‘Once Upon a Time’ season 5, episode 19 spoilers: Rebecca Mader on Zelena – Hades romance

Sunday night’s “Once Upon a Time” is going to be a critical episode for many characters, but at this point it may be fair to say that it is more critical for Zelena than almost anyone else. She’s in a position that is, after all, more than a little bit precarious. We think that she wants to believe that things with Hades could work, but it’s still something that is so new to her. Meanwhile, she doesn’t seemed to be as prioritized on being horrible to Regina anymore now that she is a mother. The unfortunate thing is that in order to be with Hades outside of the Underworld, she may need to condemn some of our heroes to remain there.

In explaining further why it is so difficult for her character to love, Rebecca Mader explains it in a pretty simple fashion to The Hollywood Reporter:

“It’s very difficult for her to believe it or accept it because she’s been alone her whole life. … She’s definitely more skeptical. Even in [episode 16], there were so many moments in the stage directions that said, ‘This is the moment where they should kiss!’ And then they don’t. The music swells, and there’s that moment — like when they were on the bike or when he was kneeling below me at the dinner — that in real life, you would lean in and kiss, but that was when Zelena was pulling away or backing away because she’s ultimately terrified of getting hurt because all she’s known is pain. She doesn’t know what’s on the other side because she’s never experienced it, and that’s incredibly terrifying for her.”

There are still a few more episodes to go beyond this one, and through that we imagine that more of her emotional journey will be revealed. In the end, though, the hard thing for Zelena may just be reconciling that even if she is able to change the perception of some about her, she may not get happiness at the end of it.

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