Will Regina (Lana Parrilla) essentially step into the Emma (Jennifer Morrison) role on Once Upon a Time this season?

Will Emma Meet The Very First Dark One On 'Once Upon a Time' This Season?

During the final moments of Sunday night's season premiere of Once Upon a Time, it became clear that Emma will fully embrace her villainy in the weeks to come. With the former "Savior" now on the dark side, will Regina become the new makeshift Savior to Storybrooke?

Once Upon a Time co-creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz spoke with reporters after the premiere and revealed how Regina will adapt her role in the fantasy town.

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"Regina's a character who has grown a lot over the years and has tried to put her evil behind her and do good, but that part of her, the evil and the darkness, is a part of her," Horowitz noted. "So she is kind of struggling with how does she do the right thing and how does she help Emma?"

Kitsis teased that the dynamic with Regina in charge will be an interesting one, considering her reputation.

"You're going to see in Storybrooke... as good as Sneezy was as Sheriff, he went down pretty quick. So it's going to be everyone looking at the mayor," Kitsis said. "It's one thing to ask everyone's forgiveness; it's another thing to lead people. So we've seen Regina on our side helping out the heroes, but she's going to be thrust into a leadership position in saving the town, a town where quite honestly, a lot of people are still frightened of her."

Horowitz added that this will impact Regina's relationship with Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin), whom she already has a complicated relationship with to begin with.

"That also impacts Regina's relationship with Snow, who's someone who has been a leader and people have turned to," Horowitz said. "It becomes, hopefully, very complicated and messy in a good way, which is these kind of familial and adversarial connections are now forced to interact in new ways."

Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

Tags: Once Upon A Time television ABC