There's a terrible war going on in fairytale land, as we learn in this weekend's return of Once Upon a Time.  The ogre wars (seriously!) have taken a toll on the kingdom and more soldiers are needed for the fight.  What's the kingdom to do?  Well, implement conscription.  Only in fairytale land even 14 year old girls can be conscripted.

This is Rumpelstiltskin's reality.  Once Upon a Time is telling his story in episode 8, titled "Desperate Souls".  He has a young son that he needs to protect and ensure he doesn't get drafted into battle.  Desperate to find a way to save his son, it looks like Rumpelstiltskin turns to magic to save his son.  Naturally, there's always a price, and it may very well be that the price in this case is to turn Rumpelstiltskin from a mild-manned father into the creature we later know him as.

Meanwhile, Storybrooke is reeling after the death of Sheriff Graham in the midseason finale of Once Upon a Time. Mr. Gold calls Emma to his shop to encourage her to become the full sheriff instead of just the deputy.  This prompts Emma to run for the position, with Mr. Gold's support.  In the opposite corner you have Sidney, who runs with Regina's support.

ABC has posted the first 8 minutes for the return of Once Upon a Time and you can view it below.  You can also view two trailers for the episode here and photos here.

Updated: Read our recent interview with Lana Parrilla about what's coming up in this episode.

Don't miss an all new episode of Once Upon a Time on Sunday, January 8 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.

Note: international readers may not be able to view the embedded clip below. If that's the case, try watching it on ABC's website here.  Or you can watch four sneak peeks (which are all mostly from the first 8 minutes and viewable internationally) here.