‘Once Upon a Time’ Hero and Villain of the Week: Saving Is a Sacrifice

Warning: This recap for “The Saviour” episode of Once Upon a Time contains spoilers.

Goodness has a price — a really big one — as we learn on the Season 6 premiere of Once Upon a Time.

Characters from the Land of Untold Stories, which was introduced at the end of last season, make their way to Storybrooke, which triggers some weird side effects in Emma. As she learns from Hyde, she isn’t the only Saviour in history. There have been others, and more troubling, their stories don’t have happy endings. The question is how long Emma is going to keep this secret, and why she can’t open up to her love, Captain Hook.

She isn’t the only one struggling with what it means to be a hero. Regina may have cast out the Evil Queen (more on that later), but that doesn’t make her all sugar and sunshine. She isn’t feeling super sisterly with Zelena, and that causes ramifications she could never have anticipated.

Here’s a rundown of this week’s premiere episode…

Related: ‘Once Upon a Time’: 8 Things to Know About Season 6

Heroes of the Week: Regina and Emma

The episode opens with a flashback to “many years ago,” and we get our first look at Aladdin. He’s a Saviour, too, just like Emma, but it’s caused him to crack up.

Flash-forward to Storybrooke, where a dirigible floats by, courtesy of the nefarious Mr. Hyde. Before it and its Untold Stories denizens crash, he cryptically tells Emma that he knows why she’s suddenly gotten hand tremors.

Regina heads home, where she finds Zelena and baby Robin moving in. Zelena blithely informs her that Robin’s other kid dropped off a feather for her, but oh, she lost it already. Regina is not happy about this, at all. Later, they argue because Regina blames Zelena for Robin Hood’s death, while Zelena feels insulted that Regina didn’t consult her about casting out the Evil Queen persona. Zelena ends up moving out.

She teams up with Emma to capture Mr. Hyde, who tells her to follow a red bird for info on what’s happening to her. Archie (yay! He’s back!) tries a bit of therapy on Emma, but she’s determined to figure things out on her own. She even pushes away a concerned Hook.

Emma follows the red bird and runs into the Oracle, a character from the Land of Untold Stories with a connection to Aladdin. With the Oracle’s help, Emma has a vision of her own death. Can she change that story, or is it foretold?

Meanwhile, Regina has a heart-to-heart with Snow White (yeah, who would’ve thought?). She admits she was a terrible stepmother, and asks Snow how she maintained hope through all those awful years in the Enchanted Forest. Snow gives her a good pep talk, and Regina decides she’s going to write herself a new story — one with a happier ending.

Well, that won’t be easy, especially since the last scene is of Zelena going to her cabin and finding the Evil Queen there! “It’s time for some sisterly bonding,” the EQ cackles. Oh no, Evil Queen and Wicked Witch united? Scary!

Villain of the Week: Rumplestiltskin

Rumple gave away Storybrooke to Hyde for info on how to break Belle out of her sleeping curse. First, he brings her out of Pandora’s box. Then, he uses Hyde’s info to acquire sands from the god Morpheus’s lair to enter Belle’s dreams.

There, Morpheus informs Rumple he has one hour to make Belle fall back in love with him and give her true love’s kiss — or he’ll banish her to that fiery, painful dream room we’ve seen before.

Rumple returns to a memory they shared, when she first fell in love with him. They dance, and he opens up to her about losing his son. And then they kiss… except Belle doesn’t fall back in love with him. She remembers their entire, difficult history. And she rebuffs him.

Morpheus shows up, but he’s not banishing her. Instead, he reveals that he’s the dream version of their unborn son. And he commends his mother for refusing to fall for his father’s lies again. “Do not let him destroy us like he did his last family,” he says, before giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

That kiss, borne of true love, wakes her up. Belle takes a portal back to Storybrooke, but not before sternly telling Rumple that they are done. She’s going to listen to their child, who is now the most important person in the world to her.

Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on ABC.