Once Upon a Time - Best Laid Plans - Review

These episodes of Once Upon a Time keep clipping along at a fantastic pace. The fallout from the events of “Best Laid Plans” is setting us up for some powerful upcoming episodes, ones where I’m not sure what’s going to happen next. Snow White and Charming were less than charming in this episode. I love these characters but their actions in “Best Laid Plans” frustrated me. However, I understand that was the point. They were the villains in this outing and now we are seeing them pay for their actions. Events have been set in motion for Emma; her emotions are running high and I predict that will lead to her making some interesting choices. What “Best Laid Plans” did extremely well was fit pieces from past stories and episodes together to build what will come next and give us lots of answers. The revelation of Maleficent’s child’s fate was not particularly shocking to me but extremely satisfying. Seeing how that character will be brought back into the story is something I am looking forward to. Also, hats off the visual effects team in this episode, everything from the page with the Author’s door, to the Sorcerer’s library, to Dragon Maleficent unfurling from her nest looks so magical. The fairy tale feel of Once Upon a Time is stronger than ever this season as our heroes and villains start to go down unfamiliar paths.

As the episode begins we see Snow White and Charming in the Enchanted Forest, running through the woods. They are tracking what turns out to be a unicorn. Snow is worried about Maleficent’s predictions; that their unborn child could fall to darkness. Apparently the unicorn will help ease their minds because legends state that if you touch the beast’s horn you will be able to glimpse your child’s future. Both Charming and Snow lay hands on the unicorn and receive a vision. For Charming, he sees a baby in a basket in the woods and is overjoyed. This is a sweet “Daddy Charming” moment and really reminds me of Charming’s scenes in the Once Upon a Time pilot. Snow White however has a very different experience. She too has a vision of her child in the woods, only Emma is an adolescent. This young version of Emma emotionlessly eyes Snow before reaching in a taking the princess’s heart. Snow sputters in protest, that she is the girl’s mother, but young Emma replies “I don’t care” and crushes the heart. Notice the subtle change in the coloring of this scene. When everything is happy in the vision the colors are very saturated, but as soon as Emma reaches in a grabs Snow’s heart, the scene becomes overcast. It’s a great touch to highlight the change in mood. Snow White snaps out of her vision and tells Charming that their child will be evil.

In Storybrooke, Regina is just getting the news that the Author is trapped within his own book from Henry and Emma. Before they can really explore this further, August begins to grow ill and is whisked off to see Mother Blueperior. The Blue Fairy explains that August has been changed by magic quite a bit and this has taken its toll on the writer. Back to the business with the page, Regina explains that the villains are expecting her to bring the Author’s door to them. She can’t return empty handed or her cover will be blown. Emma is prepared, however, and magic’s up a fake page to fool the villains with. She is getting really talented with magic, but I’m also happy to see that Emma isn’t relying on it for everything. Regina is extremely skeptical that Rumpelstiltskin will see through the forgery right away, but doesn’t want to pull out of the mission. Just then, Regina gets a text from the evil ones, probably asking her what’s taking so long. Then, Regina gets hit by a bolt of inspiration and quickly snaps a photo of the page with her phone. The villains don’t know that the door actually is the portal that leads to the Author, they only wanted the page to see what they were looking for. Already late, Regina hurries off, not before giving Henry an extra-long hug. This surely is foreshadowing trouble ahead.

At Casa De Charming, Emma walks in to see her parents and Hook waiting for her. Hook explains what Ursula revealed about Rumple wanting to use the Author to turn Emma dark and get back their happy endings. The savior thinks that’s ridiculous and there is no way she will be going to the side of evil. Hook is still concerned, warning that darkness creeps up on you. Should we be on the lookout for signs of creeping darkness in the characters? The entire time Hook and Emma are talking, Snow White is off to the side looking extremely worried, almost near tears. She whispers to Charming, asking if its possible Emma will go dark. Snow is worried the Author will change everything and determinedly vows to do something about all this, leaving the loft abruptly with Charming close behind.

In the Storybrooke woods, Regina returns to Rumple’s cabin, which I guess they didn’t care to vacate after their recent invasion, and trades a few barbs with Cruella before spinning a web of lies regarding why she doesn’t have the page with her, claiming it was under the protection of the savior. Rumpelstiltskin finds this story hard to swallow. It seems he’s finally catching on to Regina’s subterfuge. Trying to save face, Regina shows her villainous counterparts the photo she snapped. Cruella complains about the glare from the flash only for Rumple to realize that that is no glare; it’s magic. Regina’s expression is a struggle between open worry and cool detachment as Rumpelstiltskin goes on to surmise that the Author is inside the book. I know he’s the Dark One, but man did Rumple figure that out quick. I wonder if he’s seen this type of spell before or maybe even performed something similar. The Dark One demands the physical page, not worried about the threat of the savior. Maleficent has something special in store for her.

Speaking of the savior, she and Hook are having a heart to heart. Hook came off as a bit jealous of August W. Booth and Emma assures the pirate that August is just a friend. Emma reminds Hook of her best friend Lily, the one from the video we saw back in the first half of this season. When things broke down between Emma and Lily, the former didn’t really make friends after that. The first exception to this was August, which is why he is so important to her. I always saw August as a big brother to Emma due to how August was so protective of the savior, how he believed in her, and the journey they shared. Hook and Emma’s discussion is interrupted by approaching magic and before you can blink, they both are out cold. Maleficent has cast a sleeping spell over the town.

Flashback to Snow White and Prince Charming still out in the woods. Snow refuses to tell Charming what she saw; she doesn’t want to make it seem real. She does insist that she and Charming must save their child’s future though. The pair come across a peddler stuck in the mud alongside the road. Charming helps unstick his wagon and gives the chilled merchant a flask of brandy to warm up. I have no idea how they got away with that “colder than a witch’s…foot” line, but it was hilarious. The peddler is concerned that Snow and Charming are heading west. Maleficent is that way and the peddler warns the pair that she has scorched the earth in dragon form, making a nest for herself and a newly laid egg. The Charmings would be safer traveling east. Snow and her prince are concerned that they will become lost if they take such a roundabout way home, but the peddler tells them to follow the path and eventually they will find a cottage where an old man lives who can help them further. Rewatching this episode again allows me to appreciate the peddler's role in giving the Charming’s “directions”. And so, the Charmings take the peddler’s advice and come across the cottage. This is the home of the Apprentice, the one currently residing in the Sorcerer’s hat. He has been expecting the Charmings and also sensed they were worried about their child. As the Apprentice ushers them in for tea and explanations, Snow and Charming hear Maleficent’s roar in the distance.

In Storybrooke, we see the villains making their way back into town. Rumple and Maleficent are a bit behind, having a private conversation. The imp with the limp is asking if Maleficent knows what she has to do. Originally, Maleficent’s role in Rumple’s plan was to help find the Author, then her happiness would be secured. However, the dragon queen is changing their deal. She knows exactly how valuable her magic and skills are to Rumpelstiltskin and mentions how Cruella and Ursula were expendable means Rumple used to get to her. I would be truly surprised if there wasn’t a fair amount of backstabbing in the future. Maleficent wants to change the deal; in addition to her happy ending she needs to know what happened to her child after Snow and Charming took it. As long as Rumple helps her find that information, Maleficent is willing to deliver the Author to him before taking her own revenge on Snow and Charming.

Back in town, Snow White is still extremely upset, barely hearing Prince Charming call her name. She admits to her prince that she is not ok. Snow goes on to mention a vow the pair of them made to be good and how since the Queens of Darkness arrived all they’ve been doing is lying. Snow White has a very valid concern that they are contributing to Emma turning away from the light by lying to her. All at once, Charming and Snow notice the stillness in town. They realize the town is asleep, victims of a spell. I love the touch that Charming and Snow are both immune because they already went under a sleeping curse, it's a great use of continuity.

Meanwhile, the villains are poking around Casa de Charming while Emma and Hook are passed out on the couch. Cruella remarks on how easy it would be to wring the savior’s neck, but Regina warns the queen of darkness not to. Everyone in the room pauses for a beat, staring at Regina as if she had two heads, but Regina manages to once again waffle her way out of an awkward heroic situation. Madame Mayor is really not excelling at staying undercover this episode. Rumpelstiltskin grows frustrated when they are unable to locate the Author’s page despite Regina’s assurances that it was in the loft. Rumple soon realizes that those who are immune to the sleeping curse will be awake and that this includes Henry, who I honestly momentarily forgot had indeed fallen under a sleeping curse back in season two. I love the next shot of this scene, showing Henry running full tilt to the Sorcerer’s mansion while a Rumple in a voiceover heavily implies what will become of the boy once he is found by the villains. Regina looks like she is biting back her rage as Rumple speaks of going after Henry. I don’t know if it’s just this season, but the use of voice overs I believe has increased, which is fine because they are used to great effect.

So, quickly the villains are on the move after that page, or at least Regina is. The mayor threatens her counterparts with fireballs should they try go after Henry. Clearly Rumple doesn’t think much of this threat for as soon a Regina is out of earshot, he instructs Cruella and Maleficent to follow and make the boy give up the page. The Dark One doesn’t trust Regina. Rumple isn’t joining the Queens of Darkness on their mission, claiming to have personal business. More secrets and lies. Snow and Charming had been eavesdropping from around the corner and hear everything. They are lucky Henry soon calls them to explain where he is. Everyone passed out, so he took the page to the mansion because he thought it was safe. Snow and Charming tell their grandson that they are on their way to help and hang up. However, Charming suddenly hesitates. The prince wants to destroy the Author’s page, that way Rumple won’t be able to use the door as a portal to free the Author. Snow is conflicted here. The destroying the page could trap the Author forever or even kill him, but Charming insists that they’ve come too far and must protect Emma. Like I’ve said before, villains are always the heroes of their own stories. Charming and Snow’s actions up to this point have been extremely questionable. These two are going to great morally dubious lengths for what they believe is best.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Snow White and Charming are taking tea with the Apprentice. Snow explains the vastly different things she and Charming saw when they touched that unicorn horn and questions which vision was the true future. The Apprentice tells his guests they both are. He goes on to explain that when we are born we are blank slates with free will, so it’s very possible either of those visions could come to pass. Snow asks how to ensure their child’s goodness as she believes the future would be bleak if her vision comes to pass. The Apprentice hesitates before speaking of a way to banish the potential for darkness. This, like all magic, will come at a steep price. Whatever that price is, it doesn’t matter to Snow White, who jumps at this chance. The Apprentice can’t simply dissolve the darkness, what he must do is send it into another living vessel. He warns the Charmings that once this spell is cast, it can never be reversed. I wonder if the reason we never hear about these unique magic fixes until they crop up in the plot is because the fallout from them is so terrible no one would be willing to try them twice. Charming seems very wary of this magical fix, not liking the idea of banishing the darkness into another. He finds it wrong and I’m inclined to agree with the prince. Snow, however, is still all for this plan and suggests they use Maleficent’s egg to absorb the darkness. What I don’t understand about this episode is how Charming and Snow don’t realize the egg is a baby. Unless it’s because they believe the dragon’s egg has to do with a magic spell or something, but Snow White knew Maleficent was pregnant.

In Storybrooke, Henry is holed up in the secret library in the Sorcerer’s mansion. He sits contemplating the page when a mysterious glowing begins to emit from the illustration. And it’s coming from under the Author’s door. The key hole on the page then begins to glow, pointing Henry towards a desk drawer behind him. Henry looks thrilled to have finally made a breakthrough and investigates the drawer, finding a single key inside. The visual effects here are wonderful and add to the mystical mystery of the Author and his current situation. Suddenly, the door to the library opens, but it’s not Henry’s grandparents as expected, it’s Regina. The mayor begins to apologize, but Cruella and Maleficent are right behind her. Regina is irritated that things are not going her way and once more threatens the Queens of Darkness to stay away from her son. Regina demands the page from Henry, going as far as to “middle name” the Truest Believer. There is a beat, but in the end he hands over the page. Regina and Henry share once last meaningful look before she leaves with the villains.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Ursula and Cruella are standing watch in front of Maleficent’s cave. Snow and Charming get the jump on the two villains, knocking them out. Our heroes enter the cave and see it is littered with trinkets and treasures. Charming accidentally kicks the rattle we’ve come accustomed to see Maleficent carry around as they explore further. I find it funny that Charming questions why the rattle is in the dragon’s den, as if it couldn’t be more obvious that there was a baby somewhere. Snow and Charming see the egg and approach it, but the “nest” that it rest on unfurls, a smart looking bit of CGI here. The nest was actually Maleficent in dragon form and she is not happy. Snow snatches the egg, but before the heroes can escape, they are blocked by the dragon’s fire. When Snow threatens to barbecue the egg, Maleficent returns to her human form. She looks very casual here, not made up to be a scary Queen of Darkness at all. In fact she looks extremely vulnerable. Maleficent asks what kind of people Snow and Charming are if they are willing to threaten a child. Snow defends herself, saying that the egg will turn out to be a monster like her foe. She still thinks that the egg isn’t human. Snow assures Maleficent they will return the egg when they are finished with it and even though we know the heroes believe this child is already too evil to be saved, this comes off as cold. Charming and Snow hastily retreat, stepping on the rattle and snapping it half as they go, dodging Maleficent’s magic as she protests. The way Maleficent begged for mercy elicited so much sympathy. One has to remember she too has done evil deeds, but no one here is right or wrong, good or evil. They are all just desperate.

In Storybrooke, the Charmings have finally made it to the Sorcerer’s mansion. Henry explained what happened, but lucky for all the Truest Believer is a quick thinker. He tricked the villains into taking the forged page, saying Regina just gave him a look and he knew what to do. I think this speaks to the bond that has grown between Regina and Henry and just how far they’ve come from their season one interactions. Can you imagine season one Henry talking to season four Henry? Anyway, Henry also explains to his grandparents about the key he found and is eager to let the Author loose, but Charming stops the boy, stooping as low as to holler at his grandson that it’s too dangerous to let the Author go. This is so not like Charming, in fact it’s a bit villainous. The Charmings make Henry leave and Snow is upset that they are now lying to their grandson. She believes if they keep up with what they’ve been doing they will be no different from Rumpelstiltskin and I do believe she is correct.

Speak of the devil, we see the Dark One at the pawn shop carrying a sleeping Belle to safety. He still cares for Belle so much that it frustrates me when Rumple continues to hurt her. Rumple sits with Belle for a moment, talking to his sleeping bride. He speaks of how his magic comes at a cost and he’s racked up so much debt it will never be clear unless he finds a way to change the rules entirely. So Rumple’s idea of trying to fix his debt is by adding more via his current actions. This is the easy way, not the wise one. Rumple goes on to say that something is changing and if he’s going to change the rules he must do so quickly. Rumple touches his chest while explaining this, I wonder if his heart has become so shriveled and blackened from years of dark deeds that it might be starting to give out. We hear the sounds of Cruella’s maniac driving, so Rumple’s time is cut short and he vows to come back for Belle if he can. The Queens of Darkness confront Rumpelstiltskin as he exits the pawn shop and he tells them to mind their business when they inquire about what he was up to. The forged Author’s page is presented and our heroes were right, the Dark One immediately knows it’s a fake. Rumple lets on that Regina of all people should have seen the fake for what it was as well. The Dark One had been waiting for confirmation that Madame Mayor was not on the side of evil and now he has it. I wonder if he knew right away or shortly after Regina went undercover. Did he just play along in order to get answers? Maleficent knocks Regina out cold and Rumple commands that she be brought to her vault. Regina is in deep trouble.

In the Enchanted Forest, Snow and Charming present the egg to the Apprentice, who says it will do nicely for their task. As he mutters the incantation, the Apprentice mentions distant shores and Charming wonders aloud what that means. We soon find out as a portal begins to form. The Apprentice says the only way to be sure the darkness is gone and to protect the realm is to send it away and reminds our heroes that it’s too late to stop the process, the spell has already been cast. It makes a lot of sense to send the potential for magical evil into a land that has no magic. The desperation in Snow White’s voice in the scene is remarkable as she and Charming panic, remembering they promised to bring the egg back to Maleficent. As the portal grows wider, the egg hatches, revealing to Snow and Charming’s surprise the baby inside. I mean, I suppose they were expecting a dragon, but I’m still not sure how they didn’t realize they were snatching a baby. Our heroes try to save the child right as Cruella and Ursula arrive and the portal sucks in both the egg and the two Queens of Darkness. A tidy way to explain how Ursula and Cruella made it to the real world and why we hadn’t heard from them before. I have to say it was rather amusing to hear one of them shout “Cradle robbers!” at the Charmings. The portal closes and the deed is done. The baby they sent away is lost forever, but their unborn child is now pure. The Apprentice instructs the Charmings that it is their duty to make sure their child keeps to the light. The Apprentice’s congratulations here sounds so sarcastic to me. He knows what happened is wrong. Snow White is devastated as the reality of their actions sinks in. Charming says they didn’t know, but Snow insists they made a terrible mistake.

In Storybrooke, Charming and Snow debate over whether or not they should burn the Author’s page. Snow can’t deal with anymore lies. She gave Henry The Book to give him hope, so now she’s just going to take all that away with a lie? And Regina, who’s kept their dark secret and is finally a friend to them, who’s been risking her life for the Charmings, are they going to repay all that by taking away her chance at a happy end? Snow is beyond insistent, saying the dark spot on her heart wasn’t from when she murdered Cora; it started long ago. This is interesting to point out since Snow has been shown to be very susceptible to darkness before, like when she look the forgetting potion back in season one. Snow says they must tell Emma the truth because heroes do “what’s right, not what’s easy”. Finally Snow White is sounding like herself in this episode. This goes to show that heroes aren’t naturally born, they are made and one has to work towards that goal, like how Regina has progressed over the seasons.

We then cut to Emma sitting across from her parents in the loft. Snow and Charming have come clean and the savior looks devastated. Imagine hearing your parents, these mythological figures of goodness, imagine them admit that they did what they did to a baby and then lied about it to your face for so long. Emma’s trust has always been very fragile and now it’s bruised more than ever. The savior is tortured by the fact that Snow and Charming lied, that she wanted to believe them and believe in them. Despite their explanations, Emma is not ok and wants nothing to do with her parents at the moment. Snow stops her daughter as she tries to leave the loft, almost begging Emma to speak to her because she is her mother. Emma coldly replies that she doesn’t care and like a slap in the face, Snow’s prophecy is fulfilled. Emma might has well have torn out Snow’s heart with more than words in this scene.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, we see Snow and Charming setting up the unborn Emma’s nursery as it has been seen in past seasons. Snow is distraught that there are unicorns on the mobile. She doesn’t want any reminders of the vision she had and what it led them to do, especially not hanging over their child. Both Snow White and Prince Charming are haunted by what they did. Snow talks about their mistake, how they felt they were doing something brave for their child. The heroes were brave, but they weren’t kind and I love the emphasis put on "kind" in this speech. Snow admits that they were selfish, that they aren’t heroes anymore. Charming doesn’t want to raise their child weighed down by guilt and says they must strive to fix themselves. This does explain the abundance of “rainbow kisses and unicorn stickers” we’ve seen with Snow and Charming. They have been making up for this one mistake for so long.

In Regina’s vault, the unconscious mayor lies at the feet of the villains. Cruella wants to kill her off already, but Rumple warns that it is not the time for that. Cruella has been particularly bloodthirsty this episode, what is going on with that? Rumpelstiltskin is confident Regina will continue to help them, she just doesn’t know it yet. The Dark One has something that when will make Regina do his bidding forever. Maleficent approaches Rumple with her precious rattle, demanding that the imp with the limp help her take care of her needs now. Rumpelstiltskin attempts to wave her away. She didn’t get the page, so she doesn’t earn her answer. Maleficent counters by mentioning all the pain she’s been through, that that is enough to earn some peace of mind. Rumple warns Maleficent that she might not like what she sees, but the dragon queen must know. She doesn’t even know if she had a boy or a girl. So Rumple takes the rattle and does the hoodoo he do so well, using it to show a vision 30 years in the past. We see the baby being adopted and she has a peculiar star-shaped birthmark on her wrist. Sure enough, the man adopting her calls the baby “Lily”. I have to say I say this coming, so I’m not particularly surprised, just satisfied. I think this development will bring some interesting twists into the story of Once Upon a Time. Maleficent is overcome with joy that her child is alive and in the same realm as them. The dragon queen vows to find Lily, which reminds me very much of Rumpelstiltskin’s quest to find Baelfire so long ago.

Elsewhere in Storybrooke, Emma is rushing to see the recovering August, who has just woken up. She had been brooding down at the docks when Hook went to see her with the news, playing messenger because Snow and Charming didn’t think Emma wanted to hear from them. They were right. Emma enthusiastically shows August the key and the Author’s page, itching to let the Author out. Snow White warns her daughter that this is exactly what Rumpelstiltskin wants and was his plan to turn Emma dark. Emma responds that she’s not worried about any of that and the fury in her voice when she speaks to Snow is so chilling it would put Frozen to shame. Emma has questions for the Author about herself but according to August, it’s no good if the Author didn’t write her story. For you see, this Author isn’t the only author, there have been many in a long line. It’s more of a vocation than a singular person. These people were tasked with the responsibility of recording and witnessing the greatest stories of all time. August mentions a number of people who did the job including “a man named Walt”. Ok, this I enjoyed. Online theories have been speculating for a while that Walt Disney was the Author, so this is a neat way to give a shout out to one version of the source material while not upending the audience’s suspension of disbelief by overdoing it with the Disney.

The most recent Author, the one in The Book, was different. He began to manipulate the story and did something to it to push the stories over the edge. We see this author in a brief flashback, scribbling away in The Book with an enchanted quill. The Apprentice approaches, furious that he was forced to banish a child as his did, but the Author waves this off as “making for a more interesting story”. This man is playing God. The Apprentice finds the Author ill-suited for the job, alluding to how he’s lied and deceived before, and must be punished. And with that the Apprentice traps the Author into The Book. The Apprentice and the Sorcerer choose who will be the Author and they took responsibility for their mistake, though this leaves so many questions. How much did the Author change, what did he change, and what would have happened had he not changed anything? I hope we find out the answers to these questions.

August sees Emma’s faith and enthusiasm and remarks at how far she’s come from the woman who didn’t want to believe. Forget season one Henry meeting season four Henry, I would love to see season one Emma and season four Emma sit down and have a chat. So, putting that belief and faith to the test, Emma takes the key and presses it to the illustrated door, releasing the Author. And it’s none other than the peddler Snow and Charming met on the road, the one who gave them the nudge to meet with the Apprentice in the first place. Charming recognizes the flask he gave the peddler long ago, but before Emma can ask any questions, the Author flees. Despite her best efforts, Emma’s pursuit turns up nothing. The Author of Henry’s storybook is now loose in Storybrooke.

So there you have it, “Best Laid Plans”. So much happened, what were your thoughts on the episode?

This episode gave us so many answers and even more to think about. I loved the insight to how both The Book and the Author worked. And especially the idea that the Author takes up the mantle, that there have been many different people recording the great stories. This makes sense considering how back in season two Henry realized that Dr. Frankenstein wasn’t in The Book and yet The Land Without Color existed and Rumpelstiltskin was able to travel there. I didn’t find the reveal of the Author to be underwhelming at all. I know there were many theories that an existing character would turn out to be the writer of The Book and that may come to pass later on. The idea of Henry taking up this job would be a perfect happy ending for him I think.

Snow and Charming’s journey through these past couple of episodes has been very dark. They really were the villains in Maleficent’s story. Imagine if the roles were reversed, then you would get the pilot episode of Once Upon a Time where a foe forces a baby through a portal much to the dismay of its parents, the foe believing that this action is the only way to achieve happiness. I wonder if the Author will be persuaded to give those happy endings to the villains and we will see a topsy-turvy take on the familiar stories. The Author mentioned he changed things to make “a better story” and I wonder how he decided who would be a villain and who would be a hero.

I love that Lily is Maleficent’s daughter and that she and Emma bonded long ago. Lily is almost the antithesis of Emma, her shadow counterpart. With Lily living and growing up in a land without magic, I wonder if she has discovered her potential. And if Lily and Maleficent have their reunion, will Lily side with her mother and go dark, or will that potential for darkness have left her in the same way it seems to be filling Emma up. I am so unsure of how Emma’s story will twist and turn in the next couple of episodes, but I believe this season is going to leave us on a giant cliffhanger.

Tune in two weeks from now where we will see two familiar faces in “Heart of Gold”!

About the Author – Ashley B

Ashley is as serious as a sleeping curse when she says television is her life. Professional event planner, avid movie viewer, convention enthusiast, and resident sass master, Ashley writes reviews for ABC's Once Upon a Time, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, and Galavant, as well as Showtime’s Penny Dreadful. She looks forward each week to the weird and wonderful world her favorite television programs provide.

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