TV Recap: Once Upon a Time in Wonderland 1-11 - Heart of the Matter

Wow.  What an ending.  I sat there with my mouth hanging open as it played out.  Now I'm really curious how it is going to play out in future weeks.

But we have lots of ground to cover before we get there, so let's get to it.

I was so thrilled with the flash back because it included Cora!!!  That was lots of fun.

We actually flashed back to a time right before the Red Queen's wedding.  She had invited the Queen of Hearts (aka Cora) to tea to get to know her better.  Cora immediately praises her as the daughter she'd love to have (unlike that disappointment Regina), and suggests that she teach Red Queen magic.  That puts a damper on their relationship since the Red King is opposed to magic.

Meanwhile, Knave shows up asking Red Queen why she turned her back on him like this.  He offers one chance to run away with him - join him at the wagon.

However, unknown to both of them, Cora was listening.  The next day she goes off to convince Knave that Red Queen no longer wants to be with him.  It doesn't take much, but before he goes on his way, Knave asks Cora to take out his heart so it won't hurt him as much.  So when Knave told Lizard that his heart belonged to another a couple weeks ago, he truly meant it.  (Although how that plays into the modern portion of the episode, I don't know.  How did Knave get his heart back?)

The next part of Cora's plan takes her to Red Queen, who is actually about to run away and join Knave.  However, Cora convinces her (partly via a magic mirror) that Knave isn't waiting for her and is so hurt he will never take her back anyway.  It works, and Red Queen marries.

The final scene in the flashback involves Cora finally teaching Red Queen a bit of magic.  She also makes a comment about not having Red King around for too much longer.  It's been obvious he's dead, but I'm wondering if Cora killed him and why.  We'll probably never find out, but it is interesting to think about.

So how does this play out in the current storyline?

Cyrus needs his compass back so he can track down his mother.  When she gave it to him, she said it would lead him back to her at some point.  Unfortunately, Caterpillar has it, so he goes and tries to bargain for it.  However, the real plan if for a shrunk Alice to go get it, a plan which works.

The two of them are trying to get it to work so they can track down Cyrus's mother when one of the Tweedles shows up, giving them Red Queen's message to save themselves.  However, they take it the other way and sneak in to try to rescue her.

Meanwhile, Jafar is very frustrated because the spell he is casting isn't working on Knave.  When Jabberwocky tries to read his fears, he doesn't have any, so they are off to ask Red Queen what to do about it.  She doesn't know, but Jabberwocky picks up on Alice, who is hiding nearby, and her fears to learn the truth - Knave doesn't have a heart.

Alice and Cyrus make it out of the prison using the secret tunnels, but they set off to retrieve Knave's heart so they can hide it some place else.  They have to grab White Rabbit to do it since the heart is in…Storybrooke.

I was a little disappointed that we didn't meet anyone we know in Storybrooke, but apparently Knave had been living there for a while since he had a place to live and everything.  Alice finally figures out it is behind the wall with the picture of Red Queen in front of it.

Meanwhile, Cyrus and Red Queen are in cells next to each other and are able to talk.  Red Queen admits she was working with Jafar so he could change the laws of magic and take her back to a time before they even left to come to Wonderland.  She also confesses she was about to leave to meet him the day of her wedding.  For his part, Cyrus promises to think about forgiving her.

When Rabbit, Cyrus, and Alice return to Wonderland to try to hide the heart "some place none of us know where it is", who should greet them but Jafar.  They resist giving him the heart, but they are no match for him.  However, when Jafar tries to use his staff to kill Cyrus and Alice, it resists.  In fact, it winds up in Cyrus's hands, and Jafar has to leave with just the heart.

Between the staff's actions and his mother's love of snakes, Cyrus begins to get a theory.  And the compass is now working and follows the staff wherever it goes.  Could it be his mother is trapped inside?  He and Alice are going to try to find a way to free her if that's the case.

Meanwhile, Jafar returns to his prison and puts the heart in Knave.  It works because he immediately goes over and kisses Red Queen.  But Jafar wants more proof it is working, so he kills Red Queen to see Knave's reaction.  His reaction?  He's devastated.

And I was in shock.  I'd heard rumors that a character was going to die, but I wasn't expecting it last night for some reason.  It was a very intense moment, and it looks like it will be driving Knave's actions next week as he tries to help Jafar rewrite the rules of magic to bring Red Queen back to life.

Meanwhile, I'm wondering about this spell that Jafar is going to perform.  I mean, he thinks it will rewrite the laws of magic.  However, since it is Cyrus's mom he heard about it from, and all three of the genies (at least then) are her three sons, could it be that this spell will actually do something to free them?  Or maybe she wanted it to go back in time and keep them from becoming genies?  I'm still thinking that Jafar will wind up as a genie at the end, but who knows.  Maybe they have another fate in mind for him.

I'm very curious to see how it will all play out.  Only two episodes, and we'll know exactly what happens.  Can't wait to find out.

What do you think of my theory?  Do you have one of your own?  I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.