Emma Makes ‘Gut-Wrenching Choice’ In Battle

Now we’re going to see how her facing that humanity that’s literally growing inside her, and what is inside her, affects her and what it makes her do, and as things tend to be with Zelena, her reactions are usually wildly unpredictable. The second hour of the Once Upon a Time special will focus on Merida’s continued mission to save her kingdom. It’s a amusing thing – the more we’re asked about it, it kind of goes against what we’re trying to do with it, which is not to make it a “Very Special Episode of Once Upon a Time”, but to make it its own special story that just exists. “You know, we’ve never portrayed Zelena as any sort of romantic threat and that will continue, but we’ll also continue having to see them deal with Zelena, who is quite clearly out of her mind”. Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) wants answers and finally learns the truth from Emma.

So you’re not holding too much back for the midseason finale?

Kitsis: We’ve been wanting to bring Ruby back forever… but we felt like we couldn’t just have Ruby show up at Granny’s like she’s been there the whole time. This weekend we’re gonna get a lot of answers, and then the following two weeks, all those questions will be answered.

You’ve now positioned Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle) as a hero to counterbalance Emma’s darkness – how will we see that newfound heroism manifest itself? “You will find out the answer to why Emma is doing what she’s doing, and you’ll find out more about the curse”.

Kitsis: This episode is the closest we’ve come to a Braveheart scene. As we saw in last week’s episode, Rumple is now officially considered a hero, but unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that he’s automatically going to get the girl.

“A lot of the questions that everyone has been asking themselves and a lot of these mysteries that we have posed at the beginning of the season will be answered on Sunday night”, Kitsis teased. That showdown is absolutely going to be front and center for the next few episodes.

Will he be sticking around for a while? We can’t tell you who that ring once belonged to, but we will say that we’ve met its previous owner before. You saved me, that was Emma…. This is kind of their reintroduction, where they’ve been and setting them up for the second half.

Horowitz: I will say that nothing with Zelena is healthy or normal.

Kitsis: You can’t have Ruby and not have a wolf be handy.

Although Hook previously told the Dark Swan that he wanted nothing to do with her, Zelena’s pregnancy will have him “desperate to get answers”.

“Hook’s dilemma is saving Emma”, co-creator Edward Kitsis tells TVGuide.com.

Said episode description also reveals that “Zelena’s (Rebecca Mader) pregnancy mysteriously accelerates”, which sounds like bad news…

Horowitz: With Zelena, everything is a little bit scary.

“Once Upon a Time” season 5 episodes 8 and 9 will air on Sunday, November 15, 2015. Hopefully they will be sooner than you expect.

Kitsis: How about all three? We love Jamie and we wish him nothing but the best, and though we’re sorry not to see his face in the 100th, I think he’ll be there in spirit as Emma wears his shoelaces on her wrist. “So it’s not like it’s a completely self-contained half of the season where everything that happened is closed off and we’re starting completely new”.