All the pieces are slowly coming together for Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and Mary Margaret/Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) in their search for a way back to Storybrooke in this week's episode, "Into The Deep." The mother/daughter duo are working with Mulan (Jamie Chung) and Aurora (Sarah Bolger) to beat the evil witch Cora (Barbara Hershey) from getting to Storybrooke first.
The season's second to last episode before winter hiatus, starts off with the ever charming, and ever revengeful, Captain Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) finally making his way down the beanstalk after being trapped by Emma up at the giants' castle. To Hook's dismay, he's met by Cora who decides not to kill him for failing to bring her the golden compass but instead leave him behind in Fairytale Land unable to exact his revenge on Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle) back in Storybrooke.
Before Hook can get a hold of Cora, she vanishes in purple smoke and returns to the village where she massacred everyone by ripping their hearts out. She awakens the village dead and has her zombie army look for Emma, Snow, Mulan and Aurora.
Meanwhile, back in the forest, Aurora wakes up from her nightmare after learning Henry (Jared S. Gilmore) is the boy in the dark fiery room in her dream. Aurora then tells Snow and Emma about her dream and is shocked to find out that Snow believes the room may be real. Not only that, but the room provides a connection back to Storybrooke. "We have a way home now," she says.
Aurora heads back to sleep and talks to Henry about his mother and grandmother. "They need a way to get back," she tells Henry, before the two wake up. To his joy, and his grandfather's amazement, Henry proclaims, "They're alive, they're alive!" Henry then tells David/Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) and Regina/Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) that in order to get Emma and Snow back, they must defeat Regina's mother, Cora. The news of her mother being alive sends Regina straight to Rumple to tell that they will have to work together to defeat her once and for all.
Back in Fairytale Land, Mulan tells Aurora that it's not safe to go back into her dream state and that she shouldn't risk her life to get Emma and Snow back to Storybrooke. However, Aurora isn't persuaded and tells Mulan that she wants to be able to help after loosing her love Phillip.
In Storybrooke, Regina, David and Henry are at Rumple's office to help Henry give Aurora the instructions to defeating Cora. Rumple tells Henry to tell Aurora that Emma and Snow must head back to Rumple's old jail cell where they will find powerful squid ink that will capture "the dark one." Henry goes to sleep and meets Aurora but is unable to tell her what to do because she is woken up and ripped from the fiery dream room.
Unbeknownst to Henry, Aurora and the rest of her group are attacked by Cora's village zombies. The zombies try to recapture the golden compass from the giant's castle from Emma but are thwarted by Snow. Mulan and Aurora make a run for it, only to be caught by a couple of Cora's zombies. Mulan makes it but finds that Aurora has been taken away.
Cora then takes Aurora prisoner and tells her that she is being used as a bargaining object for the golden compass. The evil witch tries to get Aurora to her side by telling her that she can bring back Phillips soul to Fairytale Land but Aurora refuses to side with her.
Back in Storybrooke, Henry's arm is severely burned from his encounter with Aurora in the fiery dream room. Rumple explains that Aurora being ripped from sleep is what caused Henry to get hurt and says that he needs to head back to try to contact her again. However, after seeing his burns, Regina and David refuse to let him go back.
Instead, David proposes being put to sleep through a sleeping spell in order to communicate to Snow, who he is sure will be back in the dream room. Rumple and Regina attempt to dissuade David from his plan but he doesn't give up. He then tells Regina, "I faced you, how bad can it be?"
Meanwhile, Emma, Snow and Mulan argue about the best way to get Aurora back. Emma and Snow refuse to give Mulan the golden compass and tell the warrior princess that they need to find a way to beat Cora instead. Snow says that the only way they can defeat Cora is if she heads to the dream room and attempts to communicate with Rumple back in Storybrooke. In order to do that, she asks Mulan to make her some sleeping powder to put her to sleep without her mind getting in the way.
Over in Cora's empty village, Hook appears to save Aurora to thwart Cora's plan to reach Storybrooke. Before letting Aurora go, he tells her to tell Emma that his offer to head back to Storybrooke with her still stands.
In Storybrooke, Regina concocts the magical sleeping potion to put David under the sleeping spell and connect him to Snow in the dream room. Henry, who's living with David, asks his adoptive mother if she's kept her promise to not use magic. Regina replies that she has, for the most part, kept her promise in not using magic to be a better mother to him. She then puts the potion on the needle of a spinning wheel, where David pricks his finger and falls asleep. At the same time, Snow is put to sleep with the sleeping powder Mulan makes from poppy seeds.
The two meet in the same room where Aurora and Henry met, where David tells Snow exactly where to find the key to defeating Cora. While she's happy to see him, Snow becomes worried once she figures out that he's under a sleeping spell and will need her kiss to wake him up. To their disappointment and consternation, however, they are unable to kiss in the room.
Snow wakes up to find out that Mulan has run off with the golden compass to trade with Cora for Aurora's life. Snow and Emma take after Mulan and eventually catch up to her. In her anger and frustration, Snow comes close to killing Mulan but is stopped by Aurora, who managed to run away from Cora.
Unbeknownst to the four, Hook managed to get Aurora's heart before letting her go, making her enchanted and forever tethered to him or whoever has her physical heart. Cora catches Hook and threatens to kill him but he gives her Aurora's heart to win back her favor. The two then use their power over Aurora's heart to trick Emma and Snow to tell them exactly what their plan is to defeat Cora.
The upcoming episode, "Queen of Hearts," will see good and evil in Fairytale Land and in Storybrooke battle it out.
'Once Upon a Time' S2E9, "Queen of Hearts" airs on Sunday, December 2 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
WATCH THE PROMO FOR "QUEEN OF HEARTS" AIRING NEXT SUNDAY