Entertainment

Can Henry & Violet's Love Survive The Dark One?

by Jennifer Still

If you've been watching closely, you'll notice something different about Once Upon A Time Season 5: Henry's growing up, and it looks like he's gone and got himself his first girlfriend. Violet is a (seemingly) lovely girl he met in Camelot, and while they didn't remember one another once they got back to Storybrooke, thanks to his mother/the new Dark One's curse, they met and hit it off a second time and things seem to be going well enough. Sure, we don't really know anything about Violet's backstory or what Henry even likes about her — as far as we know, he liked the look of her from across the room and decided to go for it — but there's one thing I can tell you with pretty much 100 percent certainty: things aren't going to end well for their puppy love, especially if Henry's moms have anything to do with it.

I'm talking particularly about one of his moms, Emma, who unfortunately picked the worst time to embrace her darkness and become obsessed with snuffing out the light via Excalibur and the Dark One's dagger. That doesn't really lend well to supporting her son through his first crush, or being very kind to the object of his affection, for that matter. Regina's overprotective side will come into play where Violet's concerned, as well, I'm sure, but she happens to have the clarity of a redemption arc under her belt and will eventually get over the idea of her little prince growing up. The Dark One, however, has got vengeance on her mind, and while she loves Henry, we all know how the darkness can skew that feeling and turn it into something ugly and hurtful. Something tells me that will end up happening here, whether or not it's what Emma intends. In the meantime, Henry still believes in the mom he brought to Storybrooke all those years ago and her ability to bring back the happy endings.

In a promo for Episode 5, "Dreamcatcher," Henry is disheartened when he invites Violet to a block party, only to be turned down because she's upset that her horse has disappeared. In order to make her happy again (and likely secure himself a date), Henry goes to Emma, believing her powerful enough to find the horse and return it — never mind the fact that I have a sneaking suspicion she may have been behind the reason it disappeared. The clip shows Henry pleading with the former Savior to prove that she's the mom he once knew, and while she insists that things have changed, something tells me that there's enough of the old Emma left in there to help Henry... for now.

Rumpel has already warned Emma that giving into the darkness, no matter how noble she believes her intentions to be, will cost her the ones she loves most. We saw it happen with Rumpel and Baelfire/Neal, and we'll likely see it with Emma and Henry, though I doubt the break between them will be completely irreparable, so long as she doesn't go off the deep end and kill Violet or anything (and I don't think Once would jump the shark quite that much). However, if the Dark One's desire for power outweighs her desire to love and care for her son, Henry will pay the price for her decision in terrible ways, starting with losing his first girlfriend.

It's still early days and hard to tell what direction this storyline will go in, and perhaps it's also too early to begin worrying. But Emma's descent into the darkness has been difficult to watch, and likely she'll plumb the depths even more before she begins moving towards the light again. Let's just hope she doesn't do too much damage on her way down, and that Henry can enjoy his first crush like most kids do — just with the added bonus of his moms being the former Evil Queen and the Dark One. Where's Archie when you need him?

Images: Jack Rowdan/ABC