Things don't look good for our band of heroes on Once Upon A Time. Not only is the Evil Queen now the savior, but last night's episode saw Emma fall even farther down the rabbit hole of darkness that comes with being the Dark One.
And it seems that Emma's journey into darkness is so bad that even Captain Hook, Emma's beloved, can't save her.
That's the question that a new preview promoting next week's episode asks: can passion survive darkness? And, unfortunately, if this clip is any indication, the answer to that could be no. Emma even asks Hook to deny his love for her in the preview (although technically, she's not really herself anymore). How will he respond? Can Hook love the Dark One, even knowing what that title means Emma is now capable of?
But there's still hope for Emma, at least according to Jennifer Morrison, who portrays the character on the series. After referring to Rumpelstiltskin's own struggles with being the Dark One – particularly in how he tried to use his power to save his son – Morrison believes that Emma's story shares similarities with that.
"There's a similar journey for Emma, which is that once you've agreed to surrender to the Darkness and be the Dark One, that doesn't mean that you're consumed with it immediately," said Morrison to Christianity Daily. "It means that it's within you, and now there is the struggle between what was once you and how to reconcile that with the darkness that's also within you at this point."
However, Morrison also explained that her version of the Dark One is different from Rumpelstiltskin's, thanks to her upbringing: Emma grew up in the real world, as opposed to the fairy tale world. That will affect how she uses her dark powers in the future.
Emma isn't alone on her dark path, though. Her friends and family will do everything they can to save her and free her from the darkness, including Storybrooke's new savior, Regina. But that won't come without some issues for the citizens of the town.
"We love the idea of watching Hook fight for her, as well as Regina and her family," said Once Upon A Time co-executive producer Edward Kitsis to Variety. "Cause Emma came to Storybrooke a nonbeliever and now she is a leader and she's united everyone. So as you saw there, when you take the leader out, everyone starts bickering."
Once Upon A Time airs on Sundays on ABC.
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