Intrigue

Gold and Regina play dirty politics and take opposite sides when Emma runs against Sidney for Sheriff, as flashbacks show Rumplestiltskin desperately try to find a way to save his son from being enlisted into war.

Regina and Mr. Gold play dirty politics and take opposite sides when Emma runs for a coveted Storybrooke public office against Sidney. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale world that was, Rumplestiltskin tries to track down the ultimate power source in order to help his son avert the horrors of a meaningless war.—ABC Publicity

We open on Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) watching helplessly as a girl from his village is taken by knights against her will to fight for the kingdom. "The Dark One," a man on a horse in the distance, subdues a couple of villagers who try to jump to the girl's defense by casting some kind of spell of them. Rumplestiltskin's son Baelfire (Dylan Schmid) worries he'll be taken next.

Back in Storybrooke, Emma (Jennifer Morrison) pays a visit to Mr. Gold after he called the Sheriff's Department. He wants to express his condolences about Sheriff Graham. He tells Emma after two weeks as acting sheriff, she'll have to wear the real badge. Mr. Gold offers Emma a keepsake from Graham's apartment. He insists she take a look through his things before they go to the trash. She accepts a pair of walkie-talkies. Mr. Gold tells her she can play with her boy, Henry (Jared Gilmore), and advises her time with her child is precious. "That's the thing about children," he says. "Before you know it, you lose them."

Henry tells Emma they should stop messing with the curse for a while, given what happened to Graham. He says "good always loses, because good has to play fair -- evil doesn't. She's evil," he adds, referring to Regina. "You don't want to upset her anymore."

Back at the office, Emma is about to clip on the real sheriff's badge but Regina (Lana Parrilla) stops her. She says she's going to appoint Sidney Glass (Giancarlo Esposito) from the newspaper (Fairy Tale Land's magic mirror) as sheriff. Emma tells Regina that Graham freed the sheriff's office from her leash, and she's "not getting it back." Regina fires Emma.

Emma is raging to loud music and drinking when Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) gets home. She's upset about losing her job, and says she doesn't know why. She just knows she wants it back. Mr. Gold drops in for a visit. He tells her "two people with a common goal can accomplish many things; two people with a common enemy can accomplish even more." He asks if she'd like a benefactor. He then tells her the town charter might mean the mayor is "not quite as powerful as she seems."

Back in Fairy Tale Land, Rumplestiltskin wakes his son in the middle of the night to hide away so he won't be taken for the war. They're caught by a group of nights. The knight explains to Rumple's son his father also ran from battle and all the other men were killed, "and he returned home to a wife couldn't bear the sight of him." The knight explains it's treason to avoid service, and calls for his men to take the boy. Rumple begs for leniency, and the knight forces him to kiss his boot in front of his own son. He does, and is kicked aside before the knights all leave. An old beggar manto whom Rumple had given alms (guest star Brad Dourif) comes along and tells Rumple that he'll find a way to be his benefactor.

Back in Storybrooke, Regina introduces Sidney Glass as the new sheriff. Emma interrupts and explains the town charter requires an election if there is another candidate for sheriff. Emma says she's running. Regina says Sidney is running, as well.

In Fairy Tale Land, the old man tells Rumple he needs to "choose a different path." Rumple says the only choice he has "is which corner to hide in." He says the only thing he's got is his boy, "and they're going to take him away from me." The man tells Rumple he should steal the dagger of "The Dark One" and keep him as a slave. Rumple says he'd be too terrified to do that. The man then suggests he simply take the power.

Regina visits Mr. Gold and they go back and forth about his fine-print reading of the charter. She says he's trifling with technicalities. Regina tells Mr. Gold he's backing a "slow horse" in this race, but he says she shouldn't underestimate "someone who's acting for their child." Regina says Henry is not Emma's child, "not legally."

"Now who's trifling with technicalities?" Mr. Gold asks.

Emma finds Henry at the diner reading a newspaper. The headline -- from the story written by Sidney -- explains Emma gave birth to her son while she was in jail. Emma says those records are supposed to be sealed. Henry reminds her "good can't beat evil." When Emma mentions Mr. Gold's help, Henry warns he's even worse than Regina. He warns her not to owe Mr. Gold any more favors.

Emma confronts Regina about the article, saying she's most worried about Henry's well-being. Regina insists she did nothing wrong. As they're walking out of Town Hall, where there are "wet paint" signs all around, a door blasts open with a fire raging behind it. Regina can't move. Emma freezes for a moment while looking at the fire.

Back in Fairy Tale Land, Rumple tells his son about how he'll use the power of the magic dagger for good if he gets it. His son thinks he should go and fight. Rumple tells him it's not a fight, it's a sacrifice. His son then asks if the knight's story of how Rumple ran from battle was true. He also asks if his mother is really dead, as Rumple has told him, or if she left him -- as the knight suggested. Rumple says she's dead. He then explains the plan to raid the duke's castle. He says it's made of stone, but the floors and rafters are made of wood -- and wood burns.

Back at Town Hall, Emma steps away. Regina incredulously suggests Emma is going to leave her. Instead, Emma grabs a fire extinguisher and puts the flames down just enough to pull Regina and get them both to safety. Outside, Regina says because the firefighters have arrived, they weren't really in danger. Emma starts to say, "Next time I'll just..." But stops herself and says next time she'll do the same thing, and again the time after that, "because that's what decent people do." She leaves. Sidney comes and takes a picture of Regina, calling her "the victim,". Regina tells him he's trying to hand the election to Emma. Emma, meanwhile, is telling Henry they don't have to fight dirty. But she finds a rag and takes it to Mr. Gold's shop. She tells him she's not willing to use such tactics to win her election. He warns her to think of what she'll be giving away and who she might be disappointing.

Back in Fairy Tale Land, Rumple and his son set a pile of grass ablaze outside the duke's castle and it sets the whole place on fire. Rumple walks through the flames and grabs the dagger off a wall, where it was hidden behind a curtain.

It's the day of the sheriff's election debate. Mary Margaret sees David (Josh Dallas) while she is putting up fliers for Emma. He's putting posters up for Sidney because his wife is friends with Regina. Mary Margaret leaves.

Emma is nervous before the debate and tells Mary Margaret she isn't going to win. She wants to show good can actually win. She's worried she'll have no part in his life if she's not the hero or savior.

Back in Fairy Tale Land, Rumple tells his son to go home and wait for him. His son says he has a bad feeling. Rumple sends him on his way. After his son is gone, Rumple holds up the dagger and summons "Zoso," the real name of The Dark One. Zoso (Brad Dourif) appears and warns Rumple to wield his power wisely, and then he antagonizes him, questioning whether Rumple's son is really his own child at all -- given their differences in attitude toward fighting in the war. Rumple stabs Zoso, whose dark presence fades, and realizes Zoso was the old beggar. The magic powers are now being transferred over to Rumple, with Zoso telling him the magic comes with a price and he wanted to relieve himself of the burden of living with such power. Rumple asks why this is happening. Zoso tells him, "I know how to recognize a desperate soul." After Zoso dies, Rumple pulls the dagger from Zoso's chest to see the name Rumplestiltskin is now emblazoned on it.

Back at the debate, which is moderated by Archie Hopper (Raphael Sbarge), who tells voters to listen to their consciences, Sidney says he wants to serve as a "reflection" of "honesty, neighborliness and strength -- the best qualities of Storybrooke". Emma acknowledges her "troubled past," and says everyone has overlooked it "because of the hero thing." She then explains the fire was a setup by Mr. Gold. She says the worst part is that she let everyone think it was real and she can't win that way.

At the diner, Henry shows up and gives Emma one of the walkie-talkies for standing up to Mr. Gold. He says heroes stand up and expose people like Mr. Gold. Sidney and Regina show up to tell her she won the election in a close vote. Regina hands her the badge. She tells Emma she didn't pick a great friend in Mr. Gold, "but he sure makes a superlative enemy. Enjoy that."

Back in Fairy Tale Land, the knight is taking Rumple's son and wondering why no one is around. Suddenly, one of his men is stabbed from behind. The knight kneels down to acknowledge "The Dark One's" presence, and sees it's Rumple. Rumple's son watches on, frightened and wondering what's happened to his father, while Rumple makes the knight kiss his boot. But before the knight can do this, Rumple grabs the man's head and twists it, breaking his neck, and proceeds to fatally stab the other three men in the knight's group. Rumple's son is terrified and says he doesn't feel safe. Rumple tells his son, "I'm not. I protected what belongs to me, and I'm not scared of anything."

Emma sees Graham's jacket on the coatrack in her new office. Mr. Gold sneaks in to say he thought she'd want it after all. Emma warns Mr. Gold she's armed. He says the whole thing was "political theater," and that no one was going to vote for her unless they gave her some extraordinary quality. He says he knew she could win over the voters by showing she'd stand up to him. "I know how to recognize a desperate soul," he tells her.

Emma asks why he did this. Mr. Gold reminds her of the deal they made a deal some time back and that she owes him a favor. He says, "Now that you're sheriff, I'm sure we'll find some way for you to pay back what you owe me."

"Congratulations," he says as he walks out, without Emma saying anything in response.