I`m with tcyoder on this one. Now, I wouldn`t be surprised to find out Dr. Whale was Peter Pan, even though I believe he is Frankenstein. I`ve posted both thoughts on this under `Who is Dr. Whale. New Points to Consider` thread. But my first hope has always been that Bae would turn up as Peter Pan and I did a lot of research about that back when I thought AWB could be Bae aka Peter Pan.
The motivation for J.M. Barrie writing Peter Pan was the death of his 13 year old brother. His brother died 2 days before his 14th birthday. Note that Bae was 14 when he disappeared.
Barrie called Peter and the children of Neverland `lost boys`. This was in reference to parents that had lost children to death, as his mother had. Note that Rumples ALWAYS refers to Bae as being `lost`.
Peter Pan and the other lost boys were caught between two worlds. Life & death. Note that Bae is caught between two worlds, magic & real world.
The Blue Fairy instructs Bae to follow the magic bean wherever it leads him. This leads us to believe that he went to at least one other world before reaching ours.
Robert Carlyle has admitted that Rumples is several centuries old. So timeline for Bae going missing is many centuries as well, as he went through the vortex when Rumples first took power. The 1st and 2nd Ogre Wars also show us that time frame. This was long before Snow, PC, EQ, Gepetto, Jiminy, etc. So, considering that Bae is several centuries old, it would make sense if he landed in Neverland and remained 14 prior to coming to the real world.
Peter Pan would travel to the real world and bring children back to Neverland. Emma was an orphan, living in an orphanage. What if Peter traveled there looking for `lost boys`. Bae had a friend Morraine back in FTL. I believe a young Emma would have resembled Morraine in many ways. Perhaps Peter became quite taken with Emma and decided to stay. Perhaps Emma convinced him to stay, just as Wendy attempted to do in the original story. Perhaps he ended up in that same orphanage from 14 on, developed a friendship with Emma that ended in their late teens. That could also bring into play the possibility of Bae, aka Peter Pan, being Henry`s father.
We now have Captain Hook in SB. K&H also stated that we would find out about Bae this season as we would about Henry`s father. Funny how they have brought Michael Raymond-James in, with a recurring role, and have been so secretive about his character. Let`s not forget how uncanny his resemblance is to Dylan Schmid, young Baelfire.
Again, I wouldn`t be surprised to find out Dr. Whale is Peter Pan though I believe him to be Frankenstein. Still holding out hope however, that Bae will end up as Peter Pan and Henry`s father.
Keeper of Pandora's Box & The Yellow Brick Road.