It’s no secret that Once Upon a Time‘s fifth season has turned into a massive disaster. Can the finale salvage the wreckage?

Sweeps month is creeping around the corner, beckoning viewers across all networks to stick around for a few more weeks. Storylines are revving up for major payoffs and disappointments. The threat of major character deaths are looming large over the networks. Ratings gurus are strapping in to analyze which shows are about to play their strongest hand.

There is one major exception to this high stakes game — Once Upon a Time. Week after week we are crawling towards the two-hour finally with no stakes, no time crunch, no pressure what so ever. In fact, while recording Onceable this week, the collective of five hosts could not recall what Hades’ original plan was when he mentioned it to Zelena.

But let’s not dwell in the past. Instead, let’s focus on the future of the season, and by extension the series as a whole. TV Line released some finale spoilers that may help guide Once Upon a Time back into our good graces.

Mr. ‘Hey You, Get Off of My Cloud’ will make an appearance

The big man upstairs, Zeus, will make his way to Once Upon a Time this season. To be completely honest, this news has sent some mixed feelings my way. On the one hand, I am excited to spend a bit more time in the realm of Greek mythology. On the other hand Once Upon a Time‘s guest-of-the-week stories are lackluster at best in the latter half of season 5. Presumably, Hades may revisit his past deal with his brother via flashback and will not serve as an introduction of Greek mythology into the Once Upon a Time universe. There is no shortage of fairytales for the showrunners of the series to dive into, but with the latest batch of characters, notably lifted from Frozen and the rebooted costuming of Maleficent, a jump to the classics might better serve the characters rather than Disney’s licensing team.

Alas, the interaction between Hades and Zeus being noted as a certainty will quench our thirst for Olympus for now. As long as he has a beard and they stray away from and CGI, of course. We can still be picky.

One ship will sink

A teaser cited as, “a current coupling ‘maybe’ won’t last the season,” would at first glance shine the spotlight on Zelena and Hades. Greg Germann is only listed as a guest star and the Underworld arc will end this season. Zelena, and by extension actress Bex Mader, does not seem to be going anywhere. After her brilliant performance as the Wicked Witch in the Oz arc the show found a way to loop Regina’s estranged sister back into the story. Though her storyline felt forced and may not have been the best place for Zelena to make her triumphant return, I am hopeful that she will stick around into the future of the show regardless of how awful her past mistakes make her appear. (Lest we forget that she disguised herself as Marian only to fool Roland and Robin into thinking their lost was still alive and coaxed Robin into impregnating her so that she could experience some human connection.)

The couple in contention for break up may be Rumpbelle. Before the pitch forks come out, let me give offer a theory. One character is likely going to die on this show by season’s end. All my bets are on Rumple. His story has hit a brick wall, there is nowhere for him to go. In fact in “Sister” Rumple recycled a line that has been said in every single combination the writers can think to twist the sentiment into– “I’m sorry Belle, I’m not living up to the man you want me to be and I am going to do things my way.” Let’s say Hades gets his heart beating again and finds a way out of the Underworld, someone else has to run the show down there. Who better to deal with lost souls than the man who has sent many down there in the first place. This leaves the door open for Rumple to return, but also gives Belle the chance to move on with her baby and live a life without the threat losing her partner to stronger, darker magic at any moment.

One other couple may be Captain Swan. Let’s face it, these two have barely talked about what brought them to the Underworld since Hook was rescued. They tiptoed around the issue when Liam was around, but the core of their problems, namely Emma’s fear of letting go, was never unpacked. “Firebird” will send the two deep into the Underworld where they will fight for a way to bring Hook back to the land of the living (I guess the whole heart-splitting deal is off the table). Will they both emerge from this trip with beating hearts? I doubt Hook is going anywhere and will return next season, but perhaps Killian and Emma will go their separate ways once Storybrooke comes back into focus.

Camelot, where art thou?

Speaking of Storybrooke, does it look like a Renaissance Fair up there now? The hero team left the dwarves, Granny, and Blue to hold down the town with nearly 100 visitors from Camelot living in their park. Brainstorming some theories of what became of the Camelot/Storybrooke convergence has kept us at least somewhat interested in the latter half of season 5. While those theories have been fun, the answer is likely to lean towards the people from Camelot finding a bean and leaving for good. Countering my theory is the casting credits for Violet, Henry’s lost love (Thanks, Emma). She will make an appearance, but maybe just in Henry’s fanfiction.

Merida is also roaming around in Storybrooke for the time being, so perhaps she had a hand in keeping everyone in line until the calvary returns home to take back their town.

What about season 6?

A few months ago, we reported that Sam Witwer and Hank Harris were tapped to play a doctor and a patient inside a mental hospital that steer season 6’s storyline. Speaking to TV Line, Kitsis and Horowitz described their intentions for the new season saying that they wanted to try “something new” with “ominous threats that are different from ones we’ve experience before.” I’m skeptical about how the arc will be received especially since the description for Witwer’s character Jacob includes that he is a man who takes pleasure torturing his helpless patients.

Other notes to consider

• Henry will finally put his Author powers to use beyond writing for convenience of advancing the plot
• Pre-Storybrooke aka bailbonds woman Emma is coming back in “Firebird”
• Rumpel and Pan will force Hades to reconsider keeping everyone in the Underworld when they capture Zelena– Is this the most convenient way to end this story arc? Guess so!

Let us know what you think of ‘Once Upon a Time’ season 5!

Once Upon a Time season 5, episode 20, “Firebird,” airs Sunday, May 1 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.