Emma Swan may be about to meet her match in more ways than one. This Sunday night, Emma finds Maleficent's daughter Lily on Once Upon A Time with the help of Regina Mills. We know that Emma met Maleficent's spawn when she was on the run from the foster system. Now that we know they share destinies, I have a few more questions. Does Lily have magic like Emma too? What kind of magic could Lily have? The obvious choice is that she's a were-dragon like her mother. She was born out of an egg, after all. However, magic manifests itself in many ways in this world. We don't know what Lily could wield.
You thought Lily was just a flashback character, never to be seen again, didn't you? You were wrong! No, Emma Swan does not make any friends by accident. That said, we're also going to see young Lily again in Sunday's episode. According to the official ABC press release, it turns out that their lake house adventure wasn't the first time these girls hung out.
In a foster care flashback, things are looking up for young Emma with her new family until Lily’s appearance threatens to destabilize everything.
Now, doesn't that mean we should see Ingrid again? Is this before or after Emma ran away from the Snow Queen? Trust Once Upon A Time to throw us for another loop in the timeline. Still, no matter which foster family Emma is staying with at the time, it's important to remember that Emma was showing signs of magic at this young age. Could magic be the "destabilizing" element that the description is talking about?
Check out this sneak peek for "Lily" below. Not only is it adorable to see former enemies Emma and Regina team up because they need one another, but according to the micofiche of the newspaper, Lily's last name is Page! Get it, like the page of a book? Are we sure Lily's not connected to the Author in some way? As Regina points out, it was not a coincidence that she adopted Henry. James and Priscilla Page, the people who adopted Lily, could be important too.
For a girl embedded with so much evil, adult Lily doesn't look all that dangerous. Sure, she punches Emma in the promo, but from the looks of the photo above Lily is a harmless barista. I actually think I own that yellow shirt, and you don't see me casting curses. Did the Apprentice's plan to keep Lily from reaching her potential by sending her to our world work out? If so, what's going to happen when she reunited with her mother in Storybrooke?
While they bonded as teenagers, Lily is Emma's dramatic foil and polar opposite. We've seen this manifest in a few ways already. Emma is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, true love and all that jazz. Lily, on the other hand, is the daughter of either Maleficent alone or some unknown, guaranteed to be evil, suitor. They were both sent to our world, but Lily was adopted as a baby and Emma floated from family to family. Emma gave birth to a son, Henry, while [spoiler] set photos reveal that Lily has a daughter. Since Emma has good magic that manifested when the first curse broke in Storybrooke, it goes to reason that Lily might have some powers up her sleeve as well. If Emma became the Savior when she arrived in Storybrooke, who knows what Lily could become were she to cross the border.
A final clue is the starry birthmark on Lily's wrist. Does it remind anyone else of the Sorcerer's magical hat? At least now we know why Emma chose this birthday candle way back in the Once Upon A Time pilot.
She must have missed her friend, and it will be interesting to see them catch up, to say the least!
Images: Jack Roward/ABC; Giphy
