"Once Upon a Time" Recap: "The Dark Swan"

Written by Shae

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Well, that happened. Last night we saw the season 5 premiere of Once Upon a Time, and it really left me thinking….what? Honestly, I really am not sure how I feel about this new season. I do like that they show Emma struggling with the Darkness, like she literally is seeing Rumple talking to her. On the scale of alright to crazy, I have to admit that it was beyond fun to see Emma struggle to keep it together. Rumple was in control, but he also welcomed the Darkness from the very start, while Emma is trying to fight against it as best she can. That’s not really working out well for her, but you know, sometimes these things can’t be avoided.

The magicalness of the series hasn’t worn off. After all, the Sorcerer’s Apprentice seems to be an answer for just about anything. Even if he is weak and possibly dying...this wand sounds like a bad idea though, especially when we find out what has to be done to get it to work. Again, I like Regina’s evil sister, I do, but I’m a little tired of Zelena’s overall….existence. Yes, she’s bad, sad back story, and now pregnant with a baby by her sister's true love. Cool, that’s great. Except there isn’t any change or growth. She’s always bad, and kind of just the scape goat, I feel. Regina on the other hand seems to be holding true. Perhaps a little too good, which isn’t a bad thing. And Gold could die at any given moment in time. The rose Belle now has is a cute nod to her story line, admittedly, and made me squee.

How, what about the addition of Merida? Hopefully she isn’t as short lived as our Frozen counterparts were. She seems to be done well, but that doesn’t mean anything by just one episode. Merida is ever strong, if not more wise, and still kind hearted. I do like her for now, even if she still trusts Emma after having her heart ripped out by the new Dark one, and shoved back in a moment later. Of course, we also have the added tale of King Arthur. Is it finally time we get to see Merlin? The Sword and the Stone has a huge over lay alongside our new story arch…which, is kind of cool since the missing part of Excalibur is the Dark Ones Dagger. What happened to the legendary blade to split it? Why is the dagger evil? Is there a way to banish the Darkness forever?

If anything, the beginning of this season showed that there is a balance between light and dark that shouldn’t be upset. I almost wonder if we’re getting a Kingdom Hearts flare to this season. Which, isn’t unwanted, and might even be fun! Either way, I hope whatever happens is fun. While we had a time skip at the very end of the episode showing an evil Emma, I’m curious to see the overlapping of past and present this season. Though, it might be nice to just have a gradual buildup of sequential events, rather than the constant back and forth. But, that’s not how OUAT does it, and that’s cool too.

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