Once Upon a Time season 5

Premise

They encounter King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, who are searching for the Dark One's dagger to complete Excalibur. The struggle to destroy the darkness results in Hook's death, leading Emma and the heroes to the Underworld. There, Hades and many deceased villains plot to return to the land of the living. Hook is eventually resurrected, but Mr. Gold's attempt to capture all of Storybrooke's magic brings Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, and refugees from the Land of Untold Stories to Storybrooke, and separates Regina Mills from her evil self.

Production

Season 5 of Once Upon a Time was structured as two separate blocks, with the episode that kicked off the second half also serving as the show’s 100th installment. In October 2015, executive producer Adam Horowitz revealed that the November 15, 2015 broadcast would be a two-hour event. He later explained that the twelfth episode of the season would be counted as the 100th overall, noting that the discussion around the fourth-season two-parter "Smash the Mirror" was a matter of semantics, and that the team considered episode 512 the milestone.

The regular cast saw some changes announced on June 9, 2015. Rebecca Mader and Sean Maguire were promoted to series regulars, playing Zelena (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Robin Hood. Meanwhile, Michael Socha, who portrayed Will Scarlet (the Knave of Hearts), was not brought back as a regular, though the door was left open for him to appear in recurring or guest roles. Horowitz confirmed via Twitter that Emilie de Ravin would return as Belle, and Vine Report confirmed Jennifer Morrison would reprise her role as Emma Swan.

On June 26, Josh Dallas confirmed his return as Prince Charming (David Nolan), and Horowitz stated that the season would feature ten series regulars. At Comic-Con 2015, the returns of Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White (Mary Margaret Blanchard), Lana Parrilla as the Evil Queen (Regina Mills), Colin O’Donoghue as Captain Hook (Killian Jones), and Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin (Mr. Gold) were all confirmed. Morrison’s character would take on the name “Dark Swan.” Jared S. Gilmore also returned as Henry Mills.

Additional casting news came throughout the summer. On June 26, it was revealed that Sinqua Walls would reprise his role as Lancelot. On July 1, Liam Garrigan was announced to play King Arthur for the first half of the season. Gabe Khouth and Lee Arenberg confirmed via social media that they would return as Sneezy (Tom Clark) and Grumpy (Dreamy/Leroy), respectively. On July 10, Beverley Elliott and Keegan Connor Tracy confirmed via Twitter that they would return as Widow Lucas (Granny) and the Blue Fairy (Mother Superior). That same day, it was announced that Elliot Knight, Joana Metrass, and Andrew Jenkins had been cast as Merlin, Guinevere, and Percival.