A young Cora (Rose McGowan) admonishes her father, a drunkard miller, and delivers flour to the palace in his stead.
King Xavier (Joaquim de Almeida) refuses to pay for the flour and orders Cora to beg forgiveness on her knees.
That night, Cora sneaks into a masked ball held for King Xavier's son Prince Henry (Zak Santiago).
Cora claims she needs time to prepare, so he has her locked in a tower full of straw to spin into gold by morning; she can marry Henry if she succeeds, but will be put to death if she fails.
Rumplestiltskin teaches Cora that magic is channeled through emotion rather than thought, and that he uses the anger he felt at being forced to kiss a man's boots in front of his son.
The day before her wedding, Cora questions her plans; she is unlikely to become queen as Henry is fifth in line to the throne, while Rumplestiltskin, with whom she has been having an affair, offers her love.
Neal (Michael Raymond-James) and Henry (Jared S. Gilmore) pilot the Jolly Roger into Storybrooke, while Emma (Jennifer Morrison) promises to save Mr. Gold from the poison Hook inflicted on him, as he is now family.
Gold leads Mary Margaret to find that he has the magical candle that Cora had given her years earlier, which can save a life by causing another person's death.
While David, Neal, and Emma stand against them, Mary Margaret sneaks away to Regina's mausoleum and uses the candle to curse Cora's heart.
Praise went to Espenson's script, the new take on the tale of Rumpelstiltskin, and the performances of Carlyle, Hershey, and especially McGowan, who many reviewers felt should have been nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, but was not.
Club gave this episode an "A−" and wrote, "There are a lot of very talented writers working on Once Upon A Time, but this show’s limitations prevent them from reaching their full potential.
Jane Espenson did great work on Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Battlestar Galactica, but her episodes of this series have been largely lackluster.
Exploring Cora’s past and shutting the door on her present-day exploits, this episode is full of significant plot developments and emotional character moments, with a very strong connection between the fairyback and Storybrooke scenes."
She has an icy demeanor that is perfect for the youthful version of this season’s Big Bad, hiding her potential power behind a suit of armor that protects from the cruel nobility she delivers flour to.
She sneaks into a ball that is intended to find the prince a wife, but the king sees through her disguise and threatens her until she says that she can spin straw into gold.
She’s locked in the tower, setting the stage for Rumplestiltskin to appear and give Cora a taste of the power that will drive her over the edge.