Emma (Jennifer Morrison) will force Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle) to become heroic by using Merida (Amy Manson) in the upcoming episode of the ABC series "Once Upon a Time."
In "Dreamcatcher," Cartermatt reports that the Dark One will force Rumpel's hands to do her bidding by hurting the red-haired heroine. Emma wants to get the Excalibur and reunite it with her Dagger. To do this, she needs a hero, the purest who has ever lived, to do the deed. At the moment, Rumpel is a blank slate, neither light nor dark, which means that she can make him become who she wants him to be.
Last episode, Emma kidnapped Rumpel and tied him up in the basement. He told her, however, that he could not be the hero she needed. That was when viewers realized that she had Merida tied to a yellow Beetle and was preparing to use her to force Rumpel to get the Excalibur. Emma then tears out Merida's heart, explaining that she needed the latter in order to turn Rumpel into someone like the Dark One — someone "brave."
Elsewhere, King Arthur's (Liam Garrigan) true motives have been revealed. Lancelot (Sinqua Walls) told Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) that he wanted the Dagger to make the Excalibur whole. It turned out that when Arthur pulled the sword from its resting place, it was broken. When he told his wife Guinevere (Joana Metrass) about it, she decided to help him with his quest.
The International Business Times reports that she enlisted the help of Lancelot and used the magical gauntlet she found in Merlin's tower to locate the Dagger. They managed to trace it to the vault of the Dark One and were about to snatch it when Rumpel appeared. He then tricked Guinevere to trade the gauntlet with the enchanted sand from the Island of Avalon. According to him, it could fix anything, even the sword.
Fast forward to the present time and viewers saw Arthur being set up by Mary Margaret and David (Josh Dallas). They wanted to reveal his true colors and sure enough, they learned that he only wanted the Excalibur for his own. But Guinevere arrived and freed her husband. It turned out Arthur used the magical sand on her to make her supportive of his quest. They then sent Lancelot to the dungeon and used the sands on David and Mary Margaret to get the dagger from Regina (Lana Parrilla).
"Once Upon a Time" airs Sundays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
