We still have the chance of seeing the Huntsman in flashbacks. Snow still has that whistle and we haven’t seen her use it, so maybe he’ll return once again when we actually see Snow, Charming and the gang taking over King George’s kingdom.
As for Hook, I was never happy about his casting. This has nothing at all to do with shipping, just my view of who Captain Hook is. In the movies and book, Captain Hook was meant to be a counterpoint to Peter Pan. Hook represented adulthood, growing up, and everything Pan was scared of. Most characterizations of Hook have actors with this imposing aura. He was one of the only villians I was really afraid of as a child (along with Cruella De Ville). When we found out he was going to be on Once and they said he was going to be a rival of Rumple’s, I was really excited. So when I saw Colin I was kind of disappointed. It has nothing to do with his attractiveness, but I wanted someone who was more of a contemporary of Robert Carlyle. Someone who could go toe to toe with him and we’d really believe they were rivals. The casting of Barbara Hershey for Cora was perfect, but they fell flat with Hook. Instead of a true rival, we have a school yard bully.
I couldn’t picture Jamie Dornan as Hook or any pirate, but I do think he’d have made a fine Robin Hood.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.