Another great episode

“I don’t want to be remember as the man who kissed a sleeping princess some years ago” – Really nice sentiment, trying to leave a legacy for yourself but also wanting to be defined by something bigger than yourself, doing “something that matters”, I really liked this moment between Arthur & David.

Really moving scene with Dark Swan & Hook even though I can’t stand this coupling.

I enjoyed Arthur’s & David’s new friendship 🙂 They had a lot in common which is nice.

Yay!!!! Lancelot is alive love his friendship with Snow

Arthur’s a villain? Interesting, I kinda saw it coming, I could sense something unusual going on with him, tied to wanting Excalibur whole/ protecting his Kingdom (Camelot) etc. Hopefully it all works out. I do have a question if Merlin prophesied the savior saving him why didn’t he told Arthur the savior name unless Arthur knows and Arthur is the reason Merlin stuck in the tree to begin with because Merlin also prophesied he not the true King and Arthur want to keep the power maybe Snow and Charming son is because if I remember correctly in a episode of Charmed the first born child was prophesied to wield excibular since Emma is the Savior and equally powerful maybe Snow and Charming son is destined to wield excibular also think putting the sword and dagger won’t make the Dark One more powerful but destroy the darkness when it’s in the right hand I don’t know just a thought

His poor subject though 🙁

Nice to see Rumple awake again, poor Belle though. Jennifer did a great job at the end!”

The writers has said that Emma did cast this curse and had to crushed a heart what if it’s not the her you love the most but the heart you hate the most what if Emma crush half her heart because her heart is thing she hates because it’s turning dark if that not it then So is Emma pretending to be someone to cover the fact that someone is not there? If someone died by her crushing their heart to enact the curse then isn’t that possible?

Hey yall, this was a strong episode, my favorite of the season. I did have issues with it that i will get to. I noticed the change in the title card, instead of the enchanted forest with some object from the episode, it was just the “dark forest”, which i thought was a neat deviation. I loved the return of snowing’s theme in the sheriff’s office. Always great to hear one of my all-time favorite pieces of music. Also, i found Zelena sarcastically miming at Regina hilarious. Even when shes on screen for a short time, she steals the show. I was disappointed with Regina saying that she is the evil queen, i thought she moved past that. Anyway enough rambling, my top 5

5) The Writing…. The dialogue in this episode was great. Any time Jane Espenson is an episode writer you can count on it, and this episode didn’t disappointment. Lines like “hes producing oxygen”, Arthurs comment on always assuming a womans right, and Rumple saying “have you thought about kissing it out”. I love how sidious Rumple refers to himself as we, like Smeagol in Lord of the rings. Very good writing indeed.

4) Holy Convenience Batman… So many conveniences and easy resolutions. Regina puts a question mark in that book for no reason, then she happens to see in storybrooke and remember why she made it. The reliquary of course just shows up to fill a purpose, and then everyone welcome magic item of the week: the Crimson crown. Arthur gave David that seat way too easily. David didn’t do anything to deserve basically the highest honor in Camelot. I know it sounds like im being too harsh, its just i grow tired of such easy resolutions, especially after the fury last week. It is just something I have to expect from this show i guess.

3) The Dwarves… The scene where the dwarves come stomping in to the sheriffs office to complain… I was in stitches. They reminded me so much of like a mean girls troup, just yelling about something of theirs being taken, then they all just turn and walk out… I loved this scene!

2) Emma and her plan… The reveal that Emma plans to make Rumple the hero is awesome. It makes total sense that she would come up with this since Rumple is a blank slate now and she can mold him to be whatever she wants. I do wonder how someone so evil can teach someone to be a hero… But hey, details details right? Speaking of Rumple, it will be great to have him back again. Seeing Robert Carlyle as the dark one is always fun but ive grown to miss seeing him as Mr. Gold.

1) David and Arthur…. David showing his insecurities and vulnerability was nice, and very realistic. I felt like this fell flat at first because weve been over this with him already, but its like real life, no matter how strong we get in certain areas, there is always still the potential to struggle with those same issues. This may explain why he took the chair at the end so easily and didn’t question how easy and convenient it was. I really loved David and Arthurs Bro-ship, which makes Arthurs betrayal all the more painful. On the surface, to me Arthur is doing a wrong thing for the right reason. He just wants to protect his kingdom, which is noble. But when you think about it, hes kind of psychotic. Hes willing to make his subject kill himself to cover his tracks, and his disregard for anyone not from Camelot is ridiculous. I do really enjoy his character and cant wait to delve further into why hes like this and why Lancelot sees him as a villain. Im starting to think it was Arthur who turned Merlin into a tree, or at least maybe he got someone to do it, possibly Morgana. I loved Davids resourcefulness in finding out who the thief was, i was expecting him to call it the holy grail. I have to wonder…how does Arthur know how to drive a truck? I guess being transported in a curse comes with new skills.

Overall, conveniences aside, this was a great episode. Im smitten with dark Emma, Jennifer Morrison is playing this part so well and you can tell shes having fun with it. 9/10 Pictures of inside Zelena

Hey guys,

Zelena is far less irritating to me when she can’t talk and I wish Regina would have discovered this method to silence her sooner.

I like the idea of Arthur being bad. Usually it’s Merlin who ends up being the shady one (Which he still may be)

My brother told me a funny OUAT related story. He recently got married and his wife is an OUAT fan. He has never seen an episode of OUAT before but he was watching this episode and here is how he described it: “All I know is it has Cameron from House and Claire from Lost and there were knights riding around in modern times.” But he also said that it looked interesting.

Anyway to expand on my Hawkeye comment. Colleen made a comment about superheroes sacrificing family to be supergeroes and in Age of Ultron, the Avengers go to Hawkeye’s house and he has a wife and kids and in his downtime, he lives a peaceful life on his farm. I know what you meant but the comic book nerd in me of course has to pick out the one instance where this isn’t the case. 🙂

Anyway, the Chris stands for Christopher but don’t worry, someone thinking I’m a “she” instead of a “he” based on my name is pretty low on my list of things I get upset about. 🙂

Chris in Cincy

I think that Gwenevere was truly in love with Lancelot, but the secret Arthur is hiding has manipulated her into being with him, wether it’s to save lancelots life or the kingdom. Just a thought. You two are amazing and I enjoy listening to you every week. I’ve been a very quiet supporter but I plan to respond with my thoughts more often.
-Kelsi Newton

Hi Jeff and Colleen,

I loved the episode “Siege Perilous”. I think we were getting a lot of setup for some exciting plots to come. When they hung David’s crest on the back of the Siege Perilous I noticed the flowers on it look like the tattoo that Emma has on her wrist. We haven’t gotten the story yet on why and when she got that tattoo. But it seems that it is the flower that would be on her father’s family crest. Below is some information on the Siege Perilous from Arthurian Legend.

In Arthurian legend, the Siege Perilous (also known as The Perilous Seat) is a vacant seat at the Round Table reserved by Merlin for the knight who would one day be successful in the quest for the Holy Grail.
In Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur, in an account taken from the Vulgate Queste del Saint Graal, the newly knighted Sir Galahad takes the seat in Camelot on Whitsunday, 454 years after the death of Jesus. The Siege Perilous is so strictly reserved that it is fatal to anyone else who sits in it. Originally, the seat and the grail belonged to Perceval, but the Lancelot-Grail Cycle transferred it to the new Cistercian-based hero Galahad.

In Arthurian Legend the seat is reserved by Merlin. Since Merlin isn’t there can Arthur assign that seat to someone without there being consequences? It seems to me that only Merlin should be able to assign that seat. Will this seat be a perilous seat for David or is he in fact the knight that is supposed to occupy the seat. Nothing is that easy on ONCE! Just saying!

I also love the Dark One storyline and Jennifer Morrison is killing it as the Dark One. She is creepy and sometimes not. The creepy Rumple on her shoulder would be freaking me out popping up all the time. I don’t believe that Emma has totally embraced the darkness. I think she has a plan and that although she is being taunted by the “faux Rumple Dark One”, that she knows exactly what happened in Camelot and that she is still protecting everyone. I believe she is still the Savior but she is pretending to be totally dark. But I do think she has an inner struggle with the darkness and the light that is in her.

I can’t wait to see how this all plays out. I actually love how this show keeps me thinking and guessing and how you can have a theory one week and the next thing you know your theory has totally changed. I’m glad I don’t always know what’s coming next. I love this show… My favorite show ever!

I also love your podcast and listen to your Initial Reactions and Analysis every week. Thanks for being my entertainment while I am at work. I am a graphic designer and I listen while I design. You guys are awesome!

Big Love and Hugs,

Rose

Hi Colleen and Jeff!

Thanx for doing 2 podcasts in one day…you did better than you thought Jeff…very minimal word stumbling the second time around-well done Sir! The first time I watched this episode I thought it was just ok, but after a rewatch…it was great, we did get a lot of information and plot driving goodness. Seems like everyone is going to get an episode this arc, very cool. Here are my thoughts on Siege Perilous.

Best quote about unknown technology ever on once upon a time: “I have this picture from up inside Zelena.” My husband doesn’t watch the show, but he did happen to be walking by when that line was given so innocently…he stopped and said, wait-what did he just say? I then had to explain that Robin Hood was talking about the sonogram of his baby he was tricked into having with the wicked witch of the west that impersonated his dead wife. I got the sideways puppy look that happens whenever you try to explain this show to a non-watcher, but it made me laugh! I hope everyone writes in this quote cuz it never gets old, and the more times Jeff has to read it the funnier it will be!

I knew Arthur was shady…if that’s really Arthur of course! It’s hard to know who is really who on this show. I feel like Arthur is trying too hard, something is just off. Lancelot said “Camelot is not what it seems.” I don’t have this theory completely figured out in my brain, but we’ll see. This would explain how he was able to pull the sword like you asked Jeff, but now is a villain. I also want to know if maybe the sword itself is influencing him somehow? I think that Nimewe has something to do with this too, Merlin was trapped in the tree by Arthur or Nimewe. But, maybe he trapped himself in the tree to protect everyone knowing the savior was coming someday. This is all so fun, like season one, theorizing again about characters and plot. I just love it!

I am so proud of Hook! I think. I thought he was going to cave, but he held his ground and refused to go dark, he wants his Emma back and I love his strength in the face of her darkness…it was a powerful scene. Reminds me what Snow said last season. “Heroes do what is right, not what is easy”. Then again…if the naughty Rumple’s monologue from last week is right, Hook not loving and supporting her may snuff out any light left and help her go dark. It’s the people that you love and that love you that keeps dark ones from succeeding, so I’m not really sure what’s truly at play here. I thought Hook was the hero Emma needed, but its Rumple!! Very interesting, I am so intrigued as to where that is going. Rumple and Emma’s role reversal is great. I love David on a quest…he really is great at the adventure stories. Though I feel bad for him, Arthur only gave him that seat to keep an eye on him and get information from the group, ya know-“keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer.” But, one can never go wrong with 2 hot guys, a truck chase and jousting with a 2 by 4! I do think this bromance will cause trouble for Snow and Charming. If Charming trusts Arthur and Snow trusts Lancelot, it could put a wedge between them, Charming knows the real story and may even get jealous…IF that’s even Lancelot of course!! I did not like the scene with Regina and Zelena. I liked the acting, but not seeing Regina go all evil Queen on her. She’s better than that, but sisters will make ya crazy at times. Maybe Zelena got the bean to try and get to Oz with the baby? I think Arthur will use David to get info and tear the group apart, and maybe even Arthur will use Zelena. If he finds out the baby drama, he could persuade her and use her magic to his advantage somehow as well. Or…he’s gonna get that dagger somehow, and control Emma to do God knows what to her family! Could go on-but this is crazy long already-Sorry! This is a great season so far!

Only a few things that made me go hmmm…Arthur really is a quick study with driving! He didn’t even know what a truck was and suddenly he’s Arthur Andretti? It was a fun scene though. Regina takes bad notes. How about a quick “can we talk to merlin with this mushroom? That would have been way more helpful. And why is everyone treating Emma like a child in Camelot? It’s bothering me. Emma has said numerous times, “No one saves me but me”, that’s why I still think she’s in there playing both sides somehow.

Big love to you both and all the Oncers…I can’t wait to hear all your thoughts and theories everyone!!! Talk to ya next week, Trace

Hello Jeff and Colleen, here’s a little advice, if you ever have the misfortune of being turned into a tree, keep all your partners limbs attached, they’ll thank you later. Now, unto to the things I learned this week on the episode, Siege Perilous.

#1. Dopey’s productivity level
“leaves” much to be desired.

#2. Putting your name on that last
piece of cake in the company
fridge means absolutely
nothing to the Dark One.

#3. Having Leroy as a friend can
cause high blood pressure.

#4. Granny’s diner needs a man
with a mop.

#5. Having temporary amnesia,
wearing strange clothes and
waking up in a place that’s
not your home could either
be a new curse of the after
effects of Doctober.

#6. If you’ve never driven a
vehicle in your life, the only
lesson you need is, speed
is feet and direction is hand.

#7. The black knight really is
invincible!!

#8. Never Cut corners when
building your crimson crown
bog bridge.

#9. Robin better learn real quick
how to password protect his
phone.

#10. Our world has something in
common with Camelot. We
both have shrooms that let
us talk to trees.

THEORIES:

Arthur knew the toadstool would help communicate with Merlin, yet he takes it from David. What if Merlin is actually appearing as Arthur and the real one is trapped in the tree. Another possibility could be a villain like Madam Mim masquerading as Arthur so that Merlin is not be free.

Have a great show

Hi Jeff, Colleen, (and Lady)

When Emma asks everyone if they were sure that they didn’t want her to wiggle her nose to get Merlin out of the tree, I wonder if that was a little nod to the old TV show Bewitched? Because as far as I remember, that’s the only witch who ever cast spells by twitching her nose.

I felt so sorry for Killian in this episode, the way Emma set out to manipulate him for her own ends. Emma knew that he was the only one who knew Rumple before he became the dark one so that there was a chance that he had something in his possession that had touched Rumple before he was possessed by the darkness. So when he admitted to her that he was the villain in the scenario on his ship with Rumple trying to keep his family together and that his cutlass had touched him, she knew she had what she wanted and became her most flirtatious to get her hands on that cutlass, grabbing it away from him as she reminded him of when she had taught him to fight during the time when he was cowardly Hook.

The saddest part was when he said he loved her, in the past tense, and then asked her if he was swimming home or sailing home. It showed that he knew she was so enveloped in the darkness that he felt she was capable of killing him at that moment in time.

And then, later when Emma was in the basement room talking to the dark one, he made the comment that finding the cutlass was lucky. She replied in a completely emotionless voice: “It wasn’t luck, I worked hard for this.” Boy, that was cold and ruthless. It makes you wonder how she will be changed as a person if and when they manage to remove the darkness from her.

Take care,
Marilyn