Speculation WITHOUT Spoilers: Lalalalala! I can't hear you!

[maryle]

Actually that what I loved about last season it was essentially about Emma as the dark Swan and even if I was not scare about Hook's role they were some CS who were afraid that Hook will be minor comparing to Regina. Her fans were pushing for Regina to be the savior of the savior. Each faction wanted to be a major playor in operation #save Swan it is really different this year. 

Because they use more EQ is back as a exemple as can happen with all the group and they definitively pushing the Untold story in front too. Importance that is adding by the casting call and the title of the premiere who could have been EQ is back !!! What they totally did last year.  But instead is more associate with Emma and I think Hydes.

[Rumsy4]

3 hours ago, Curio said:

Once Upon a Time's Archie Hopper to Return — But Who Is His Patient?

Maybe Archie gets Jekyll-juiced, and the cricket spends times getting inside people's blouses. When Cricket!Jimny gets inside Snow's blouse once too often, David finally has enough and recruits the resident Storybrooke exterminator to get rid of the creepy cricket. Enter Morpheus/Genie whose Storybrooke persona is exterminator, but he's secretly been plotting revenge against Hyde, and finally gets his chance.

Edited July 6, 2016 by Rumsy4

[Camera One]

It's hilarious how this show underuses their supporting/minor cast so much that it becomes a news item when they show up again.  I wonder how many scenes Archie will actually get.  Was he supposedly just around town all this time?  Or did he get a magic bean too and went off to find himself?

Edited July 6, 2016 by Camera One

[retrograde]

1 hour ago, Camera One said:

It's hilarious how this show underuses their supporting/minor cast so much that it becomes a news item when they show up again. 

To be fair, I suspect TV Line knows that's barely news — they're just trying to milk any spoilers they can right now. Anyway, filming starts this week, and I can't imagine the first ep doesn't include some outdoor Storybrooke scenes, so hopefully some decent spoilers next week, for those who partake. 

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

 Anyway, filming starts this week, and I can't imagine the first ep doesn't include some outdoor Storybrooke scenes, so hopefully some decent spoilers next week, for those who partake. 

If there's any outdoor scenes in the first ep, it'll consist of the Evil Queen strolling down main street in the middle of the night, monologuing with her pet Dragon in tow.

Dragon: "What are you going to do?"
Evil Queen: "I'm going to destroy Regina's happiness... if it's the last thing I do!"

Edited July 6, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

Any word August is back for the premiere?  Because it would be fitting for Emma to consult her "good friend" August about the Dragon arriving at the town line since the Dragon is a "good friend" of August's.

[Curio]

Emma could gather her "good friends" August and Lily and talk about how great of "friends" they are and how they all have dragons in common. Calling it now... August and Lily are going to be a thing.

[Rumsy4]

2 hours ago, Curio said:

Emma could gather her "good friends" August and Lily and talk about how great of "friends" they are and how they all have dragons in common. Calling it now... August and Lily are going to be a thing.

I ship it!! Wooden Dragon. They'll get along like a house on fire!! 

[KingOfHearts]

24 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

I ship it!! Wooden Dragon. They'll get along like a house on fire!! 

Maybe we'll get lucky and Maleficent will eat him.

As for Archie, I'm going to assume Jekyll and Regina will be his patients. (Since, you know, having half your psyche taken away should be pretty traumatic.) Regina will pass by Jekyll as he finishes his session and that's what will spark JekMills.

Edited July 6, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Curio]

Regina will pretend to be Regina and attend a therapy session with Archie to gain intel on what Regina told him, and then Regina will use this information against Regina and attempt to turn the entire town against Regina while Regina does something nefarious with Hyde.

I'm sorry, was that confusing? I refuse to separate Regina into two separate characters, writers. You can't make me!

[YaddaYadda]

19 minutes ago, Curio said:

Regina will pretend to be Regina and attend a therapy session with Archie to gain intel on what Regina told him, and then Regina will use this information against Regina and attempt to turn the entire town against Regina while Regina does something nefarious with Hyde.

I'm sorry, was that confusing? I refuse to separate Regina into two separate characters, writers. You can't make me!

Doesn't Regina already have intel on Regina because she's technically Regina, so she knows everything that Regina knows because Regina is really part of Regina?

[Camera One]

DRAGON: Thank you for trying to rescue me even though I told you nothing useful in New York.  Unfortunately, I will soon die because no one with the answers can stay alive on this show for long.

REGINA: Tell us.  What is The Evil Queen's secret plan that she has been bwahahaing for three episodes now?

DRAGON: Even though you separated yourself from The Evil Queen, there is still some darkness deep deep deep deep inside of you.  You must access it, and you will learn The Evil Queen's plan.

SNOW: I know you can do it Regina.

EMMA: We will help you and we will bring you back, just like you brought me back from the edge when I was The Dark One.

HOOK: Just like you reminded me what kind of man I want to be.  

GRANNY: Just like you ruined our lives.

CHARMING: Uh, Granny?  I don't think you got a line there.  

Edited July 7, 2016 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

Recycling the Evil Queen isn't inherently a bad idea. But if you're going to do it, she needs to come with a fresh coat of paint. The Jekyll/Hyde bit isn't satisfactory for several reasons. One is that it's a contrived treatment of a very settled element of the show. The Evil Queen has been important since day one, but she's being brought in once more via a poorly setup plot device. With S6 possibly being the final season, its premise doesn't bookend everything as well a it should.

EQ has always been a manifestation of Regina's wrong choices coupled with the manipulations of her mother and Rumple. In the S5 finale, we see the opposite. Regina chooses not to go dark, Rumple rejects her as any source of darkness, and she has already reconciled with her mother. It's like not having the ingredients but the cake pops out of the oven anyway. EQ could fit if A&E tapped into Chekov's Arsenal, but they didn't. She's just there for the sake of wearing shiny costumes and uttering tired one-liners. Unless the writers change their tune, her presence isn't going to evolve the main characters at all.

Edited July 7, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Curio]

You could also consider it a recycling of Emma's Dark Swan plot last season. Because of the flashback method they used, Emma kind of went through her own Jekyll/Hyde story in 5A. In one scene, "good" Emma was shown fighting the darkness, and in another scene, "dark" Emma was wreaking havoc in Storybrooke. 

[Rumsy4]

43 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

She's just there for the sake of wearing shiny costumes and uttering tired one-liners. 

Here we have in a nutshell why this storyline seems so contrived and redundant. 

Edited July 7, 2016 by Rumsy4

[KingOfHearts]

10 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

Here we have in a nutshell why this storyline seems so contrived and redundant. 

It's redundant not only because of all the Regina we've had over the years, but of the other Big Bads too. She might as well be Ingrid or Zelena. The fact it's EQ again has a lot to do with the "OMG factor" and lack of creativity going on in A&E's heads.

Edited July 7, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

1 hour ago, Curio said:

You could also consider it a recycling of Emma's Dark Swan plot last season. Because of the flashback method they used, Emma kind of went through her own Jekyll/Hyde story in 5A. In one scene, "good" Emma was shown fighting the darkness, and in another scene, "dark" Emma was wreaking havoc in Storybrooke. 

That basically distills why this storyline feels so much like retread.  Even the concept of The Evil Queen knowing everything Regina knows so she's a huge threat isn't new.  Leroy said that about Dark Swan last year.  

And ultimately, we'll get the same old story.  What didn't Voldemort understand?  What didn't Sauron understand?  And what won't The Evil Queen understand.  Cue Celine Dion singing "The Power of Looooooooooooooooooove".

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

And ultimately, we'll get the same old story.  What didn't Voldemort understand?  What didn't Sauron understand?  And what won't The Evil Queen understand.  Cue Celine Dion singing "The Power of Looooooooooooooooooove".

"You mean the most powerful magic in the universe is the most powerful magic in the universe?! Drat!"

[KingOfHearts]

Coming from Spoiler thread.

With Operation Mongoose in S4, we knew what the lesson was going to be. (We're responsible for our own actions.). With EQ's return in S6, it's the same issue. Obviously, what we're going to learn is that we are made up of both light and darkness and you can't separate the two without losing yourself. In both seasons, it's a contrived and confusing plot revolving around Regina. It's also likely both will span the 22 episodes.

 

S6 takes what Regina learned in S4 and throws it out the window. I'm really tired of the magical excuses for her psychological problems. First it was an Author, and now it's the Evil Queen. I'd like to see EQ tell Regina, "I didn't turn you evil, Regina. You made me."

[Camera One]

 I'd like to see EQ tell Regina, "I didn't turn you evil, Regina. You made me."

She will probably tell Regina that, and A&E will consider that deep.  This feels like the whole "We Are Both" crap again.  Now that I think about it, they might have Snow White accepting that she's Mary Margaret in her "Very Special Single Episode of the Season", as she thinks back to the time she was afraid to act and ruined hundreds of lives.

[Shanna Marie]

1 hour ago, KingOfHearts said:

With Operation Mongoose in S4, we knew what the lesson was going to be. (We're responsible for our own actions.). With EQ's return in S6, it's the same issue. Obviously, what we're going to learn is that we are made up of both light and darkness and you can't separate the two without losing yourself.

When your audience glances up from their knitting the moment the premise for your plot is stated and states the resolution of the plot -- and it then takes the character most of a season to come to that exact same conclusion, you've got a problem with your plot. And the real problem is that it would be hard to come up with any other conclusion that would be satisfying. What else can they do other than have Regina realize that she's made of both light and dark and has to integrate them? They've already tried to kill the Evil Queen, so it looks like you can't kill the dark side. I guess they could redeem the Evil Queen, but would that entail her sticking around? She, Regina, and Zelena could all be sisters together. They're not going to kill Regina as a way to kill the Evil Queen (if there's some kind of deal where the only way to kill one is to kill both).  About the only other option I can think of is Regina "sacrificing" to save everyone else by reabsorbing the Evil Queen, without the Valuable Lesson.

[Camera One]

Maybe everyone will agree that Regina shouldn't have to shoulder the burden of evil by herself, and they all share in absorbing The Evil Queen into themselves.  Everyone is knocked out and the last shot of Season 6 is their eyes opening, with red dots in their pupils.  Premise for Season 7: Everyone is evil!  It will be "just like Season 1", when everyone has to remember who they really are.  The promo poster will be everyone holding a black apple.

Edited July 11, 2016 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

40 minutes ago, Camera One said:

Maybe everyone will agree that Regina shouldn't have to shoulder the burden of evil by herself, and they all share in absorbing The Evil Queen into themselves.  Everyone is knocked out and the last shot of Season 6 is their eyes opening, with red dots in their pupils.  Premise for Season 7: Everyone is evil!  It will be "just like Season 1", when everyone has to remember who they really are.  The promo poster will be everyone holding a black apple.

You mean even... *gasp* Snow White?!?! Such nuance! So edgy!

Edited July 11, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Shanna Marie]

Or, in an exciting twist that we've never seen before, Emma will sacrifice herself to save her BFF Regina from having to take back her own darkness, since her having had all darkness sucked out of her before birth means that she can take on the Evil Queen without going evil. During the summer, interviews with the showrunners and actors will go back and forth between saying she did it to save Regina and saying she really did it to save the whole town from the Evil Queen, since the Evil Queen was on the verge of killing everyone (you know, like Regina Mills herself planned to do).

Then the result will be that with the Evil Queen as part of her now, Emma will be the dark one (but not the Dark One, because they've done that plot before and that's old news) who has to live with the curse Regina bore and constantly fight darkness, while Regina will be the pure, good, and light one who has to help control Emma's darker impulses. Though, somehow, Regina will still get to be snarky and if Emma gets off a snarky line, everyone will see it as proof that Emma is truly dark. Emma will realize just how terrible a time Regina must have had, fighting all that darkness all that time (which, of course, will be far worse than being the Dark One).

[Camera One]

Then everyone helps Emma to separate Dark Swan from Good Emma, but The Evil Queen comes out too. The Evil Queen and Dark Swan fall for one another and decide to rule The Enchanted Forest together, since who cares about anyone who's left there.

[Serena]

So what you are saying is that Regina will be... *winky face* INSIDE Emma? Gasp!

[maryle]

This place is really scary  sometime ! I try to stay calm and believe it will not be only EQ or Regina 24/7. I hope comic con this time will give some real spoiler about the main cast storyline. At least for CS just to be sure they will have the focus they both need.

[Shanna Marie]

I suppose another possibility is that they won't reunite HydeGina with JekyllGina, just find some way to banish her, instead. That way they can really force the "she's good now, she's not that person anymore and can't be held responsible for what her past self did because that past self isn't part of her now, really, truly" narrative for the Regina who stays in the picture, and they've got the Evil Queen ace in their sleeve who can find her way back whenever they run out of ideas. I would say that a Regina who has had all her darkness removed and is now totally pure and light would be a boring character, but there doesn't seem to be a noticeable difference between JekyllGina and Original Recipe. True, there were only a couple of scenes, but you'd think with that big a change it would have been immediately clear. If you take a character who is largely defined by the darkness within her and who has just had an extensive monologue talking about the role of that darkness in her life and its effect on her, we shouldn't have to wonder how having that darkness removed is going to change her going forward, even if we only saw a couple of scenes.

[Curio]

7 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

I suppose another possibility is that they won't reunite HydeGina with JekyllGina, just find some way to banish her, instead. That way they can really force the "she's good now, she's not that person anymore and can't be held responsible for what her past self did because that past self isn't part of her now, really, truly" narrative for the Regina who stays in the picture, and they've got the Evil Queen ace in their sleeve who can find her way back whenever they run out of ideas.

The sad thing is I could totally see this happening.

This is the first year ever where I'm not terribly excited for Comic-Con. Usually we get a ton of fun information to speculate about, but because of the way the finale was structured, the only open-ended storyline revolves around Regina, the Evil Queen, and the Untold Stories. What questions can reporters ask about any of the other characters besides, "How are they going to react to the Evil Queen?" 

[Shanna Marie]

7 minutes ago, Curio said:

What questions can reporters ask about any of the other characters besides, "How are they going to react to the Evil Queen?"

They kind of already ruined the potential shock value of that by letting Emma meet the Evil Queen in time travel, so there really isn't anyone but maybe Henry left who hasn't seen her in full Evil Queen mode (he just saw her story play out in the book -- but he's since said that the book was wrong about her). Emma just seemed to find her kind of amusing, and it in no way changed the way she saw Regina. Will they actually let Henry react to her? Or will it be okay for him to be shocked and horrified by her as long as there's JekyllGina for him to think is good and wonderful? Or will it be a case of "You can't hurt her! She's my mom!" and conveniently forgetting that Regina herself tried ripping out the Evil Queen's heart and crushing it? Ooh, and does that mean that she's heartless? Or is she maybe living off Regina's heart?

[Curio]

3 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

Will they actually let Henry react to her? Or will it be okay for him to be shocked and horrified by her as long as there's JekyllGina for him to think is good and wonderful?

You just know there's going to be an obligatory scene where Jekyllina protects Henry from Hydina (which fittingly sounds like Hyena) and says something like, "Don't worry, Henry. I'll never let her hurt you." But no one will make the connection that she's just talking about herself. Or Henry will be confronted by the Evil Queen and say something like, "You're not my mom, my real mom would never hurt me." And whoever writes that script will conveniently forget about Emma's position as Henry's real biological mom in all of this. And everyone will treat the Evil Queen as someone completely separate until the very last moment when the Very Special Realization happens in the finale, and then everyone in Storybrooke will gloss over the fact that Regina terrorized them for a good chunk of Season 6 as we move on to the next Big Bad.

[Rumsy4]

Bringing this from the Spoiler thread. Do you guys think Regina will get a new Love Interest? This is a TV show particularly addicted to romantic relationships, and I simply can't see the writers keeping Regina single until the end of the run. Considering how much Robin was ignored last season, and then completely vaporized, I wouldn't be surprised if Regina gets a new Love Interest sooner than later. Adam has babbled about "healing" or whatever coming out of Robin's death, but considering their track record, I feel the writers are going to jump on to the next thing for Regina, rather than let her deal with grief in a meaningful way. I mean, that opportunity was lost when Regina decided to split herself into two with the Jekyll Juice.  

Quote

I get the impression that they're interested in developing the sisterly relationship between Zelena and Regina (now that they have their memories of that one day they spent together as kids and it changes everything), and they only seem able to develop one relationship at a time. They couldn't seem to write scenes between Regina and Robin while Regina and Zelena were working things out, so they may hold off on the romance for a while.

I agree that this seems to be the modus operandi of the writers. But now that Regina and Zelena have become BFF sisters, it's possible the writers will start to lose interest in developing their relationship further. All future bonding may well take place in off-screenville. 

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

Bringing this from the Spoiler thread. Do you guys think Regina will get a new Love Interest? This is a TV show particularly addicted to romantic relationships, and I simply can't see the writers keeping Regina single until the end of the run. 

 I think in S6 they might ask the question, "Can Regina love again after losing two True Loves?" The fact Robin just recently died might have the opposite effect of what is normally expected. It might be an opportunity to make any feelings for someone angsty for her. My guess is that 6A will hint at a possible relationship, but it won't come to any fruition util 6B. I would be shocked if she didn't go for anyone from SB 2.0.

Quote

But now that Regina and Zelena have become BFF sisters, it's possible the writers will start to lose interest in developing their relationship further. All future bonding may well take place in off-screenville. 

A&E don't have that much interest, TBH. Even the major "bonding" in S5 was incredibly half-assed. They hit the note they wanted to, so now they can move on to something else. Relationships, even in Regina's case, are low-priority to these writers.

Edited July 16, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

I think from Season 3, we can deduce that A&E believe that a happy ending pretty much requires a love interest, and thus their decision to throw in a soulmate for Regina in 3A even though it was completely unnecessary.

The only thing I think which will hold them back in Season 6 is the potential anger of the Outlaw Queen fans.  So they might hold out for awhile, and have Regina deal with the whole Evil Queen mess which will allow her to be comforted for half a season by Emma, Snow, Henry, etc.

But I think after the dust settles, A&E will make sure Regina finds love.  As KingofHearts suggested, the "safer" route is to have someone falling in love with Regina, but she can't move on from Robin yet.  That will provide time for a new fandom to emerge which will support the new coupling, and Mr. "We Write Characters, Not Ships" can add a new hashtag to his Twitter messages.  

I suspect A&E will also be trawling for a potential love interest for Zelena, maybe by the second half of the season, since she too deserves a happy ending, of course.  So get ready, remaining Disney and fairy tale characters yet to be mined.  You too might get to fall in love with a murderer.

Edited July 16, 2016 by Camera One

[Curio]

Zelena and Regina are going to fall for the same guy. It's written in the trope stars.

[Camera One]

I didn't even think about that.  But they will need to be careful playing that game, since the WickedRandomLoveInterest vs. EvilRandomLoveInterest crowds could join the fray and petition for their fav to win out.

[YaddaYadda]

Regina can't fall in love until she's reunited with her bitter half, the EQ.

They will give her a half-assed love interest like they did with Robin because they really don't see to care about that one bit. At this point, they seem a lot more interested in the Snow/Regina relationship for instance.

And if Zelena and Regina fall for the same guy, then every male writers enjoys a good cat fight. Zelena will go back to being bitter because Regina has everything.

[Camera One]

Zelena will go back to being bitter because Regina has everything.

Perfect, because we haven't seen enough of that yet.  These Writers LOVE retread and resets, so I can see this happening as well.

[Rumsy4]

14 minutes ago, Camera One said:

So they might hold out for awhile, and have Regina deal with the whole Evil Queen mess which will allow her to be comforted for half a season by Emma, Snow, Henry, etc.

If Emma acts guilt over Hook again, I might go slap someone. Or flip a table. 

7 minutes ago, YaddaYadda said:

Regina can't fall in love until she's reunited with her bitter half, the EQ.

But why not, though? We are talking about a Regina/Zelena/Random Guy love triangle. How about a Regina/Evil Queen/Random Guy love triangle? No? lol But seriously, this may end up being a possibility with Hyde. I know it's too soon to speculate, but Hyde fits the bill for the kind of LI for Regina we have discussed on these boards. For one, he is from a different realm, and has no first-hand knowledge of her crimes. Unlike Robin, he's not a former victim of Regina's. Plus, he holds Rumple responsible for screwing him over in some fashion. So, he and Regina can bond over the fact that Rumple "turned" them into a monster (though Hyde doesn't seem the self-pitying kind so far, thankfully). He is basically everything we were complaining Robin should have been. 

The writers love writing redemption arcs for villains (I mean, freaking Cora went to heaven), so it is very likely that Hyde gets redeemed. As to why Hyde and not Jekyll. I simply can't see the Jekyll character being charismatic enough. The writers could come up with some reason why Hyde remains Hyde in the end (if indeed the arc will conclude with a subsumation of the split charatcers back into one person). 

[Camera One]

Jekyll is not bold and audacious enough.

[Shanna Marie]

20 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

The writers could come up with some reason why Hyde remains Hyde in the end (if indeed the arc will conclude with a subsumation of the split charatcers back into one person). 

Maybe we'll learn that the "Hyde" appearance is his real self and "Jekyll" was what happened when he separated his good and evil sides.

[Curio]

27 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

Maybe we'll learn that the "Hyde" appearance is his real self and "Jekyll" was what happened when he separated his good and evil sides.

That's what I've been thinking as well. It works especially well if he's geared towards being a love interest for Regina or Zelena.

[KingOfHearts]

I'm hoping there's an explanation for why Jekyll and Hyde have completely separate appearances, yet Regina doesn't. But that would require consistency, so...

Edited July 17, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

Because they needed the 5B finale to have a complete surprise?

[KingOfHearts]

2 minutes ago, Camera One said:

Because they needed the 5B finale to have a complete surprise?

You mean the one you could see coming a mile away?

[Camera One]

LOL.  Though I actually was kinda surprised since I had no idea that Jekyll and Hyde were coming onto the show.

[KingOfHearts]

7 minutes ago, Camera One said:

LOL.  Though I actually was kinda surprised since I had no idea that Jekyll and Hyde were coming onto the show.

I was spoiled, but I didn't find the setup all that mysterious when watching the episode. I didn't find the twist all that clever or surprising. 

Edited July 17, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

Me neither.  Frankly, it was just plain frustrating to have the heroes be tricked and strung along again.  What else is new, though.  I expect The Evil Queen, Rumple, and Hyde to trick everyone in various ways next season.

[Rumsy4]

After all, however much Regina likes to talk of the EQ as a different person, she was herself when she committed all those terrible acts. But with Jekyll, he probably never did anything truly "evil" until he injected himself with Jekyll Juice and got a split personality embodying his light and dark sides. Maybe we'll get the Tragic Backstory (TM) where Jekyll's evil father who beat him as a child looked just like Hyde.

Edited July 17, 2016 by Rumsy4

[Camera One]

That thought seems plucked from the minds of Adam and Eddy, LOL.