'Once Upon a Time' Tweet-cap: The Dark Swan Rises

Over four seasons, Once Upon a Time has turned fairy tales inside out, making familiar characters new again. For Season 5, the show is turning itself inside out, by reversing the roles of the characters we’ve come to know and love. Emma, the savior of Storybrooke, is now a villain — and Regina, aka the Evil Queen, is a hero.

This switcharoo works really well, as we saw in the season premiere. There are so many little moments — like one between Emma and Regina — that are all the more satisfying because we know where these people started and how they’ve evolved in four years. Introducing another big bad this season probably would’ve felt too familiar, so making Emma the villain is a nice twist, and it changes every relationship on the show. And for more novelty, there’s the introduction of a major new figure, Merida, and a new locale, Camelot. Let’s break it donw:

Swords, stones, and wands
We start with a flashback! Emma is a young girl at the movie theater (for a showing of The Sword in the Stone, natch), where she steals a candy bar from a woman. A theater usher admonishes her, but not because she filched the candy. Instead, he knows who she is, and gives her a warning — that the sword needs to remain in the stone.

And now, we jump to Camelot, sometime in the past (since Lancelot is alive). King Arthur is following Merlin’s prophecy to pull the sword from the stone. One of his knights tries first, but is turned to dust. But Arthur pulls it out easily — only to discover half of it isn’t there! And the missing half looks quite familiar.

Back in Storybrooke, we’re right where the finale left off: Emma has disappeared, and her loved ones are trying to figure out WTF just happened. Hook tries to use the dagger to call her back, to no avail; Regina just rolls her eyes and tells “guyliner” that it isn’t gonna work, The dagger only works when the Dark One is in your world. Which means Emma isn’t in their world right now.

Emma appears with a poof in a forest. Is it the Enchanted Forest? It’s hard to tell, but what’s strange is that Rumplestiltskin is with her! Isn’t he, you know, in a coma back in Storybrooke? Well, this isn’t really Rumple; he’s just a manifestation of the Dark One’s powers. Emma refuses his offer of training, and declares she’s going to find Merlin to help her.

Related: Watch the Cast on Our ‘OUAT’ Aftershow!

Back in Storybrooke, Hook and crew question the Apprentice, who’s weak and dying. The Apprentice gives them a wand, which will open a portal to travel to Emma, but it requires both light and dark magic. When Regina tries to use it, it doesn’t work. They need someone truly… wicked. Oh no, that can only mean one person.

In the forest, Emma finds a peddler and asks for directions to Camelot. The peddler wants to charge her money, and Emma gets mad… and inadvertently begins to strangle him. She gasps and manages to free him, but Faux Rumple grins. “So, did you enjoy it? Your first taste of darkness?”

Maybe she did. Just a little.

Sister act
In Storybrooke, the Blue Fairy comes to relieve Belle of nursing Mr. Gold, so that she can help the others find Emma. Belle doesn’t want to leave his side, but the Blue Fairy gives her a magic rose that will let her know if he’s dying.

Hook, Regina, and Robin visit Zelena to ask for her help. She notes that the wand needs an object tied to the person they’re looking for, then offers them a deal: She’ll help them, if they remove the magic-blocking bracelet that Regina slapped on her last season. Erm, that’s gonna be a big, fat NO.

In the forest, Emma is having a devil of a time getting to Camelot, and runs into a flame-haired archer along the way — Merida!

Merida is chasing a will o’ the wisp, which will allow her to save her kidnapped brothers and avert a clan war. Emma needs it, too, though, to find Merlin, and Merida offers to fight for it. When Emma refuses, Merida offers to give her the wisp after she uses it. But when they camp out for the night, Emma tosses and turns, as Faux Rumple taunts her. He whispers that the wisp can only be used by whoever claims it first. So that means Emma can only use it if Merida is dead — and even worse, Merida overhears Emma’s part of the entire conversation.

In Storybrooke, Hook approaches Henry with a scheme — one that Regina won’t like, at all. They’re going to break out Zelena to save Emma.

Well, let’s just say things don’t go according to plan. When Hook sneaks into Zelena’s room, she steals his knife and cuts off her own hand! Bracelet-free, she re-attaches, then disappears in a cloud of mist!

Zelena gets another leg up on them when she kidnaps Robin and forces Regina to give over the wand. The Wicked Witch opens a portal, intending to go back to Oz, but the magic backfires on her. It seems she’s too weak now to use the portal — which Regina knew all along. She slaps the bracelet back on Zelena, and turns with a smile to Snow. Now they can use the portal to find Emma.

Heroes and villains
In the morning, Emma wakes up to discover Merida is gone, with the wisp of course. She tracks her down, but Merida has already whispered into the wisp, meaning she’s now its owner. They engage in a standoff, with Merida pointing an arrow at Emma, and Emma itching to use her dark magic against her. It doesn’t help that Rumple continues to taunt her. “Go ahead and rip her heart out,” he sneers.

Emma is trying very hard to fight the urge to kill Merida, and eventually, she breaks down and rips Merida’s heart out. “Use your anger,” Rumple hisses. And Emma looks like she’s on the verge of crushing that heart in her hand.

But wait! Here’s Hook, Snow, Regina, Henry, etc.! They buckled down in Granny’s Diner and let the portal tornado carry them all here. And now Hook is persuading Emma to put Merida’s heart back where it belongs. “It’s not you speaking, Emma,” he says. “Look at us, heroes and villains together … for you.”

Emma relents and gives Merida’s heart back. She sags in relief against Hook.

Merida, after exchanging apologies with Emma, runs off to find her brothers. Emma, meanwhile, has a choice — what to do with that dagger. Holding it herself is too much power. “Someone needs to watch me,” she says, handing it over to… Regina?

As they head back to Granny’s Diner, now set in the forest, they hear horses drawing near. It’s King Arthur — and he’s been expecting them. Merlin foretold that Emma would come, and that she would reunite them all with the great wizard.

But as they all go back to Camelot with Arthur, something changes. Now it’s six weeks later, in Storybrooke time. And Granny’s Diner drops back into town. But Snow, Regina, Hook, etc. have no memory of their time in Camelot. Their memories have been wiped, again. And where’s Emma?

Oh, she’s there. But it isn’t Emma. It’s the Dark Swan.

And the Dark Swan is angry. They tried to save her, but it didn’t work.

So, what did you think of your first meeting with #DarkSwan? Post your thoughts below!

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