Things are starting to make more and more sense and Jafar is one step closer to getting what he wants on episode 104 “The Serpent”.

This episode starts with a flashback, and in it we see young Jafar finding a woman everyone was afraid of, to be his teacher. It is because of flashbacks like this that they are so important in the Once Upon A Time universe. There are some things that could always, of course, be explained in the present, but it would probably feel more rushed and it wouldn’t be as easy to understand, and this is one of those cases. In this episode we finally know more of Jafar’s plans, and what he needs to do it. To change the laws of magic, Jafar needs 3 genies and to perform that spell it takes 2 sorcerers. Jafar already has 2 genies, which he and Amara were able to catch, so now he only needs Cyrus. Maybe it would be to imagine that something had happened to Amara along the way, and the two sorcerers now are Jafar and the Red Queen but, as I said before, Jafar is only using the Queen to get what he wants. She thinks they are going to change the laws of magic together, but she has no idea what is to come.

We also see some symbology of the serpent. “When they need to, they change their skin, and are reborn”. And that is exactly what Jafar does. But turned out he had done that already, before we all thought he did. Jafar was playing Amara just so that he could learn everything she knew. We also learned, with a little twist in the end of the episode, that the staff Jafar carries with him all the time is actually Amara’s magical essence. She was the one who made him aware of the genie spell. And as everyone has an endgame, we will find out, in episodes to come, not only exactly what Jafar wants to do when he is able to change the laws of magic, but also why Amara also wanted to perform this spell.

In present day, we continue to see conflicts of interest inside the villain team. Now that Jafar knows Alice has help, he wants Will eliminated and wants Anastasia to do it. The Red Queen is hoping to set the matter aside by simply putting Will behind bars, but Jafar wants him completely gone and wants everyone to see it, so that they don’t follow his example of helping Alice. A public execution is prepared and Anastasia is probably hoping very badly that Alice shows up to save him. I have to say that the people of Wonderland are definitely having too much of a good time in a public execution, which can totally relate to the original story in which the Red Queen is obsessed with cutting people’s heads off.

Meanwhile, after Alice and the Knave split up to run from collectors, who are working for the Caterpillar, Alice makes a new friend who is actually an old friend of Will’s: Elisabeth, also known as Lizard. This could possibly be another connection to the original animated movie Alice in Wonderland. There we see Bill who was literally a lizard, unlike Elisabeth who is a person. This character isn’t that much important in the movie, but then again she isn’t also here in the show, although we will see her once again. They find out the Knave of Hearts is to be executed and they manage to save him.

Trying to escape from the royal maze, Alice and Will stumble upon Jafar and the Red Queen. Jafar threatens to kill Will and even starts chocking him, which forces Alice to make her first wish: “I wish that if the Knave of Hearts dies, then I die”. This was totally a smart wish. Jafar can hurt Alice, but he can’t kill her since he needs her alive to make the rest of the wishes, otherwise he can’t use the genie. So, Alice doesn’t have to wish to save her own life. But Jafar would gladly kill Will, and now he can’t. It was also smart since she didn’t wish that only Jafar couldn’t kill Will (like a guy did in a flashback), no one can, or else she dies too. Jafar tried to force Alice to make a second wish by saying he would rip her arms and legs off, but she didn’t, which makes Jafar aware that she cares more for others than herself, and so going after the people she loves is exactly what Jafar is going to do. But wishes comes with a price and Alice paid it when Jafar turned Will to stone, saying if she wants her friend back, she will have to wish it.

Confrontations between good and evil started to take place, Jafar is starting to get what he wants and Cyrus is closer to being free. This was definitely a great episode and so I am giving it an 8.2/10.

I will be back soon with my next review of episode 105, “Heart of Stone” where we will find out how Will and Anastasia were separated and how she became Queen.