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Rebecca Mader as Zelena Once Upon a Time Season 7 episode 17 Chosen picture image

Rebecca Mader as Zelena

This episode explores more of Hansel’s backstory and what wrong Zelena did to him and why he is crazy. It also explains how he woke up, it was Facilier. Facilier is like the Palpatine of this season, he’s behind it all.   

Considering Hansel’s vendetta, two counts of murder, two attempted murders and two counts kidnappings his back story is actually underwhelming.

The backstory is that the witch that kidnapped Hansel and Gretel, who was also the blind baker woman, was in OZ and Zelena didn’t want her there so Zelena goes to her candy home and they get into a witch fight. Zelena has a chance to free the children but doesn’t and goes her magic goes out from the fight. She is then nursed back by a blind man who is also the children’s father.

Zelena withholds the information from the dad but does go to try and save the children when her magic is back but they have already escaped and told their father what happen. They are all pissed at Zelena who is remorseful but she does end up purposefully burning Hansel. Hansel was being antagonistic  but he was also a child who had gone through trauma so while he didn’t deserved to get burned it does seem anti-climatic when compared to getting burned by an oven as someone trying to cook and eat him opposed to a hurt women who made a big mistake.

The Hyperion stuff is Hansel going after Zelena and kidnapping her fiancé, Zelena trying to deal with both her personas, saving Henry and Dr.Facilier’s plan. Hansel also gets the axe from Facilier since Hansel wasn’t operating toward Facilier’s goal of getting the Dark One’s dagger which seems to be Gothel’s plan. It’s also revealed that Naveen a.k.a Drew is awake. I don’t get this curse since it’s easy to wake people. Would Henry die if he was woken but the curse is still in affect?

So Hansel a.k.a the Candy killer was a Mid-Boss who did help to wrap Ivy’s storyline and Zelena though Zelena’s story also got wrapped in season 6 and according to press stuff she’ll be back towards the finale. If I didn’t know that from Reddit it would have been a nice ending for Zelena as she got back with her fiancé.  

With Hansel there have been five villains this season. Victoria/Rapunzel in the beginning, then Ivy/Drizellla,  then Gothel, then Nick/Jack/Hansel and Facilier. Is that it? Did I miss one? Also Hansel was nearly a good kidnapper except the parts where he was sloppy using his nickname with Jacinda in the text from Henry’s phone AND holding Henry at his own apartment. In the living room no less.   At least that plot-line was short.

While this episode was ok at best, I did like Zelena’s interactions with Rumple and Margot (with a T) and the fire motif.  

Overall the episode was B-.   

And I still want to know who was Dr.Sage???  Can I just BELIVE she was Esmeralda? I mean Sage is green and Esmeralda means Emerald which is green so it works in theory? She’s Esmeralda till otherwise proven like the other two ladies I suspected as being Esmeralda.