Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) might be facing death's door in the next episode of ABC's Once Upon a Time, with Emma (Jennifer Morrison) sadly left unaware.

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O'Donoghue spoke with Entertainment Weekly after Sunday night's episode, revealing Hook's thought process as Rumple (Robert Carlyle) intends to kill him in order to rid himself of the dagger.

"Hook firmly believes that Rumplestiltskin is going to kill him," O'Donoghue said. "He has to do whatever Rumple tells him to, but he can't help but already miss the idea of not having Emma. He's desperate to try and figure out a way to survive, but for somebody who prides himself on being a survivor, this is the last grasp."

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Before Rumple can kill Hook, however, he will put him to work, as O'Donoghue mentioned. This includes using Hook as his hit man.

"He really doesn't want to have to do that, and it's killing him to have to pretend to Emma that everything is okay," O'Donoghue teased. "Hook does some things that he really doesn't want to and wishes that he didn't have to. He's remorseful for that, but he has no choice."

Meanwhile, Hook's beloved Emma is none the wiser about this plot, and while she "sense something," as Morrison noted in the EW article, she also does not have enough time to fully figure everything out.

Killing off a major character like Hook would be a huge move for Once Upon a Time but it could provide some big conflict heading into the second half of Season 4. However, there is still no indication that Hook will indeed walk the plank.

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

Watch the promo for the next episode of Once Upon a Time here:

Tags: Once Upon A Time television ABC