For the Season Seven episode, see "One Little Tear". |
Tears are a magical ingredient featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. They first appear in the twenty-first episode of the second season.
One prominent tear, Anna's tear, is based on Gerda's tear from "The Snow Queen" fairytale, while another prominent tear, Lucy's tear, is based on Rapunzel's tears from the "Rapunzel" fairytale and the Disney film Tangled.
History
At one point, Merlin tries to get rid of the Dark One, Nimue, for good by summoning her with the dagger. She heeds his call by magically flitting back and forth until Merlin orders her to stop, prompting her to materialize right in front of him. He attempts to stab her with the dagger, but cannot bring himself to do it and drops the dagger. As he is lost in grief over losing her to the Darkness, Nimue picks up the dagger, allowing one of Merlin's tears to drip onto it, causing the Sorcerer to turn into a tree. ("Dreamcatcher")
At some point, Rumplestiltskin collects one of Regina's tears. ("Second Star to the Right")
Learning of the Sorcerer's Hat with the ability to absorb magic, Rumplestiltskin decides to obtain it to be free of the dagger's will but also keep his Dark One powers. First, he poisons the Apprentice guarding the hat. Then, with good timing, Rumplestiltskin strikes a deal with Anna; sending her to douse the Apprentice's tea with a bottled substance. While it is an antidote to cure poison, Rumplestiltskin is simply testing Anna, who believes the substance is lethal, as he knows she doesn't have it in her to do it. In the end, he reveals the truth and shows her the Apprentice's reversion into a mouse. While Anna runs off to the man's cottage, Rumplestiltskin materializes there as well. Since she broke the contract, her punishment is to be locked up in his castle forever. Because of the hat's second line of defense, in which it can only be touched by one who has been tempted by darkness but hasn't succumbed to it, he goads Anna into acting against her kind-hearted nature. A desperate Anna threatens him with a sword as he insists she has to kill him in order to walk away. Following a tense moment, she collapses in tears, unable to kill him, as she begrudges him for manipulating her. One of her tears drips onto Rumplestiltskin's dagger, which he uses to breach the hat's second line of defense and gain the hat. ("The Apprentice")While Gideon is disguised as a bartender named Aesop, he chats with Emma about his inability to never successfully been able to write himself a story and that he went to the Land of Untold Stories to attempt to accomplish this. He notes that his real-life story is simple but sad, in that he was an artist who loved his wife but she decided she didn't love him back. Emma relates to this, believing that Hook abandoned her as she does not know Gideon was responsible for him being taken away and begins to cry, wiping her tears on a napkin. Gideon discretely takes the tearstained napkin and later confronts Emma outside of her house as she attempts to communicate with Hook through an enchanted seashell, revealing that she cannot as long as he has her tears. ("A Wondrous Place")
As Emma storms into her house in a fury over Gideon taking Hook away from her, Gideon tells her she must help him defeat the Black Fairy or there is no coming back for Hook if she refuses. Emma then magically chokes him, but Gideon reminds her that he still has her tear and is the only one who can bring back Hook. After consulting with Mr. Gold and Belle and learning Gideon is their son who they believe is only evil because the Black Fairy made him this way, Emma agrees to give Gideon a chance. Gideon, in turn, leads Emma to the Sorcerer's Mansion where he guides her into arranging ingredients, including the tearstained napkin, on a table in order to open the portal door that will return Hook to her. Instead of Hook, the Great Spider from the Echoless Forest appears, which Gideon pretends is due to the Black Fairy's interference, however after Gideon successfully traps Emma in a spider web, Emma figures out he intended to kill her all along. ("Mother's Little Helper")Trivia
On-Screen Notes
- According to Henry's notes, goat tears are thought to be one of the ingredients that can help break a sleeping curse.[1] ("Mother's Little Helper")
Appearances
Reason: Check Appearances + Mentions
Once Upon a Time: Season Two | ||||||||||
"Broken": | "We Are Both": | "Lady of the Lake": | "The Crocodile": | "The Doctor": | "Tallahassee": | "Child of the Moon": | "Into the Deep": | "Queen of Hearts": | "The Cricket Game": | "The Outsider": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"In the Name of the Brother": | "Tiny": | "Manhattan": | "The Queen Is Dead": | "The Miller's Daughter": | "Welcome to Storybrooke": | "Selfless, Brave and True": | "Lacey": | "The Evil Queen": | "Second Star to the Right": | "And Straight On 'Til Morning": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Four | ||||||||||
"A Tale of Two Sisters": |
"White Out": |
"Rocky Road": |
"The Apprentice": |
"Breaking Glass": |
"Family Business": | "The Snow Queen": |
"Smash the Mirror": |
"Fall": | "Shattered Sight": |
"Heroes and Villains": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Darkness on the Edge of Town": |
"Unforgiven": | "Enter the Dragon": | "Poor Unfortunate Soul": |
"Best Laid Plans": | "Heart of Gold": | "Sympathy for the De Vil": |
"Lily": | "Mother": | "Operation Mongoose Part 1": |
"Operation Mongoose Part 2": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Five | |||||||||||
"The Dark Swan": | "The Price": | "Siege Perilous": | "The Broken Kingdom": | "Dreamcatcher": | "The Bear and the Bow": | "Nimue": | "Birth": | "The Bear King": | "Broken Heart": | "Swan Song": | |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | |
"Souls of the Departed": | "Labor of Love": | "Devil's Due": | "The Brothers Jones": | "Our Decay": | "Her Handsome Hero": | "Ruby Slippers": | "Sisters": | "Firebird": | "Last Rites": | "Only You": | "An Untold Story": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Six | ||||||||||
"The Savior": | "A Bitter Draught": | "The Other Shoe": | "Strange Case": | "Street Rats": | "Dark Waters": | "Heartless": | "I'll Be Your Mirror": | "Changelings": | "Wish You Were Here": | "Tougher Than the Rest": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Murder Most Foul": | "Ill-Boding Patterns": | "Page 23": | "A Wondrous Place": | "Mother's Little Helper": | "Awake": | "Where Bluebirds Fly": | "The Black Fairy": | "The Song in Your Heart": | "The Final Battle Part 1": | "The Final Battle Part 2": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Seven | ||||||||||
"Hyperion Heights": | "A Pirate's Life": | "The Garden of Forking Paths": | "Beauty": | "Greenbacks": | "Wake Up Call": | "Eloise Gardener": | "Pretty in Blue": | "One Little Tear": | "The Eighth Witch": | "Secret Garden": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent |
"A Taste of the Heights": | "Knightfall": | "The Girl in the Tower": | "Sisterhood": | "Breadcrumbs": | "Chosen": | "The Guardian": | "Flower Child": | "Is This Henry Mills?": | "Homecoming": | "Leaving Storybrooke": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |