The Apprentice

Title card

An magically animated broomstick walks through the forest.

Plot

Event chronology

The opening scene in the Enchanted Forest takes place "a long time ago", after the Enchanted Forest flashbacks with Merlin and Nimue in "Nimue", and at an unspecified time before "Desperate Souls", and the rest of the Enchanted Forest events take place after "White Out" and before "Family Business". The Arendelle events take place after "Rocky Road" and before "Family Business". The Storybrooke events take place after "Rocky Road".

In the Characters' Past

A long time ago, the Apprentice (Timothy Webber) is sweeping a vault, when an unknown Dark One intrudes, later revealed to be Zoso. The Dark One knocks him aside and attempts to open a box, but is repelled by an enchantment placed on it by The Sorcerer. The Apprentice tells the Dark One that the box cannot be opened by someone who has succumbed to the darkness in their heart. The Dark One vanishes in a rage, and the Apprentice says that no Dark One will ever open the box.

Anna (Elizabeth Lail) arrives at Rumplestiltskin's (Robert Carlyle) tower and talks to him about the disappearance of her parents. Rumplestiltskin offers to help if she puts the contents of a vial into the Apprentice's drink telling her that he is an evil man. Anna states that she will do "whatever it takes" to find out why her parents visited The Enchanted Forest and Rumplestiltskin comments that he loves when people say they will do whatever it takes. Anna goes to the man's house and after a brief conversation she has a chance to put the vial's contents into his tea but instead decides to throw them into the fire thinking that it is poison. Anna arrives back at Rumplestiltskin's tower and informs him that she gave the contents of the vial to the Apprentice. Mr. Gold says that is good because it is an antidote to a poison he was given yesterday. Anna, horrified by this, tells Rumplestiltskin the truth and says they must go back to the cottage. They look in Rumplestiltskin's crystal ball and see the man succumbing to the poison by turning into a mouse.

They go to the cottage and Rumplestiltskin states he won't change the man back if they find him because he is protecting the box. Anna realizes that Rumplestiltskin is the person who poisoned the Apprentice. He goes on to tell her that the man is just the first line of defense. In order to open the box he needs magic from someone who faced their inner darkness and succeeded as he was planning on Anna not giving the antidote. Anna says that she doesn't have inner darkness and Rumplestiltskin reminds her that due to the contract she will spend the rest of her life in his tower. Rumplestiltskin taunts Anna by stating that Elsa (Georgina Haig) will be heartbroken since Anna left because of her and become a monster. He also states that the wedding will now be off. Anna refuses to accept this and holds a sword to Rumplestiltskin's heart, demanding him to rip up the contract. He urges her to run him through with the sword, but she collapses after having thought about actually killing Rumplestiltskin. Anna sheds a tear, which Rumplestiltskin collects on his dagger which allows him to open the box. Anna chides Rumplestiltskin for using love as a weapon, but he replies that love is a weapon, it is just that he knows how to wield it more than others.

In Storybrooke

Mr. Gold is shown in his shop opening the box and producing the sorcerer's hat. Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) arrives at Granny's diner and asks Captain Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) out on a date. Hook makes Emma promise to let him plan the date. She leaves and on the way to her car she notices a puddle underneath it that was not there when she entered. Mr. Gold arrives at his shop to find Hook sitting on a counter. Hook asks Mr. Gold to reattach his hand because Hook knows that Belle has a fake dagger. Mr. Gold does so but warns Hook that he is no longer the man that hand belonged to and attaching it may have unforeseen consequences. The Charmings, David (Josh Dallas) and Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin), are shown helping Elsa at their loft by going through spell books. Emma asks their opinion wearing a dress for her date with Hook and all three are breathless. Hook arrives and presents Emma with a red rose from his newly restored hand. Emma is impressed by Hook's dating clothing. Hook tells Emma to refer to him as Killian. Emma and Hook are at dinner and noticed by Will Scarlet (Michael Socha) who tries to exit without them noticing but accidentally knocks wine on to Emma's lap. Hook grabs Will and tells him to apologize to Emma in a menacing voice. When Emma realizes he is from the ice cream shop Will runs from the couple. Hook looks at his hand and begins to wonder about Mr. Gold's warning.

Regina (Lana Parrilla) and Henry (Jared S. Gilmore) are going through Regina's stores of potions in her vault and cannot find something that will unfreeze Marian. Henry surmises that Robin Hood is still in love with Regina because true love's kiss did not unfreeze her. Regina says that this time Henry may be too young to fully understand everything. Hook walks Emma home and at the door to the loft they share a kiss after Emma jokingly invites him in for coffee with her parents. During the kiss Hook notices his left hand again acting aggressively. Emma walks inside and has a moment when she seems to realize Hook's hand's actions and has a brief conversation with her parents. Hook runs into a drunk Will Scarlet trying to break into the library and punches him in the face when Will refuses to stop. Hook again is put off by his hand controlling his actions and tells Will that if he informs anyone of what happened he will be a dead man. As Mr. Gold is preparing to go home in his car with flowers Hook enters the passenger door and tells Mr. Gold to replace his hand with the hook. He refuses, saying Hook should've heeded his warnings. Hook threatens to inform Belle (Emilie de Ravin) of the dagger, but Gold then tells Hook that he has swapped the daggers and that Belle has the actual dagger. Mr. Gold says he will replace the Hook once Hook does a favor for him. He refuses to give Hook a definite date or time and Hook states he can find a way to remove it without magic. Mr. Gold tells Hook that since his magic restored the hand, only his magic can take it off. Enraged, Hook thrusts the hook into Gold's chest. Mr. Gold is unharmed, stating he would have thought Hook would have learned the first time he tried to kill Rumplestiltskin. Hook states that it wasn't him that did that, and Mr. Gold states that the next time he may harm someone else who he cares about. Hook states he will do whatever it takes and Mr. Gold says that he loves it when people say that. He tells Hook to meet him on the docks in the morning.

Production

This episode refers to the apprentice, of whom Gold tries to acquire the hat.

Reception

Ratings

The outing held steady, placing a 2.7/7 among 18-49s with 8.07 million viewers tuning in, as it tied with the same ratings numbers from the previous episode even though it saw an increase in viewers.

In Canada, it delivered 1.714 million viewers, making it the second most-watched program that night.

Reviews

The episode received positive reviews from critics.

In a review from Entertainment Weekly, Hilary Busis notes "If you spent the rest of the hour swooning, though, you may have missed out on the explication of a few crucial plot points. As its name implies, "The Apprentice" focused on revealing why, exactly, Rumpelstiltskin was so tickled to discover that Sorcerer's hat in the house where he and Belle honeymooned in season 4's premiere. As it turns out, the object is more than just a groovily decorated cap—it's also an artifact of immense power that could have enormous implications for the rest of our heroes. Well, that, or it's just another magical doohickey that seems important for a while until it disappears from the narrative without a trace. On this show, anything's possible!"

Amy Ratcliffe of IGN rated the episode 8.7 out of 10, saying "Tonight's Once had a few weak points with characters (mostly Emma) acting dense, but it featured delightful performances, meaningful character moments and developments, and more than a few laugh out loud moments. Basically, it had heart. And further exploration of the Sorcerer's Hat plot added an interesting layer to the story."

TV Fanatic gave the episode 4.4 out of 5 stars.