Timeline Discussion

[Keb]

So today’s question is: In Skin Deep (112), Regina mentions “A certain mermaid” when she goes back to taunt Rumple (and perhaps test how valuable her prisoner is) about Belle. So the question is, when does this happen in relation to Ariel (306)?

It’s ambiguous, but my current theory is:

–Regina gets inspired to be Ursula herself, and creates the bracelet herself
–Regina gloats over Snow, gets attacked by Ariel and loses this battle
–Regina goes to Gold to get revenge on Ariel, but when he doesn’t want to play, she taunts him about Belle (and possibly was planning on that anyway)
–Regina comes up with her own revenge, which she enacts on Ariel, taking her voice

A couple problems with this: Ariel loses her voice around dawn the day after the ball, so Regina’s trip to Rumple had to happen that morning (it’s daylight in the Dark Castle–and I just checked, it looks like it could be early morning based on the light). And in Skin Deep it really felt like the mermaid issue was an excuse to taunt Rumple about Belle, not the other way around. But I like the narrative arc it forms.

The other possibilities I see are her going between seeing Ariel with Snow in the mirror and becoming Ursula, but she already seems to know what she’s going to do in the mirror scene, and her going afterwards to deal with the fact that Ursula’s kinda mad at her now (so “a certain mermaid” is just the start of the story…).

Oh, and clearly at this point she’s mastered changing her body at least partially…so she must’ve been working on it quite hard to move past highlights. Just an aside.

Anyway, opinions? Evidence I’ve missed?

[Keb]

Oh. Costume evidence: Regina is in a very similar outfit–all black–but the one from Ariel has a high collar and I think a more slender skirt; the one in Skin Deep doesn’t have a jacket or gloves, and is made of tapestried fabric. Also her jewelry is more gaudy in Skin Deep. She wears the same outfit when she’s hit by the fork and when she takes Ariel’s voice, so it seems strange to say she changed clothes to visit Rumple in between :/ Maybe she does go after seeing them in the mirror?

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

Bleh, okay, given the costume evidence and the shortness of the timeline in Ariel (Ariel only has legs for 12 hours)…I think that Regina must’ve gotten dressed up and gone to Rumple while Ariel and Snow were at the ball, and the daylight at the Dark Castle is closer to sunset then. With the headcanon that Regina had the idea of impersonating Ursula, but needed something that would convince Ariel to do what she wanted. Rumple didn’t help, but she came up with the bracelet idea on the way back.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Phee]

She wears the same outfit when she’s hit by the fork and when she takes Ariel’s voice, so it seems strange to say she changed clothes to visit Rumple in between :/ Maybe she does go after seeing them in the mirror?

Costume-wise, that would make the most sense. But she looks in the mirror and becomes Ursula all in the same night, right? And she goes to see Rumple when there’s daylight streaming in the window.

[Keb]

Yeah, I know :/ It’s still entirely possible that it’s another mermaid, but this is the ONLY mermaid she’s been shown to have a history with, and we’ve all assumed since 112 that it was Ariel. It’s also possible that she’s looking for a way to protect herself from Ursula after the fact, but if it does mesh, it seems to mesh better doing it on her way to being Ursula. and yeah, it does seem like it’s night already :/

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

However, her mood in Skin Deep is vindictive yet gloating…in between defeat and revenge she’s only like that when she thinks she’s got the upper hand. So it doesn’t make as much sense after Snow gets away as before she becomes Ursula.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

So despite issues, I’m going with between the mirror scene and the Ursula impersonation. Unless people have other evidence to consider. Also, backstory through 306 updated on the site timeline; still adding present day of 305 and 306.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Slurpeez]

Maybe Regina is just a snob who likes to change her clothes a LOT.

"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy

[Keb]

Well, she and Rumple are both fashionistas. And if Ariel swam Snow several miles and then swam back again, there might be enough time for Regina to heal up, change, visit Rumple, taunt him a bit, and get back to get her revenge. But why would she change back into the same outfit she was wearing half an hour before?

Also, I dunno how long exactly Rumple and Regina stared awkwardly at the sand or threw barbs at each other, but they didn’t see any reason to wander off while waiting for Ariel to swim all the way to Storybrooke and back again (and her time there seemed to take an hour or three). So Mermaids can travel pretty fast. (I’m okay with the realm-traveling; they’ve already established water as a link–magic, the well, August’s speech about water’s properties.)

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[RumplesGirl]

What about Regina’s hair? She still had the streak in Skin Deep. But in her scene with Snow and Ariel, her hair was normal right?

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Author]

Posts