‘Once Upon a Time’ recap: Elsa, Emma and the Snow Queen’s ‘Family Business’

More and more connections are being made in “Once Upon a Time,” and we finally get a reason for the Snow Queen’s obsession over Emma Swan.

The first connection starts with Belle. In her past, she and her mom were attacked by ogres. As the creatures bore down on her and her mom, apparently Belle blacks out. When she comes to, she finds her father, and finds that her mother is dead. It’s a memory that still haunts her when she sleeps in present-day Storybrooke.

Emma shows everyone the creepy videotape of her, when she was a teen, living in a foster house under the care of Ingrid, the Snow Queen. Now that they know there’s a past connection with Emma, it seems like an even more pressing goal to find her. Elsa and Belle, Emma/Hook/Regina, Dark One and no one -- split into teams to search the city, again, to find the Snow Queen. Henry says they should check the ice cream truck. How could they NOT have already done that? Always start with the ice cream truck when dealing with a snow queen.

Belle was being a bit secretive in terms of teaming with Elsa. In the past, Belle, trying to figure out her lost memories, finds a book that tells her that there are creatures in a land called Arendelle that can restore memories. Uh-oh. Belle’s been hiding something.

Anna, back in Arendelle from her past sojourn to Misthaven/the Enchanted Forest, reunites with Elsa, who now has more control over her powers. She also meets the Snow Queen, her aunt Ingrid. It’s odd that their parents never told Anna and Elsa that they had an aunt, but Elsa is already accepting of her since they share the same type of ice powers. Luckily, Anna doesn’t trust her. She rants a bit to Kristoff about how strange it all is. She’ll find out who this Snow Queen is using Kristoff’s rock troll family to hopefully gain some insight. Again, it’s a solo mission, and Kristoff is left to tend to Sven in the barn.

In Storybrooke, Hook -- whom Regina awesomely calls Captain Eyeliner -- the Evil Queen and Emma find the ice cream truck, and records that show the Snow Queen has been following Emma all of her life. But the Snow Queen is feeding them this information since she saw them find the ice cream truck. Robin Hood is among their search party, and he and Regina have their issues. Off to the side, she tells him that he needs to fall back in love with Marion so that true love’s kiss can break the spell the Snow Queen has put on her before she dies.

Flashback: Belle meets Anna in Arendelle. What?! There’s the mysterious connection that she’s been hiding in Storybrooke. At the store/outpost from “Frozen” that Kristoff and Anna got supplies from when they needed, the strange mustached caretaker is also there, offering up a nice stay in his sauna. Anna agrees to take Belle to meet the rock trolls, who happen to be the creatures Belle is looing for to restore her memory. Whatever bond the duo creates traveling to find the rock trolls becomes a strong one. In the present, Belle is so desperate to find the Snow Queen and right some wrong that she believes she may have perpetrated against Anna that she pulls out Rumpel’s dagger to force him to take her to the Snow Queen. And their relationship was going so well up until then!

Grandpabbie the rock troll easily solves Belle’s problem. Here’s a rock, make some tea with the rock in it, memories restored. For Anna, it’s a bit more involved. Anna’s royal family had Grandpabbie erase the memories of everyone in Arendelle about two sisters in the family who “disappeared” long ago: Helga and Ingrid (i.e. the Snow Queen!), the sisters of Anna and Elsa’s mom, Gerta. Aunts they never knew they had. The family then wiped away any evidence that these sisters existed, record-wise and in the family tree. That’s pretty drastic. We have to find out why.

But first, Anna and Belle must warn Elsa about Ingrid. On the way down from the mountain, Belle drops the memory rock after being hit by a gust of wind or magic, and Anna falls, clinging to a cliff. Decisions, decisions. Belle goes for the rock, and of course, it falls and shatters. When she tries to help Anna, Anna falls, too -- a pretty long way to a rocky ground. She may only have been knocked out, but it doesn’t matter. The Snow Queen comes along and magically transports her, and the Sorcerer’s Hat that she had been carrying, away.

In Storybrooke, Belle wants to get that hat back. She knows of its power, and will use it to stop the Snow Queen. She commands Rumpel to take her to the Snow Queen, and they reach her cave. She again commands him to stand guard since it seems the queen’s away. Inside, she finds a magic mirror, and the Snow Queen’s magic mirror is mean! Whispering half-truths with a dose of magic, the mirror slowly turns Belle against Rumpel. When he comes in to transport them away, she slashes at his throat. He grabs her and they disappear anyway. Back in his shop, she breaks down, ashamed and upset that she caused Rumpel any harm. This should be a new hastag -- #Bellewhatthehell -- because she still hasn’t figured out that he’s deceiving her, and that that’s just his nature.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Belle’s dad tells her that her mom sacrificed herself for her by standing in the way of the ogres as they were bearing down. The ogres are still a problem, and the kingdom is losing the war. So Belle decides to sacrifice herself to Rumpelstiltskin to save her kingdom from ogres. And we know where it goes from there.

In the present, Belle finally tells Elsa that she knows Anna, and that she knew that the Snow Queen had taken her long ago. She also tells Elsa and Emma that, according to Rumpel, the Snow Queen’s mirror can turn the whole city against itself, causing infighting until no one would be left. No one except for Emma, Elsa and the Snow Queen. To go along with this, Emma, Hook and Elsa have found a family tree (Thought those records were erased?) that shows that Emma looks remarkably like Helga, the Snow Queen’s sister. And that there’s a prophecy saying that ‘the savior’ will become Helga. That’s crazy! And why is there always a prophecy?

Even crazier? That Rumpel, even after a heartfelt apology from Belle, is still deceiving her. He and the Snow Queen have a passively heated conversation, that is until Rumpel produces the Sorcerer’s Hat. She knows what it is, and that it could easily suck in her and her magic. So we are left to wonder what deal Rumpel may have brokered since he now has “leverage” and power to back it up. He doesn’t care much for anyone in the town, save Belle and Henry, so anything could be on the table.