OUAT bosses open up about that shocking death

From Digital Spy

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the latest episode of Once Upon a Time, which aired in the US last night.

After an agonising midseason break, in which we learned that the show is coming to an end this year, Once Upon a Time is back.

And the first new episode of the year didn't fail to deliver a moment that we did not see coming: Victoria sacrificing herself in place of Ivy in Mother Gothel's ritual, in order to bring Lucy back to life.

It was an unexpected moment of selflessness for the character, played by Gabrielle Anwar, who was initially billed as this season's big bad. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the show's bosses explained their reasoning behind the decision.

"The show is about how evil is made, it's not born," said executive producer Edward Kitsis.

"We see that Gabrielle originally was trapped in the tower and became this villain, and yet in this moment what we wanted to do is [show that] the relationship between Ivy and her was a tough mother-daughter relationship, but when it really came down to it, she wasn't willing to sacrifice it.

"At the end of the day, she was able to reclaim who she was. That's always been a message on the show, which is, this is not a show where we expect you to be perfect, this is a show where we all say, 'Everyday we make mistakes, but it's how you come back from them,' so we felt like that was a fitting ending.

"Ivy now has to deal with what happens when you spend your entire life hating someone and then you realise you shouldn't have, they really liked you, and now where do you put that hate?"

Adam Horowitz adds that: "From the audience's perspective, we think for the first half of the season, you really feel that Gabrielle is the villain of the year and this terrible person.

"Hopefully we pulled the layers back enough to make you understand her a little more, and just as you do, the focus is going to shift."

Horowitz also addresses the mysterious gloved hand killer (how very Hollyoaks!), who took the life of the doctor who had just discovered Lucy's father was in fact Henry.

"The identity of the gloved perpetrator is a mystery," he said. "It's not the mystery.

"It gets revealed probably sooner than you expect, but it's opening a new story avenue."

Once Upon a Time resumes its final season on ABC. Netflix airs the series in the UK.

Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.