'Once Upon A Time' Teases A Big "Birth"

In just a few hours, we'll finally back into the swing of things with Once Upon A Time Season 5. That means a new Dark One, a trip to Camelot, a search for Merlin, a meeting with Merida, the return of Mulan and Red Riding Hood... you get the picture. And while the season premiere is totally exciting, I'm the type of person who's always looking ahead, so I'm curious about how certain storylines are going to play out across the season as a whole rather than in a singular episode. Executive Producer Adam Horowitz likes to tease fans by releasing the front pages of the show's scripts as they're being filmed, and this week he dropped a big one on us: Once Upon A Time 5x08 will be called "Birth" — but what exactly is being born?

While it might seem that the most logical answer is the most obvious one, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We do know that Zelena will indeed give birth to Robin Hood's baby in Season 5, but we also know that the season premiere picks up right where the Season 4 finale left off, meaning that the Wicked Witch is only about six weeks or so along in her pregnancy. Unless the first seven episodes of the season span seven months or so, it seems unlikely that "Birth" will be the story of Zelena's labor and delivery. So what's it all about?

If I had to make a wild guess, I'd say that "Birth" could focus on Emma's renaissance as the new Dark One. It's been hinted that much of Season 5 will skip around both in terms of realm and timeline, so what's to say that we're still not looking back at the beginning of Emma's dark journey as far as eight episodes in? Alternately, the "birth" could be Emma's restoration to her former Savior self, which will undoubtedly be a new version of herself since she'll be indelibly changed by her time as the Dark One. Either of those could easily fit the theme, I think.

Whatever the episode title actually means, one thing's for sure: we're in for an exciting season full of love, action, and adventure, and it'l be fantastic to see how our favorite characters manage to get through it and come out the other side.

Image: Jack Rowand/ABC