When ABC's Once Upon A Time debuted in 2011, the series sought to reimagine fairy tales for a modern audience, including taking the Disney princess stories of old and giving them new life by making the female characters stronger and more self-rescuing.
Once Upon A Time takes place in the fictional town of Storybrooke, whose denizens come from a variety of fairy tale worlds. The series, which will celebrate its 100th episode this year, follows these characters as they come to grips with life in the "real" world, as well as what how they define themselves as heroes and villains.
That 100th episode will air with the show's return after its winter break. ABC marked the occasion by posting a video highlighting many of the series' most memorable moments, including the first time that Prince Charming kissed Snow White.
At the end of the video, there's a scene of Hook as he gets swallowed up by Death, presumably to get taken to Hades. The 100th episode will send the Storybrooke team to Hades to recover him, but they'll meet a lot of old friends and foes along the way.
It won't be easy for Emma, Regina and the others to face their pasts, particularly when they come across old enemies, including those who died in previous seasons of the show: this is why the episode's title is "Souls of the Departed."
"We're going to meet some new people in the underworld, but I think a lot of what people are going to see - kind of in honor of the 100th episode in our fifth year - is really seeing a lot of people from our past who we haven't seen in awhile," said Once Upon A Time co-creator Eddy Kitsis to The Hollywood Reporter.
Kitsis and fellow co-creator Adam Horowitz also teased that Hades will look like Storybrooke for a reason, although fans won't know why until the series returns. Also, in addition to saving Hook, Emma and company will also have missions that involve them facing themselves.
"It's going to be a bunch of things," said Horowitz. "It's not just about finding Hook, it's about what happens when Emma and all of our characters enter this realm and have to face things both from their past and present. It will hopefully be an exploration of our characters and how they react to facing things you never thought you were going to face."
Once Upon A Time returns at 8 p.m. EST March 6 to ABC.
