After successfully weaving the lands of Oz, Arendelle, Neverland, Camelot, Medieval Scotland, the Enchanted Forest, and our own (comparatively boring) world together so gracefully, I was wondering how they were going to introduce Ancient / Mythical Greece into Once Upon A Time. Last night’s episode, Broken Heart, finally answered that question.
For Oncers, if there’s one thing we love, it’s our favourite Disney characters being introduced on the show! A few weeks ago TvLine reported that the Hercules and Meg characters have been cast, and rumours are flying as to who will play the evil and manipulative Hades. With these characters, naturally must come a new land. Undoubtedly, Andrew Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, creators and writers of the show, will have to include Ancient Greece into the wild geography of the universe they have created otherwise fans will surely feel cheated.
But for the time being, the only evil and manipulative character the show is focusing on is Captain Dark One, as the former Evil Queen Regina affectionately dubbed him in last night’s episode. Broken Heart picked up where last week’s reveal left off, whereby we see Dark Swan turn Hook into another Dark One to save his life. This week we found out how he reacted to his new destiny.
As a newly formed Dark One, Hook comes to grips with the demon in his head with the help of Emma who can also see Spirit Rumple (Aww, couple hallucinations! So cute!). In an effort to help him, Emma keeps Excaliber from him, which he quickly finds out. She maintains she does this to protect him, but for Hook, a trust once broken is lost. The episode weaves in and out of their final hours in Camelot, and real-time Storybrooke as the crew scramble to find out what it is that Captain Dark One is after, once it is revealed that he has no intention of letting Emma off the hook (pardon the pun) for lying to him.
In fact, their relationship is pretty much in the worst condition than any relationship can be: both are (supposedly) soulfully evil, and neither one completely trusts the other. Two Dark Ones does not a Perfect Couple make, apparently. Which is a shame, because it was revealed that everything Dark Swan did whilst in Storybrooke was for Killian, which frankly, isn’t all that dark.
This episode opens with Emma’s powers bound, and none of her family and friends fully trusting that if they took it off she wouldn’t do something evil. But let’s backtrack for a moment: yes, Emma ripped out a young girl’s heart, but she was scared and she thought it was for the greater good of expelling the darkness from her, and it worked to get Merlin out of the tree.
And yes, Emma took everyone’s memories, which it turns out this episode that she did to protect Killian; and yes, Emma cast the Dark Curse to bring them back to Storybrooke for her evil plan. But wait! It was revealed this episode that she absolutely didn’t. Hook did, and he’s the one with the dark plan. Frankly, as far as Dark Ones go, I don’t think (so far) Emma has really explored the darkness within her. I know I would have strayed much further than she did.
And I don’t understand why she couldn’t just tell the Charmings she was trying to snuff out the dark all this time instead of the light as they feared. I guess because, as a Dark One and having all that experience with Rumple’s constant manipulations, they just wouldn’t believe her. And is it because she was the Saviour that she overcame the bulk of the darkness?
Because the moment Hook became Dark, he twisted his love for Emma into hate, and he twisted his ability to overcome his dark past as a weakness for giving up on it. Dark Swan, however, has been seen to cry for missing her family, and her sneaky conversation with Henry in this latest episode seemed to project more Emma the Saviour than expressionless Dark Swan. And finally, despite having the same demon, Nimue, in her head as Killian, it was he who would bring about the Ultimate Dark One plan.
Which leads up to the big reveal: Hook uses Rumple’s blood to open a portal in a lake. Oh yes, another portal. But this time, we see a boat coming through the fog, and a hooded figure walk on water towards Hook. Anyone who even slightly knows anything about Greek Mythology knows that this is Charon, ferryman of Hades who carries souls to the Underworld. It comes as no great surprise given OUAT’s penchant for combining Disney characters into one OUAT character (e.g. Rumple / the Beast / the Crocodile) that Charon is also Nimue, who brings with her the souls of all the past Dark Ones.
So with a way into Hades, we can now see how they are going to use this as a pathway into Disney’s version of Hercules’ Greece. Personally, I could not be more excited to see what they do with the Hercules/Meg storyline because there are so many fantastic creatures and characters already established within Greek Mythology. Emma vs. The Hydra? Hook vs. Hades? Zeus and Mary Margaret flirting? The possibilities are endless. I love this show.
#Peace.Love.OUATBrokenHeart
