Season 2 Big for Dr. Whale

[PriceofMagic]

Dr Whale could be the giant from Jack and the beanstalk. Jack is being introduced this season and Whale is another word for Giant.

[DallasInWonderland]

Then why is he a doctor?

[PriceofMagic]

The curse made people the opposite of their fairytale counterparts. The giant tried to kill people whilst Dr Whale tried to save them.

[Josephine]

I'm sticking with either Prince Eric or Gulliver. My money is down.

[Lil'Red]

Whale could always have been a descendent of the Duke of the Frontlands as well as another, better known character? Monstro seems too obvious, and it feels like some type of hint or scene should have appeared in The Stranger if he was Monstro. I could see him as Prince Eric since Eric wasn't swayed away from 'the voice he fell in love with' by physical beauty - and that's seems like an opposite for Whale...but,

I'm now pretty much certain that Whale is Gulliver. Gulliver was supposed to head to London to apprentice with a surgeon: abandoned that for med. school in French - abandoned that for adventure...restlessness seems to be a large part of his character. Plus, the famous scene of him on the beach, surrounded by Lilputians, has the imagery of a 'beached whale'.

Gulliver was the heir of an estate in the countryside: maybe that's the Duke of the Frontlands' lands?

[slurpeez108]

I agree that Monstro seems way too obvious. I maintain that Whale is connected to Ruby since they are shown several times together in SB and it would follow they are also connected in FTL. Perhaps Dr. Whale is the wizard who gave Granny the enchanted hood for Red in 1x15. It makes sense he'd be a doctor in SB since good wizards could heal people in FTL. Since we know we're going to meet Lancelot in S2, we may also meet Merlin, who could be Dr. Whale.

[PriceofMagic]

I hope they don't go too into a King Arthur story with Merlin, Lancelot, etc because there is already the television series Merlin and I wouldn't like OUAT to become too Merliny.

[Lil'Red]

They are, though. At least Lancelot is appearing this season as a sword for hire. They may not go into the other story lines this seasons, but if their doing Lancelot- seems like the other's will appear at some point. If Merlin does appear, maybe he'll be closer to the Sword in the Stone than the recent television Merlin. There have just been so many adaptions of King Arthur: the idea is starting to feel exhausted and I even liked the Legends growing up.

[AntBee]

I'm sticking with either Prince Eric or Gulliver. My money is down.

I thought I put my prediction in this thread, but I haven't yet. My first prediction was him being Prince Eric, but since they haven't cast an Ariel, I don't think it's him. (Although maybe one of the plots for season 2 will be him trying to find her and reunite with her. Mmm, it sounds too much like Snowing part deux though, and unfortunately they may have made Whale too much of a douche from the start of the show for viewers to be concerned about him finding his one true love.)

My money is on Dr. Whale being Peter Pan just because it looks like we'll find out early on who Dr. Whale is, and Captain Hook is arriving early on in the season.

I think they kept his identity a secret for a few reasons. Obviously, the copyright issues involving the use of Peter Pan was the big reason, but perhaps they always knew that going in that they wouldn't have the rights for Peter Pan until their second season, so why not use Dr. Whale's true identity as a way to misdirect people from the Bae mystery by setting it up to look like Bae is Peter Pan.

[Phee]

The Merlin theory is my new fave. The more I think about it, the more I like it. With magic back in SB, and Regina and Rumple likely using it to their own advantage, it would be to the good guys' advantage to have Merlin on their team, especially if it turns out that BF is kind of shady and they need someone else who's powerful to keep her in check.

We don't know which ep Lancelot is in yet, do we? Must be early on though if he's already been cast. They could use that ep to flesh out Whale's character more at the start of the season, if he's Merlin.

All that being said, part of me still kinda likes the Gulliver theory too.