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Once Upon a Time S05E09: The Bear King (Full Reaction) (Patreon)

Published:
2026-01-31 14:00:16
Imported:
2026-10
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Content

Zelena and Arthur cross paths with Merida, who is attempting to settle a debt; flashbacks reveal Merida's combat training.

Watch: https://od.lk/s/MTBfMzQ0OTgzNzkyXw/OUAT%20S05E09%20%28Full%29.mp4

Download: https://od.lk/d/MTBfMzQ0OTgzNzkyXw/OUAT%20S05E09%20%28Full%29.mp4

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Comments

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum

The Bear King- Okay, so this episode... While I do absolutely enjoy it overall, I have to admit that this is one of my least favorite episodes within this season, and I think throughout the entire show too. It's great! It's just not an episode I wanted to see at this time, after what we see happen in the previous episode, titled... Birth. First... One of my reasons for feeling this way, is because after such a phenomenal episode that Birth is for me, which ends on such a phenomenal, mind-blowing cliffhanger... I was so, so, so excited to find out what was going to happen next!! All I wanted to know what was coming next for Killian and Emma! And while we do see what comes next for King Arthur and Zelena after their defeat within the previous episode, titled... Birth, we get no more development with Killian upon him becoming the Dark One, or with Emma and the rest of the heroes. They aren't even in this episode at all, other than Mary Margaret and David being shown within a brief flashback moment from season three's finale episode, titled... There's No Place Like Home. And for me... This all just makes this episode feel like it's almost a slap in the face. Because seeing what comes for Killian and Emma, is all I wanted to see afterwards. And my second reason for feeling like I've been slapped in the face... This episode doesn't really add a whole lot to the overarching storyline throughout this season at all. And for me, it is a little disappointing, as much as I love Red, Merida, and Mulan. I still really love seeing Ruby and Mulan again, and I really enjoy the overall Merida storyline too. But with all this being said... I do really enjoy this episode for what it is, like I said above. I especially love that Merida's storyline allows for the creators to bring back two characters we haven't seen in quite a while... Red Riding Hood and Mulan, both characters I really love throughout this show for the most part. And I really do love how these three strong women interact with one another, as they help one another with each of their quests and save one another. Sadly, Meghan Ory who plays Ruby/Red had left Once Upon a Time after season two, in order to play the lead role in a very short lived show that had been cancelled after one short season, titled... Perception, as well as to star in a few TV movies as well. Which is too bad, because Once Upon a Time's creators and writers had a major story arc planned for Ruby's and Red's character for season three, until she chose to decline and leave the show. Which is a decision Meghan Ory has since come to regret. Ruby eventually comes back for a few scenes here and there in episodes within the Wicked Witch arc in season three after her show failed, but by this point, these few scenes were all they could offer her. She briefly appeared in season three's episodes, titled... New York City Serenade, Witch Hunt, and in the two part finales, titled... Snow Drifts and There's No Place Like Home. Now... Ruby has come back for a slightly larger role within this season five episode, and I was absolutely thrilled to see her come back! I wish her role in this episode was a little bigger. However, I am just happy to see her again after all this time! And I am happy that the writers offer us a really good explanation to help explain Ruby's absence after Meghan Ory left, as we get the flashback scene in the past that takes place during the ending of season three's finale episode, titled... There's No Place Like Home. And Jamie Chung who plays Mulan also left Once Upon a Time to take up other roles as well. A few short lived TV shows, guest starring roles, and to voice Go Go, one of the main characters in the Disney movie, titled... Big Hero 6. Now, she's come back again as well. It's definitely nice seeing her make a reappearance again as well. Her last appearance in this show was back in season three's episode, titled... Quite a Common Fairy, when Robin Hood invites her to join his Merry Men. Now, to back up a bit... I actually do like how this episode follows up on what comes of Arthur and Zelena, once they are defeated in their battle with the heroes in the forest in the previous episode, titled... Birth. Now that Killian was able to steal Excalibur back from Arthur for Emma, Arthur and Zelena seek out a new weapon they can use to help them to once again to try to stop the heroes, but also so Arthur can take back Camelot and fulfill his prophecy to repair a broken kingdom the way he sees it. And while Zelena couldn't care less about helping him do this, she helps Arthur because she knows that for now... Arthur is her only hope of getting her revenge against the heroes and to protect her baby from them too. To continue on their quest, Arthur asks Zelena to magic them to DunBroch so they can go after a magical helm he learned about after he fought in a war against the kingdom's former King, King Fergus whom we learn later in the episode that Arthur had killed in battle years earlier. I love that this backstory brings in not only King Fergus and Queen Elinor from Disney's, Brave, but also the old witch from the Disney movie as well, each of whom were casted really well. And this episode also brings back the leaders of the other three clans as well. But I will come back to the backstory shortly... In the meantime... Merida is struggling with becoming DunBroch's new Queen since her father has died. Not only is she unsure of herself as the clans' leader, but the leaders of the clans are also still unsure that she deserves to be their Queen, as they continue to make trouble for her even after she showed her strength when she saved her brothers from them back in this season's episode, titled... The Bear and the Bow, a title I learned was brought about, because The Bear and the Bow was the original title for the Disney movie, until they decided to change it to Brave instead. And I really like this. When the old witch invades DunBroch's castle to interrupt Merida's coronation and threatens to turn the entire kingdom into bears unless Merida returns the helm she had given to Merida's father years ago, the clansmen once again see Merida to be weak and turn against her, thinking she doesn't have the courage to find the helm. And against her mother's wishes, Merida decides to follow the path her father left behind to find the helm first in order to continue to prove herself to the clansmen. This brings Merida to seek out Mulan, whom we learn in the backstory had been a mentor and trainer to help sharpen Merida's fighting skills, hired by King Fergus because he knew how much his daughter longed to be a skilled warrior just like him. However, when Merida finds Mulan in the present, it's shown that Mulan has lost her own way, having become a mercenary for whomever pays her. I like that Mulan has lost her way as she struggles with her own troubles. I'm fine with this. However, I don't like that her reason for losing her way is just because she waited too long to tell Aurora she loved her, revealed back in season three's episode, titled... Quite a Common Fairy. I'm not a fan of this part of Mulan's storyline, and I would have preferred it if her reasons for becoming a mercenary had more to do with a possible fallout or even trouble she might have run into after her time spent among Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men, as it had been established in the end of Quite a Common Fairy that she had joined with them. I think Mulan becoming a mercenary because she lost out on a chance of having love with a woman who never would have loved her back the way she wanted because Aurora was in love with Phillip and because they had a baby together, makes Mulan's character feel very weak, and cheapened. Outside of this... I really love the conversation between Merida and Queen Elinor, as Merida convinces her mother why she must go on her quest to find the helm, in order to prove herself worthy of being DunBroch's Queen and of following in her father's footsteps. As well as to find her father's killer as well. I think what I love most about Merida's story is seeing how much she truly loves her father, and seeing how close they were to one another. But this scene also shows how close she and her mother have become since the events within the Disney movie too. But back to Merida seeking out Mulan... Merida is finally able to convince Mulan to help her on her quest, but because Merida pays her and not because of loyalty and their friendship. I like how Merida keeps trying to help Mulan in spite of Mulan trying to close herself off from her. Eventually, this leads them both down separate paths, until Mulan realizes her mistakes in pushing Merida away. And in trying to make things right between her and Merida, Mulan goes to the witch for help, which comes to Mulan confronting a wolf that the witch has trapped, then her freeing the wolf that turns out to be Red Riding Hood. I love seeing Red again, and learning the reason the writers came up with to help explain Meghan Ory's absence from the show all this time!! That Red left Storybrooke upon feeling restless and alone, and yearning to seek out her old wolf pack, through a flashback scene that takes place within the ending from season three's finale episode, titled... There's No Place Like Home, when Red shares with Mary Margaret her yearning to find her family and that she was given a magic bean from Tiny so she could leave. This explanation is definitely plausible, and I can understand why Ruby would feel the need to leave. However, I wish they could have kept her a part of the main cast like she was back in season one and in the first half of season two, and so we could have seen her eventually come to take over Granny's Diner like was revealed for her character back in season one's episode, titled... Red Handed. I love that episode's ending between Ruby and Granny. Sadly... Meghan Ory chose to leave Once Upon a Time once again to take up roles in other shows that didn't survive past one season. Thankfully, she has since found a role as the main star in a show that finally did last at least four seasons, so I am happy for her. Nonetheless... Red and Mulan team up and soon find Merida, then together they seek out Arthur and Zelena again with Red's sense of smell, as they look for Merida's father's killer. In an earlier confrontation with the villains, Merida gives up on her quest when Arthur and Zelena make her think she's failed her father. Mulan realizes she needs to make up for her mistake in failing to help her friend, which leads her to seeking out the old witch only to find Red instead. Together, they find out the truth about King Fergus wanting to use the helm to lead his army against King Arthur in victory, only for him to have chosen not to use the helm upon realizing that it was wrong to force his men to fight unless it was of their choosing to fight for him, thanks to his daughter's final words to him as she asks him how it is he gives his men the strength to fight a war they fear they will lose. And when Merida battles Arthur, while Mulan and Red take care of Zelena, she is able to find the helm. But just before Arthur can kill her to try to take the helm from her, the three leaders of the other clans arrive and defend their Queen, seeing how deserving she truly is of Fergus' crown because of her bravery and courage to do what's right for all of DunBroch. I actually really love this moment, and while there is no established ship for Merida throughout her story in Once Upon a Time, just as there is no love interest for her in Brave either in order to establish her to be a woman strong enough to rule her kingdom without a man by her side, I can't actually help but want to see Merida and Lord Macintosh in a relationship. He is an idiot in the Disney movie, and more of a bully in this show within these two episodes he appears in. However, in the end, we can see he's really changed and has come to respect and like Merida nonetheless. I love seeing him and the other clansmen kneel before her. So beautiful. And I really like the momentary chemistry between him and Merida in the end, whether it was meant for us to feel this chemistry between them or not. And in the end... Merida is finally crowned Queen upon earning her people's respect and loyalty, and then when the old witch appears to take back the helm and is told that Merida destroyed it in order to keep the weapon out of the wrong hands, the old witch reveals that was what she hoped for Merida all along. I love how Merida's quest was all a test in order to help her find the strength in herself to be DunBroch's Queen. In regards to the witch's plan and what she wanted from her deal with King Fergus... This old witch is actually a good witch, who cares about DunBroch just like Merida and all of the clans. She simply wants what is best for the kingdom, and to honor her deal made with King Fergus years earlier. Which is why she offers the helm to Fergus to see if he is worthy of being their kingdom's true kingdom, which he proved to be when he threw the magical helm into the ocean instead of using it to force his men to fight. And in threatening Merida and all of her people if she didn't return the helm, it is simply a test that proves Merida to be the kingdom's next true ruler. But not just to the witch. Her test allows for Merida and the clans to see that she is DunBroch's true leader. Which the witch came to see that Merida and her people all needed. The witch cares about Merida and the people, and merely wants what's best for them all. I hope this explanation helps, Tim. And afterwards, the old witch gives Merida a gift. A gift that allows for Merida to speak with her father one last time through the Ale of Seonaidh, an ale from Celtic Mythology believed to have the power to speak with the souls of the dead. I love how Celtic Mythology is brought about in this episode, and how Merida is able to say goodbye to her father, and allows for him to tell his daughter how proud he is of her. This is a beautiful scene, and my favorite scene throughout the episode!! I also love the scene when Merida thanks Mulan and Red for their help, and how Red offers Mulan a new purpose to help her to find her pack, to which Mulan agrees. I like the friendship that comes to be established between these three women. It's just nice to see, and it is good to see Red and Mulan again!! As for the overall backstory, with Arthur being the soldier who murdered her father on the battlefield, and Merida believing she had failed to save him that day... I do like the overall story. It's developed well with King Fergus seeking victory through magical means, only to discover it's wrong to force his people to fight for him against their will. And I like how the old witch helps him, seeing once again another opportunity to offer Fergus and later Merida a chance to prove themselves. Thank you again for this reaction, Reds! Sincerely, Heidi