Once Upon a Time (2011–2018): Season 5, Episode 7 - Nimue - full transcript

Previously on "Once Upon a Time"...

You destroyed the only
woman I ever loved.

Arthur knows we freed Merlin, and
he's really not happy about it.

You ruined my life!

We both know that broken
sword can't hurt me.

Emma has Excalibur.

The restored weapon has great power.
It can destroy all light magic.

That's her plan. To snuff
out the light forever.

What are you?

Rumplestiltskin is but one of many.

All the dark ones inside you.



There is only one person who can
help you defeat the Dark One now.

Her name... is Nimue.

Beautiful, aren't they?

Both halves finally reunited.

You know what they
represent, now, don't you?

Power.

It's much more than power, dearie.

It's history.

Excalibur's promise was born eons ago.

And now it's time for that promise...

To be fulfilled.

_

- They following?!
- No.

They wouldn't trail escaped generals
into this, much less foot soldiers.



Look, look!

There it is again.

It's a mirage, Merlin.
There's no water there.

I would rather find out for
sure than lie here and die.

Come on.

That's a gift from the Gods.

We are hardly worth notice of the Gods.

The Gods could do worse.

But if you don't want any...

Well, then...

To drink or die?

With your permission...

Thank you.

Thank you.

I have magic.

So you can really do it...

Take the dark one dagger
and put it together

with Arthur's sword to re-create
the original Excalibur?

I hope so.

- And we can use it to save Emma?
- Perhaps, but I need two things.

The magical means to unite the two blades.
That's my and Emma's quest.

- From you, I need...
- The two blades.

We're pretty much at the
open-warfare stage.

Now, getting the partial sword
from Arthur won't be easy.

As long as you're looking at
the future, any hints on how?

Well, the future isn't exact.

- There are many parts...
- Of course there are.

You're willing to send
us behind enemy lines,

but when it comes to specifics,

everything's a little fuzzy, isn't it?!

- Hook, Merlin's helping Emma.
- Is he?!

She's sitting out there right now,

making things to pull memories
out of people's heads,

because that's what she does
now instead of sleeping.

I'm not quite seeing the helping!

I understand.

I know what it is to lose someone
you love to the Dark One.

All I can ask of all of you is
that you bring me that sword...

...and that you have
patience with Emma.

Her kind of power, for good or evil...

It is a weight on the soul.

And love is a great help,
if you can find it.

_

There. You're healed.

Gratitude, great Merlin.

You're both very welcome.

I think that's it for today.

Wait.

I didn't see her arrive.
I'll get her to leave.

What does she want?

Don't you know? You always know.

I'll talk to her.

Uh, you head back. Check on the brooms.

Have you come to see me?

You're Merlin?

Not all wizards have long white beards.

Please, tell me. What brings you here?

My village...

Uh, I was in my garden
when a masked man rode in.

His name is Vortigan.

He ransacks towns, burns
them to the ground,

so I-I fled on foot to the woods.

I looked back from the hillside,
and everything was in flames.

He had killed everyone.

I'm so sorry.

Please, allow me to help you.
What can I grant you?

Revenge.

These were all I had on me when I ran.

They're seeds from the
middlemist flower.

They only prosper around my village.

When Vortigan scorched the earth,
he could have killed them forever.

My best revenge would be for
them to live on despite him.

We will plant them here.

Thank you.

If the flowers survive, at least
something other than me lived on.

I'll try and pass through
again in the spring.

I want to see them in bloom.

Well, why wait?

Stay close.

You can come and see them anytime.

You see the future.

Do I do that?

With you, for some reason...
I have no idea.

I hope so.

- What's your name?
- Nimue.

Nimue.

Emma.

Emma.

Emma, there is a way to
make Excalibur whole again.

Will you come with me today
so we can get what we need?

- It's not far.
- What is it?

A spark from mankind's original
fire, the Flame of Prometheus.

Its heat forged Excalibur, and that's
what we'll need to put it back together.

So will you come with me to collect the
spark? We'll be back by nightfall.

You look dire. What is it?

When we get there, we will need
to deal with the first dark one.

The one who wore the mask? The one
who killed the woman you love?

The very same. This is
not a trivial task.

I was seeing Rumplestiltskin.

Like, a voice in my head.
I just got rid of him.

And now you want me to
let another one in?

Yes, and not just anyone.

This is the first dark
one, the original,

the one from whom all the
evil that followed was born.

Will we win?

I see two paths for our journey, Emma.

On one, you resist the
darkness and we succeed.

On the other, you succumb to the
darkness and I do not return.

I die.

- You die? But...
- Even immortality has exceptions.

A dark one does have
the power to kill me.

But they won't even be there.
Not really.

Oh.

It would be me. If you
died, it would be me.

If I die, it means that
you lost your battle

and the darkness stained your soul.

Everything and everyone that you know

will be at the mercy of the
most powerful dark one ever...

Yourself.

No pressure.

- You'll return by nightfall, right?
- Yes.

We go get this spark thing,

and then I'm working my
way back to you, babe.

I know when you're quoting something.

And I love that you
never know what it is.

Anyway, with a bit of luck,

we can put Excalibur together tomorrow,

and then... bam... No more darkness.

Be careful, Emma.

Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Calm down, Swan. I'm not proposing.

You know I'm a survivor.

This ring is why. I've
had it for many years.

It's the reason I'm alive.

Or it could be. Who knows?

You know I can't die today.

I'm immortal now.

The dark one is immortal.

Emma isn't.

Bring her home to me.

At the very least, it's a reminder
that you've got a piercing-eyed,

smoldering pirate here who loves you.

Thank you.

I love you, too.

It's time.

_

Is this some new magic?

Are you frowning them
into growing faster?

Just thinking.

There's a man I'm considering helping.

He's tired.

He's spent his life tending to others,

and now he just wants to
marry the woman he loves

and grow old by her side.

But there's an obstacle.

He sounds awful.

If I teach you nothing else, it
will be to laugh at yourself.

If you want to propose, go ahead.

Now, tell me about this obstacle.

Well, you know that I
didn't always have magic,

but I've never actually
said how it happened.

It was a gift.

I found the Holy Grail.

What?

The Holy Grail? You
found the Holy Grail?

Merlin...

I drank from it, and it gave me magic.
But it also gave me eternal life.

That was 500 years ago.

I don't age. I don't die.

So if I were to marry you,

then I would have to watch
as you leave me behind.

I would rather share a life with you
to the end than go on without you.

If you still had the Grail...

I do.

It's in the bottom of the chest,

in the main room of the tower.

It's in my living room.

Wait. There's your answer, o wise one.

Let me drink from the Grail.

We can live forever together.

I'm so sorry, my dearest,

but I've already seen the
cost of immortality.

Life is made of little moments,

precious as diamonds.

But imagine there were an
endless sea of diamonds.

They'd all be worthless.
They'd be as common as sand.

I do have another solution,
if you'll accept it.

We take the Grail, and we
remake it into a sword.

Such a blade could cut away my magic,

my immortality,

and then we can come back here,

and we can live normal lives together.

You would really give up so much?

For you.

I don't want this moment to get
lost in an endless sea of time.

Come. Come make the preparations.

Okay, what's the plan?

We take them by surprise a go
in through the front gate.

Well, after our jailbreak,
they'll be on high alert.

We need a diversion at the drawbridge.

The rest of us can climb
the wall on the side.

Are you forgetting? I've got magic.

I can just poof into Arthur's bedroom.

What?!

Well, if you're going to make a
scene, you might as well make noise.

Oh! Thank you.

I do love hearing a
sensible person talk.

Spit it out. What are you thinking?

I'm thinking going in the front...
suicide.

Diversion... Arthur hides the sword.

You need it on him.

And you could poof right
in front of a blade.

Oopsie!

You need to sneak in so quietly...
No one knows you're there.

How? Hang glider? Oh, giant slingshot.

If sir-castic would let me speak,

I'd tell you that I wasn't idle
during those days in there,

playing mute handmaiden
at Regina's side.

-I was plotting an escape.
- I knew it.

And I found a way out.

And if I know a way
out, I know a way in.

You're going to help us?

Of course.

Because you're going to help me.

I want my magic back.

It's a tunnel, abandoned for years.

It will take you to the courtyard.

Well, if it's so good,

why didn't you escape through it?

Observe the massive metal grate.

See, without magic,
I'm a delicate thing.

Well, it leads in the right direction.

Looks like your information is good,

at least this far. Thank you.

Now I've done my part.
You can do yours.

Take off this bloody cuff.

For all we know, this leads
to the guards' quarters.

We make it out safe with the
sword, then we'll talk.

Mary Margaret, how do you
feel about guard duty?

Oh, I'd be delighted.

We'll chat, have plenty
of pregnancy tips.

Good Lord, this is worse
than being in my cell.

All right, everyone.

Let's get this sword.

These are powerful ingredients, Arthur.

I hope you know what you're doing.

We need something to protect us.

These people drop from the sky, then
they turn on us, freeing prisoners!

They won't stop until they've
taken everything from me.

Guards!

Infidels are on their way.

Call up the reserves.

Get every man on the parapet,
and patrol every hall.

And, you, give me your helm.

The ladle and the caldron have
special protection spells.

This helmet and our friends do not.

Throw this on any stranger you see,
and bring me what's left of them.

It will be nothing but teeth and bones.

This is war now.

When I was seeing
Rumplestiltskin in my head,

he said he would only be with me
until I embraced my dark powers.

So recently, I've been
thinking maybe not seeing him,

maybe that's a bad thing.

Have you embraced your powers?

I've done some dark things recently.

I hurt someone...

My son.

And if I dig deep down...

...the darkness is winning.

But there's hope, right?

You wouldn't be bothering
to get this spark

if there wasn't still hope.

There is hope, and it's up there.

- That's a whole lot of up.
- We can make it.

The question is, will I come down?

_

This was my village. My home.

Look what's become of it.

My house was... Was right here.

Or maybe... Maybe it was there.

Oh, it's so different now.

Sometimes the sole survivor
of a tragedy can feel guilty.

In the future, they'll call it...

I don't feel guilty. I feel angry.

This shouldn't be the way that
those who cannot take are taken.

If I had magic like yours,

if I had a million lifetimes
to hand out power

to those who need it and to
strike down those who...

Nimue, shh.

It's been decided.

Look.

In the street, cups.

It looks like every household
brought out their cups for him.

Why would they d...

Oh!

He was questing for the Grail

and torching down each hiding place...

As he annihilated it.

Will you check the pack and
make sure the Grail is secure?

I've never taken it away
from the tower before.

I'm going to perform a detection spell.

Vortigan.

He's here, over the
horizon, the way we came!

Hurry!

He's just a man!

You could kill him
with one magical word.

If I use magic to kill, darkness
will take root inside of me.

Nothing... nothing is
worth risking that.

Come.

Back.

You suppose that's for us?

I have a feeling we
don't want to find out.

Come on. Let's keep moving.

I keep waiting for the ax to fall.

I didn't think she had
it in her, but...

Zelena hasn't screwed us...

Yet.

Good thing we're in the shade.

I guess the sun's a problem for
you now that you're not green.

Oh, no.

I'm finally trying to do something
to help, and nobody believes me!

It's the hormones talking.

No! She's always the winner,
and I'm always the loser,

and she's gonna take my baby!

Zelena.

Zelena?

Zelena, are you in pain?

Not now that you've shut up!

Oh, there's no rest for the wicked.

It's amazing.

Come. You'll see that's
an understatement.

Are you sure this will work?

I'm quite sure.

This will give me the
life I wish for...

Shorter...

And full of love and meaning.

Oh, my God.

Wait.

What?

Vortigan.

There's no more Grail, sir.
Leave us be.

He wants the sword.

The sword will bring you no joy.

Nimue, be still!

I can do this! You don't know!

No!

Nimue.

Nimue?

Oh, no, no, no!

I'm sorry.

Nimue.

Nimue?

Nimue!

This structure marks the
end of Prometheus' theft.

The stolen flame burned
on for a great while...

Long enough for Excalibur to be
both forged and broken here.

This is where the first
dark one killed Nimue,

the woman I loved.

What happened to the flame?

The first dark one took it

and still possesses it in
the form of a single ember,

with the spark deep inside.

So that's what I need to get.

Okay. Bring him on.

My family let you take this?

I didn't ask permission.

You need its power to talk
to the first dark one,

to reach all the way back to
the origin of dark magic.

It's buzzing, like...
Ants crawling up my arm.

- Is it safe?
- Of course not.

Your power is totally unchecked, and I've
just handed you the power to kill me.

Now...

Call on the spirit of
the previous dark ones.

Take the right path.

It's just in my head.

It's just in my head.

It's just in my head.

You did it.

- You can see him, too?
- Yes.

Power has its advantages.

And it's not a him.

You killed her!

And now I'm going to kill you.

That power was never
meant to be a weapon!

Then you shouldn't have
turned it into a sword.

Nimue.

How?

When I cast the detection spell.

Yes. I drank from the Grail.

You didn't tell me what it feels like
to be strong, Merlin, to be immortal.

Nimue, you let me watch you die!

I'm sorry about the play-acting,

but it was my last chance to
remind you what death looks like.

What matters now is that you're
holding a man's heart in your hand.

- Please, spare him.
- He doesn't deserve sparing!

If you kill, your magic will turn dark.

You'll commit atrocities
that you can't even imagine.

This man took my home and my family.

I had nothing to care for
but a handful of seeds!

I'm not fighting for him!
I'm fighting for you!

I need you to be the woman that I know.

I cannot bear to watch you become this.

I know you feel you've lost everything,

but, Nimue, if you do this...

...then we've lost everything.

Let's not think about cutting away
anyone's magic or immortality.

Please don't... Don't do this.

Nimue.

No!

No!

I'm sorry.

No, Nimue.

I'm sorry.

Nimue.

Yes. I'm Nimue.

And you are Emma.

How pretty,

the first dark one and
the newest dark one

standing as sisters.

It makes sense.

You killed the woman he loved

because you killed the
woman you used to be.

- Why didn't you tell me?
- I did tell you.

The creature over there
is the first dark one.

It's not the woman I loved.

It's been a long time, Merlin.

I've thought of you every day.

And now, on your last day,
I'll be your last thought.

How poetic.

Why are you doing this? You loved him.

Even when you love someone,

you have to say, "no, this is mine.

You can't take it away from me."

And if they don't listen,

if they try to stop you from being you,

then you have no choice.

You have to kill them.

Oh...

...and you're doing this...

...because we are one and the same now,

all dark ones, and we must
destroy the threat to us.

We must destroy Merlin.

Emma, please.

It's... not me!

- Finish the job!
- Don't listen!

He wants you to make a sword
to destroy me, to destroy us.

You can control this.

Don't listen to him!

He doesn't understand
what you and I do.

He doesn't understand the power.

If you don't kill him now,

you'll go back to being powerless.

Killing is the dark path.

No! It's power to protect
yourself and your loved ones!

Let the light win.

Kill him! Don't go
back to being nothing!

I'm not nothing! I was never nothing!

The power you have I don't need!

Now I am going to take that ember from
you, and you are going to let me.

The spark you need is in there...

But the sword you will make
has more than one use,

and I am not dead yet, girl.

You know where to find
me when you want me.

I'll be right in there.

You did it.

I did.

How does it feel to
take the right path?

To be honest, Merlin,

it feels damn good.

What happened after she
turned into the dark one?

First, my Apprentice and I made
sure the sword would be safe.

Then, I created the dagger.

I tethered her spirit to it

so I could control and
prevent her reign of terror.

But eventually, she
got it away from me.

She put you in the tree.
She wore the mask then.

Yes.

She took that mask from a
man who did her great harm.

It's easier to live with the darkness
if you can dress it up as vengeance.

I realize your heart was
broken, but now I know...

Nimue loves you still.

It's all twisted up, but I felt it.

Thank you.

That means a lot to me.

Too bad you couldn't see her future.

You could have not talked
to her in the first place.

No, no, my boy, no. Never think that.

Even now I would live through it again.

Life is made of moments...

And I had the best moments
of my life with her.

Is it possible for someone
to have the darkness,

but use it for good, use
it to protect people?

Emma, don't let those
thoughts tempt you.

But is it true?

Someday perhaps there will be a person

who's worthy to hold that much power

and not let it burn through
to darken their soul.

But if we can wipe out the darkness, we'll
never have to ask that much of anyone.

Sounds like we need to find
the other half of Excalibur.

Foul witch, you've
overpowered the guards!

Sword's on the table. Don't touch it.

It could have protection charms.

Tell your timbers to
stop shivering, pirate.

Nothing in here can hurt us.

Arthur doesn't know how to do magic.

Hi, guys!

Oh, hell no.

Mary Margaret! If you hurt her...

Ooh, daddy's angry.

Let's undo that.

Ahh.

How did...

Well, Arthur was kind enough to
remove that constricting jewelry.

Fine. I'd prefer an even fight.

No, don't! The baby.

You know, if youreed
me fairly for once,

maybe I wouldn't turn on you.

Yes, you would.

But I'd enjoy it less.

Oh! Here we are.

One of Merlin's cookbooks.

- Is it the right spell?
- Oh, yes.

It's quite an ingenious recipe
for a tethering potion.

Excellent.

There... You can take it now.

Cookies are done,

and by "cookies," I
mean that Artie here

may have a shorter sword
than a man would like,

but it can control the
world's greatest wizard.

His plan, but I like it. Happy to help.

Most obliged, my lady.

Arthur, please.

You can't see a way
out, but there is one.

- You can start over.
- Merlin!

- We've all started over.
- Merlin!

Emma is worth more to you as
the Savior than the dark one.

Thank you, David.

But...

Merlin!

Henry... my God, he's
growing up so fast.

Sometimes I can hardly believe...

Ah, Merlin.

How kind of you to come when called.

For your first task,
please use your magic

to keep these fine people
from attacking me in any way.

Wow.

It is done, Arthur.

You can put that down. We
don't have to do this.

Emma has passed her test.

Oh, Emma passed the test?
How nice for her.

I have what we need to unite
Excalibur and fulfill your legacy.

Give me the sword.

You mean give you the glory?

No.

Glory? You seek glory?

Is that really what you've become?

I am so sorry I wasn't there
to guide you, Arthur.

This isn't the man you
were supposed to be.

Oh, I am exactly what you made me.

"Look at the half-man with his half-sword,
solving riddles from a tree."

I bet you laughed.

I was trapped, and I
put my faith in you.

You were meant to be like a son to me.

Shut your mouth.

I was never a son to you.

You lied.

You told me legend would speak
of the great King Arthur,

using Excalibur to strike
darkness from the realm!

Tell me how this was not a lie!

Because you will do that.

You're a part of doing it right now.

- A part of it?
- We have what we need.

The future is in your hands, Arthur.

Give me the sword.

We can repair everything.

No, not everything.

This is my charge and my right.

I will be known for more
than defeating a stone.

- Arthur, you cannot...
- Be quiet.

We have intruders.

Make them leave.

_

Go on. It's time.

Why will you not leave me alone?

Well, how could we?

We're here to witness
something historical.

Rumplestiltskin's eyes are fine
to look through most days,

but I wanted to see this myself.

You tried to keep me from doing this.

Like them, there was a chance

that you would use Excalibur
to cut away the darkness,

but now you can douse
the light instead.

We are proud of you...

All of us.

All of us.

- All of us.
- All of us.

All of us.

Merlin.

Leave the sword alone.

He told me not to do
this when I was a girl.

And now you're a woman.

Take the power.