‘Once Upon a Time’ recap: King Arthur’s broken kingdom comes into focus

Thanks, “Once Upon a Time,” for shattering another iconic myth. This time, the culprit is King Arthur and the legend of Camelot, and this “Broken Kingdom” episode takes us down a dark path that stains the shiny walls of the fabled city.

We start off getting a taste of Camelot as it was in Arthur’s youth. A kind of rundown hamlet, actually. Arthur and Guinevere knew each other as kids -- and he confided in her that Merlin, who was a wizard locked in a tree even then, told Arthur that he’d find the sword Excalibur and be the king. But bullies, being bullies, hack away at Arthur’s confidence: “No one will ever kneel to the boy who cleans stables.”

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Next thing you know, Arthur is pulling the sword from the stone again. Or a large part of it. And this starts an obsession with making the sword, and the kingdom, whole by reuniting the sword with the dagger of the Dark One. The obsession continued, and Arthur confides in Prince David (or Charming), newest knight of the roundtable, that he is on a quest and needs the dagger to reforge the sword. Uh-oh.

Speaking of the Dark One ... Emma is hearing more voices now. Rumpel, or the power of the Dark One, tells her to take the dagger, which is whispering to her. Luckily, Regina has put a spell on it, which temporarily halts Emma, and Hook arrives just in time, determined to keep Emma sane. It may not be up to him, though.

Emma’s parents will try to help with that as well. But they need to figure out how. Lancelot has said not to trust Arthur, but still hasn’t given a solid reason. Snow does not trust Arthur because of it, but she and David argue over whether to give him the dagger. A reforged sword may help free Merlin and could help banish or destroy the darkness in Emma. Snow is not convinced.

In the past, Arthur’s obsession with figuring out where the dagger is grows to the brink of madness. Merlin has left one last riddle: Star. Eye. Sun. Hmmm -- What could that mean? What it means is that Arthur’s neglecting his wife, Queen Guinevere, and she and Lancelot have grown closer as he tries to keep her spirits up. Dancing, talking, birthday celebrations ... something is happening between them.

Five years later, David gives in to Arthur’s obsession. He, behind Snow’s back, tells Arthur about the dagger and about Emma and about the fact that Lancelot is back. Not dead or cast out, but plotting. He presents the dagger, but it’s not in the box!

In the past, Guinevere uses Merlin’s gauntlet -- which we’ve seen before (Belle used it) and leads a person to the greatest weakness of anyone they choose. It leads her and Lancelot to the vault of the Dark One. Star. Eye. Sun. The pattern opens the vault. In the vault, Lancelot is attacked by the darkness, but Guinevere helps save him. They continue and find where the dagger of the Dark One is, but they can’t get it. Rumpel makes a deal with them, though: He can give them magic sand that will make things appear whole and as you’d like them to, including magic swords, in exchange for the gauntlet. That’s really what Arthur wants, right? To make the sword appear whole so that he can show it to the kingdom and inspire greatness, right? Guinevere agrees, but as with any deal with a dark one, there’s a price.

In the six-week-old present, David presents the empty box to Arthur and Guinevere, who wants Lancelot found and punished as well because he “coveted more than just a kiss.” A sly Snow White has taken it first, and meets up with Lancelot to hide it from the king and queen. At this point, we can’t be sure of anyone. Who’s the good guy, and who’s the bad guy?

Emma and Hook, trying to keep Emma sane, spy a bit on Henry as he asks Violet to take him horse riding. Henry lied to them about Violet, right to the face of a Dark One, and his mom. Oh well. Emma finally tells Hook about Rumpel being in her head, telling her to do dark things. He decides that she needs to clear her head and focus on him, so they go horseback riding to a meadow filled with roses, or flowers that look like roses.

Snow seems to have some misgivings about Lancelot now, but they’re cast out when a crazed Arthur draws a sword on the pair. He’s followed them to get the dagger from Snow, and she willingly gives it up to save Lancelot. Kind of -- seems the dagger is a fake, and Arthur fell right into the trap that David and Snow set. They needed to know who was telling the truth, and Arthur’s speech about killing Merlin and the Dark One gave them enough information. They take Arthur hostage back to Granny’s Diner.

In the past, we see that Arthur’s obsession has totally taken hold. Guinevere returns with the sand, ready to make the sword appear to be whole, but Arthur apparently always wanted more than that. She gives him an ultimatum, then: It’s her and the kingdom or the sword. Why can’t Arthur have both? He seizes the sand, and first uses it on Guinevere, changing her and making her appear the supportive, not angry, wife and queen. Arthur then uses the sand on the whole kingdom, creating what seems to be a great kingdom with awe-inspiring castles and courtyards, etc.

In the 6-week-ago present, though, he’s Charming’s and Snow’s prisoner -- until he isn’t. He knew David’s plan, and his knights have now surrounded the diner. Guinevere enters, and is apparently still under the spell of the sand. Arthur tells Snow and Charming that they will help reforge the sword somehow, and Guinevere puts them under the spell of the sand, too. Lancelot is thrown into the dungeon. There, he meets up with a captive Merida, and mischief is about to be afoot!

Charming and Snow tell Regina and Robin that Regina needs to get the dagger from where she’s hidden it to help reforge the sword, and that Arthur can be trusted. This all looks so wrong.

In present-day Storybrooke, Dark Emma is going to try to make Mr. Gold into a hero so that he can remove the sword from the stone for her. Not the greatest plan ever, since he was originally a talentless coward, but Emma has an ace up her sleeve. Mystically tied to the bumper of her VW bug is Merida. Emma takes her heart to make her do her bidding, and if you want to train someone to make them brave, there’s no better hero.

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In a twist, we add insight to the straight-laced recap by publishing occasional questions, concerns and comments submitted by Layla Andre, 8, a fervent fan of “Once Upon a Time” and the daughter of an L.A. Times staff member. They come about while watching the latest episode, and they’re probably some of the same that many viewers have.

-- I don’t think Arthur is to be trusted. Snow White was right not to give him Emma’s dagger.

-- I think that when Excalibur is restored, Merlin is going to be freed from the tree.

-- I wonder why Arthur hates Merlin.

-- I don’t know what’s scarier, the Dark One or my mother...

-- It’s good to see Merida back. I think she can make Rumplestiltskin brave.

-- Roses grow on bushes -- not in the grass!

-- I thought this episode was kind of slow and boring. There wasn’t very much excitement.

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