Once Upon a Time Season 5 Episode 7 Review: Nimue
Christine Orlando
at
.
Updated at
.
Emma found out how it felt to have all of the Dark Ones inside her, including the first in Once Upon a Time Season 5 Episode 7.
Was it more than she could handle?
This hour was full of the history, including how Excalibur was formed and what happened to Merlin’s first love. There was actually so much information in this installment that it was a challenge to keep up with it all.
In a nutshell, Merlin became Merlin by drinking from the Holy Grail about a thousand years ago. Obviously he was the chosen one. I’d love to know how the chosen ones get chosen and everyone else just turns to dust, but those answers aren’t a part of this story.
The moment Merlin couldn’t see Nimue’s future, I knew that meant something horrible was going to happen to her, but I only expected that she’d be killed. I never fathomed that she’d become the first Dark One. That scene was so sad. She threw away true love for power, vengeance, and immortality.
I guess Merlin’s speech about life being filled with small, precious moments didn’t get through.
Regina, Robin, Snow, Charming, Hook and Zelena all took the journey to Camelot to steal Excalibur. Naively, I had hoped that Zelena’s lead on the way to sneak into the castle would bring her closer to the rest of the group, but I suppose if she’s still in her hospital prison in the future, that just wasn’t meant to happen.
Arthur appeared to have completely lost his mind. All he cared about was gaining power and glory, and he didn’t care if our intrepid heroes were turned to piles of bone and teeth in the process.
My favorite scene of the episode was Hook sending Emma off on her quest with Merlin. They really are so cute together as seen in this Once Upon a Time quote…
Emma: We go get the spark thing and then I'm working my way back to you, babe.
Hook: I know when you're quoting me something.
Emma: And I love that you never know what it is.
Hook gave her his ring in the hopes that it would help her survive and told her how much he loved her. As he reminded her, the Dark One may be immortal but Emma is not. She’s the one he wants back.
Things looked so promising at first. The original Dark One tried to sway Emma to embrace the darkness, but when she told Emma not to go back to being nothing, it struck a chord…
I'm not nothing! I was never nothing. The power you have I don't need.
Emma
But then Arthur used Zelena to help him make Excalibur into a tool to control Merlin.
Jump to present day Storybrooke, and Emma is dressed in black, surrounded by all of the Dark Ones and holding the now whole Excalibur despite remembering Merlin’s warnings from her childhood.
Will she wipe out all of the light, or will she find the strength to battle the darkness?
Check back in later this week to see what our Once Upon a Time round table team has to say and then look for our review of next week’s two hour event, Once Upon a Time Season 5 Episode 8.
If you still want more, you can watch Once Upon a Time online here at TV Fanatic.
C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.
