I think Regina is being set up to be the savior of the UW, which was heavily foreshadowed at the start of S5 when she lied to King Arthur about being the savior. Also, the clock started moving again when Regina helped her father move on to a better place and decided to stay behind and help rest of residents of the UW resolve their unfinished business. This obviously parallels when Emma decided to stay in SB in season one to help Henry.
Yes, I think that’s right. And if there’s a connection between Hades and Zelena, then it makes me think that this is going to be a Regina-centric half-season.
I think Hades is probably the origin of the Dark Curse, but I’m wondering whether he created it, or whether it is a more “primordial” evil, in the same way that the Dark One curse is a kind of corrupted original magic. And how does any of this relate back to the UW, soul accounting, unfinished business etc?
Also, what are people making of the five weird colored “streams” in Hades’s throne room?