'Once Upon a Time' Season 3, Episode 1: 'The Heart of the Truest Believer' Recap

Eleven years ago:

Emma labors with Henry. As he is born, the lights go out. The doctor tells her it is a boy, but she refuses to look at him. The doctor reminds her he can change her mind, but she insists she cannot be a mother, weeping.

Present day:

Emma and the rest of the crew hold tight as the ship swirls through the votex, finally righting itself. Hook spots land: Neverland.

Tamara, Greg and Henry have arrived. Henry insists that his family will come for him; they've been to the Enchanted Forest before. Tamara tells him they're not in the Forest, they're in Neverland: the motherload of magic. Henry tries to find out who they work for, but they refuse to tell him. Tamara tries to contact someone with her walkie talkie, but finds that it's just a toy, with sand where there ought to have been batteries.

Regina demands to know why Hook is slowing down. He tells her his plan to sneak into the land and catch them by surprise. He notes the irony of how he spent his life trying to get away from Neverland to kill Gold, and now, here is he, returning... with Gold as a partner. Not the happy ending he had in mind.

Regina tells him that Greg told her she's a villain, and they don't get happy endings. She asks Hook if he believes that, and he hopes not, or his life has been wasted.

Snow and Charming remind Emma that she can't blame herself for what happened to Neal and Henry. She doesn't blame herself: she blames them. She was a fool to listen to them. They remain insistent that they'll find Henry.

Gold interrupts... they won't get Henry, he will. Snow and Charming can't do it, and Emma has no faith in what she sees. That won't work in Neverland.

He spins his cane, and vanishes.

Greg builds a fire, hoping to signal their group. Tamara is becoming skeptical after finding the empty communicator, but a group of boys come from the woods and introduce themselves as the Home Office. Henry asks why the Lost Boys want to destroy magic, and the leader says they don't... it's just what they told Greg and Tamara. They demand Henry, but Tamara says they want the plan on how to get home first. The Lost Boy leader tells them they're not.

When Greg resists, the creepy shadow figure swoops down and rips a similar shadow from Greg, who drops. Henry and Tamara run. Tamara is quickly felled by an arrow.

As Henry runs through the forest, a cloaked boy grabs him and hides him. He tells him he used to be a Lost Boy, but he escaped, and now they're after him as well.

Emma does pull-ups, telling Hook she's preparing for a fight. Hook presents her with Baelfire's sword.

"I didn't realize you were sentimental."

Neal wakes up, Mulan sitting beside him. Aurora and her prince bring him a drink, and they realize that he is Henry's father. Aurora tells him he may be able to contact Henry in her dreams. Neal tells her to tell them he's alive, and to tell Emma that he loves her.

The ship begins to rock out of control. Hook shouts at them to prepare for battle... they are being attacked by mermaids. They begin a counter-attact as the mermaids threaten the boat.  Emma catches one in a net, but Regina gets annoyed, and uses her magic to blast them away.

They bring the captured mermaid aboard.

Henry and his hero stop to rest. The boy tells him if Pan has sent for him, Pan will take him. He reveals fairy dust that he stole, hoping to use it to get home - the reason Pan is on his trail. They make for the Echo Caves, where they cannot be tracked.

Aurora tries to sleep as Mulan questions Neal. He says as he fell through the portal, he thought of the Enchanted Forest. Aurora sits up. She couldn't make contact, and she fears no one can. Neal says that his father can... he just has to get to his castle and find the thing his father left behind for such a need.

Tamara crawls toward the fallen Greg. Gold stands over her. He magics the arrow out of her so she can speak. She tells him that Henry ran into the jungle. She apologizes for all she has done, and asks for forgiveness.

It won't be granted. Gold rips out her heart and crushes it to dust, killing her.

As the crew debates over the mermaid, she grabs a shell and sounds a warning. The crew argues over what to do, as a storm rolls in, apparently conjured by the mermaid, who says they will destroy themselves. Charming threatens her with a sword, but relents. Snow wants to let her go, but Regina reminds Snow that they're not in the Enchanted Forest anymore. Regina turns the mermaid into a statue. Not the right choice, apparently. A giant wave crashes in on them.

Mulan and Neal walk. She asks him about Emma, who never mentioned him. He says it's because he broke her heart.

Neal and Mulan arrive at her father's castle. Mulan says it appears to be abandoned, but Neal checks a cup and notes that it is occupied. An arrow neatly misses him. It's Robin Hood. Neal tells Robin Hood he is Gold's son, and Robin admits that Gold spared him once, and he owes him a debt.

Neal searches, and finds an old cane. He waves it around, and a door appears.

As they struggle in the storm, Regina and Snow argue over what she did to the mermaid. They fight. Charming ties to go to her, but he and Hook end up fighting, while Emma struggles to guide the ship. She screams at them to stop fighting, but they won't quit. The storm gets worse.

She jumps overboard. The fighting stops as they rush to the side of the ship. A piece of equipment breaks and falls, striking Emma.

Henry and his new friend run, pursued. They stop at the edge of a cliff. Henry grabs the pixie dust, but his friend reminds him it doesn't work. Henry tells him it's because he doesn't believe... but Henry does. They run off the cliff, flying.

Snow screams at Regina to get Emma, but Regina is unable. Charming ties a rope around himself and goes in, looking for her. He sees her and pulls her up. Emma coughs up water on the deck, and the storm begins to clear.

Gold sits, and invites someone to come out of the woods. A Lost Boy comes forward. He tells Gold Pan says he is welcome to stay in Neverland... but if he's here for the boy, then he is Pan's enemy. He won't survive.

Gold says the question isn't whether or not he will survive... they both know he won't. It is a matter of how many of the Lost Boys he takes with him.

The boy throws one last thing at him... a little doll Pan wanted him to have. Gold picks it up, emotional.

Neal opens the magically hidden door. He puts his hands around a glass globe, but nothing happens. Mulan instructs him to think about Emma and how he feels about her. Neal sees Emma in the glass, and realizes she is in Neverland.

The crew hits land. Emma insists it's time to stop running, and time to stop being at each others' throats. Pan knows they're there, she says. They need to all work together, and believe, and cooperate. They have to be who they are and use their skills to their advantage.

Henry and his friend land. The boy reveals he is actually Peter Pan himself.

Henry asks why he has brought him there. Pan tells him he's seeking something important... the heart of the truest believer. Henry just proved himself. Pan calls forth his boys and draws his dagger. They close in.