So far in season 6, Emma is having terrifying visions of the moment of her death, scores of people from the Land of Untold Stories have arrived in Storybrooke, and the Evil Queen is on the loose. What else is new?

Spoilers ahead, dearies.

Victorian England

This week, we got a new spin on the story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson. In this retelling, Dr. Jekyll craves membership to a prestigious scientific academy. He hopes that Dr. Lydgate (who also happens to the father of Mary Lydgate, whom Jekyll loves) will back his most recent project—a serum that promises to separate a man’s dual nature. Though Dr. Lydgate rejects his proposal as dangerous, Jekyll’s experiment has attracted the likes of none other than Rumplestiltskin. Rumple helps Jekyll to perfect the serum and convinces him to drink it in order to obtain his heart’s desires. Jekyll becomes Hyde for the first time and attends a party where he confronts Dr. Lydgate. Threatening to expose an extramarital affair, Hyde secures membership for Jekyll into the academy. When Jekyll awakens as himself the next morning, he has no memory of the encounter.

Jekyll becomes Hyde for the first time and attends a party where he confronts Dr. Lydgate. Threatening to expose an extramarital affair, Hyde secures membership for Jekyll into the academy. When Jekyll awakens as himself the next morning, he has no memory of the encounter.

Jekyll transforms into Hyde again, hoping to speak with Mary and convince her that Jekyll is a good suitor. The plan backfires when Hyde and Mary fall for each other, and right into bed. The next morning, Mary wakes up next to Jekyll, and is horrified. In the ensuing argument, Jekyll accidentally pushes Mary out of her bedroom window and to her death. Realizing what he’s done, Jekyll takes the last of the serum he has on him, framing Hyde for the murder.

Storybrooke

Our favorite heroes are trying their hardest to make life feel normal again. What is normal in Storybrooke, you ask? Yeah, exactly. They don’t know either. But Emma and Hook are preparing to move in together, David is making breakfast for his family, and Snow and Henry are getting ready to go back to school. But of course, life is never quite that simple.

Rumple is at odds with the Evil Queen and Mr. Hyde, since the latter has essentially promised that he will get back at Rumple for making him take the serum all those years ago. Worried for Belle’s life, Rumple traps her on Hook’s ship. “For her own good” or whatever, because obviously the man hasn’t learned that Belle doesn’t want or need his help, but that’s a rant for another day. While trapped on the ship with Jekyll, Belle begins to realize that he is unstable. And cue the plot twist!! He’s the more dangerous one, not Hyde. Eager to take his revenge on Rumple, Jekyll tries to kill Belle but is stopped by Hook. When Jekyll is killed by Hook, Hyde also falls over dead.

Meanwhile, Snow is oblivious over at the school. Her attempts to teach the children in the same way she used to are proving fruitless, and she feels discouraged. But Shirin, a new citizen from the Land of Untold Stories and Snow’s teaching assistant, urges her to try new things. After all, Snow has changed since the first curse, and can’t expect life to resume the way it used to be. Taking the advice to heart, Snow is able to teach the children about Isaac Newton by using her archery skills.

After dark, Shirin goes out into the woods where she meets up with the Oracle. We learn that Shirin is actually Princess Jasmine, who is desperately searching for her love Aladdin.

Wait, what?

1.) Yesss we finally met Princess Jasmine! It was lovely to see Karen David from of our beloved Galavant on screen again. But how many bets that the Oracle is actually Jafar?

2.) So, Hyde could not be killed. But when Jekyll died, so did Hyde. Say that five times fast. This means that we now know why the Evil Queen didn’t die when Regina crushed her heart—the only way for the Evil Queen to be killed is for Regina herself to die…

3.) …and guess what? Emma promised Regina that if the moment came, she would take care of it. Is this another glimpse of that final battle that Emma keeps seeing in her visions?

Until next time, dearies.

-The Collected Mutineer