Warning: this article contains major spoilers for the May 8 episode of ONCE UPON A TIME
We should have known.
When rumors started flying around about a major character dying on ONCE UPON A TIME, I wasn’t exactly sure what to think. Hook was technically already dead, so that crossed him off the list pretty fast; I knew Emma, Regina, Rumple and the Charmings were pretty much safe, because there’s no way they would get killed off. So that left Robin and Belle.
For a while, I had my money on Belle. After all, if she died, Rumplestiltskin would go full on evil permanently, and that would be pretty awesome. But then last week, Rumple tore Robin’s heart out. Sure, he claims he gave it back to him, but still – that was a pretty strong sign pointing in his direction. Couple that with the rumors that Regina will revert back to her Evil Queen self and I suspect it was a done deal.
Tonight, we had the grand finale of the Hades storyline. When Regina and the team tell Zelena that Hades tried to trap them in the Underworld, and that he hasn’t changed at all, the Wicked Witch allies herself with her true love. Hades tells her he has an ace up his sleeve – the Olympian Crystal (originally belonging to Zeus) – and that they can be very powerful and very dangerous. If it comes down to it, he is definitely going to use them to defend himself, Zelena and the baby.
Emma tries to figure out a way to defeat Hades and and asks Rumple to help her. Down in the Underworld, Hook teams up with a recently-deceased King Arthur to find the missing storybook pages — which they find hidden in Hades’ throne. And it turns out that the Crystal is the key to defeating Hades himself. In an epic showdown between the Regina, Robin and Hades, our favorite thief is the one who draws the short stick. Robin Hood jumps in front of Regina to save her life and he gets killed by the Crystal.
When Zelena discovers Robin’s dead body and realizes that Hades is power-hungry and evil, she gets her hand on the Crystal and kills Hades to save her sister.
The episode ends with Hook making his way back to the real Storybrooke (thanks to some divine intervention by Zeus) and the townspeople gathering for Robin’s funeral. Then we see Rumple dig a piece of the Crystal out of Hades’ ashes.
We will have a full recap of tonight’s tragic episode in the morning. The ONCE UPON A TIME season finale airs on May 15 at 8/7c on ABC.