Robin Hood: He Owes a Great Debt to Everyone

[Rumsy4]

Even Robin's soul is wishy-washy. Spoiler alert for the source article linked below.

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“The question was whether or not his spirit has moved on or is his soul truly obliterated,” Kitsis told EW. “What I was saying on the panel, perhaps not clearly enough, was that I choose to believe that Hades was lying and that Robin Hood’s soul had moved on being such a good person.” Added Horowitz: “The characters should and hopefully will question what Hades says and whether that’s true. That doesn’t mean we’re bringing Robin back. He died.” (X)

How wimpy of the writers. We saw Robin's soul dissipating into the four winds. But they're backtracking now. Does this mean Hades wasn't killed either, and we can expect him to come back at some point (shudders)?

[Curio]

Maybe there's a difference between being zapped with the crystal and physically being stabbed with it? Who knows. I could live with Robin being in The Light and Hades officially in the fire below the Underworld I guess. If Robin is in fact in The Light with Neal, I want Regina's happy ending during the series finale to be a sacrificial death and she can finally be reunited with Robin in Heaven.

Does anyone else find it weird that Lana barely talked about how Robin's death affected Regina during Comic-Con? I thought that would have gotten a lot more focus since the finale barely touched on it.

[YaddaYadda]

The writers need to stick with what they write and stop justifying it. His soul was obliterated, and that's the end of that. It's the choice they made, and they need to stick with that, or just write something in about how when something like that happens, it's just the soul moving on right away or some nonsense if they wanted to curb the outrage. 

Eddie though in interviews is just godawful. I mean this guy is so cringeworthy when he answers questions. I just can't with him.

[orza]

He said that Robin died and won't be back. Eddy probably just said this so maybe the whiny babies on Twitter will finally STF and stop bugging them. They are not changing the story they wrote and should probably not backpedal with statements like this but as long as there are people who think public whining about how unhappy they are with stories and their fee-fees need validation and they must be heard and in general acting like attention-seeking 4-year-olds who need everything spelled out for them including how to handle TV disappointment these kind of statements are, apparently, necessary.

[Camera One]

They wrote the soul being obliterated because they realized they need to make the death extra extra final, and to make it next level traumatic for Regina, since just plain old "He died" is not good enough anymore. 

With their lack of self awareness and lack of foresight, I can totally see these writers having zero idea how negative the reaction would be to the soul obliteration, so now they need to backtrack.  Maybe they'll get Sean back so his ghost could give Regina strength to defeat/re-incorporate The Evil Queen, and then his soul can move on or something.

Edited July 25, 2016 by Camera One

[Rumsy4]

1 hour ago, Curio said:

Does anyone else find it weird that Lana barely talked about how Robin's death affected Regina during Comic-Con? I thought that would have gotten a lot more focus since the finale barely touched on it.

They've been very "out of sight, out of mind" over the whole thing. 

1 hour ago, YaddaYadda said:

Eddie though in interviews is just godawful. I mean this guy is so cringeworthy when he answers questions. I just can't with him.

If I was a Robin fan, I would be enraged with things like " I choose to believe that Hades was lying and that Robin Hood’s soul had moved on being such a good person." I hate it when A&E talk as though they have no control over the events in the Show.

30 minutes ago, Camera One said:

With their lack of self awareness and lack of foresight, I can totally see these writers having zero idea how negative the reaction would be to the soul obliteration, so now they need to backtrack. 

Just like they backtracked with the adultery thing after the outcry, and tried to "fix" it with the Marian was Zelena all along crap. 

[KingOfHearts]

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If I was a Robin fan, I would be enraged with things like " I choose to believe that Hades was lying and that Robin Hood’s soul had moved on being such a good person." I hate it when A&E talk as though they have no control over the events in the Show.

Why didn't A&E just make it ambiguous? The visuals made it seem pretty obvious that Robin was obliterated. This feels like backtracking, as Camera One said.

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They wrote the soul being obliterated because they realized they need to make the death extra extra final, and to make it next level traumatic for Regina, since just plain old "He died" is not good enough anymore. 

They wanted to make sure Robin didn't go to the Underworld. If he had simply died, Regina would go on a #SaveRobin quest. They're going to have to think along those lines for the rest of the series.

Edited July 26, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Curio]

1 minute ago, KingOfHearts said:

Why didn't A&E just make it ambiguous?

Subtlety isn't their strong suit.

[Camera One]

They wanted to make sure Robin didn't go to the Underworld. If he had simply died, Regina would go on a #SaveRobin quest.

I guess Robin fans might wonder why they didn't just say Robin bypassed Underbrooke and went directly into the Light.  

[Shanna Marie]

3 minutes ago, Camera One said:

I guess Robin fans might wonder why they didn't just say Robin bypassed Underbrooke and went directly into the Light.  

They could have used the Scottish Skyping Juice to let Regina talk to him one last time and have him tell her he went directly into the Light, so she shouldn't go looking for him in the Underworld.

[TheGreenKnight]

On ‎7‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 2:30 PM, Rumsy4 said:

Even Robin's soul is wishy-washy. Spoiler alert for the source article linked below.

How wimpy of the writers. We saw Robin's soul dissipating into the four winds. But they're backtracking now. Does this mean Hades wasn't killed either, and we can expect him to come back at some point (shudders)?

I hope Hades does return somehow, at the end of the series, just so Wicked Devil can be together again. As for Robin, I would like it more if he went to the Light.

[OnceUponAJen]

On 07/25/2016 at 10:28 PM, Camera One said:

 

I guess Robin fans might wonder why they didn't just say Robin bypassed Underbrooke and went directly into the Light.  

They could have had a brief shot of the graveyard in Underbrooke with Robin's headstone turned over.  I believe that indicated that the person had passed on? Would have taken only a few seconds to show that.

I'm not upset about Robin,  I just hate to see a potentially good character wasted.

[Rumsy4]

I didn't care much for Robin when he was around, but I'm astounded how little the writers used him in S5B. I'm scratching my head trying to figure out why he wasn't there with Regina to say goodbye to Henry Sr., or meet Cora, or be in any of Regina's key scenes in the arc. The writers relied on the fact the Hook came back the same time Robin died to make an impact. It wasn't based on anything organic happening in the writing. Wouldn't it have made more sense for Robin to have been there for Regina during all the important scenes so his death would have resonated more? As is, even Adam doesn't think Robin was the reason why Regina split into two. :-p Which makes no sense to me.

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@Letizia0788 I know. I hear you. Truly. The EQ coming back was not because of Robin. Not directly. But I hear how much you miss him.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Rumsy4

[YaddaYadda]

16 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

As is, even Adam doesn't think Robin was the reason why Regina split into two. :-p Which makes no sense to me.

Because one really had nothing to do with the other. They made Robin completely irrelevant throughout the season. He didn't even have anything to do with saving his daughter in 5x19. I'm not a Robin fan. Robin was boring, had no personality. But I think the moment they decided that Robin was going to die, they just decided to give him as little screen presence as possible.

I'm kind of surprised people are reacting the way they are to his death. I know he was a bit more relevant in 3B, but it was kind of downhill from there after that.

[Camera One]

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but I'm astounded how little the writers used him in S5B.

There's no way they didn't know they would kill Robin by the time they wrote "Our Decay", yet that was when they decided to shuttle him off to the forest and then devote an entire episode ("Ruby Slippers") to guest stars (and Zelena, yet again, as her redemption arc continued).  Zelena took over Robin's spot as the main cast member in 5B, gaining a presence that Robin himself hasn't had since 4A when "Marian" gave him a reason to be onscreen.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Camera One

[YaddaYadda]

I think that's the episode they were set to film when they told Sean Robin was dying.

That decision was probably made at some point while they were writing 5A.

[Curio]

43 minutes ago, Camera One said:

There's no way they didn't know they would kill Robin by the time they wrote "Our Decay", yet that was when they decided to shuttle him off to the forest and then devote an entire episode ("Ruby Slippers") to guest stars (and Zelena, yet again, as her redemption arc continued).

I think Sean knew about Robin's death around December or January, so there was still plenty of time to include him in more of 5B if the writers wanted to go that direction.

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Zelena took over Robin's spot as the main cast member in 5B, gaining a presence that Robin himself hasn't had since 4A when "Marian" gave him a reason to be onscreen. 

I do find it interesting that Zelena basically replaced Robin's role. Did the writers just get bored of his character? Did the network demand they cut down one regular character to save money, and they didn't want to part with Zelena so they went with Robin instead? It's unfortunate that we'll never get to see Robin's reaction to actual Evil Queen Regina. Maybe the writers realized Robin would be nuts to stay with Regina once he realized how insane she actually was, so they offed him?

[Camera One]

It's unfortunate that we'll never get to see Robin's reaction to actual Evil Queen Regina.

It would probably be exactly the same as Emma's reaction (or lackthereof).

[Rumsy4]

The writers got bored with Robin after Season 3. Once the writers get bored with a regular character and decide to kill them off, they immediately stop writing for them. See Neal. Since they depend on gimmicks and twists to elicit a reaction out of viewers, I suppose they think it doesn't matter that they've wasted all the unmined potential.

[TheGreenKnight]

I don't think the writers were ever interested in Robin in the first place. The most effort they put into him was in 3B where they had to establish the romance, but besides that, they never treated the relationship with the same interest as any other couple on the show. I'm guessing they never intended Robin to stay forever.

I think they made a mess of Neal out the gate (one of the many flaws with season 2) and you can't really rewind when the foundation is faulty. Plus, both Robin and Neal were badly cast, imo, which probably added to the writers' disinterest.

Edited September 2, 2016 by TheGreenKnight

[YaddaYadda]

I don't know what happened with Tom Ellis, but watching him as Lucifer, he would have fit right in with Regina. 

[Camera One]

I wonder if he would have given Robin Hood more gravitas.  But a lot of it has to do with the writing, and the fact that the purely good Robin Hood isn't compatible with Regina.  Regina would be more appropriate with the Sheriff of Nottingham.  They both spent their lives hunting someone else down.  He was a villain, but not of the worst sort, with a possibility of redemption.  They could have said the Sheriff used to be one of Robin Hood's Merry Men until they had a falling out.  

[KingOfHearts]

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 Regina would be more appropriate with the Sheriff of Nottingham. 

Even Cora realized that...

[Rumsy4]

That's why I think Hyde may end up being a love-interest for Regina. 

[KingOfHearts]

The more I think about it, the more I realize killing off Robin was a mistake. While I found the character boring and bland, he was an important plot device for a few characters. For Regina, he gave her some sort of anchor and belonging. She had a sense of purpose and had someone legitimate to go to for support. (As opposed to going to Henry, Snow or Emma, which was not exactly appropriate.) Now her "happy ending" is up in the air and we're stuck again with the idea that she gets screwed over the most. Robin also made Zelena relevant through Pistachio, and now that he's gone, Regina hasn't cared about the baby at all. For Henry, I think it would have helped for him to have a second potential step-dad. He seemed to like Robin more than Hook, so it would have helped him cope with the new situation a bit. (Though, in my opinion, he liked Robin because he was a pushover. Hook is not so easily manipulated.)

But, then again, the incompetence of the writers would have prevented Robin from fulfilling his intended role. So maybe his death doesn't change as much as I thought.

Edited November 24, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

But, then again, the incompetence of the writers would have prevented Robin from fulfilling his intended role.

I think this would have been the case.  Robin was in Season 5 and should have played the roles above, but he ended up off-screen babysitting in the forest or whatever the hell he was doing in Camelot.  Whether Robin is there or not, the Writers would still insist on a SQ episode, and Emma, Snow and Henry would always be given scenes to validate Regina no matter what.  They hardly had Henry say a word to Robin, so we'd still only get stepdad scenes with Hook.  Henry could be getting an episode with Charming or Snow in lieu of Robin, but the Writers aren't interested in that either.  Zelena could still be relevant but I'm actually surprise how she beat out Robin last year but now, she's being given the Robin treatment.  I guess that's what happens when you turn good.  While I don't hate Robin, and I usually like characters that others find boring and bland, I don't miss him at all... he still doesn't even feel like Robin Hood to me.

[KingOfHearts]

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While I don't hate Robin, and I usually like characters that others find boring and bland, I don't miss him at all... he still doesn't even feel like Robin Hood to me.

I definitely don't miss him. Maybe my Regina bias is showing, but I still feel like he left a void. That gap could be filled by another person easily, but the writers have no intention of incorporating someone like that. Even if Regina got a new love interest, they would probably die or get shoved offscreen because that's what happens to characters who interact with Regina but aren't in the White family.

Edited November 24, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Shanna Marie]

The problem is that Robin was such a nonentity that you could fill that gap with just about anyone. He was never allowed to be an actual character. He was basically just Regina's car pool lane doll. He was an imaginary boyfriend made corporeal. He was there so Regina would have a love interest. But then they want to make Regina be sad and miserable every so often, and they seem to think that a boyfriend is key to her happiness -- she can't be sad if she has a boyfriend, and if she doesn't have a boyfriend, her life is sad. Until they try writing an actual character who's not just there as a fashion accessory in Regina's life, anyone they give that role is essentially going to be Robin 2.0.

[KingOfHearts]

Once Upon a Time: 19 Reasons We Love Robin Hood

19? They came up with 19 reasons?! I can't even come up with... well, one. The article frames him as a supportive boyfriend, and that's actually all he's ever been. He was dauntlessly Regina's shoulder to cry on, and that's all he could ever offer. In essence, he was the living creation of the REC. His love toward Regina just wasn't compatible with how he treated everyone else. (Except maybe Hook.) In the end, je was nothing more than an accessory to her outfit.

Reason 16:

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We hated watching Robin break Regina's heart almost as much as he hated doing it. But he made a vow to his wife and he had to stick to his code.

But then they had crypt sex and Adultery Queen made it all better.

Edited February 26, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Curio]

Was Robin even in 19 episodes? 

[Camera One]

I'm surprised "Robin Hood has a neat hat" and "He breathes oxygen" didn't make it on the list.