Manhattan (Once Upon a Time)
| "Manhattan" | |
|---|---|
| Once Upon a Time episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 14 |
| Directed by | Dean White |
| Written by |
Edward Kitsis Adam Horowitz |
| Original air date | February 17, 2013 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
|
"Manhattan" is the 14th episode of the second season of the American ABC fantasy/drama television series Once Upon a Time, and the show's 36th episode overall, which aired on February 17, 2013.
It was co-written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, while being directed by Dean White.
In this episode, Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), Henry (Jared S. Gilmore), and Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle) arrive in Manhattan to find his son Baelfire (Michael Raymond-James), only to have Emma regret the trip after past memories come back to haunt her. Meanwhile, in the Enchanted Forest, a young Rumpelstiltskin is to fight in the Ogre Wars, but is then hesitant after a seer (Shannon Lucio) reveals his fate.
The episode was received positively by critics, with most praising Robert Carlyle's role as Rumpelstiltskin during the flashback. The episode also saw an increase in ratings from the previous episode, with 7.50 million viewers watching, garnering an 18-49 rating of 2.4.
The skyline of New York City appears in the forest.
Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) is drafted into the Ogres War. Milah (Rachel Shelley) is alarmed, but Rumplestiltskin is eager to free himself of his father's legacy of cowardice. Milah exhorts him to fight honorably, and hopes they'll start a family when he returns. At the front, he is assigned to guard a prisoner, which proves to be a young girl who has deformed eye sockets but functioning eyes on her hands; she is a Seer, able to see the past and future. She demonstrates her knowledge of Rumplestiltskin's earlier life, then informs him that Milah is pregnant with a son, but that Rumplestiltskin's actions the next day will leave the child fatherless. He doesn't believe her, but she says he will once the army rides cows into battle. That night, another soldier describes their wounded comrades as lucky, because they'll be sent home. The men are then ordered to ride into battle, on leather saddles termed "cows." Rumplestiltskin panics and, believing he is destined to die in battle the next day, crushes his own leg with a hammer. Rumplestiltskin returns home to find Milah cradling their son, Baelfire. She is aghast to see confirmation of the rumor that he took the cowardly action of wounding himself to escape the battle, and she denounces him. He didn't want to leave his son fatherless as his own father did by abandoning him, but Milah says that to be Rumplestiltskin's son is a worse fate, and it would have been better if he had died. Milah angrily leaves, and Rumplestiltskin promises to never leave Baelfire.
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