and I know many people felt his “happy ending” was not actually a satisfying resolution of this character’s role in the story.
THIS! I always loved me some August, but the guy had crap to answer for, and now he’ll never be able to properly hash things out with Neal and Emma. *sigh*
We ought to find out how and what he knew about the curse. How did he know about the dagger? We can guess BF told him some stuff before he left or gave him the book, or that Bae told him some details of his life.
I had seen SO sure that his adult self had been given info from Blue…but…apparently not possible.
Mr. Gold: How about my other question? Who told you about me and the knife?
August: A little fairy.
Truth, or was he just straight up snarking? If Blue did tell him anything, it must have been during the time when she thought he’d be going through the wardrobe. But I’m starting to think that Tink might have told him instead, and there are a couple of options as to how/when, though it’s all just speculation.
1) The theory about NL being his Pleasure Island proves true, and PP had foreseen that he had a vital role to play, so told Tink to tell him stuff while he was there.
2) Tink has been able to cross over to our world during the Curse years, tracked August down, and told him.
Even though it’s the crackpottier theory, I’m leaning towards option 2. THO and PP have a connection, of this we’re pretty much positive. PP was able to send the Shadow to our world to fetch children. So what’s to say he couldn’t also send Tink back and forth as the messenger between himself and THO.
THO recruited Greg because as a kid, he blabbed about the magical place. I reckon little August probably blabbed about the magical place too, (he knew nothing of the differences between the worlds, and what an unusual thing magic is to our world, so why wouldn’t he blab about where he’d come from?). If THO had Owen on their radar, it stands to reason they had August on their radar too. Perhaps the reason they were keeping an ear out for kids blabbing about magic is because they were keeping an ear out for August in particular, because they knew he was out there and that he had a role to play, and they just happened to stumble on Owen in the process.
So, THO finds August, and because the information he needs to know is important and specific, the only one PP trusts to deliver it is his right hand fairy, Tink. So one night August picks up this hot blonde at a bar, (casting call said she’s a party girl), and he gets her alone and thinks he’s about to get lucky, and then she blurts out, “I know you’re Pinocchio,” then tells him all about who she is, and who Nealfire is, and Rumple and the dagger and the whole thing. Then she sends him to find SwanFire and break them up.
I saw a post on tumblr recently where someone suggested that the reason August forced SwanFire to break up was because he knew that true love was needed to break the Curse. If Emma stayed with Neal, they had Henry, it was all happy families and they had a fulfilling life, then what would have been able to spark that thing inside Emma that was absolutely necessary to break the Curse? It was her whole struggle, starting in that hopeless place, and slowly moving towards believing in the truth that created that true love in her heart which made it possible for her to fulfill her role as the breaker of the Curse. If she already had true love, would the Curse have been impossible to break?
Looking at it like that, August had no choice but to ensure that they broke up and Emma was left ruined. He was supposed to help her achieve her destiny, and that’s exactly what he did. So while I should probably hate him for interfering and breaking up my OTP…really, I just feel sorry for him because he was in a situation where the only way he could do the right thing for her, was to do something that would break her heart. (Which is the same situation Neal was put in as well, after his meeting with August.)
He didn’t have to take her money and run though. That was still a douche move. Though I suspect he did it out of fear in the hopes that no one magical would be able to track him down again and give him another sucky mission.
I love Demileto’s theory that little puppet Pino went to Pleasure Island AKA NL. I think that would be the perfect way to wrap the character into the present tale. Maybe rebooted August has selective memories of his past life that start to resurface (no friends with benefits in Phuket memories please!).
I do still like this theory, and all the blabbing I’ve just done about Tink in our world with August doesn’t negate the possibility of NeverPleasureIslandLand. If the SBers manage to figure out where Henry and the JR6 are, and if Neal doesn’t make it back to SB for a while, then it would be handy for them to have someone else in town with knowledge of NL, which is where Pinocchio could become important.
Another question, like Emma, he was out in the real world. Did he meet NO one who was completely non-magical who ever cared about him enough to wonder where he went? I wonder that about Emma too, but I guess the answer we were given is, not really. But what if his little bedmate in Phuket wasn’t just that? It is a show about hope and happy endings, but the drama and conflict needs to be continual so if they wanted, they could tap back into this character and mine his story for more.
I’ve never really considered that, but it’s an excellent question!