Mother Superior

> If I were you, your Majesty, I'd find a place to hide.
>       —Mother Superior to Regina Mills

Reul Ghorm, better known as **Mother Superior**, is a character on ABC's *Once Upon a Time*. She débuts in the fourteenth episode of the first season. She is portrayed by guest star Keegan Connor Tracy, and is the Storybrooke counterpart of the **Blue Fairy**.

## History

*For events occurring before the casting of the first curse, see Blue Fairy.*

### During First Curse

After the casting of the curse, Mother Superior becomes head nun of a convent. During the town's annual Miners' Day festival, she supervises Sister Astrid, who is given the responsibility of ordering twelve containers of helium. Instead, Astrid accidentally orders twelve dozen, which uses up all of the nuns' spare and rent money. Displeased at the mess, Mother Superior tells her to fix it, while warning of Mr. Gold, their landlord, and how he thinks of nuns. Then, she storms off in a huff, leaving Astrid distraught. *("Dreamy")*

At the nunnery, she meets with August to give him counsel over a long-term separation and search for his father. Shortly after August leaves, Mr. Gold asks what he wanted from her. She doesn't think it's his business to know, but is obligated to say when he threatens to shut down the convent. So, Mother Superior says August was giving her a confession, and it was about finding his father who he has been in conflict with for some time now. This leads Mr. Gold into suspecting August is his long lost son. *("The Return")*

Following Henry's ingestion of a piece of poisoned apple turnover, it proves to be fatal when he apparently dies. At the hospital, Mother Superior awaits Henry's birth mother, Emma, and his adoptive mother, Regina, as Dr. Whale delivers the bad news to both of them. As a final goodbye, Emma plants a kiss on Henry's forehead and unintentionally triggers the effects of true love's kiss, which restores him to life. Mother Superior is awed by Emma's use of true love's kiss. Regina hurries into the room in disbelief as Mother Superior notifies them that the curse has been broken. Then, she advises Regina to find a place to hide, as the townspeople now remember their Enchanted Forest selves. *("A Land Without Magic")*

### After First Curse

After Emma breaks the Dark Curse, Mother Superior is approached by a still wooden August who asks if she can turn him back to as he was. She cannot, as he did not keep with the original terms that made him human in the first place; to remain brave, truthful and unselfish, which he did not. *("Selfless, Brave and True")*
She joins Mary Margaret and David in town and acknowledges her previous existence as the Blue Fairy when Henry calls her by her former name. When Henry requests to see her do some magic, Mother Superior cannot. Though she can feel the magic released into town by Mr. Gold, it cannot be used as magic works differently in Storybrooke. Without a wand or fairy dust, magic use is not possible for herself. *("Broken")*
Following the Wraith's attack on the town, Mother Superior and Ruby form the Crisis Center team to organize and direct the people of Storybrooke as they seek out loved ones and shelter. David, who has stepped up as temporary sheriff, asks if there might be another enchanted tree like the one that sent Emma out of their world so it can be used to cross over to another world. Mother Superior states such a thing was possible, but with no magic or fairy dust to guide them, finding one would be hopeless. Leroy and the dwarves report bad news of their findings at the border, which caused Mr. Clark to lose his Enchanted Forest memories by crossing the town line. The news causes a huge stir, but David sets up a town meeting in two hours' time and promises to come up with a plan. At the town hall, residents pack the whole building and anxiously await David's arrival. Instead, Regina arrives to demonstrate her newly restored magic powers to them until Henry agrees to go home with her. With no sign of David, the townspeople decide they would rather lose their memories by leaving town than deal with Regina. Mother Superior is one of the many who attempt to drive out of town, but David puts a stop to it with a heartfelt speech. He convinces them to accept both their Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke selves by drawing strengths from their weaknesses. Moved, they all return home. *("We Are Both")*
The dwarves, minus Mr. Clark, work diligently to mine for diamonds in the hopes of making fairy dust and then combing it with a magic hat to rescue Emma and Mary Margaret from the Enchanted Forest. By accident, Leroy causes a mine wall collapse to reveal diamonds hidden in a ceiling. Mother Superior, David and Henry are notified and come to the mines to examine it for themselves. She gives careful instructions in grinding the diamonds into fairy dust while also cautioning David to keep the hat safe. In a celebration of their success, they all head over to the diner to drink and party. *("Child of the Moon")*
The mysterious death of Archie prompts David, Emma and Mary Margaret to investigate. Emma is convinced of Regina's guilt after using a dream catcher to see her murder Archie. To capture Regina, they intend to freeze her with Mother Superior's fairy dust. During a confrontation on Regina's doorstep, Emma signals the moment for Mother Superior to hurl the dust. The plan fails as Regina hastily catches the dust and easily dispenses of it. Emma reminds Regina they will always know the kind of person she is, which causes the latter to disappear in a puff of smoke. *("The Cricket Game")*
Mother Superior attends Archie's funeral as Mary Margaret eulogies him. Following this, Mother Superior, Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Happy, Leroy, Walter, Marco, Ruby and Granny spend time in Mary Margaret's apartment for a luncheon. Leroy approaches Emma and Mary Margaret to ask on behalf of himself and other dwarves when they will be returning to the Enchanted Forest, which perks everyone else's attention to the conversation. He is concerned about Regina being on the loose, but also the possibility outsiders can wander into town now that the curse is lifted. Emma believes they are safe for now while Leroy believes that trouble will happen sooner or later. *("The Outsider")*
Sensing strong dark magic in Storybrooke, Mother Superior hurries out of the convent home and down the steps to meet David and Mary Margaret, who know of Regina and Cora's plans to find Mr. Gold's dagger and kill everyone in town. Outside Mr. Gold's pawn shop, Mother Superior tries to use her wand to break through the protection spell on the building and retrieve the dagger, but has no success. Mary Margaret suggests using dark magic, but the idea appalls Mother Superior. As desperate times call for desperate measures, Mary Margaret pushes the plan, and reminds her of the secret she kept. Confused, Mother Superior has no inkling of what she means. The conversation is interrupted when David gets a call from Emma, who managed to wrangle the location of the dagger out of Mr. Gold. In the clock tower, David and Mary Margaret procure the dagger from its hiding place. Regina and Cora materialize to pressure Mary Margaret into handing over the dagger. With an intentional slip of tongue from Cora, Mary Margaret realizes it was her who posed as the Blue Fairy all those years ago; hence why Mother Superior had no knowledge of the events leading up to Queen Eva's death. *("The Queen Is Dead")*
Outside the convent nunnery, Mother Superior is approached by Emma, Marco and Mary Margaret with a plea to help August, who is still stuck in his wooden state. She admits knowing about his situation since the breaking of the curse, but if there is a path of redemption for him, he must travel on his own terms. Later on, Mother Superior rushes to see August dying in the arms of Marco while David, Emma, Henry, Mary Margaret and Neal look on helplessly. She agrees if August's final actions of today were indeed selfless, brave and true, her wand can restore him to life. She tests out the theory, and successfully reverts him into a seven-year-old Pinocchio. Overjoyed, Marco reunites with his son. Emma attempts to ask Pinocchio what August was trying to tell her before, but he can't remember. Happily, Pinocchio walks off with his father and Mother Superior. *("Selfless, Brave and True")*
David, Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Happy, Leroy and Walter help Anton plant magic beans so they can use them to travel back to the Enchanted Forest. Mother Superior uses her magic to cloak the area where the bean fields are growing; making them invisible to prying eyes. *("Lacey")*
In an attempt to foil David and Mary Margaret's plans of returning to the Enchanted Forest, Regina destroys all the rows of magic beans and steals one of the bean plants to grow for herself. When David, Emma, Henry and Mary Margaret break into Regina's office to confront her actions, she is nowhere to be seen. Eventually, Mary Margaret and David rescue Regina from the clutches of Greg. They call on Mother Superior to heal Regina, who has suffered immense physical strain under Greg's electrocution torture. Using her wand, Mother Superior revives her to full health. *("Second Star to the Right")*
Greg and his partner in crime, Tamara, activate a trigger that forces the town to begin reverting into a forest and wiping out everyone who originated from the Enchanted Forest. Coincidentally, Mother Superior finishes making a memory potion to restore Mr. Clark's Enchanted Forest memories. She gives it to Leroy, and in turn, he gives another dose of the potion to Mr. Gold for restoring Lacey's memories. *("And Straight On 'Til Morning")*
With the trigger catalyst evaded due to Emma, David, Hook and Mary Margaret's efforts, the group, along with Mr. Gold, then take off to Neverland to rescue Henry from Greg and Tamara. At the docks, Mother Superior, Archie, Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Happy, Mr. Clark and Walter run up to Belle as Leroy ecstatically shouts in excitement over the town being saved. She shows them the cloaking spell Mr. Gold left for her to enact to keep outsiders away, and they all go down to the mines to complete the task. Since they need fairy dust for the spell to work, Mother Superior suggests opening up a vein in the mines so all the magic in the dust will be carried throughout town. Bashful, Dopey, Leroy, Mr. Clark and Walte quarry a large rock containing fairy dust and stop when their efforts yield a crack. Belle hesitates over enacting the spell, and asks Mother Superior to do it instead. Mother Superior refuses since the responsibility is for her to handle as Mr. Gold wanted, so Belle follows through with enacting the spell. From the rock, a stream of magic shoots out and raises a barrier over Storybrooke. *("Dark Hollow")*
As the *Jolly Roger* ascends at the dock, Mother Superior is among the large crowd of townspeople welcoming back David, Emma, Henry and Mary Margaret. To everyone's surprise, Mary Margaret brings attention to the fact it was Regina's helpful efforts that allowed them to return home. During another festivity at the diner, Mother Superior is startled by the appearance of Tinker Bell. Regina presses her to return Tinker Bell's wings, though Mother Superior refuses to take orders from the mayor. Her interest is piqued when Regina claims Tinker Bell can make pixie dust work. However, ex-fairy is not able to do it by will alone, to which Mother Superior believes is proof Tinker Bell doesn't believe in herself. In turn, she can't have faith in Tinker Bell either. The next morning, Mother Superior is pursued by a flying Shadow. As she tries to seek shelter at the convent, the Shadow kills Mother Superior by ripping away her shadow. *("The New Neverland")*
A funeral service is held for Mother Superior in the church as her casket is open for viewing. As they work to stop Pan's version of the Dark Curse from happening, David, Hook, Neal and Tinker Bell come to ask the convent nuns to turn over the Black Fairy's wand just as the Shadow attacks them. With the remaining vial of pixie dust, Tinker Bell believes in herself enough to gain the ability to fly, lights a flame on the coconut half's candle to entrap the Shadow inside and permanently gets rid of the creature by throwing it into a fire. With the Shadow dead, Mother Superior's shadow is restored to her own body, and she appears before the group to congratulate Tinker Bell by giving her wings back and handing over the Black Fairy's wand to them. After Pan is killed by Mr. Gold, who forfeits his own life, everyone regroups at the town border. Though Regina can keep Pan's curse from occurring, the cost is every single former Enchanted Forest inhabitant will be sent back to their old world while Storybrooke will disappear as if it never existed. To keep Henry from being alone, Emma leaves town with him and Regina rewrites new memories for both of them so they forget everything. As the two cross out of Storybrooke, Regina stops the curse from taking over as everyone inside the town is sent back to the Enchanted Forest. *("Going Home")*

### During Second Curse

A new curse is cast by none other than Snow White; returning the Blue Fairy and the rest of the Enchanted Forest inhabitants to the town of Storybrooke. However, as a result of the Wicked Witch of the West's interference, everyone's last recollection is the final day in Storybrooke when Pan's curse was stopped, but no one can recall anything further than that. Mother Superior resumes her role in town as head nun. *("Witch Hunt")*

At the news of Neal's sudden death due to the Wicked Witch's machinations, Mother Superior attends his funeral to pay her respects. *("It's Not Easy Being Green")*

Regina, after bestowing Henry with a kiss of true love, breaks the second curse. Like everyone else, Mother Superior regains her lost memories of the missing year in the Enchanted Forest. *("A Curious Thing")*

### After Second Curse

In a diner celebration welcoming David and Mary Margaret's newborn son, Mother Superior joins the crowd of party goers. She listens with rapt attention as the couple announce they are naming their son after a true hero—Neal. *("There's No Place Like Home")*
As Ingrid's spell threatens to overtake the town, Mother Superior and the other nuns are enlisted by Belle to make a counter spell. However, to create it, they need a hair strand from a person who survived Ingrid's spell; Elsa's sister Anna. Though Emma and Elsa track Anna via her necklace with locator magic, but reach a blocked path. The nuns then discover they can use Ingrid's mirror shard in the necklace to ward off her imminent spell. At the diner, Mother Superior deters Mr. Gold from Belle, who is helping with the counter spell, but he decides to keep his wife company and even says his magic might be helpful. Mother Superior disapprovingly states they are using light magic, but Mr. Gold insists he could add something anyway. Meanwhile, Elsa pretends to give the necklace to Emma by stuffing a pouch with rocks, and she takes the real pendant to locate Anna. After Mother Superior examines the pouch, everyone realizes Elsa duped them. Belle warns it's now too late to create the counter spell, and their only hope is if Anna is present. Emma catches up with Elsa, and they find Anna. Belle, informed they are en-route to the diner, departs with Mr. Gold and leaves the remaining work to the nuns. Under Mr. Gold's orders, a reluctant Hook absorbs the nuns into the Sorcerer's Hat. Witnessing the demise of her fellow sisters, Mother Superior tries to crawl to safety before Hook corners her and she, too, is swallowed into the hat. *("Fall")*
Six weeks later, Belle gains outside help from an "Oxford professor", not knowing it is actually the banished Mr. Gold, who emails her a translation of a spell, which is needed to release those from the hat. Using the dagger, Regina performs the spell and frees all the nuns. Though visible shaken by her ordeal, Mother Superior thanks Regina for saving her. Later, while the diner is bustling with activity as the nuns are welcomed back, Regina approaches Mother Superior to show her one of the blank books found in the sorcerer's mansion. Regina explains her desire to find the storybook author so he can write her a happy ending. To this, Mother Superior clarifies the sorcerer and author are two different people, and only the author can help her. Furthermore, she has never met the author, who could be male or female. Emma inquiries about why the author disappeared, and Mother Superior has no answers, although she has heard the author may have left clues in his works. Emma suggests perhaps Henry's book could count as one of the author's works, but before Mother Superior can answer, the diner shakes as everyone hears a guttural roar from outside the diner. *("Darkness on the Edge of Town")*

## Trivia

* Mother Superior is in charge of the Sisters of Saint Meissa Convent. Meissa is the name of a star in the constellation Orion. "Meissa" derives from the Arabic "Al-Maisan" which means "The Shining One".
* Mother Superior's Storybrooke name is Reul Ghorm, which is the same name her Enchanted Forest counterpart, the Blue Fairy, has been given on several occasions. Reul Ghorm means "blue star" in Scots Gaelic. This is another connection to the Blue Fairy, who appears before those that wish on a blue star.

## Appearances

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.

* Mother Superior is featured in *Once Upon a Time'*s Season One novelization, *Reawakened: A Once Upon a Time Tale*.

* Mother Superior's name appears on the list Tamara has in "The Evil Queen".

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 File:412Missing1.png
2. ↑ File:220ListOfNames.png