During the premiere episode of "Once Upon a Time" season 5, fans got a taste of the Dark Swan and Lady Stardust, but the producers teased spoilers as they claimed that her struggles to contain the evil has just started.
In an interview with Variety, showrunner Adam Horowitz said that the premiere episode will have "ramifications" that will ripple throughout the entire season.
"While a lot of the story in the first half we tend to wrap up in the midseason, there's bigger issues that are introduced as early as this episode that will carry over for the whole season," he said. "We're trying to tell two separate parts of episodes and connect them. Emma's journey is going to encompass the whole season."
Co-showrunner Edward Kitsis, meanwhile, said that they're going to explore how Emma managed to contain the evil before.
"What makes you succumb to the darkness? What makes you resist it? Her relationships with everybody are going to be tested," he added. "We love the idea of watching Hook fight for her, as well as Regina and her family. Cause Emma came to Storybrooke a non-believer 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."
Adam Horowitz teased more spoilers as he said that in "Once Upon a Time" season 5, Regina and Hook's past experiences with overcoming their respective dark sides might help Emma deal with her own.
"We love the notion that two of the people that she has unexpectedly grown closest to over the years, Regina and Hook, are both people who've battled darkness themselves," he said.
The showrunner continued, "The fact that she is facing darkness and they've faced it and how their experiences can inform what she's going through and either help or hinder her is something that we want to explore this half of the season and beyond."
Adam Horowitz also told Entertainment Weekly that the characters of Camelot may be more than what they initially let on.
"There's more going on than what we've seen so far," he said. "In the next few episodes, you'll see more of that explained and explored."
Watch out for more "Once Upon a Time" season 5 spoilers which will be published here when they become available.
