Recap / Once Upon a Time S6 E11 "Tougher Than the Rest"

Season 6, Episode 11:

Tougher Than the Rest

Storybrooke adjusts to the new threat, with Hook and David seeking to stop Gideon by any means necessary, even as Belle and Gold remain committed to saving him. Meanwhile, in the Wish version of the Enchanted Kingdom, Regina and Emma try to find a way back home.

Tropes:

• Abusive Parents: The Black Fairy abused Gideon horribly after kidnapping him from Blue.
• Age Lift:
  • Subverted with Robin as Regina lampshades how he still looks the same while everyone else in the Enchanted Kingdom has aged. The Sheriff Of Nottingham does not appear to have aged either, oddly enough.
  • Played straight with the Wish version of Hook with white hair and a beer belly.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • Rather like Emma at Hook's grave near the end of Season 5, Regina hangs back to be by herself after it appears Robin didn't make it through the enchanted tree... only for him to finally appear behind her.
  • A minor one, but when Wish Hook first shows up, he's shown from the shoulders up and speaking relatively clearly, leading the viewers to believe he's just an older version of his usual self. When he's next shown, we can see his beer belly and messy clothes, and it's a lot clearer he's completely out of it.
• Being Tortured Makes You Evil: The Black Fairy tried to invoke this with Gideon. She only got as far as Well-Intentioned Extremist.
• The Bus Came Back: August returns, now a grown human whom Emma and Regina look to for help. Later, Emma checks with the real August who confirms he was the boy who helped Emma get off the streets as a kid. Also the Sheriff of Nottingham is back in the wish world, with tongue.
• Butt-Monkey: Rumple still doesn't like the Sheriff of Nottingham and gives him a lesson in how to fly.
• Central Theme: The importance, and power, of belief.
• Chekhov's Boomerang: The fletching from Robin's arrow that Roland gave to Zelena and which she lost (helping set off the breach between her and Regina and her alliance with the Evil Queen) shows up again with Wish Robin as being from his "lucky arrow." Emma takes this to mean that maybe the reason this Robin hasn't aged is because he came from their Robin's soul or has some portion of him in him.
• Continuity Nod: Aside from the reappearance of the magic wardrobe (and the enchanted tree in the episode title card), there's the History Repeats in Gold's confrontation with Gideon (where he tells him what he really wants to do is prove he's better and more powerful than his father, the same as Rumple did), the swan being the symbol for Emma (both through "The Ugly Duckling" and the wood carving Wish August had for Princess Emma), and Regina finding Wish Robin in the same tavern where Tinkerbell had shown him to her years before (complete with the lion tattoo on his arm and a flashback to the episode in question).
• Couch Gag: The title card features the enchanted wardrobe tree.
• Crazy-Prepared: When the Sheriff turns up, Regina tries to use magic but can't because he has slipped a pair of Power Nullifier cuffs on her. Nottingham smirks that people in Sherwood Forest "are prepared for the likes of you" with an anti-magic ban.
• The Dreaded: The mere sight of "The Evil Queen" is enough to make a tough tavern clear out, with one guy literally jumping out a window.
• Enemy Mine: Downplayed example, since they were never exactly enemies and her opposition to him definitely cooled in the previous episode, but after finding out Gold intended to stop Gideon from killing Emma as well as saving him, Belle seems willing to work with him to accomplish this. And after all his misdeeds of the past three seasons, it seems Gold has learned his lesson — at least to the extent of admitting the dangers and wrongs of the dark path, and claiming he wants to help stop Gideon not just for his sake or theirs, but to save Storybrooke.
• "Eureka!" Moment: After escaping Henry and his soldiers, Emma takes one look at a fallen tree trunk... and instantly thinks of the magic wardrobe as a way home, leading them to that world's August/Pinocchio.
• Evil Parents Want Good Kids: While this has always been Gold's MO (at least in regards to Baelfire), he explicitly comes out and says it at the well when admitting that as much as he is addicted to darkness and power, he doesn't want that for his and Belle's son, and is willing to do whatever he can to help him and change him for the better.
• Fat Slob: Wish Realm Hook.
• Foreshadowing: When Emma drops by Geppetto's workshop to see the real August, he's writing on a typewriter and Pleasure Island is written on the page. This will be very important come next episode.
• For Want Of A Nail:
  • In this world, Marian died before she and Robin could be married. Because of that, Robin never went into his "rob from the rich and give to the poor" phase and is just a thief.
  • Also, because the Dark Curse was never cast, this world's version of Belle remained locked in the tower by the Evil Queen and apparently starved to death (rather than crossing over and staying a prisoner but at least properly fed in the asylum). What isn't clear is if the Evil Queen did this deliberately out of spite or because she couldn't take care of Belle even if she wanted to because of her banishment.
  • On a related note, because Marian died, this world's Robin Hood never broke into Rumple's castle to steal the wand that could heal her, and so when he captures them Rumple has no idea who Robin is and no specific animus against him (focusing all his hate on Regina instead).
• History Repeats: Gideon is 28, the same as Emma was when she came to Storybrooke. Gideon is also returning to parents who are only a few days older than when he was born, but in this case, the child's time was sped up instead of the parents' time being stopped.
• Hope Spot: Wish Robin and Regina are in a cage. People are promptly dispatched by an off-screen Wish Rumple's magic. He's not there to rescue them however — he's there to punish Regina for the Wish Regina letting Wish Belle starve.
• It's All My Fault: Following from the theories some viewers had of the previous episode, David claims In-Universe that it's because of his wish for the Evil Queen to "get what she deserved" that Gideon is there and now threatening Emma. As such, he refuses to wake Snow until he has fixed everything somehow.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Regina feels she has to know whether or not this world's Robin is better without Regina in his life.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Gideon wants to kill the Black Fairy. This is a GOOD idea, even if he is going about it all wrong.
• Let Me Get This Straight...: Robin talks to Regina on how "So you're telling me I'm living in a fake world created by a princess' wish?" To Regina's surprise, he's perfectly okay with the idea of another version of himself who's a better man.
• Magic Feather: Wish August is convinced that he needs a special magic chisel belonging to his father to carve the enchanted tree, so that when it accidentally gets broken by Emma's magic-blast at Wish Hook, he despairs and thinks he's never going to be like his father. Emma convinces him all he needs to do is believe in himself, that if he does he can change his fate (turning his own advice from her childhood back on him)... and so when he uses a regular chisel, he's able to accomplish the task, proving he never needed a specific tool, just belief in his skills.
• Meaningful Echo: The flashback at the opening shows Emma meeting a young boy who talks to her about the story of the Ugly Duckling and how it's meant to be "transformed." He adds how "everyone can change your fate." Later in the episode, Wish August tells this to Emma and she realizes the young boy was actually August looking out for her.
• Meaningful Name: It's finally revealed that Emma got the last name of "Swan" from a young boy (really August) telling her the story of the Ugly Duckling when Emma was a street kid.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Wish Hook looks far more like the version of Captain Hook from some stories with white hair and a large gut.
  • He also has more than a passing resemblance to both Captain Jack and his father (most likely deliberate, considering Hook has quite a bit in common with Captain Jack already).
  • When Wish Robin gives what seems to be Original Robin's arrow fletching to Regina, he states it's "a lucky feather... from a very lucky arrow", surely referencing the one that won him his famous archery tournament in all the various adaptations of the Robin Hood legend.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Regina thinks Rumplestiltskin has come to rescue her. However, Rumple reveals that in this world, Belle starved in the tower and was nothing but bones when he found her. While he knows this isn't the Regina he wants, he still wants revenge and she's the next best thing.
• The Power of Trust:
  • After Belle explains to Hook and David who Gideon really is, they try and tell her that killing him may be the only way to save Emma. She reluctantly acknowledges this, but also says she came to them for help because she trusts them...and so asks them to in turn trust her, give her the chance to appeal to him and stop this so no one has to die. They agree.
  • Following from the above, Belle admits to the others that she doesn't know if Gold is trying to stop Gideon or help him. It turns out, during his confession at the well, that he was indeed trying to stop him, because he knows full well from his own life the consequences of always choosing the darker path and acting out of pain and vengeance. The end result is that the two of them have more of a chance of genuinely working together now to save him and Storybrooke both.
• Prison Escape Artist: Robin is able to get out of Rumple's cell in five minutes.
  Robin: It's a little known fact but I'm not just the world's greatest thief.
• Raised by Grandparents: Gideon was raised by his paternal grandmother, the Black Fairy, who abused him growing up.
• Retcon: After originally being told that little Pinocchio left Emma alone in the orphanage and never came back to help her or Storybrooke until after her return made him start reverting to wood (and after his trip to Hong Kong failed to help him), this episode reveals that August did come back to help Emma once in her childhood — both helping her get off the streets and back into social services, and giving her belief in herself (and, inadvertently, her last name). While it doesn't completely absolve him of responsibility for her fate, it does show he cared and tried to watch out for her when he could.
• Running Gag: The Monumental Damage of the clock tower's face being destroyed yet again — this time by Gideon's Villainous Breakdown.
• Screw Destiny: Remembering what August said about everyone being able to change their fate, Emma refuses to let herself be killed by Gideon as they both foresaw. (Though the fact she was dressed differently than in the original vision already suggests some things about the future had been changed by this point, unless this wasn't the battle that Gideon is supposed to kill Emma in.)
  Emma: If I'm fated to die, I will. But not today. [blasts Gideon across the street]
• Take Me Instead: Variation — Gold goes to Gideon and tries to provoke him into hitting him (or even attacking him with magic) rather than going after Emma. Initially he claims he does this because Gideon would have no chance against the Savior if he can't face the Dark One, but considering he later tells Belle that he doesn't want Gideon to kill Emma, it's more likely he was only saying what he thought Gideon wanted to hear...and that he genuinely does blame himself for what happened and so feels he would deserve such an attack.
• Turn Out Like His Father:
  • Wish August has followed in Geppetto's footsteps as a woodcarver in the forest.
  • Gold is determined to undo what the Black Fairy did so that Gideon won't turn out like him.
• Villainous Breakdown: Gideon smashes the clock tower clock face in anger after Emma beats him.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Gideon states he's going to kill Emma to become the Savior himself so he can save another world from the Black Fairy. He also claims the Black Fairy failed to turn him evil, but it's clear by comparing his motives with the means he's willing to use to accomplish his goals that either his sense of right and wrong has been completely skewed or he's fallen into the ends justify the means thinking.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: As revealed in the previous episode and elaborated a bit more in this one via Wish Belle's death, the wish version of the Evil Queen was defeated and banished years ago by Snow and Charming, thus explaining the lack of the Dark Curse and Emma getting to grow up in the Enchanted Forest. But we never find out what happened to her (and this is never addressed in episode 14 or the finale either). This is finally addressed in Season Seven.
• Wimp Fight: Wish August vs. Wish Hook.
• Wrecked Weapon: The sword that was destined to kill Emma ends up shattered when she fights back.
• You Have to Believe Me!: Subverted in that after Emma tells Wish August about the full story behind who she really is and how she and Regina got there, he believes it instantly. Justified when he makes reference to Geppetto's belief that he could become a real boy being one of the only things that made it possible, and further explained by the real world August's belief in Emma as a young girl on the streets (which ties all the way back to his speeches to her back in Season 1).
• You Kill It, You Bought It: Gideon somehow believes that if he does this to Emma, it will allow him to take her powers and become the Savior, so he can then save the land being ruined by the Black Fairy. How exactly killing a hero makes one a hero is not clear outside of his own warped views.

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