Spoiler Discussion: The apple was poisoned?!

[Anna35]

On 26/07/2017 at 0:43 PM, KingOfHearts said:

They could always pull the death prophecy thing again and say that Henry saving her with a TLK only kicked the can down the road. I wouldn't even be mad, honestly. I'm so done with her character. I really don't care about her any more.

I would quit the show. By the end of season 6 Emma was the only I could stand any longer. Everyone else has been completely ruined. 

[Noneofyourbusiness]

6 hours ago, Rumsy4 said:

How is he getting to the Fictional 1920s England Realm to refuel? Another Last Magic Bean? Hat? ;-)

Well, he's probably been between more than just the one Enchanted Forest in all these years.

The same offscreen way Cruella got to the Enchanted Forest and Mulan and Ruby got to Oz.

At least they've established going between magical realms is easier than getting to or from the Land Without Magic.

[Camera One]

I find it funny how they are saying any new viewer can drop in.  From the sneak peek alone, they mentioned August, the Sorcerer's Mansion, other books, the job of "The Author", Emma/Snow/Charming, and "the only bean".

Henry really does look a lot older... was it the way they parted his hair or something?

Henry is "the only me"?  Isn't Mary Margaret still the "only" Mary Margaret... aren't the French and Italian Snow Whites other people?  If he's making that equivalency, then isn't Henry just "another" Author?

What's the missing scene that explains why no one bothered to see Henry off?  

HENRY: Well, I'm off to use this bean to find my own story.  I may or may not be able to come back, ever.

DAVID: Sorry, I have to go milk the cow.

SNOW: Sorry, I have to feed my bird.

EMMA: I have to pick up my red leather jacket from dry cleaning.

HOOK: I'll go with you since my black leather coat is there too.

Edited July 27, 2017 by Camera One

[Mitch]

14 hours ago, Camera One said:

From the video above:

EDDY: "One of the the things I'm really excited about is we're leaving Storybrooke... for us, the original idea of the show was fairy tales in the real world, so for us, it was fun to go back to a place that doesn't have magic, so it isn't magic magic all the time."

ADAM: Hyperion Heights is a part of Seattle, so now you have fairy tale characters mixed... with characters from the real world.

---

The thing is, the show COULD have explored this in Season 5 or 6 with the characters we knew and loved.  They COULD have eliminated all magic in Storybrooke.  They COULD have sent everyone into a neighborhood where they mixed with people from the real world.  It was their own decision NOT to do so, until the reboot.  These changes could have re-invigorated the show, or created a good final season last year.

I am good to go with a show that does not have magic, magic, magic all the time..but they just can't do it. I do think that Storybrooke's possiblitlies ended after about S3..but I didn't want them to go to CGI land for good, so this is good alternative. They could have had SB... since a time or two Regina and Gold have said that.."it doesnt belong in this world and neither do we.."  that the magic was starting to weaken and SB was starting to disappear, so people had to move into the Real World..(too bad they wasted Cruella in the dumb Queens of D arc..as I could totally see her as the landlady of an apartment complex, and she would totally mix in well in the real neighborhood they are fictionalizing..everyone would think she was just a crazy drunk or a performance artist. Plus, I really wanted to see Regina and Zelena tackle cleaning a toliet...."Good God Regina, where is a Munchkin when you need one!"

[maryle]

So, just read the spoiler and everything still look underwhelming for me! 

About Emma death don't believe they will dare , not in the second episode! The absence of Emma and jen departure is the most felt( considering the media, sm indicator) just don't believe they will risk greater black clash when they basically ask for cs fans to give the new show a change! Now that doesn't mean nothing happened to her! Just nothing irrevocable!

For me, what stand out its their wish to sell season 7 as a new show when most the spoiler is so obviously very similar to season 1 even the way the new female villain dress! 

[KingOfHearts]

Most of these spoilers will probably be irrelevant after the first few episodes. A&E aren't going to want to go without magic for very long, much less work with cursed personalities. (They'll want Regina back to her sassy queen self and Rumple in his angsty villainy ASAP.)

[Curio]

1 hour ago, Camera One said:

aren't the French and Italian Snow Whites other people?

I don't know why this line bothered me so much. The show plays so fast and loose with characters' accents that the writers can't just say "there are French and Italian Snow Whites." Does that mean OUAT's Belle is Australian Belle's story? But she just happens to live in the Enchanted Forest where British and Scottish and American accents coexist? A&E throwing out that line sounds more like their excuse to the audience about how Season 7 works instead of realizing that it doesn't actually work within the world they created on the show. 

Edited July 27, 2017 by Curio

[Camera One]

Yeah, the concept makes zero sense.  "Alice in Wonderland" was a story by Lewis Carroll, but there's another version of her somewhere?  With slightly different details?  Probably with a different accent, right?

I guess the specificity is summed up in the writing on the screen... "Another Realm.  Years Later."  It's not The Enchanted Forest.  It's The Enchanting Forest.  That's totally different, you know.  There's gasoline there.  

Can't wait for the French Evil Queen.  And the Italian Evil Queen.  Since we can't have enough of those.  And if they each divide into 4's, we could get 8 plus Original Recipe Regina and Original Recipe Evil Queen.

Is Henry expecting to find another him somewhere else?  "His" own story could happen anywhere, so he doesn't necessarily need to leave Storybrooke.  The motivation for him leaving is paper thin, and they get it out of the way in the most sloppy expedient way possible.  His "job" as writer is still as ambiguous as ever.  Weren't all the books in the Sorcerer's Mansion blank?  Where did all these other books with "new" stories come from?  

Edited July 27, 2017 by Camera One

[Serena]

Maybe alt!Enchanted Forest doesn't have a bean shortage? You're welcome, A&E, for fixing your plot hole.

[Camera One]

It needs to have a bean shortage, to explain why Old Irresponsible Motorcycle Riding Henry never comes back to visit.

Edited July 27, 2017 by Camera One

[Serena]

1 minute ago, Camera One said:

It needs to have a bean shortage, to explain why Old Irresponsible Motorcycle Riding Henry never comes back to visit.

Do we know he doesn't? "Oh, hello, Cinderella, I'm back! Yes, the visit with my moms went great. No, you can't meet them. Well, maybe one of them, eventually, and my stepfather. No, I don't think they should be present at our wedding... I'm dashing and spontaneous, let's elope."

Edited July 27, 2017 by Serena

[Camera One]

I'm assuming he can never get back, to allow his WALLS to grow.  He's a really deep, complex character now, you know.

Edited July 27, 2017 by Camera One

[Delphi]

Strange thing is,  I'd miss Snow and Emma and even though Jared isn't the best actor,  I would probably tune in to watch 18 year old Henry exploring other realms and encountering fairytale characters alone with occasional guest spots from the original cast. 

 

You can't make Henry into Emma.   They are absolutely completely different people.   Even with the time lapse... Henry was alone for ten years.   Emma didn't shove him into a magic tree right on arrival. 

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

Yeah, the concept makes zero sense.  "Alice in Wonderland" was a story by Lewis Carroll, but there's another version of her somewhere?  With slightly different details?  Probably with a different accent, right?

I think it could be potentially interesting if it was a huge setting or genre swap. Like, it's not just Alt!Alice, but it's Alice from the wild west and the white rabbit is a jackelope.

So Lady Tremaine is going to be Lucy's step-grandmother. 

Edited July 27, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Shanna Marie]

1 hour ago, Camera One said:

Yeah, the concept makes zero sense.  "Alice in Wonderland" was a story by Lewis Carroll, but there's another version of her somewhere?  With slightly different details?  Probably with a different accent, right?

You could kind of make the multiverse thing work with fairy tales, since there are similar tales in multiple cultures. Not only is there a German Cinderella story in the Grimm collection that's similar but still quite different from the French version by Perrault (in the Grimm version, there's no fairy godmother, but rather the mother's ghost in a tree), but there are stories with a lot of similarities around the world. And then there have been different versions in retellings -- the Disney animated one, the Rodgers and Hammerstein one, the Disney live action, the Slipper and the Rose, Ever After, Into the Woods, etc. So you could say that each Author was telling a version that happened in a different part of the multiverse.

It gets trickier with stuff that comes from a defined source, like the Peter Pan characters and Alice. I guess there have been multiple reinterpretations since they were originally written, especially after they went into public domain, but it's still not like the fairy tales where the themes are universal. It's all reinterpretations and retellings, not the same story arising more or less spontaneously in multiple cultures.

The other tricky thing is that stories like Peter Pan and Alice are already about going from one world to another. In Alice, she was from a "storybook" type world rather than from our world. Peter Pan got wonky, as Pan himself and Captain Hook were from one world, but the Darlings really were from Victorian London.

I think it's pretty safe to say that whatever they come up with, it will have no narrative consistency and will be based entirely on what seemed cool at the time, without any thought put into it. Like, "wouldn't it be cool if Henry rode August's bike around the story multiverse?" and they apparently didn't stop to think about where he'd get the gas until Colin brought it up on the panel. (Did nobody really spot that before then?)

[Camera One]

I'm surprised A&E didn't explore what would happen if Henry fell in love with the Italian Snow White's granddaughter.  Would that be inappropriate, or no?  Find out in Season 7 of "Once Upon a Time".

[Mitch]

2 hours ago, Camera One said:

Can't wait for the French Evil Queen.  And the Italian Evil Queen.  Since we can't have enough of those.  And if they each divide into 4's, we could get 8 plus Original Recipe Regina and Original Recipe Evil Queen.

I

 

Knowing A & E the French Evil Queen would poison Snow with a cassoulet and the Italian Queen would give her cement shoes...

Dumbest idea ever from the brain trust of A & E. The Author mythology was stupid to begin with, but the understanding I had was that he recorded the stories  (as in one story of Snow White..the real person, which really happened..but to one individual person) in the book (which by the way, who the hell was the intended readers..)  and other people just interpreted them differently. They are acting like a French Writer came up with a Cinderella and poof, the world was created...

They really should have gotten away from the same old, same old, and dropped in on Gothic World...(if they hadnt screwed up Hyde he would be a fun story to get into..Dracula, etc. or even get away from supernatural stuff, Jane Eyre...) the Oz stories havent been explored that well, what happened to super powerful Glinda (in the books) who on this show was the usual useless good magic conveyer..(it would be cool to see Henry in love with a super powerful sexy older Glinda instead of another boring fairy princess..what would Regina say to THAT!!) They have ton of cool villains in Oz..Mombi, the Gnome King..etc.

Its just a retread with the same crap with different actors.

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

They really should have gotten away from the same old, same old, and dropped in on Gothic World...(if they hadnt screwed up Hyde he would be a fun story to get into..Dracula, etc. or even get away from supernatural stuff, Jane Eyre...) the Oz stories havent been explored that well, what happened to super powerful Glinda (in the books) who on this show was the usual useless good magic conveyer..(it would be cool to see Henry in love with a super powerful sexy older Glinda instead of another boring fairy princess..what would Regina say to THAT!!) They have ton of cool villains in Oz..Mombi, the Gnome King..etc.

I'd rather see them jump into another random universe full of guest characters than retread stuff we've already seen. 

[Camera One]

So August was such a huge influence on Henry for him to leave on a motorcycle, eh?  If he were influenced by Hook, he would have sailed through the portal.  If he were influenced by Snow or Charming, he would have ridden through the portal on a horse.  If he were influenced by Aunt Zelena, he might have rode a bicycle or a broomstick through the portal.  If he were influenced by Emma, he would have his own bug to drive through the portal.

I can already hear the angry words Henry and Cinders will exchange after the crash which quickly turns into love.  Henry is definitely dim enough not to recognize her when he meets her again in rags.

Edited July 27, 2017 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

I can already hear the angry words Henry and Cinders will exchange after the crash which quickly turns into love.  Henry is definitely dim enough not to recognize her when he meets her again in rags.

Henry: "Wait... you're a girl."
Cinderella: "Woman."
Cinderella hits Henry across the face with a glass slipper.

Is it too much to hope Alt!Snow has a sister named Rose Red?

Edited July 27, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Noneofyourbusiness]

Does anyone else find it skeevy that Henry is falling for an alternate version of a woman he knew as a kid?

Edited July 27, 2017 by Noneofyourbusiness

[Shanna Marie]

4 hours ago, Mitch said:

The Author mythology was stupid to begin with, but the understanding I had was that he recorded the stories  (as in one story of Snow White..the real person, which really happened..but to one individual person) in the book (which by the way, who the hell was the intended readers..)  and other people just interpreted them differently.

That idea, that our Snow was the "real" Snow and everyone got the stories wrong, never really fit, unless we went with the concept that the curse moved them in time as well as space (which they later made clear didn't happen). There have been versions of the Snow White story for hundreds of years, and these events took place in the 70s/early 80s. So the multiverse idea does kind of work, if the Grimms reported on one world's Snow White, Disney reported on another, etc. But they never clarified why there even needed to be a magical "Author" or who'd be reading these, or why there's a stockpile of books in a mansion.

1 hour ago, Noneofyourbusiness said:

Does anyone else find it skeevy that Henry is falling for an alternate version of a woman he knew as a kid?

Not really, since she's an entirely different person played by an entirely different actress. It might have been a little creepy if it had been a "different" Cinderella played by the same actress as the one he knew as a kid, where she was an actual alternate version. This, it's more like meeting someone who has the same name and maybe a few things in common.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

2 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

This, it's more like meeting someone who has the same name and maybe a few things in common.

And I find that skeevy.

[Shanna Marie]

14 minutes ago, Noneofyourbusiness said:

And I find that skeevy.

How is it skeevy to meet someone who has the same name as someone you used to know when you were a kid? If your second-grade teacher's name was Marianne and she came from an unhappy home, would it be skeevy if as an adult you went to another country, met a woman about your age named Marianne, who looked totally different from the first one, even a different race, who happened to come from an unhappy home, and dated her? That's apparently all the relationship between the Cinderellas. I don't even remember Henry having scenes with Ashley, so it's not like he was close enough to her to have had a major crush or for her to have changed his diapers, or anything like that. They lived in the same town, and he might have been in Granny's at the same time she was there. She wasn't even "Cinderella" when he knew her. He never knew Cinderella. He knew Ashley. Now he's meeting a Cinderella, so they don't even have the same name. Of all the skeevy things that have been on this show, this is barely on the scale. Now, if he met another universe's Snow White, then that would be getting skeevier.

[Camera One]

Will Henry impress NewCinders with his ipod and 1980s music yet again?  And of course, we'll get...

CINDERS: So what are you doing in this realm?

HENRY: It's complicated.  Why does your stepmother hate you so much?

CINDERS: It's complicated.

Edited July 28, 2017 by Camera One

[Noneofyourbusiness]

3 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

How is it skeevy to meet someone who has the same name as someone you used to know when you were a kid? If your second-grade teacher's name was Marianne and she came from an unhappy home, would it be skeevy if as an adult you went to another country, met a woman about your age named Marianne, who looked totally different from the first one, even a different race, who happened to come from an unhappy home, and dated her? That's apparently all the relationship between the Cinderellas. I don't even remember Henry having scenes with Ashley, so it's not like he was close enough to her to have had a major crush or for her to have changed his diapers, or anything like that. They lived in the same town, and he might have been in Granny's at the same time she was there. She wasn't even "Cinderella" when he knew her. He never knew Cinderella. He knew Ashley. Now he's meeting a Cinderella, so they don't even have the same name. Of all the skeevy things that have been on this show, this is barely on the scale. Now, if he met another universe's Snow White, then that would be getting skeevier.

Using a real-world example like that doesn't capture the situation. This is an iconic name, not just any name. A person who is a version of the same literary character and lived a parallel life to hers. She comes from the same source material. It doesn't matter if she looks different, I wouldn't able to look at her without seeing Ashley if I were him.

Henry found Ashley with Emma, having her contractions.

Edited July 28, 2017 by Noneofyourbusiness

[Rumsy4]

2 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

Now, if he met another universe's Snow White, then that would be getting skeevier.

Hah! I waa going to say the same thing... :-p

[Mitch]

15 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

That idea, that our Snow was the "real" Snow and everyone got the stories wrong, never really fit, unless we went with the concept that the curse moved them in time as well as space (which they later made clear didn't happen). There have been versions of the Snow White story for hundreds of years, and these events took place in the 70s/early 80s. So the multiverse idea does kind of work, if the Grimms reported on one world's Snow White, Disney reported on another, etc. But they never clarified why there even needed to be a magical "Author" or who'd be reading these, or why there's a stockpile of books in a mansion.

Not really, since she's an entirely different person played by an entirely different actress. It might have been a little creepy if it had been a "different" Cinderella played by the same actress as the one he knew as a kid, where she was an actual alternate version. This, it's more like meeting someone who has the same name and maybe a few things in common.

Okay, let me clarify..all their mythology is stupid..not just the Author!  They really inferred first season that the Snow we were seeing was the "real" Snow and that events happened in the past and the Curse did bring them through time and space...(why drop them in 1985 who knows...the fashion was bad???I would think they would have dropped them in 1972..when fashiuon really sucked..I would love to have see Regina with a shag haircut and orange shag carpeting...and wearing a polyester Carol Brady pant suit..."This curse really sucks, well tell I get my hands on Gold!" ) Otherwise, the multiverse concept is stupid...its bad enough in DC Comics, where there are infinite numbers of Supermen, but these idiots can't write for one universe, Again they could easily explain the Curse froze all the magical and partly magical lands in time until the Curse broke and things started up again.  

If Walt Disney was one writer..how come our Snow sometimes has slight references to his Snow? But one thing would be cool with the multiverse...we could get a real bad ass MGM Wicked Witch..instead of Zelena's snarky mean girl (as much as I love Zelena..) or a Disney scary Evil Queen and an honest to goodness Big Bad to end all Big Bad Malificent instead of the wimpy one we got???

[Camera One]

Like with all their retcons, this latest "There are multiple of every fairy tale character" just makes the original characters from this series less significant.  Mary Margaret Snow White isn't actually unique.  There are hundreds of Snow Whites out there.  So are there also a hundred of Saviors spawned?  Why didn't Rumple just find another Snow White?  We already have no idea why Snow and Charming's child was extra special whereas Cinderella's, Sleeping Beauty's, etc. weren't.  This is just another example of something that is not thought through.  It's for convenience.  It's the easy way out since they've burned through all the famous stories.  Create a new cul de sac of destruction!

Edited July 28, 2017 by Camera One

[Camera One]

Quote

"The OUAT bosses say they have the freedom to go through multiple books.  And with multiple books comes multiple authors - that's right, Henry's not the only one!  'There has to be one author for each book and I think that's the case," EP Edward Kitsis says."

"I think"?  Don't you know?  So Lucy has the book that Henry wrote?  I'm not sure what else is in Henry's book other than Snow reading a bedtime story to the baby, Red kissing Dorothy, and The Last Supper.  We never found out who wrote the Untold Stories book.  Is Henry still writing?  Did he pack anything with him on his motorcycle?

Quote

But EP Adam Horowitz is quick to add: "Different books have different mythologies, so it's not like we're going to tell the Author mythology the same way, or the Dark One mythology the same way.  There's going to be new things and new mythology to explore.

So don't expect any internal consistency.  If we get an eighth season, they could tell the Dark One mythology AGAIN.  In a different way.  What a freak'in joke.

Edited July 28, 2017 by Camera One

[Shanna Marie]

So, there are Authors who travel to multiple worlds to record their stories, but then each world has its own Authors? So do they do entirely different books on the same worlds the other Authors are going to? I mean, it makes sense that there would be multiple people to record all the information, but they've set it up as though there's one Author, and it's passed on from one to another when the previous one leaves the role. But we still don't know why there has to be a magical Author writing these story books. What's wrong with individuals writing or telling the stories they've seen, heard, or researched -- you know, like in our world? Henry's book was used to create belief to help break the curse, but why are the other books written? Have previous books been used in some way, or are they all stashed around in mysterious mansions. And we still don't know what Merlin had to do with it.

Also, why does Henry have to go anywhere and do things so that he'll be in a book? Isn't it his job to record the events he's been part of? He was part of breaking the curse and Emma finding her parents. If he recorded that, he'd be in it. We know he wrote some of the stuff about the trip to the Underworld. He should be in that. He saved the Savior after the Final Battle. So, if he wants to be in the books, then maybe he should, you know, write the stories that he participated in.

Of all bits of the show mythology that they needed to have put some thought into, it's this one. I was kind of okay with this one magical book mysteriously appearing when it was needed. I didn't need an explanation beyond that. But when they decided that the Author was a thing and they had a magical pen that needed Dark Savior blood for ink (seriously?) and the pen could change reality, except the Author wasn't allowed to use it that way, and Henry was an Author, and all that, then they needed to have worked out the details before they dove into it.

[Camera One]

Yes, we saw Isaac going into Faux 1920s world to record Cruella's story.  But we still don't know how he got there, or why he decided to go there, or what determines whose stories go in the book and whose stories don't.  That whole storyline seemed to imply there was one Author, and the Pen chose the one Author.  

So is Latina Cinderella's story a new one, which isn't written down yet?  If Henry participates in it, does someone else write that story?  Or does he write it?  What about the beginning of the story before Henry met Cinders?  Is a new Cinderella born every generation?  Do these stories just replay themselves over and over?

Edited July 28, 2017 by Camera One

[daxx]

38 minutes ago, Camera One said:

Yes, we saw Isaac going into Faux 1920s world to record Cruella's story.  But we still don't know how he got there, or why he decided to go there, or what determines whose stories go in the book and whose stories don't.  That whole storyline seemed to imply there was one Author, and the Pen chose the one Author.  

So is Latina Cinderella's story a new one, which isn't written down yet?  If Henry participates in it, does someone else write that story?  Or does he write it?  What about the beginning of the story before Henry met Cinders?  Is a new Cinderella born every generation?  Do these stories just replay themselves over and over?

A&E probably: your questions are pointless.

[Camera One]

I'm so excited for the scene where Old Henry eats his birthday cupcake with the single candle on it.  

[Shanna Marie]

50 minutes ago, Camera One said:

So is Latina Cinderella's story a new one, which isn't written down yet?

I would think so, since it's still happening. It doesn't go in the book until it's happened.

I've seen some interesting takes in other properties on the idea of multiple iterations of these common tales. Mercedes Lackey had a series in which the magic was based on stories, and it tried to shape things into following stories. If you were a girl growing up with a stepmother and stepsisters, you were likely to turn into a Cinderella unless you were conscious of what was going on and tried to break the mold. If a king's wife died, the king would have to act fast to find a wife who wasn't a wicked sorceress who'd hate his daughter.

There's also the possibility of things getting meta -- there have been so many versions of the Cinderella story that any girl with a cruel stepmother is going to be called "Cinderella," even if that isn't her name. Though I guess the stepmother actually being Lady Tremaine does kind of kill that theory, since that means we have two Lady Tremaines.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

31 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

I've seen some interesting takes in other properties on the idea of multiple iterations of these common tales. Mercedes Lackey had a series in which the magic was based on stories, and it tried to shape things into following stories. If you were a girl growing up with a stepmother and stepsisters, you were likely to turn into a Cinderella unless you were conscious of what was going on and tried to break the mold. If a king's wife died, the king would have to act fast to find a wife who wasn't a wicked sorceress who'd hate his daughter.

Yeah, I was reminded of that series, too.

31 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

There's also the possibility of things getting meta -- there have been so many versions of the Cinderella story that any girl with a cruel stepmother is going to be called "Cinderella," even if that isn't her name. Though I guess the stepmother actually being Lady Tremaine does kind of kill that theory, since that means we have two Lady Tremaines.

And these people with the same name having parallel lives really calls into question the idea of free will. 

At least it (possibly) justifies Isaac's reference to a "classic Cinderella story" in "Sympathy for the De Vil". And it might explain why Anastasia's backstory seems practically identical to that of a Cinderella stepsister. Except that she's from the same Enchanted Forest as Ashley, which we know because it's the same Enchanted Forest that Sean Maguire Robin Hood was in.

[KingOfHearts]

The multiple Authors thing just creates more plot holes. Obviously, there will be multiple people out there writing history down. But if Merlin chose his own Author, who chose the others? Who is the authority on the Pens? Is there some sort of deity? How does fate work? Why am I still watching this?

[Camera One]

6 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

The multiple Authors thing just creates more plot holes. Obviously, there will be multiple people out there writing history down. But if Merlin chose his own Author, who chose the others? Who is the authority on the Pens? Is there some sort of deity? How does fate work? Why am I still watching this?

Hello, 

I would be disappointed if there aren't five hundred other Merlins out there, each choosing their own Author.  The French Merlin and the Italian Merlin have their own mythologies that may or may not be explored.

Hope that helps.

A&E

Edited July 28, 2017 by Camera One

[Shanna Marie]

3 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

But if Merlin chose his own Author, who chose the others?

And who's in charge if both Merlin and his Apprentice are dead.

Though I suppose there's this:

Just now, Camera One said:

I would be disappointed if there aren't five hundred other Merlins out there, each choosing their own Author.

It also makes you wonder if our world has a special relationship with all the story worlds. All the Authors we know of so far were from our world. It doesn't seem like they were all reporting on the Enchanted Forest. The Grimms must have been reporting on a world in which the Snow White story happened a couple of hundred years ago, and then the animated world Snow White was happening in the 1930s. Is our world, the Land Without Magic, some kind of neutral territory? If events in our world aren't recorded in the storybooks (and thus, Henry's heroics aren't in the books and he has to go elsewhere to get in the books), then maybe that's why the Authors are from our world, since they won't be part of the stories.

I do hope there's more context around the "I need to get in the books" stuff with Henry because it makes him look like a glory hound. If he wanted to be a hero, in the sense of making a difference, saving lives, and helping people, then he could join the Peace Corps, go to med school and join Doctors Without Borders, become a teacher, etc. But what he wants seems to be glory, getting in the storybooks. His family members who ended up in the books didn't know they were in books. They were doing the right thing because it was the right thing. If you're doing heroic stuff so you can make it into the history books, you're not really a hero.

[Camera One]

They were in such a rush to get Young Henry out of Storybrooke, that they clearly put no thought into his actual motivation and characterization.  Which is nothing new.  It's ironic that this new "reboot" has Older Henry as the protagonist, which necessitates deeper and more complex characterization, when they hadn't put any real thought into the character since Season 1.  It looks like the "new" Henry will solely be shaped by whatever happened to him in the last couple of years which will no doubt be full of surprises and shocking twists (aka his true love "dies" and his entire family is lost to him >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> WALLS).  Once Henry is back to "himself", A&E will be as bored of his character as they have always been.

Edited July 28, 2017 by Camera One

[Serena]

Their "nope" to more Emma in the hot seat seemed pretty final, so either Emma is dead or JMo told them she wasn't coming back for all the gold in the Disney coffers.

[daxx]

1 hour ago, Camera One said:

I'm so excited for the scene where Old Henry eats his birthday cupcake with the single candle on it.  

They've already cheapened that wonderful scene from the pilot several times. Which is truly a shame.

[KingOfHearts]

16 minutes ago, daxx said:

They've already cheapened that wonderful scene from the pilot several times. Which is truly a shame.

Yes. They did it for both Regina and Zelena. Because, you know, they're exactly like Emma. They're all strong independent female leads!

Edited July 28, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Kktjones]

31 minutes ago, Serena said:

Their "nope" to more Emma in the hot seat seemed pretty final

Thank the lord, I can finally quit this show!!

I didn't read the full article, but I'm surprised we got such a straight answer as those "Hot Seat" features are usually completely worthless.

[MadyGirl1987]

36 minutes ago, Serena said:

Their "nope" to more Emma in the hot seat seemed pretty final, so either Emma is dead or JMo told them she wasn't coming back for all the gold in the Disney coffers.

I still am of the mind they would have to be crazy to kill Emma off, and that at least ABC would stop them, realizing how it would torpedo the ratings and streaming. However,  I would be lying if that, in addition to the "can't say" when asked if someone's heart was crushed to do the new curse didn't scare me about Emma's fate.

[maryle]

Or they didn't want her back!

[Camera One]

They do seem to have the magic touch when it comes to smoothing things over.  They got Red back for that horrible "Ruby Slippers".  They got the angry Sean Maguire back for that ridiculous AltRobin arc which had nothing to do with the Original Recipe Robin.  They're getting Belle back for an episode in 7A.  I can see Jennifer Morrison being willing to come back for a series finale if her schedule allows it, especially if her friends Ginny and Josh return as well.

[KingOfHearts]

1 minute ago, Camera One said:

They do seem to have the magic touch when it comes to smoothing things over.  They got Red back for that horrible "Ruby Slippers".  They got the angry Sean Maguire back for that ridiculous AltRobin arc which had nothing to do with the Original Recipe Robin.  They're getting Belle back for an episode in 7A.  I can see Jennifer Morrison being willing to come back for a series finale if her schedule allows it, especially if her friends Ginny and Josh return as well.

I'm hoping Zelena comes back for a cameo as well.

[Camera One]

Quote

Will we see multiple new versions of characters? 
KITSIS: That’s a complicated question. The answer is we will see new iterations of characters we may have met, but there will not be like six Cinderellas going around. We are not going to go to seven different worlds where eight Cinderellas band together to fight eight different Lady Tremaines.

HOROWITZ: We’re also not seeing six Reginas. It’s our Regina.

LOL.  With these writers, you really need to spell it out.  And of course, Regina is unique.
 

Quote

Will we know what happened with Maleficent and Lily? 
HOROWITZ: Maleficent and Lily are always asked! By the way, if we do five shows after this, I want you asking this in every show.

Who asks these questions?

[PixiePaws1]

2 hours ago, Serena said:

Their "nope" to more Emma in the hot seat seemed pretty final, so either Emma is dead or JMo told them she wasn't coming back for all the gold in the Disney coffers.

The actual wording is:

Any plans for Emma to return for more than one episode? 
KITSIS: Nope.

Now people...what have we learned about these 2 morons in the last 6 years of lies, misdirections and failed promises? They couldn't plan their way out of paper bag let alone a full season. If/when the ratings start plummeting to, never before discovered, depths their so called 'plans' will be instantly scrapped.