Once Upon a Time (TV Series)

The Girl in the Tower (2018)

Rose Reynolds: Alice, Tilly

Photos 

Quotes 

• Tilly : [talking to the troll statue]  Oh, friend. I'm in quite a jam. They think I killed that poor woman, but I didn't. I couldn't. You know I don't have that kind of malice in me.

• [first lines] 

  Alice : Good evening, trees. And you, stars! My, you're rather chatty tonight, aren't you? Do you know what the stars say today is, Mr. Hatter? Well, the second star to the right is blinking to the north. Which can only mean one thing. Today is my birthday!

• Alice : My papa used to say all the best people are mad. He'd say "Starfish, you meet loads of people in this world. But the best ones, they'll challenge you. Make you see the world through a whole new looking glass."

  Robin : You're lucky. I never knew mine. He died when I was a baby. No cute nicknames. No fatherly advice. All I have is his name and his legacy to uphold.

• Robin : You're Alice. Nook's kid.

  Alice : Nook?

  Robin : N-New Hook. It's a thing that my mom and... you know what? It doesn't matter. Wow. So you're the girl in the tower.

  Alice : I got out of that tower years ago.

• Alice : How do you know my papa?

  Robin : I'm a part of the team. You know, my mom and aunt, your dad... a bunch of other people I don't really know. Kind of new here. Name's Robin.

  Alice : New Robin. So, Nobin.

  Robin : Yeah, don't call me that.

  Alice : If papa's Nook, it only follows that you should be Nobin, right?

  Robin : It's just different.

  Alice : How?

  Robin : It's just not... cool, okay?

  Alice : Cool? Why would you want to be "cool"?

  Robin : You haven't gotten out much since the tower, have you?

  Alice : I've been loads of places. And this cage? My least favorite in all the realms. So mind letting me out of here... Nobin?

  Robin : Only if you stop calling me that.

• Robin : [hearing a troll roar]  That's him. That's the monster. I've been tracking him for days.

  Alice : Wait, wait, wait. I know that sound. That's no monster. That's a friend.

  Robin : Yeah, well, your friend's been tormenting villages. And I have an arrow with his name on it. See you around, Tower Girl.

• Robin : Seriously, how are you still with me? I ran track for three years.

  Alice : I once outran a Bandersnatch. You're not hurting my friend. He really is a sweetheart. The gentlest of giants.

  Robin : Well, I have to find him first. I think he's close.

  Alice : Well, maybe someone in there has met him. Then you'll see.

  [they enter a pub and see a hunting party preparing to go out] 

  Robin : Oh, I think they've met him.

• Clayton : If you've come seeking shelter, you'll find none here. A monster destroyed our homes.

  Alice : He's not a monster. Why does everyone keep saying that?

  Robin : Because non-monsters don't flatten villages.

• Henry Mills : You don't remember yesterday at all?

  Tilly : Well, once I saw that awful Eloise Gardner, my mind just... well, something happened. It's like my mind is two jigsaw puzzles in one box.

• Rogers : Well, look, it's a challenge, but one we can work with. Maybe we can track your moves.

  Tilly : Like a chess match?

  Rogers : Well, more like a, uh, scavenger hunt.

  [he examines Alice's coat sleeve] 

  Rogers : Powdered sugar. Did you... did you happen to swing by the Rollin' Bayou yesterday for beignets?

  Tilly : I did! Brilliant, Detective! Shall we?

  Rogers : No, no, no. We shall, but you won't. Stay put. We'll be back in an hour.

  [he and Henry leave] 

  Tilly : Well, this isn't a very fun scavenger hunt, is it?

• Robin : It must be hard for you, being locked up again.

  Alice : The day I got out of that tower was a bloody dream come true. At least at first.

  Robin : Why? What happened?

  Alice : I thought I'd find a way for me and papa to be together again. 'Cause what's the point of being free if you're all alone?

  Robin : Back where I'm from, I was never alone. That's when I felt the most trapped.

  Alice : At least you had people. I talked to a hat.

• Robin : Seriously, Storybrooke was insufferably quaint. Everybody knew your name and all your business. And one night, I just had enough.

  Alice : What'd you do?

  Robin : I hot-wired the sheriff's yellow Bug.

  [Alice is confused] 

  Robin : I stole it. I would have hit New York by morning if she hadn't caught me. But for eight glorious minutes, it was just me and that Bug and the wide-open road.

• Alice : You rode a bug?

  Robin : No, no, no. A Bug is a type of car. Here. Let me show you.

  [taking out her phone] 

  Robin : See?

  Alice : What is this thing? It's magic.

  Robin : [snickering as Alice scrolls through photos]  No, it's not magic. It's called a smartphone. It held my entire life back home.

  Alice : A whole life trapped in this tiny little box? I thought I was in a prison.

• Rogers : I told you to stay put. Somebody could've seen you.

  Tilly : Nope. Nuh-uh. No one sees me. I'm invisible.

  Rogers : What are you talking about?

  Tilly : I was here yesterday. I thought someone might have seen me, but nobody did. I know everyone in the Heights, but nobody knows me.

  [her voice breaking] 

  Tilly : What if... what if I don't exist at all?

  Rogers : You exist, luv. Or else I'm the mad one talking to no one. I'm not mad. If you say you were here, you were here.

• Tilly : [tracking back her steps]  After I finished the beignets, I grabbed an apple from the bodega, tossed the core in the rubbish bin by the newspaper stand, uh, grabbed a marmalade sandwich, and then I... I ducked into this alleyway to eat it.

  Henry Mills : Unless you ran into Oscar the Grouch, you're not gonna find an alibi back here.

• Robin : [Alice stops her from shooting the troll]  Seriously, Tower Girl?

  Alice : Turns out I have more than one hairpin.

• Robin : We need to get out of here. We need an escape.

  Alice : Escape.

  [she closes her eyes wishes as hard as she can; after a moment, a car horn honks] 

  Alice : Is that...?

  Robin : The yellow Bug. But that's impossible.

  Alice : Sometimes, I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

• [Tilly has found incriminating evidence in her backpack] 

  Rogers : This makes things more complicated, but we don't, we don't know the full story. And I have a feeling in my gut that you're not a killer.

  Tilly : You just met me, Detective. You don't know me. No one knows me.

• Alice : Why did you help me out back there?

  Robin : I don't know. You know, back in Storybrooke, I was kind of a mean girl. All I cared about was being popular.

  Alice : Yeah, I saw. You got loads of friends.

  Robin : I wouldn't really call them friends. But their approval was addicting. I hated it. So I came here to start over, and then I started seeking my father's legacy for all the same, dumb reasons. But back there, I think I remembered what being Robin Hood is really about: protecting those who need it.

• Robin : This is it, isn't it?

  Alice : Yep. For the first 6,205 days of my life, this was home sweet tower. I hate this place. I hate its stupid stones and its stupid turret and its dumb mossy base. And I hate... I hate that all I've wanted to do since I left is come back. At least when I was trapped, I could have hope that when I got free, everything would be okay. But then I did. And it wasn't.

  Robin : Hey, hey. It's okay.

  Alice : No. No, it's not okay. Who in their right mind wants to be a prisoner? I've escaped these walls, but I'm still bloody trapped. I'll never be free of it, will I?

• Alice : Hello, old friend. It's me. Alice. I'm all grown up, aren't I? And I've been so many places since we saw each other last. It's curiouser and madder and sadder, and so much more wonderful out here than I ever imagined it could be. So thank you. You don't have to worry about me anymore. 'Cause I'm okay. I promise. I think, after all this time... I'm finally - gosh, it's such a big, beautiful world, isn't it? - free.

• Margot : I'm sorry, were you just talking to the troll?

  Tilly : Yeah. I know what you're thinking. "Crazy Tilly, totally bonkers, absolutely mad."

  Margot : Yeah, kinda. But all the best people are. I just got back from Tibet. Everybody there talks to statues.

• Margot : So, what were you telling the troll?

  Tilly : I was... I was saying goodbye.

  Margot : You're running away. I tried that. You know what I found out? Sometimes you just have to look up and face your problems. Well, it was nice to meet you, Crazy Tilly. Good luck.

  Tilly : Uh, hey. What's that you're reading?

  Margot : 'Alice in Wonderland'. It's my favorite.

• Rogers : Hey, Tilly. We're out of time. I have to take you in. I will find you an alibi. I promise.

  Tilly : I think I've already found someone.

  Rogers : [seeing a red light blinking in the troll statue's eye]  A security camera?

  Tilly : He saw me. He's always seen me. And now it seems he can talk.

• Rogers : [viewing security camera footage]  This places you at the troll at the time of the blind baker's death.

  Tilly : How did I not see it before? It was like he was winking right at me.

  Rogers : Well, I checked, and the city only recently installed it because of a graffiti problem.

  Henry Mills : Guess you had a friend after all.

• Robin : Make a wish. Just not for another troll.

  [Alice blows out the candle] 

  Robin : So... what did you wish for?

  Alice : You know that's not how it works. But I've got a good feeling about this one.

  Robin : Why don't we take this for the road and get the hell out of this place?

  Alice : [hanging back as Robin starts to leave]  Goodbye, Tower Girl.

• [last lines] 

  Rogers : Look, Tilly, this, uh... this place isn't safe for you. Not with the... not with the murderer at large.

  Tilly : I don't got nowhere else to go.

  Rogers : How about you come stay with me for a while? I've got a spare room, central heating, a better lock on the door than this.

  Tilly : Yeah. I'd like that very much.

  Rogers : All right, then. Good. Well, come on. Let's go home.