Once Upon a Time recap: 'The Girl in the Tower' 

Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Lana Parrilla

Family, freedom and … trolls? Welcome to another installment of 

The episode begins with Alice, going full-on Mad Hatter as the mania of her life-long loneliness is starting to take over and she celebrates her birthday by serving tea to stuffed animals (white rabbit wink!) and wishing for her long-overdue freedom on her candle. At first, it looks like her wish might not come true, but then the roof of her tower gets ripped off by a troll, who offers her a hand that she’s all too eager to take.

And in full mirror-mirror effect, Tilly is sprung from her own certain incarceration by Rogers, who still believes she’s innocent and rescues her from the first place his fellow officers would come looking for her.

Alice observes her father through a scope — she still hasn’t figured out how to have a true reunion with him just yet — but Robin thinks she’s a spy. It doesn’t take her long to figure out that she’s the daughter of “Nook” (that is, “New Hook”), and Robin herself knows a thing or two about daddy issues, considering she’s spent her whole life trying to live up to the legacy of her late namesake. Then their differences become clear; Robin’s out to kill the troll who’s making all this ruckus, but Alice has the creature to thank for her cage-free existence. They’re at an impasse in the woods, friends.

Meanwhile, Lucy and Roni/Regina are plotting how to spy on Samdi/Facilier. On the one hand, Facilier might be just the guy to help them break the curse that’s keeping Jacinda and Henry apart, but on the other, Regina needs some details on what he’s really here for before she can carry on their, um, extracurricular activities together. She doesn’t want Zelena to know about 

There’s a throwaway moment with Ivy to set up next week’s plot: Henry suggests she apologize to Anna, and Ivy decides that she’s ready to make amends for all the terrible things she’s done to people, especially Henry. From the look ahead to next week, this will not go to plan. Ivy is her very own sort of gentle giant, but it looks like Anna’s going to be a handful and a

. Stay tuned. (Recap continues on next page.)