where Emma and her family check out Granny's Diner as a potential location for Emma and Hook's wedding. The extended version features additional dialogue with Granny, which was cut from the episode.

Cast[2]

Starring

Guest Starring

Co-Starring

Uncredited

Trivia

Title

Production Notes

  • PRESS RELEASE: The press release misspells Isabella Blake-Thomas's name as Isabella Black-Thomas.[2]
  • The pancake scene was a late addition to the episode. According to Brigitte Hales, they "actually hadn't planned anything like that".[5]
  • ABANDONED IDEAS: When Emma is making pancakes, Hook comes over and says, "Something smells delicious." In the episode script, he simply says, "Mmm... delicious."[6]
  • ABANDONED IDEAS: In the episode script, Regina says, "Emma? What are you thinking?", and Emma answers, "Maybe we can."[7] This exchange is not in the final episode.
  • A segment where Mary Margaret says, "So where do we look? And is anyone else surprised Tiger Lily was a fairy?", and Zelena replies, "You can all drop dead from shock for all I care"[8] is also not in the final episode.
  • ABANDONED IDEAS: When Belle and Mr. Gold are talking about their son, Belle says, "You know, this means he can be saved." In the episode script, Mr. Gold answers, "Yes. But that's not all it means."[9] This line is not in the final episode.
  • For unknown reasons, the beginning scene with Emma, Hook and Mary Margaret at the Swan house was shot or reshot on the final day of filming for Season Six.[10]
    • Furthermore, Emma's wrist tattoo appears and disappears continuously throughout this scene.

Event Chronology

Episode Connections

Disney

Fairytales and Folklore

Set Dressing

  • HIDDEN DETAILS: The table cloth and candle on Zelena's dinner table are green, as is her drink.[12]

Costume Notes

  • BRAND INFO: Emma is wearing[13] a Zara Coat with Embroidered Yoke[14] (no longer available).

Filming Locations

International Titles


Videos

References

  1. Porter, Rick (April 25, 2017). ‘Little Big Shots,’ ‘Bob’s Burgers,’ ‘Last Man on Earth,’ ‘AFV’ all adjust up: Sunday final ratings. TV by the Numbers. “Once Upon a Time (ABC) (...) 2.69”
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 LISTINGS: ONCE UPON A TIME. The Futon Critic. “Air Date: Sunday, April 23, 2017. Time Slot: 8:00 PM-9:00 PM EST on ABC. Episode Title: (#618) "Where Bluebirds Fly".”
  3. File:618Title.png
  4. TwitterLogo Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) on X, formerly Twitter: Here's another #OnceUponATime #titlespoiler -- hope to see ya March 5! (February 3, 2017). (backup link)
  5. Thread:412231#32
  6. InstagramIcon Adam Horowitz (@adamhorowitzla) on Instagram: Bonus #OnceUponATime #scripttease for my now awake Instagram account. Hope to see ya Sunday! (April 18, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  7. InstagramIcon Adam Horowitz (@adamhorowitzla) on Instagram: Still trying to get the hang of this Instagram thing... Here's another #OnceUponATime #scripttease -- hope to see you tomorrow night! (April 22, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  8. TwitterLogo Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) on X, formerly Twitter: Here's another #OnceUponATime #scripttease -- hope to see ya tonight! (April 23, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  9. InstagramIcon Adam Horowitz (@adamhorowitzla) on Instagram: Bonus Instagram #OnceUponATime #scripttease -- hope to see ya tonight! (April 23, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  10. InstagramIcon Jennifer Morrison (@jennifermorrison) on Instagram: Day 87: the final Charming-Jones meal of season 6 (April 5, 2017) (backup link; original post has been deleted) (archive screenshot – created when Jennifer Morrison's username was "jenmorrisonlive")
  11. According to the first edition of "Snow White" from 1812 (which can be read on this wiki), the dwarves mine for gold. For the final 1857 edition, which can also be read on this wiki, Wilhelm Grimm added the detail that they mine for ore and gold in the mountains. (Source.) Complicating matters even further is that some versions, like this English translation from 1911, say that they mine for silver and gold, while some other versions, like this English translation from 1944, say that they mine for copper and gold.
  12. File:618Food.png
    File:618Ugh.png
  13. File:618UsedToBanish.png
  14. COAT WITH EMBROIDERED YOKE - View all-OUTERWEAR-WOMAN. Polyvore. Archived from the original on April 24, 2017.
  15. Screenshot from Last Man Standing: "The Force"
  16. File:618TookHerMagic.png
  17. The Kooples Lace Trim Floral Print Silk Shirt. Nordstrom Rack. Retrieved on February 8, 2019.
  18. File:618WhateverHerPlan.png
  19. Ted Baker Womens Aurore Long Wrap Collar Coat Grey. Blueberries. Retrieved on September 28, 2018.
  20. "Robin Hood" Oz Guard ensemble from Once Upon a Time Season 4, Episode 18.. iCollector. Archived from the original on March 4, 2019. “Inspired by the legendary designs by Adrian for the MGM musical.”
  21. TwitterLogo Michelle (@depechemama) on X, formerly Twitter: OUAT filming today at Evertt [sic] Crowley Park (February 15, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot) (filming notice)

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