I’ve wondered if these stories have been playing out over and over again with the characters being aware of it.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot as well lately. The idea that our characters are just stock characters of the universe–archetypes–playing out the same light vs dark story over and over is very true to how stories work across time and space. My all time favorite OUAT promo was right before S3A in which the department set everyone up as their archetype–the Queen, the Princess, The Knight, The Pirate, The Wizard, the Savior. What are those if not just archetypes who keep getting caught up in the eternal never ending struggle for light and goodness? It also brings to mind some stuff I wrote a few weeks back not only about Emma’s Monomyth but also about Emma as the Eternal Champion.
I read those your thoughts when you posted them. I’ve wondered if that if with every new iteration, the story evolves a little bit – like the story changes, which could explain why these stories are so different than the traditional (or even Disney) versions we know.