'Once Upon a Time' Hero and Villain of the Week: Hearts on Fire

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

Sometimes love means letting go.

This season of Once Upon a Time started with Emma on a quest to rescue her true love, Captain Hook, from the Underworld. And this week, that quest ended in… failure. They were outsmarted by Hades, and Emma had to leave Hook behind (and he nobly urged her to do so). He’s not gone for good, but the Saviour couldn’t save her love, this time.

But events are setting us up for an epic finale, as most of the heroes, as well as Hades, take a portal back to Storybrooke. What trouble will the god of the Underworld wreak in the real world? Will Zelena fall under his charming love spell? And how in the H-E-L-L can Hook get back to the living?

So many questions, so few episodes remaining… Oh, OUAT, how you enjoy torturing us!

Hero of the Week: Emma

Remember Emma of Season 1? She was tough, she was cynical, she was not a believer. But how did she get that way? It wasn’t just the foster care system; this week, we get flashbacks to Emma as a punk young adult, confronted by an older, wiser bounty hunter who ends up becoming her sort-of mentor.

More than anyone, it seems Claire was Emma’s role model — a smart, clever, world-wise woman who had abandoned a child of her own. But before Claire hauls her in for the bounty, they go looking for clues to Emma’s parentage, which leads to Claire’s demise.

It’s a revealing look at how Emma became the Emma of Season 1. She’s changed a LOT. She’s accepted Henry as her son. She’s made peace with her parents. She’s even friends with Regina. And more than that, she’s willing to admit her love of Killian.

But for all her real-world experience, she’s never made a deal with Hades. He offers to take them all back to Storybrooke via a portal in the cemetery — except for Hook, who needs ambrosia to return. But when she and Hook travel down the elevator to the ambrosia tree, they realize Hades has conned them. He means to go to Storybrooke without them.

Emma is desperate to find a way for Hook to escape with her, but he knows the truth — he’s stuck in the Underworld for now, but he wants her to go without him. They share the most tender of farewells. It’s a touching, heartbreaking parallel to her parting with Claire. Here is somebody who cares about her in a deep and true way, and yet, they must say goodbye. And possibly for good? Well, let’s hope not.

Villain of the Week: Hades

Don’t know about you, but sometimes we feel like the heroes are TOO good at heart. OK, well, at first, it seems Hades has good intentions. He is (supposedly) in love! He (supposedly) wants to take care of Zelena and her baby! He (supposedly) wants to get the heroes home to Storybrooke!

Apparently, those are all big fat lies. He tells Emma and Hook that they need ambrosia, but they find the tree dead. He urges Zelena to go through the portal, even though she wants to wait for her sister, Regina. He couldn’t care less about the heroes’ well-being.

We’re not sure what Hades is really up to, but he’s definitely not being truthful with Zelena or anybody else. And considering what Peter Pan was up to this week — blackmailing his son, Rumplestiltskin, into stealing Robin’s Heart (which Rumple, to his credit, didn’t do) — naming Hades as the worst this week is telling.

Now, he’ll be in Storybrooke, and Zeus knows what horrors he’ll inflict upon the picturesque town.

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