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Are you my dad? Am I my OWN dad!? |
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Once Upon A Time is the fourth episode of season 15, Neverafter.
Content Warnings[]
This episode contains the following content warnings at the given timecodes
- Crawling bugs/misophonia (5:05-5:40)
- Violence against a child (19:18)
- Sudden appearance of a corpse (48:00)
- Flashing video (29:41, 1:14:32)
- Large amount of rodents/Musophobia (1:25:15)
Intro[]
"Hello, one and all, and welcome back to another thrilling episode of Dimension 20. I am your humble Dungeon Master, Brennan Lee Mulligan. With me… Uh… Shucks, nobody's with me right now.
Last we left off, as you may remember, here on "Dimension 20: Neverafter," The Times of Shadow had fallen upon the realms of fairytale, and our six Intrepid Heroes, being: Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, Little Red Riding Hood, Mother Goose, the Frog Prince, and Puss in Boots, seeking answers from a magical book, riddles told to them by a mirror, all manner of strange signs pointing in the direction of the Kingdom of Elegy, discovered a Fairy Godmother and a dangerous army of half animated objects. There, in the woods by the roadside, near a rotting pumpkin carriage, were all of our heroes killed, which makes telling a story complicated, because they're all dead. So, I suppose there's nothing left to do but to begin."
Synopsis[]
Brennan opens the episode by recounting Pinocchio's story, before speculating what would happen if he had lied as a real boy. Brennan then invites Lou, as Pinocchio, into the dome, as he will invite each member of Destiny's Children one-by-one throughout the episode to discuss their fates.
We move into the battlefield from the previous episode, where Pinocchio's rotting wooden body lies on the ground. Despite being dead, Pinocchio can still feel the insects and moss burrowing into his joints. He hears a high-pitched voice shooing the insects away from him, and recognises the voice of the 100-year-old talking cricket he had accidentally killed early in his adventure. The cricket, ghostly and transparent, hops onto Pinocchio's body, trying to get the bug off. As Pinocchio tries to help, his spirit rises out of his body, ghostly and translucent like the cricket. For Pinocchio, this confirms that he is dead. As the cricket hops onto Pinocchio's hand, the latter sadly says that he's dead. After the cricket tries and fails to give Pinocchio some encouragement, Pinocchio tries to brush him off. The cricket tries to tell Pinocchio what he should do, and Pinocchio responds: "What the fuck do I need to do?" The cricket says that, for one thing, he shouldn't cuss, or he'll never be a real boy again, but Pinocchio yells at him that he's just a a puppet. Suddenly, Pinocchio feels strings on his joints, and begins to be pulled into the sky, away from the cricket. In this moment, Pinocchio realises that his nose has returned to a normal length and is now on his face again. He feels the presence of his Stepmother, and apologises to her for failing to keep Rosamund safe. She chastises him, wondering how he could fail so egregiously. He recounts discovering the bones of the Stepsisters and, upon feeling the temperature drop, he tries to lie to the Stepmother about what he took from the room. He feels his nose grow as he lies, and then confesses the truth of what he took. She extends her hand, somewhat unnaturally far, and he gives the knife and the etching back to her, withholding the doorknob in hopes that his Stepmother will let him speak to his father, Geppetto. She refuses and, after taking the doorknob back, breaks Pinocchio's nose off. She asks if he needs more magic to accomplish the tasks that she wants him to complete, but states that "great magic requires blood". Upon telling Pinocchio that she needs to send him back to the Neverafter, she tells him that "things are going to get bad." She says that he "need[s] to protect her," referring to Rosamund, saying that "they almost found her, and now they know she's out there." Pinocchio asks who "they" are, and his Stepmother says that it does not matter, he just needs to keep Rosamund safe. She cries out in pain after mentioning the Fairy Godmother, and tells Pinocchio that time is running out. She then tells him that she will take blood from his father in order to grant him greater abilities. She departs momentarily, and returns with a mangy looking crow, giving the bird to Pinocchio, as well as returning his nose to him, which is now etched with runes and soaked in blood. Pinocchio refuses to return to the world, but his Stepmother tells him that, sometimes, little boys must do things that they don't want to do in order to grow up. Pinocchio picks up his nose, and immediately feels a powerful magic as his body returns to its solid form. The Stepmother asks if Pinocchio met anyone else who knew of her in his story before dying. He lies but, with his nose detached from his face, his Stepmother does not make note of it. She grabs Pinocchio to move him somewhere, and Pinocchio sees himself as a real little boy in the village of Amanti as he is propelled through the cosmos. Pinocchio is then forced into that world, replacing the other version of himself, whom his Stepmother painfully removes from this world by capturing him in the form of an etching.
We then move to Puss in Boots, who finds himself coming to his senses in a dark forest, noticing the scent of mice and other wild creatures nearby. He is aware that he has died, but does not feel scared in the same way that a human would. Pib feels himself being drawn away from his attachments and, upon moving away from the place that he woke up in, he notices that he has left his boots and cape behind, and he feels his memories drifting away, as though he is losing his ego. He chooses to keep going, though Puss in Boots has been left behind in the forest and, in this moment, he is just "Cat". He keeps moving through the forest, and comes into a clearing where he finds a Fox and a Rabbit, both caught in traps, who ask for his help in escaping. They both identify themselves as "fellow tricksters," which sparks his memory, prompting him to attempt to free them from their traps. He triggers a net trap, which he avoids, and the other tricksters release themselves from their traps, bemoaning their failed prank. Cat then becomes aware of a feeling of being able to see his past incarnations, with the Rabbit confirming that Cat has been to this forest before, and is in a sort of transitional place, moving from one story to the next as he has many times before. Cat finds a stream and, glancing into it, he sees a multitude of versions of the Neverafter with all sorts of variants of the other characters, and then realises that the trickster animals that appear in the stories of the Neverafter have been attempting to upset the intended path of the story that outside forces have been trying to accomplish. Cat splashes the stream, disrupting the vision, and then, after hearing the howl of a wolf, discusses with Fox and Rabbit which one of them will continue on back into the story. Cat and Fox then argue about who should return to the story, with Cat asserting that he gets to decide who goes into the story. Choosing to return to the story, Cat finds a new pair of boots and a cape, realising that he is taking on the memories of the stories of Puss in Boots, and is stepping into a darker story with a more scoundrel-like appearance to match. As he moves towards returning to the story, he sees a vision of an empty spiderweb, in front of which is a marble slab with a spider-silk ring and throwing knives that look like wolf-fangs, which he takes. Fox and Rabbit bid Pib farewell, who returns to the Neverafter. Once there he finds himself fleeing, once again, from the fallen kingdom of Marienne.
Princess Rosamund du Prix awakens in her bed, finding that the briars that protect her are not encroaching upon her room, but merely growing around the outside of the castle. She hears a strange clanking from the hallway, opening the door to investigate. A figure appears in front of her, revealing herself from a sort of invisibility, and introduces herself as Cinderella. Cinderella exclaims that "it worked," describing how "they" caught Rosamund before she got to wherever she was being sent after death. Cinderella asks Rosamund how she feels about previous attempts to protect her, and Rosamund replies that it felt more like she was in a cage. Cinderella lights a fire, with both of them remarking how cold the room is, and then proceeds to tell Rosamund that her prince is not coming for her this time. Cinderella then tells Rosamund that she has died several times, and that the two of them, in addition to Snow White, are "blessed" with the ability to die more often than the average person. Cinderella then goes on to explain that Rosamund, like many others, is part of a story, and that the Times of Shadow were not brought to the Neverafter, but perhaps caused the Neverafter to start existing. She then asks Rosamund about her experience with fairies, and Rosamund recounts meeting the Fairy Godmother, which surprises Cinderella. Cinderella then reveals that Rosamund has lived many lives, and that "they" are not allowing Rosamund to remember her previous stories in order to maintain control of the details and destinies of her and others' stories. Cinderella explains that she and the other princesses believe that the fairies are conspiring together to cause all of the harm and hurt that the princesses are experiencing, in order to mould their stories into the shape that they desire. Rosamund pushes back against this, saying that the cruelty of the world is necessary for her prince to prove that he is worthy. In this moment, however, her memories begin to return to her, showing her all of the previous versions of her story, in which she is unable to see any aspect of true love. After this, she begins to better understand what Cinderella is attempting to convince her of. Cinderella says that only an artefact of powerful magic could have allowed her to find Rosamund after she died, which Rosamund hypothesises is Timothy's Book. Cinderella implores her to find her friends again once she wakes up, and tells her that, whilst there are many worlds and versions of the Neverafter, there are not an infinite number, and the remaining worlds are much crueler. Cinderella then tells Rosamund that she and the other princesses are on their way to the world that Rosamund is returning to, but that it may take them a while to get there. She asks Rosamund to look out for a princess near the coast that can only dance, and cannot speak. The two princesses share a hug, Cinderella gives Rosamund a wrapped parcel, and they bid each other farewell. Rosamund then awakens in her tower, with more, stronger briars, but she herself is also stronger. She has a memory of having been given gifts by seven fairies in this world, as opposed to the three that she was familiar with before. She remembers that they gave her the gifts of: beauty, grace, cunning, strength, fortitude, and wisdom, and that the seventh fairy ended the curse of the wicked fairy. Rosamund frees herself from the briars, rejecting their protection, and a swarm of mice emerges from under her bed, shredding the briars, and offers up the spindle of the spinning wheel to her to keep on her person. Leaving the tower, Rosamund and the mice are joined by a swarm of birds as she makes her way through the Neverafter in search of her friends.
Ylfa Snorgelsson finds herself walking along a cozy woodland path. Alongside her, though hidden amongst trees and shrubs, is the Big Bad Wolf. Ylfa tells the Big Bad Wolf to stop being coy and introduce himself, saying she's looking for friends outside of her grandma. He tells her that he is sorry that she has died. Ylfa responds in frustration with: "Freak." Ylfa asks whether this means she will be reunited with her grandma, and the Big Bad Wolf tells her that they can "find a story like that," and that, in most stories, Ylfa is reunited with her grandma and he is dead. Ylfa says that this is the kind of story that she would like to read. The Big Bad Wolf tells her that they will soon approach a fork in the path, with a path running left and a path running right, and that they can find a story like this for Ylfa. Ylfa asks if it offends him that she'd like that to happen and the Big Bad Wolf replies that she has already killed him once. Ylfa answers that this is what he told her to do, and he says that she was "kind enough to comply." Ylfa expresses that she has no interest in doing that again, prompting the Big Bad Wolf to ask her if she regrets "those gifts." Ylfa says that she feels the Big Bad Wolf has given her "the gifts of survival without giving me a reason to survive, and without any reassurance that you won't take anyone else from me." She also says that these gifts "kind of made me a monster amongst princes and princesses," concluding by saying that she sees them as a "mixed blessing." She then apologies to the Big Bad Wolf for speaking back to him as she sees him as an authority figure, including apologising for saying "freak" in her frustration. The Big Bad Wolf replies that he would not have even known to be offended by this. He says that he "come[s] for everyone in their time. It is without malice or cruelty that I intend to devour each and every being." Ylfa asks after her friends Pinocchio, Puss in Boots, and Mother Goose, and he replies that he will come for them too, saying: "I think the true cruelty would be for me to spare some but not others." Ylfa expresses frustration and confusion at what she perceives to be the pointlessness of having been given the skills to protect friends that will eventually meet the same fate as her grandma, and that she wishes to do something noble with her strength. They arrive at the fork in the path and Ylfa sees a left-hand path and a right-hand path. Down the left-hand path, the Big Bad Wolf tells Ylfa there is a story in which she doesn't kill him, but the woodsman does, and she is reunited with her grandma. He tells her that that story already exists and that her story ended in the dirt in her previous battle. He tells her that whichever story she goes to will receive her "in all the fullness" of what has happened to her, and that her strengths and memories will carry across. Ylfa questions where the woodsman was on the day that her and the Big Bad Wolf met. The Big Bad Wolf replies that the woodsman's actions are varied across different stories, telling Ylfa that the woodsman is but a character in her tale. The Big Bad Wolf tells her that the right-hand path takes her to other stories, stories in which she might learn the answers to her questions about the woodsman and, with regards to her question about finding a noble cause to fight for, in which she might find her friends. Ylfa asks if Jack, Mother Goose's son, is alive in the stories down the right-hand path, and the Big Bad Wolf says that, in most of them, he is not and, in many of them, Ylfa never even meets Mother Goose. Ylfa says that she wants to talk to her grandma so that she can consult an adult about this important decision, asking to tap into the "suspended animation" that she imagines her grandma will be in whilst waiting for Ylfa to join her in the afterlife. The Big Bad Wolf walks back into the forest and Ylfa then sees, walking up the path behind her a few moments later, her grandma (Grandma Ylfa Jottensdottir). Ylfa greets her grandma and says they are pulling a "grandma heist," asking her to take her hand and join her in running anywhere but down the two forked paths ahead of them. Grandma tells her that they cannot leave the path as this is dangerous, with Ylfa expressing disappointment and confusion at this, as this is what her mother, not her grandma, would always say. Grandma tells Ylfa that she is the one who taught Ylfa's mother not to stray herself when she was younger. Ylfa asks if, as they are now together again, they can make oatmeal-raisin cookies like they used to. Grandma agrees to this and walks down the right-hand path. Ylfa follows, but then begins to notice that her grandma's ears are bigger than she remembered. Ylfa accuses what she seems to think is the Big Bad Wolf in disguise of tricking her again by making her go down the right-hand path, where she will stay "monstrous". She asks her grandma if she remembers what she did to her family, and her grandma replies: "You huffed and you puffed and you blew them all away." Grandma tells Ylfa that she is not in disguise, and she transforms, appearing, not as if in disguise, but like a werewolf herself. Ylfa tearfully says that she doesn't know what to fight for now that her grandma is gone and that it has become even harder for her to make friends now because of her wolfishness. Grandma reassures her that she is her "favourite little girl in the whole wide world," that, whatever she chooses to fight for, it will be right, and that true friends will love her wolf side too. Ylfa sees her grandma transform again and it appears like she and the Big Bad Wolf are the same person or thing, or that there is a part of her that ate the wolf too. Grandma tells her that the true path is always the scarier path, and Ylfa walks down the right-hand path with a new sense of determination. She soon reaches a cliff and, looking over it, begins to feel another set of memories at the edge of her mind, a version of her story where she made the same choices in the cottage and gained her gifts from the wolf, but also an additional, even bloodier set of memories of going to find the woodsman first. The Big Bad Wolf appears at her side for the final time, with a stream of blood running from his eyes, mouth, and nose, shuddering as if he is dying. Ylfa apologises for doing this to him, and the Big Bad Wolf appears about to reveal that "there is something else connected to me in this version of your story," before stopping to apologise for all that Ylfa has suffered as the blood that falls from his mouth catches on fire, causing her cloak to glow for a moment with flames, and bestowing a warmth upon it that was not there before. Ylfa then watches as the fur is blasted off of the Big Bad Wolf's skin by fire and, as he is silhouetted in flame, there is a noise behind him of some other beast or entity calling out from the world she sees below her. Ylfa then appears, standing in the woods near Pottingham in a much stronger body than before. She remembers two versions of her story: one in which she went to see her family, and one in which she went to see the woodsman first and destroyed him with her claws.
We then move to Prince Gerard of Greenleigh, who opens his eyes to find himself floating in water with lily pads surrounding him and the glass shard still sticking out of his chest. As blood seeps into the water around him, he attempts to pull the glass shard out of him and cannot remove it. He hears a voice warning him to be careful and not to touch the glass shard, and sees before him a beautiful fairy (Turquina) with golden skin and turquoise hair. She asks if Gerard is alright and he angrily replies that he is not alright as he has a glass shard in his chest, and because he is a frog and should be a handsome prince. Turquina seemingly sympathetically replies that "none of this is correct," saying that she and the fairies need to get Gerard back to Princess Elody of Greenleigh, find out what has corrupted her mind so that she thinks only of war, and change her back. Gerard says that they need to change him back rather than Elody. Turquina answers this by beginning to say that Elody is the one to blame for Gerard turning back into a frog, and Gerard interrupts to say that it is not entirely Elody's fault, but the fault of outside things ruining their wonderful life together. Turquina says that she agrees with this. Gerard asks her to take the glass out of his chest, turn him back into a human prince, and then help him to find Elody. Turquina explains that she and the rest of the fairies of the Neverafter are attempting to fix all of the disruptions to the "happily ever afters" that should be, but that they need to fix them in the correct order. Gerard responds to this by saying that the easiest thing would be for her to wave her wand and fix him right now as he is in front of her. Turquina tells him that he is not in immediate danger of dying as he is already dead. Gerard responds to this by telling Turquina to put him into the book instead, referring to Timothy's Book, as Old King Cole appeared happy to go there. Turquina immediately asks: "What book?" and Gerard notices a reaction from her at his mention of the book. He lies by saying that he merely meant "the theoretical book of how things should be." Turquina asks him to consider whether he would have become wed to Princess Elody if he had not been turned into a frog first. Gerard contemplates this and responds that he does not begrudge the first "frogging," but does begrudge the second. Turquina says that this first act of transformation was necessary to create one of the Neverafter's greatest love stories, but that the second one was a mistake. She then tells Gerard that there is just one time, one "once upon a time," that he comes from and that, in that world, he is dead, meaning that he cannot return there, but that there are other worlds that are "so close" which he could be sent to. She says that the world she and the fairies have in mind for him is one in which he would be able to reunite with his previous companions. She explains that, in this world, he will be able to help the fairies to achieve his "happily ever after" again, but that, before getting to this, things would be "substantively worse" and that he would exist in an even more frog-like form. She mentions that he was previously in the company of Princess Rosamund of Reverie, and Gerard confirms this as true. She tells him that she and the fairies believe that Rosamund has come into contact with certain wicked individuals that, if they were able to contact, might enable them to bring everything back into harmony. Gerard asks after Elody, expressing concern that, if these wicked individuals are coming after princesses, they might be coming for her too. Turquina says that this is "quite possible." She asks if there was an object of significance that Gerard remembers his previous companions travelling with, beginning to make reference to the "book" that Gerard started to speak about earlier. He lies and says that it was just the gift of the companionship that he shared with his fellow travellers. Turquina responds to this by saying that she and the fairies are working as quickly and diligently as possible to make the world right again and therefore asks of Gerard that, if he discovers the object that has allowed him and his friends to come to a place such as he is currently in, where he can speak with a glass shard in his chest, and that, more importantly, if he finds out that Princess Rosamund has come into contact with any of the wicked people that the fairies believe may be courting her, that he lets her know. Turquina then asks Gerard to remove the glass shard from his chest as she would love to take it off of his hands. Gerard complains that it is too sharp to remove, so she hands him some pieces of lily pad to help protect his hands. Gerard is still unable to remove it and asks incredulously why this fairy, who appears so strong and magical, cannot touch glass. Turquina responds that it is this glass specifically that she cannot touch. Gerard asks: "Because it's for Cinderella?" Turquina asks about Gerard's knowledge of this, and he responds that the person who cursed him is the same one who is looking for Cinderella. Turquina casts a bit of magic on the glass shard, it shakes, and she is unable to remove it. She tells Gerard that, when he comes back to life, any of his mortal friends will be able to help him remove the glass shard and that this should be done as soon as possible. She asks him to find any glade under the light of the moon and place the glass shard there, and tells him that she will return to retrieve it. She asks Gerard if he can do this and he falteringly agrees, but says that he feels like he is being tasked with a lot of the heavy lifting in this plan. Turquina tells Gerard that, if he places the glass shard as she has asked, she will speak to her council and ensure that the retrieval of Princess Elody becomes their topmost priority. With that, Gerard suddenly awakens, much more frog-like than before, in the woods outside of Greenleigh. He can hear sounds of chaos far off through the forest and, nestled in his chest, is the glass shard. Though it stings every time that he moves, his newfound toughness means that it does not deal him a death blow. He feels confused as he has sets of memories of the wonderful life that he lived with Princess Elody but, in this world, the attack from Snowhold was much more violent and the losses much greater. He remembers seeing Elody astride a blood-soaked horse, her eyes wide with battle-rage, and realises that this is a darker version of his story. He is most confused about the manner in which he transformed from a frog into a human prince: he thought that he remembered receiving a kiss from a princess whilst in the form of a frog as the act of love and faith that made him human, but he now has a strange memory of being picked up and thrown into a wall.
Finally, we move to Mother Timothy Goose, who is in a place that feels very pleasant. He feels corporeal and has his book beside him, in which Jack Be Nimble, Old King Cole, and the word "shoe" remain. He is flying over Pottingham and its neighbouring villages on the back of a massive golden goose (The Golden Goose) that looks like The Gander, but is a completely different colour. He hears a voice speaking to him, and it is revealed to be the goose that he is riding on, who tells him that he is dead. They land and The Golden Goose says that she is honoured to meet him and that she understands that he has run afoul of "my other half, my shadow, my brother, if being evocative suits you," referring to The Gander. The two make fun of The Gander's red bonnet. She refers to Timothy as "the man who brings a sliver of hope to the Neverafter," saying that Timothy's Book has begun to work. She describes the lands of Neverafter as lands of story, and says that the creatures of these lands know many versions of these tales or, rather, that each version knows itself. She says that these creatures simply live the wanderings of their stories, tell the tales they tell, but that, occasionally, there are some whose tales involve the collecting of tales and that therein lies a potential gateway into "what some might call the "true reality" of our world." She explains to Timothy that there are as many Mother Gooses as there are Little Red Riding Hoods, as many Frog Princes as there are Sleeping Beauties. She says that Timothy's friends exist again and again and again, not in the same land, but upon different times, saying that the Neverafter is more than the few kingdoms surrounding Pottingham and is bigger than most know. She says that only some have seen its true existent -- some fairies, nearly all witches, and, recently, some princesses -- and that Timothy has glimpsed it. She says that Timothy has brought his son back from his fate at the hands of The Gander, and that he has preserved a version of him. Timothy asks about the fate of Jack and Old King Cole in his book, asking if this is a good thing that he has done for them. The Golden Goose says that she cannot say, but that she can say that they are happy. She goes on to say that she and Timothy are themselves in a book right now, but that these books may not be as countless as they were once thought to be. She says that she is the goose that laid the golden egg, and that she also gave a golden egg to a boy name Jack. Timothy asks if that was his Jack, and The Golden Goose says that the world in which Timothy's companions have been compelled to and, therefore, the one that she suggests Timothy goes to, is a world in which the Jack that she gave the golden egg to is not his son. She says that Timothy's son has many stories and that it is rare for someone to have stories as varied as his. The Golden Goose explains that Jack will be alive in the world which Timothy is due to enter, but will not know him. She says that the Jack in Timothy's Book, however, does know him. Timothy asks if he can swap these two Jacks and The Golden Goose tells him that he can if he wishes to, but Timothy laughs off this idea. The Golden Goose reflects upon the fact that it was The Gander who granted Timothy the book based on his clever wish, and that she has never actually seen The Gander. She says that, wherever she is, there are times of peace, wonder, and prosperity and, conversely, wherever her brother is, there are Times of Shadow. She reflects upon the relationship of The Gander to the Times of Shadow, saying that she is not sure if the two are synonymous, or if one perhaps causes the other. She also says that she cannot go where The Gander is and that, in the world to which Timothy is due to go, The Gander is already there. Timothy asks if The Golden Goose has been watching him and, as a result, if she has any notes about what he should be doing. The Golden Goose says that she does not have any notes, but tells Timothy that there is more power in his book than he can imagine. She says that the place that people occupy in the book is joyful, but notes that Timothy has also removed them from the places that they used to occupy by placing them into the book. Timothy asks if he can ever go into the book, and The Golden Goose says that he can if he wants to write his own story. Timothy then asks about the story of the Jack that he will encounter in this new world and The Golden Goose says that, in this world, Jack was born to poor farming folk far away from Timothy's hometown. She describes Jack as a "clever lad," and appears about to describe him as "neither bad nor good," but instead chooses to say that he is prone to stealing for reasons that seem good to him. Timothy appears to still blindly defend his son, remarking on how smart he was as a kid. The Golden Goose says that Jack is quite wealthy in this new world and that he took a harp, traded a cow to a magician for magic beans, and climbed a beanstalk to steal from a giant. She says that the giant then found out about his stealing and Jack ended up killing him by chopping down the beanstalk whilst the giant was climbing it, causing the giant to fall to his death. She remarks that people painted the giant out to be the "bad guy," but that it was actually Jack that stole from the giant many times and then killed him. Timothy continues to express blind support and pride for Jack. The Golden Goose tells Timothy that there are many forces within the realms of the Neverafter that have become aware of the nature of reality in a way that has not brought them peace and understanding, but has brought them terror and a need for power. She says that the reaction to this, due to the Times of Shadow and The Gander, has been war, panic, and betrayal. She also remarks that there are now less "once upon a times" than there used to be. When Timothy asks if his book is contributing to this, The Golden Goose says that his book is actually adding realms to the Neverafter, which is not something that creatures of those realms are often able to do. She says that she does not know why Timothy's wish resulted in the book, but hypothesises that it is perhaps because he views all the world as his children in the way that he takes care of people and things. She says that the things that Timothy has done are not bad and that they are reversible, saying that he could take people back out of the book. She tells Timothy that he wields powerful magic that he can draw on, noting that some of the rhymes that he wrote down have powerful magic themselves and that he is a witch capable of wielding them. She says that the book is good as it is taking people who are very hurt in the Neverafter and putting them somewhere safe until such a time that Timothy can figure out what else can be done with them. She says that she does, however, have sympathy with Timothy's horror at not knowing the "endgame" of the book. Timothy asks if the book is a waiting room and The Golden Goose says that it essentially is, but "a very safe one". Timothy asks if there is a way that he can invite The Golden Goose into this new world and she says that, unfortunately, there is not. A golden tear falls from her eye and lands upon the book, making it into a magical object that will grant extra spells known. Timothy asks whether his husband, Henry Hubbard, will be in this new world and The Golden Goose says that he will, letting Timothy know that he can arrive to his husband, or arrive somewhere else in this new world. Timothy says that he is just trying to peek in on his husband. The Golden Goose says that she will open a door for him into this new world, and that he will experience, not only the him that died, but the him already existing in this world as well. She also lets Timothy know that this new world is harsher than the one that he has come from, but reassures him by saying that, although the book that he holds is "special, a waiting room, a safekeeping, an ending, and perhaps even a beginning" that she trusts him to discover in time, it is not as special as Timothy himself. The pair hug and Timothy reawakens at his desk in his dark house. There is smoke coming through the window and a fire over the hillside in the middle of the night. He sees Henry, his husband, looking into his office and he immediately has two sets of memories, realising that, in another world, he died and that this version of him has his own memories and the memories of this other him that died. In this story, Jack never came to Timothy and Henry and, in this world, the shadows are starker and more horrifying than in the previous world, and he is a little less happy. He remembers not making his first wish with The Gander to save his son, and he has the memories and powers of the version of himself that learned all of this information from The Golden Goose. Henry asks whether Timothy is alright, and his book opens to show an image of eight fairies. Timothy then knows that his companions have returned to this world too.
Brennan then invites all six of Destiny's Children back into the dome, ending with: "As we return now to the lands of the Neverafter in various new shapes, wearing new forms, all of you journeying in a new life with memories of past selves, and ones whose endings were far from "happily ever after." Make sure to tune in next week as our Intrepid Heroes of the lands of Neverafter convene and reform in a new tale, once upon a more terrifying time."
Locations[]
- The Inbetween
- The land of Neverafter
Characters[]
Players[]
- Prince Gerard of Greenleigh
- Puss in Boots
- Pinocchio
- Mother Timothy Goose
- Ylfa Snorgelsson
- Princess Rosamund du Prix
New[]
Returning[]
Mentioned[]
- Geppetto
- Il Terribile Pescecane
- Senator
- Fairy Godmother
- Donal
- Tomas
- Snow White
- The Wicked Fairy
- Magic Mirror
- The Silent Princess
- The Woodsman
- Jack Hubbard-Goose
- Jack, the Giant-Killer
- Mother Snorgelsson
- Princess Elody
- The Gander
- Old King Cole
Trivia[]
The first episode that each member of the Intrepid Heroes walk in one at a time to gain new abilities and levels since Fantasy High Live.
- Pinnochio's artwork has changed
- Puss In Boots' artwork has changed
- Prince Gerard of Greenleigh's artwork has changed.
- Mother Timothy Goose's artwork has changed.