‘Once Upon A Time’ Episode 2.14: ‘Manhattan’ Recap

If you missed last week’s episode, you can catch up with our Once Upon A Time episode 13 recap.

Mila is knitting in her and Rumplestiltskin’s cabin when he comes in and tells her that he’s been drafted to the front. Mila says she’s heard that it’s an awful place, and Rumple says it’s the chance he’s been waiting for. He wants to prove that he’s not like his father, and Mila says just because his father was a coward doesn’t mean he is. Mila then tells him to go fight and that when he gets back, they can have a family.

Emma, Gold, and Henry have arrived in New York. They’re standing outside the building Bae is supposed to live in. Gold seems apprehensive and Emma says, “I guess he’s not expecting you.”

Regina tells Cora that Emma has taken Henry with her and Mr. Gold. Hook overhears the conversation and asks where Gold has gone. Cora says the minute any of them leaves the town, they’ll lose their memories and magic. Hook says he doesn’t need magic and wants to go after Gold. Cora tells him he deserves his vengeance, and that they can get his dagger and kill Gold.

Gold is studying the buttons of the apartment building to try and find Baelfire. Emma correctly guesses which one is Bae’s and realizes he has started running away. Gold asks her to go after him and she begins chasing him through the streets. She takes a shortcut and tackles him to the ground, only to realize that Bae is Neal.

Neal wants to know what Emma is doing in New York, and she asks if he’s Gold’s son. She tells him he lied and that he was from Rumple’s world. Neal asks her why she brought Gold to New York and she asks if he knew who she was the whole time and if he ever cared about her. Neal says there is a bar they can go to because they can’t talk on the street.

Gold is worried about why Emma hasn’t come back, and Henry says not to worry because Emma is good at finding people. He thanks Gold for buying him a hot dog, and says he forgave Emma for giving him up and maybe Bae will do the same. Gold doesn’t think it will be that easy, but Henry says he doesn’t know that.

Emma wants to know if Neal who she was when they met, and he says if he did, he wouldn’t have come near her. She says if he didn’t know who she was, he was just using her to take the fall for him when he stole the watches. Neal says he didn’t find out until later when he talked to August. It turns out what August showed him in the suitcase was a typewritten note that said, “I know you’re Baelfire.” Emma asks Neal why he let her go to prison just because Pinocchio knew who he was. She isn’t convinced that they met by accident and Neal says Gold wanted her to break the curse. Maybe it was fate, he says.

Neal says there isn’t a lot about Gold that wasn’t bad, but he did remember that he said there is no such thing as luck. He says maybe he and Emma met for a reason and maybe something good came from them being together. Emma says not that she can think of, and that she just went to jail and that was it. She says she’s over Neal. He asks why she wears the keychain he bought her and she says to remind herself never to trust anyone again. She says she made a deal with Gold that she would bring Neal to him. Neal says if she will tell Gold she lost him, she will never have to see him again.

Rumple is tasked to watch a tent while another soldier goes to the front. The soldier tells Rumple it’s a tricky beast and to be careful. He then hears someone say his name and he opens the tent to see a child whose eyes have been sewn shut. Rumple asks how the child knows his name and the child says she’s a seer. She shows him her hands, which have eyes in them. She then tells him he’s the son of a coward and that he’s worried he will end up like him. She says she sees all, even that which hasn’t happened yet. Rumple says he won’t indulge dark magic, and the seer asks even if it had to do with Mila. She asks for water in exchange for what she knows. She tells him Mila is pregnant and that his actions on the battlefield will leave his son fatherless. He tells the seer Mila probably isn’t pregnant and that she probably just said that to make him help her. The seer tells him he’ll know she’s speaking the truth when he sees soldiers ride cows into battle.

Emma calls Mary Margaret and tells her Neal is Rumple’s son. Mary Margaret says she should tell Henry, but Emma doesn’t think it’s a good idea, and that Emma should know better than anyone else how much it hurts to not know.

Henry asks Gold why he is nervous to meet Bae, and that when he met Emma he was excited. Henry asks why he can’t look into the future to find out what will happen. Gold says the future is like a puzzle and never what you think. Emma comes back and says Bae managed to get away from her.

Regina goes to visit Belle in the hospital, and Belle asks who she is. Belle asks if they were friends. Regina says Belle can help her find something that belongs to Mr. Gold, and Regina says she did and casts a spell on her. She magically takes the items out of Belle’s bag and finds a note with a Dewey decimal number on it. Regina, Cora, and Hook go to the library to find the book the dagger is hidden in and Cora tells her it was impressive that she figured it out. The book isn’t in the right place but Cora notices a folded up piece of paper in its place. Hook says it’s a map, and that it’s the next best thing to finding the dagger. Hook says he can read the map and that he’s adept at finding buried treasure.

Mary Margaret tells David that Gold is Henry’s grandfather, and tries to figure out all of the relationships.

Gold goes to Neal’s apartment and Emma says he may not come back to his apartment. Emma tries to talk him out of it as he breaks into Neal’s apartment and Henry says he’ll be a lookout.

On the battlefield, a soldier tells Rumple that the only way to get out of battle is to get injured. The soldiers receive fresh supplies and Rumple finds out that they will be riding leather saddles, which are made out of cows. Rumple realizes the seer was telling the truth and he goes back to her cage, but she’s gone. He sees a hammer and hits himself in the foot with it to get out of battle.

Gold, Emma, and Henry are in Bae’s apartment. There’s a storage locker and a large dreamcatcher in the window. Emma takes it down and Gold asks her what it is. He says if it’s nothing why is she staring at it. He says she saw something and to tell him what she knows. Emma says Neal didn’t tell her anything and Gold tells her if she doesn’t tell him what she knows, he’ll make her. Gold says they had a deal and he starts yelling at Emma. As he does, Neal/Bae comes in and tells him to leave Emma alone.

Rumple limps back to his cabin, where Mila is holding their son. Rumple asks what the baby’s name is and she says Baelfire. He says it’s a strong name and she says he’ll need it to make up for the shame of being his son. She asks if he purposely injured himself and he says he did because the seer told him he would die in battle. Mila tells him he became what everyone thought he would, a coward like his father. Rumple says he’s nothing like his father. He says he did it to save his son from the same fate he grew up with. Mila says she sentenced him to the fate of being his son, and that he could have fought and died. She gives him Baelfire and leaves the cabin. Rumple tells Bae it’s alright as his son reaches up and touches his nose. “Your papa’s here,” he says, “and I promise, I will never, ever leave you.”

“Bae,” Gold says, “you came back for me.” Neal says he came back to make sure he didn’t hurt Emma and tells him to get out of his apartment. Gold realizes they know each other and he asks how. Neal sees Henry and asks who he is, and he asks Henry how old he is. Henry says 11 and Neal asks if Henry is his son. Henry says his dad was a fireman and Neal asks again. Emma says yes, and Henry runs out onto the fire escape. Emma goes after him and Neal starts to follow her before Gold stops him. Gold says the deal was for Emma to get Neal to talk to him, and that Neal would have to talk to him to fulfill her deal. He gives him three minutes.

Greg is on the phone with his girlfriend and says he wants to stay in Storybrooke for awhile. He sends her a video of Regina using magic in Belle’s room.

Hook deciphers the map for Regina and Cora and Cora blasts him with magic so her and Regina can find Rumple’s dagger. Cora says all of their enemies will be vanquished and that Regina will be blameless in Henry’s eyes.

Henry asks why Emma didn’t tell him about Neal, and she says she never thought she would see him again. She says he was a bad guy and Henry says that he could have taken the truth. Henry says it’s not like she was any different and that she was like Regina, always lying to him. Henry says he wants to meet his dad.

Gold tells Neal he knows he’s made mistakes, and that he wants to make up for it. There’s no greater pain than regret, he says, and Neal says, “Try abandonment.” Gold says he can make up for that. Gold says to come with him to Storybrooke and that he can turn the clock back and make Neal 14 again. Gold says he can’t make up for lost time but that he can take away the memories. He asks Neal to give him a chance and that he once loved him. Neal says he was once a good man and Gold says he can be that man again. Neal tells him magic can’t make everything better. Neal says every night, the last thing he sees before he falls asleep is him and Gold at the pit and Gold letting go of his hand. He says the last thing he saw is Gold choosing everything else over him and now it’s his turn to let Gold go. Gold says he’s sorry and Neal says since he doesn’t get closure, Gold won’t either.

The seer finds Rumple in the woods, and he’s now the Dark One. She says what was supposed to come to pass, has. He tells her left the battlefield and that Mila left him and then Bae was called to the front and left him. He says his actions on the battlefield left his son fatherless and the seer says he would have been powerless to fight his fate. The seer tells Rumple he will find his son and Rumple tells her not to leave out any details. She says it won’t be an easy path and that it will take many years. She also mentions the curse and Rumple says he knows there’s more. The seer says he won’t cast the curse, that someone else will, and that someone else will break it. She says her powers have limits and that she can’t tell him who it is. She tells him the only way for him to know is to take her power and he does.

Neal wants to talk to Henry and Emma tells him not to break his heart. He says he’s not going to do the same thing Gold did to him. Neal goes out on the fire escape to talk to Henry. Henry says, “So, you’re my dad,” and introduces himself. Neal apologizes that it took so long for them to meet and Henry says it’s OK because he didn’t know.

Gold sees Henry and Neal talking on the fire escape and flashes back to him taking the seer’s power. He says he can’t see anything and that it’s all jumble. The seer says there are many pieces to be sorted and that he will learn to separate what can be from what will be. Rumple realizes the seer wanted to free herself from the torment. She says as gratitude, she will give him a piece of the puzzle and tells him he will be reunited with Bae. She says a boy will lead to Bae, and that the boy is more than he seems. “The boy will be your undoing,” she tells him. Rumple says, “Then I’ll just have to kill him.”

Gold and Emma look out at Henry and Neal talking, and Gold realizes he has to kill Henry.