KingOfHearts

Snow killing Cora was a bad plot idea. It was A) totally contrived and B) solely for the purpose of messing with character morals. That candle could NOT have been the only way to kill Cora. Of all the things in Gold's shop, Rumple chose that specific weapon to manipulate Snow. The writers were teasing the idea of Snow being a gray character without actually making her gray. There's this iconic persona of Snow White doing no wrong, and they should have kept that. In another twisted strategy, the writers wanted to have both. They wanted Snow to go "gray" without going gray. It's another example of writing with no payoff. Snow going gray was a bad idea, but what made this plot point worse was that they attempted to keep her both pure and dark - which you just can't do. Regina, in the present, is suffering from the same problem. If they were fully committed to Regina's redemption arc, they would have waited until later to kill Cora then have Regina be the killer to save the Charmings. It would have been the big "aha" moment in her arc. She would finally understand that Cora was the real oppressor in her life, not Snow. Or if she didn't want to kill her own mother, at least use that Pandora's Box!

Since CaptainSwan is going in full-force now, more Hook backstory would be appropriate. His character needs more dimensions to keep the relationship interesting. If he just remained a dashing pirate, it wouldn't be a very deep dynamic. He and Emma could really relate to each other if she finds out how he lived after being abandoned as a child. At this point, I don't think she even knows he was in the navy.

I hope we don't stay in Storybrooke the entire time. But if the pattern continues (2A, 3A), we'll be going to another realm in the first episode. Would love a #SaveAnna adventure! You should write for Once, Serena!

From Spoiler thread: I wanted this too! Elsa being a relic from hundreds of years ago was a very intriguing idea to me. It would explain why Arendelle isn't talked about much. I'd like to see if any of the kingdoms we've already seen was actually Arendelle in the past. Perhaps Prince Eric's or King George's kingdom. It would be very boring if she was from the Snow/Regina Era.

Replying in Speculation thread.

Actually, I was only talking about Season 3. But thanks for reminding me of Henry's birth scene. I'll edit in two more episodes for Emma, and one more for Henry! (The Heart of the Truest Believer and Going Home)

It's possible Anna, Kristoff and Elsa were all in urns. Maybe Hans (the villain from Frozen who attempted to usurp Elsa's throne by marrying Anna and killing Elsa) made a deal with Rumple to trap them all so he could take over Arendelle. Wild theory: Prince Jonathan could be Hans perhaps, or possibly Prince John from Robin Hood.

Peter Pan's backstory was featured in 2 fairybacks. Zelena had 4. Peter Pan appeared in 3 fairybacks. Zelena appeared in a whopping 7. They spent all this time building up Zelena, only to kill her off in Kansas. Um... why? Here are the number of flashbacks each cast member got to be in through S3: - Rumple: 9 - Regina: 8 - Snow: 8 - Charming: 7 - Belle: 6 - Neal: 5 - Hook: 4 - Henry: 3 - Emma: 3 I did not count the time travel in the finale, nor episodes where they weren't really there. (Shapeshifting, etc.) The Enchanted Forest was in 17 flashback episodes, Land Without Magic in 4, Neverland in 3, and Oz in 2. The balancing in all this is what's worth noting. If I'm wrong on any of these, please let me know.

Marian, unfortunately, seems to have a similar fate. She's almost Milah v2. Welcome to the plot device club... Henry's the president! Another female character with very little depth used solely to cause a riff in a love triangle.

For those who haven't seen Frozen, don't worry. It's got a story that's totally Once material underneath all the hype! I'm interested in Elsa's interactions with the cast. Assuming Elsa is seeking revenge on Rumple, she may be a device to help Belle see Rumple's true nature. It all depends on how much Rumple was involved with Elsa's story and the circumstances of her incarceration. There's an ongoing theory that the harsh winter Snow was born in was the eternal winter Elsa had cast. Perhaps Elsa is known as the legendary Snow Queen in the Enchanted Forest?

With all the usurping, conquest, kingdom merging, and the changing of hands outside of any legality, I think the ruler is who you make it. It's a point the writers have left purposely ambiguous. They never mentioned, during the Missing Year, the words "king" or "queen" in regards to who was ruling. Adam and Eddie have thrown specifics, morals and rules under the bus so many times intentionally, that absolutely everything on the show is up to interpretation. They omit important information on the show (like how magic works) so they don't have to play by any rule book. If Regina is your cup of tea, you can believe she's the queen if you want. If you want Snow and Charming to be victorious, you can believe that too. Neither is completely negated - because there is no legal system presented to the audience to speak of. I may believe Regina is queen, but that's just my opinion. Sorry if I stated it like a fact, because nothing is set in stone on this show. :)

She is still reigning as Queen during the Missing Year, though, along with Snowing. (Any real world legality got thrown out the window by that point.)

Again, those are real life rules - not the Enchanted Forest's. The problem is the lack of details from the writers. We don't know the legal system of the Enchanted Forest. The queen might get the full throne by default for all we know. It could go either way, we just don't know. I'm only guessing by what the show has given us. Regina basically usurped the throne, whether she could have attained it legally or not. She claimed it through conquest. My point is she is still the current reigning queen.

The legal system is obviously very different in the Enchanted Forest from reality. The writers really haven't laid out anything in bold print about it. I don't even know if Snow was old enough to be crowned when Leopold died. It's doubtful Regina just played by the books on it, though.

Regina is technically still queen, I think. After Leopold was killed, and before Regina went publicly evil queen, the question was never raised on whether Snow was queen now. In New York Serenade, they claim Regina usurped it, but Regina comes back and says she married into it. Snow getting the throne through succession never came up in the show, so I'm going to guess Regina still has it legally.

Replying in Regina thread.

Emma is always most helpful in areas that don't have magic. Her expertise is in the real world, and her investigative wit, is never dry. If we can get more circumstances where we can't rely on magic, Emma would be a lot more useful. She had plenty to do in S1 besides breaking the curse because of her awesome bail bondswoman skills. In regards to her relationship with Regina, I would hate for Emma to feel like what she did about Marian was a bad thing. She's totally innocent, and if Regina guilt trips her about in S4, I'll be ticked. Not only for Emma's sake, but for Regina's too. Regina and Emma, believe it or not, can make a good team. This kind of riff, which seems to be blown up to Stable Boy proportions, is very dumb.

Emma is in a weird limbo right now. Her parents don't really give a darn because they're busy with Snowflake, Henry is back on Regina Duty, and she is no longer the savior. The only bit of hope as a character she has right now is with Hook. Since Emma has accepted her fairy tale life, her relationship with Hook is really the only other place to go in her development. Getting her to believe in her heritage was her main drive, but that was pretty much concluded in the S3 finale. The remaining question besides Hook is whether she'd stay in the Enchanted Forest, but I don't think they'll tackle that until the final season.

Dreamy is on my list of least favorite episodes, mostly for the fairyback portion of it. The cheesiness of the dwarf eggs and the fairies was over-the-top corny to me. Some of the other fillers in S1 were enjoyable, though. True North pulled off the Hansel and Gretel story exponentially well, Price of Gold wasn't terrible, and Hat Trick was one of the best episodes of the season. Dreamy, however, is by far the episode I detest watching in S1... aside from the Leroy and Mary Margaret stuff.

Why was Zelena's weakness light magic? It can't be that light magic is always stronger than dark magic, otherwise the fairies would have taken out Rumple and Regina a long time ago. What is the logic behind that? That weakness just kind of poofed out of nowhere.

I had this running theory that the curse only brought over who Regina wanted to bring over. Here's why: - Storybrooke is not a big enough town to be home to an entire world of people. - Regina said in The Doctor, "I brought over who I wanted" - The Cora-Dome could not possibly have reached other realms. I just can't handwave that. But unfortunately the showrunners had another plan... with more plot holes. The Cora-Dome is their go-to solution for curse plot holes, but it still doesn't work for me. Regina picking people with a Guest List of Evil would have made sense because the curse was catered to her wishes. It definitely would have explained Once: Wonderland.

The actors match their characters pretty well even without all the costumes and makeup, I must say! The Once casting department does a great job of picking out actors that fit their Disney counterparts. Peter Pan, Regina and Snow, just to name a few. When they don't look/act like them, it's usually an intentional twist. (Like Rapunzel or Hook) Elsa will probably be a more interesting casting. It's difficult to find young people who look like her. She has a unique visage that doesn't have many matches in the real world.

Rumpbelle was amazing in S1. It skated fine through 2A, but got punched in the stomach when Belle got shot and Lacey came about in 2B. 3A was okay, but they were never together until the tail end. 3B made Belle a complete idiot - a marionette with strings pulled by the puppet master himself. Since they're both married, I gather their relationship is going to continue for a long time. What was so likeable about Rumpbelle in the first place was that beauty fearlessly called the beast on his crap. She wasn't afraid to tell him outright what he was doing wrong. She knew he wasn't a monster, but rather a man making wrong choices. She saw it and she called him on it... but now she doesn't even see it. Belle should say when she finds out about the dagger, "You know what? You deceived me. I'm not going to trust you again until you give me the real one. I still love you, but I won't be naive either. This is for your own good."

Given the circumstances, yes Geppetto was responsible for Emma growing up as an orphan. But in the grand scheme of things, it was ultimately Regina who caused calamity in Emma's life. Even if Geppetto let Snow raise Emma, it would be a hard road. It would have had all other kinds of problems. Both Regina and Geppetto were partially responsible for Emma's unfortunate upbringing.

Would Regina actually kill her? It depends on her mood on that day, lol. There were some places she rewarded those who helped her. But if she was in a bad mood, it was instant death. <sarcasm> She's really just misunderstood is all! </sarcasm>