The last episode of ABC’s Once Upon a Time showed the return of Zelena (Rebecca Mader) and her history with Underworld’s demigod, Hades (Greg Germann).
Hades asks Rumple (Robert Carlyle) to create a portal in exchange for his unborn child’s freedom. Belle (Emilie de Ravin), Baby Hood and Zelena make their way to the Underworld through this portal. A flashback sequence shows that Hades visited Oz and fell in love with Zelena, who was skeptical of his intentions and rebuffed his affections.
Zelena teams up with Regina and Hood to protect her child, as she’s convinced Hades wants to use her baby as the “innocent” ingredient in his time travel spell, which can help him swap fates with his brother Zeus. Zelena learns that the Underworld is a reflection of Storybrooke because Hades wanted to build her a home similar to the one she wanted.
In other news, Rumple comes clean to Belle and tells her that she’s pregnant, he’s sold his second-born to Hades, and that he is, once again, the Dark One. In a particularly transparent moment, Rumple reveals that he loves both her and the power of being the Dark One, while making the case that she fell in love with the flawed man who was both.
Below are four things to know about episode 17:
1. Season 5 episode 17 is called “Her Handsome Hero.”
2. The 17th episode’s title is a reference to Gaston, who will be making his first appearance in the episode. The character will be played by True Blood alum Wes Brown.
3. The promo for episode 17 shows that there could be a romantic history between Belle and Gaston. Rumple appears to be responsible for Gaston’s death.
4. The preview of the episode shows that Hades is, in fact, after Rumple and Belle’s unborn child.
