Henry figures that the photo is from his storybook, with the two of them Photoshopped in. Roni figures that Victoria sis screwing with, and Lucy suggests that they look into who made the photo before they go after Victoria. Jacinda comes in and asks to borrow some tools from Roni. Henry offers to help with their food track but Jacinda vaguely says that she doesn't need help and leaves. He wonders why she wasn't interested, and Roni offers him a beer.
The Past
Henry shows Cinderella how to repair a motorcycle, and she thanks him for letting her help. Several brigands show up to take the motorcycle, and Henry hands a torque wrench to Cinderella. The two of them attack the bandits and soon knock them out. Regina arrives and tells them to get away from her son, summoning a fireball. Henry says that he's got it, and he and Cinderella finish off the brigands. Regina asks Henry if he's okay, and he assures her that he can handle it. He shows Regina the lunchbox that he used to attack the brigands, and Regina points out that she gave it to him when he was 10. Henry invites Regina to come with him and Cinderella, but Regina figures that he can take care of himself and doesn't need his mother around. She tells him to be safe.
Now
Ivy finds Veronica lying in her office with a migraine, and she suggests that the flowers might have trigged the migraine. Veronica agrees to let her take them out, and Ivy leaves, smiling. She goes to the Witch and the Witch grabs them and sniffs at them. Ivy asks if they have the magic they need, and he Witch says that the magic needs fertile ground. She tells Ivy to be patient a little longer, and to remember how they survive. Ivy describes how she closes her eyes and imagines her mother's destruction. The Witch tells her that it wasn't wise to give Regina the photo, and Ivy says that by the end of the day, Regina won't be a problem.
Henry goes to the bar and discovers that Ivy posted photos of the two of them when they were drinking on Halloween. He figures that he screwed up whatever he has with Jacinda. Lucy comes in and asks to see the Storybrooke photo, saying Ivy told her about it. When Lucy sees it, she says that she remembers reading the scene in Henry's book. She figures that Roni is Regina, and says that Regina adopting Henry was the best thing that ever happened to her. Lucy insists that they'll break the curse by making them remember, and says that she knows how to do it before running off.
At the hospital, Rogers and Tilly greet Weaver, who is ready to leave even though the doctors recommend against it. Weaver tells Rogers to keep his eye on the phone because he might have some errand to run. As Tilly goes after him, Rogers asks her to help him with the missing Eloise, and she tells him to buy her lunch first.
Henry and Roni get lunch, and Henry wonders what's up with Roni since she hasn't said much. Roni tells him that what Lucy said brought up a difficulty memory of how she tried to adopt once. At the last minute the adoption agency decided that she wasn't a good fit. Henry tells her that she seems like mom to a lot of people in Hyperion Heights, and Roni figures that if they play along with Lucy then she'll grow out of it and heal. He agrees and figures that he knows where Lucy is, but Roni points out the nearby food truck that Jacinda is setting up. She tells him to invite her out on a date while she talks to Lucy.
The Past
Regina is in the woods and spots a woman finding a coffer in a pile of discarded goods. When she opens it, vines spring out, grab her, and a flower on one vine prepares to eat the woman. Regina fireballs the flower, destroying it, Regina realizes that the woman is Drizella, and Drizella says that she's done with Tremaine and is looking for magic to get free of her mother. The girl explains that she was born with magic but Tremaine refused to let her learn how to use it, so she plans to steal someone else's. Regina sympathizes and offers to help, and says the Drizella is going to use the gift she was born with.
Now
Ivy brings the Witch dirt from the community garden, and the Witch sprinkles some of the flower petals in it. She concentrates and a plant spreads up from the dirt. When Ivy reaches to touch it, The Witch stops her and warns that it's a dangerous path. Ivy carefully takes a few petals, puts them in a vial, and says that they'll see if Regina is as powerful as she thinks.
Jacinda is working on the truck when Henry arrives and changes the song on the radio. He explains that he's a fan of the 80s, and says that mixed tapes worked when he asked a girl out. Jacinda asks if he wants to ask her out, and Henry insists that it was a mistake. He admits that he can't stop thinking about Jacinda, and she says that she has very little time with a new business and a daughter. Henry invites her out and Jacinda suggests that they do immediately by him helping her fix the truck.
Lucy is at Henry's apartment looking for the storybook, and Roni comes in and says that Victoria told her not to go there. The girl explains that when people touched the Storybook, they got their memories back. Regina says that she'd like to be a queen and have a loving son. When she agrees to help Lucy find the book, Lucy hugs her.
The Past
Regina tutors Drizella in magic and Drizella manages to lift a rock a few inches. She apologizes for wasting Regina's time, and Regina assures her that she isn't. Regina figures that Drizella needs the right motivation, and brings a rock down on her. Drizella shatters it just in time, and realizes that she can do magic. Regina says that if she believes in herself then it is, and tells Drizella that she's a lot like her when she was Drizella's age. All of her power came from anger and hate, and she did terrible things to get revenge. Regina explains about the Dark Curse, and discovered that the only thing that made her truly happy was her son Henry. Gold appears to them.
Now
Roni and Lucy go to the station and ask Weaver to find out if Regina Mills applied to adopt a child in Boston. When Weaver wonders why he should help, Roni says that she'll owe him one and Weaver agrees to look into it.
Tilly takes Rogers to the railyard and the cargo container where she lives, and invites him to ply her in a game of chess in the middle of a game. As they play, Rogers explains that Eloise was fearless until she disappeared when something spooked her. He shows Tilly the protection rune in the journal, and wonders what he's missing. Tilly turns the chessboard around and tells him to look at the pieces that he doesn't have.
Weaver goes to Roni's bar with an envelope and says that there was a Regina Mills in Boston who adopted a baby boy. He wonders why Roni asked for information if she didn't believe, and gives her the envelope. Weaver reminds her that she owes him one and leaves
The Past
Gold tells Regina what happened and says that he's ready to pass along the power of the Dark One in the right way. He figures that Regina considers Drizella a daughter, and warns that he's heard dark tales about Tremaine. Gold warns that Tremaine knows what's going on, and suggests that Regina consider why Tremaine wants Drizella to learn magic.
When she meets with Drizella, Regina conjures an image of Tremaine practicing the removal of a heart. Regina explains that Tremaine is practicing how to replace Anastasia's heart with one full of belief... like Drizella. Drizella is heartbroken to learn how much more Tremaine loves Anastasia than her, and Regina offers to protect Drizella's heart. The girl begs Regina to help her kill Tremaine. Regina refuses to let her go down the dark path, and Drizella says that she knows a prince who will help her and storms off.
Now
At the bar, Rogers looks through the file on Eloise and finds a photo of the perp with the protective tattoo. He goes to Eloise's old house and breaks in. The perp is dead on the floor.
Roni looks at the adoption papers and finds Regina's signature at the bottom. She compares it to her own signature and discovers that they match.
The Past
Drizella arrives at the chapel with Gregor, and finds Tremaine there with Anastasia's body. When Gregor says that he won't let Tremaine hurt his bride. Regina freezes him with a spell, and Drizella says that Regina may not want to kill Tremaine but she does. She explains that she brought Gregor there to kill someone else, enchants a nearby plant, and has it kill Gregor. Drizella then says that she turned her heart black and now it's of no use to Tremaine. She tells Tremaine that she wants her to suffer, and Regina taught her about the dark curse. When Regina says that it's not worth the cost, Drizella says that it is to her and she will take Tremaine to another realm. She'll plant a seed of pain in her heart, and it will grow until everything Tremaine experiences is painful. Regina vows to do whatever it will take to stop Drizella because she's a hero, and Drizella tells her that she'll have to find a way to make her Curse unbreakable and teleports away.
Now
Ivy arrives at the bar and says that she may have found more on Victoria. She pours two drinks and tells Roni that it's about what she found. Ivy explains that she needed Regina to start asking herself if the photo and Henry's fairytales are real. Once Regina considered that it was all true, it would push her brain over the edge. Regina realizes that Ivy put something in her drink, and she regains her memories of her life as Regina. She discovers that her magic doesn't work, just as Henry calls. Ivy tells her that Henry can't know about what happened, and asks if Regina remembers why she can't let the Curse be broken. If the curse is broken than something bad happens to the people Regina loves. Regina asks wat Ivy wants, and Ivy says that she needs Regina's help. She's on the verge of showing Victoria what true suffering is, and can't have anyone break the curse. Regina realizes that Jacinda is Cinderella, and Ivy says that Regina will do whatever it takes to stop True Love's Kiss from happening. Satisfied, Ivy walks out.
The Past
Regina tells Henry what happened, and blames herself for letting Drizella near magic when she was in so much pain. Henry assures her that she was trying to help, and Regina says that he doesn't need her. He assures her that she was the only person who love him for many years, and he will always need her. Regina admits that she needs him, and living in Storybrooke without him. She promises that she will always be his mother first because she doesn't know what she'll be without him.
Now
Regina sits on the curb looking at the photo, and Henry walks up. He tells her that things with Jacinda went pretty well, and Regina asks him to keep her in the loop. Henry asks about Lucy, and Regina says that it would help if she knew a little more about Henry. He says that he was born in prison just like his character, but he was never adopted and grew up in the system. Regina realizes that his memories are like what happened to Emma, and claims that she read Henry's book. Henry says that he wrote it just for himself, and by writing he found a way to give himself two mothers because he didn't have any. Regina takes his hand and starts to speak, and then says that she's glad that they're getting to know each other.
Written by Gadfly on Nov 11, 2017