This 'OUAT' Twist Was Just Cruel

Well, there goes that. After dissecting the promo for Once Upon A Time 's "The Jolly Roger," we were more than convinced that Emma and Hook were going to talk out their feelings. And they did — kind of. We watched Hook play the world's best babysitter and Emma slowly but surely realize that he's actually a good guy. But OUAT threw us for a loop with a cruel twist that'll stop them from being together for a long time.

The Wicked Witch got to Hook and now she's using him to get to Emma — and we're really upset about it. It obviously makes sense: The Witch is an intelligent and, well, Wicked, individual and after studying Hook and Emma's dynamic, realized that he was the best way to get to her. So how did Zelena curse an entire population of OUAT fans and 'shippers? She put a spell on Hook's lips that will steal all of Emma's powers if they kiss. And now Hook has no choice but to stay away from her.

So maybe Emma and Regina really are onto something by combining their magic to defeat her? I mean, why else would she go out of her way to curse Hook to try to steal Emma's powers if she didn't see a threat coming? Zelena's a smart and calculated evil genius, she's not about to make unnecessary and false moves at this point in the game. It just is really terrible that it has to effect the long-time-coming relationship that we're all pulling for.

In a sad turn of events: Hook, who's been emotionally scarred from an altercation with BlackBeard in the Enchanted Forest during the missing year (he believed he'd sentenced Prince Eric to death) has had a lot of feelings flying around. And we learned on Sunday night that he's been channeling them into getting into Henry's good graces so he can prove to Emma that he's a good guy. Judging by Emma's longing glances (that Regina expertly called her out on), it's totally working. There was a chance to finally get the Hook and Emma 'ship ball rolling and Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz completely killed it — well, the Wicked Witch killed it. And it was just cruel.

I mean, we all know that Hook is gorgeous and that accent goes a long way, but it was obvious on Sunday night that Emma was finally starting to her guard down. Because Hook really is a decent guy — he's all into helping people lately and Henry seems to really like him for more reasons than the fact that he's got a hook for a hand and was once a terrifying pirate. (So, ha, Mary Margaret!) And FINALLY Emma was starting to see that too and seemed like she might be ready to move on and try romance again after her failed NYC relationship and Neal's death.

But it seems like Kitsis and Horowitz really meant it when they said there'd be no romance for OUAT 's Savior anytime soon. Hook's reaction to being cursed was to retreat and decline Emma's invitation to family dinner in favor of watching her from afar — or rather, from across the street from Granny's. Now we definitely know that the Wicked Witch is evil because no one with a shred of compassion would stop two people who are obviously in love from being together with the threat of death. God, OUAT — could you be any more cruel?

Image: ABC