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Thoughts? What do you think the Author’s motivations are?
What if the Author just got bored out of his mind? He was basically a glorified clerk whose sole task in life was to be a record-keeper. If he is a creative soul, as I suspect, then he simply decided to mix things up to keep things interesting for himself. He let his imagination run wild, and the result was that things we’ve come to expect (e.g. “good always wins”) no longer are dependable. The current Author reminds me of Puck in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in which his puckish behavior gets the characters into a ton of trouble. That is why I think it will be up to Henry, the truest believer, to become the next Author to course correct and set things back on track. However, I think the take-away message for Henry, who is the product of both light and dark magic, is that people are less black-and-white, and that everyone is capable of great evil or of great good.
[adrotate group="5"]"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
but NOT being linked to the DO and the dagger.
Well, Rumple’s happy ending could include having all of the advantages of the DO curse (i.e. magic, eternal life, wealth) minus having to pay a price (i.e. being controlled by dagger, having to give up power for love). Rumple would still be the all-powerful Dark One in effect, but without being tied to the dagger or being forced to appear greenish-gold in hue. In such an AU scenario, Rumple bends the laws of magic so that he can have it all, without paying any price at all, much like when he wanted to “cleave” himself from the dagger using the sorcerer’s hat while keeping his magic (and I suspect immortality).
"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
Just occurred to me: we won’t be seeing the DC at all, even in the season finale? An episode(s) in which we know we are going back in time to an AU….so, is Rumple not the DO at all in the past now?
Remember the BTS photo of Robert Carlyle in fairytale clothes but without the greenish-gold makeup? A lot of people remarked how Bobby was dressed more like Prince Charming than Rumple. Perhaps in this AU Rumple gets to reap all of the rewards of being the Dark One but without paying a price. Either that or Rumple is not the Dark One in the finale. I cannot explain how he would still be alive, unless he (1) went to NL (2) was the Dark One until very recently when his curse was broken or (3) is the Dark One but without all the nasty consequences (doesn’t have to pay a price for dark magic). If Rumple isn’t the dark one, then maybe someone else like Emma is.
"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
Why can’t the other characters actually give Neal’s things to his father instead of palming it off to whoever they choose. Seriously, the lack of compassion from the “heroes” towards Rumple after Neal’s death is staggering. I know Rumple’s done some less than stellar things, but at least have the heroes attempt to reach out even if it’s to try and dissuade Rumple from a course of action with a “What would Baelfire want you to do?”
Even Henry was using the memory of Baelfire to manipulate his grandfather, Rumple, so that he could help Regina find out more about the Author. While Henry being concerned with Regina’s happy ending is sweet, him doing so by only pretending to be interested in his father and paternal grandfather is totally disrespectful to his father’s memory. Baelfire was better than that, and he helped save Henry more than once. It’s just a terrible shame Henry never got to say goodbye to his dad. And while Rumple is growing ever more into the Dark One, and therefore the antithesis of the Savior, no one, not even Belle, has been interested to understand why Rumple is doing all of these unspeakable and horrible things. Instead, Belle was seeking to control Rumple the way Zelena did. Did Belle not stop to think that doing so was like shooting a gun in the presence of someone with PTSD? I’m not justifying Rumple’s horrible treatment of Belle, but her treatment of him was also really callous, given that she should’ve known better than to jump into marriage with someone as unstable and troubled by grief and darkness as Rumple.
Why couldn’t we get an emotional scene of Rumple actually going to his son’s apartment after Neal’s death?
Because that would show Rumple’s sympathetic human side. The writers really don’t seem to want the audience (whose viewpoint is usually reflected from that of Emma or Henry) to question Rumple’s motives anymore. Neal was killed off to (1) make CS into a couple and (2) make Rumple into an evil villain for the sake of evil (without bothering to show WHY anymore). Neal, and to a lesser extent Belle, were the humanizing parts of Rumple. Henry could’ve been that for Rumple, but instead the relationship we were promised during the summer (e.g. ‘Rumple and Henry will bond’) didn’t happen. Instead, the scene of Henry and Rumple talking about memory, magic and Baelfire was deleted from 3×2. Instead, what was presented was Rumple only wanting to save Henry from Ingrid’s Spell of Shattered Sight as an afterthought. The writers have failed to show Henry and Rumple really bonding over the loss of Neal, because then the audience is reminded of the great importance of Baelfire to the story. Then Rumple wouldn’t be such a terrible person and antagonist to precious Killy Willy Poo and Emma. So much wasted opportunity!
"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
^THAT!
What I wrote about the sneak peek:
I’m just going to say it and then I’ll drop it. It really annoys me that Rumple hasn’t mentioned his son once since 4×1 when he pledged at his son’s grave to turn over a new leaf. Now Zelena, his son’s murderer, is the one uttering Baelfire’s name. It’s salt in a wound…And yeah, it makes no sense why Regina, rather than Rumple, wou have keys to Bae’s apartment. Why on Earth wouldn’t Rumple have stayed at Neal’s place? The place where he found his beloved boy again. Now Zelena is staying there??? *heads desk*"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
Marian knowing Baelfire’s name and how he got to this world is a red flag that she’s really Zelena. Though I have to ask, why did Regina of all people have the keys to his apartment?
It really annoys me that Rumple hasn’t mentioned his son once since 4×1 when he pledged at his son’s grave to turn over a new leaf. Now Zelena, his son’s murderer, is the one uttering Baelfire’s name. It’s salt in a wound. And yeah, it makes no sense why Regina, rather than Rumple, would have keys to Bae’s apartment. Why on Earth wouldn’t Rumple have stayed at Neal’s place? The place where he found his beloved boy again. Now Zelena is staying there??? *heads desk*
"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
Of course, “Marian” aka Zelena would remember Gold’s son’s name, Baelfire.
"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
So is the Quill just an object that only gains power when the Author has it, or does the Quill have some sort of understanding about its proper owner.
Yes. The Quill is seeking out Henry, the next Author.
One last strange thing. While he was sending Mal’s baby through the green vortex of doom, the Apprentice kept repeating (twice, I think, but maybe more) that he’s sending her “where she (it? the baby) belongs.” Which seems like a harsh statement considering he just said she’s a blank slate (now presumably with Emma’s potential for darkness). But what if we took it as a statement of fate. As in, she literally belongs there, because she’s supposed to cause a chain of events to occur.
The Apprentice saying “she is where she belongs” (about Lily) really made me think of the Blue Fairy saying the Dark One curse “doesn’t belong here” (i.e. in the Enchanted Forest). Hence, shady Apprentice/Sorcerer and Shady Blue Fairy.
"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
The problem of freewill vs. destiny is a classic, unsolved (and some might say unsolvable) problem of philosophy. Are we truly free (libertarianism) or is everything determined (either by laws of physics or God)? Could we be free to choose our actions without necessarily being free to choose our wills (compatibalism)? I don’t think we’re going to get any totally clear answers (seeing how philosophers have been talking about it for centuries), but it’s an interesting discussion nonetheless.
If I had to venture where A&E stand on the matter, I’d say it’s exactly what Glenda said to Zelena in 3×20.
Glinda: Fate is a funny thing. You don’t actually know if that’s what the prophesy actually means. Remember what I said? Only you can shape your destiny. But if you believe you are evil, that is what you will become.
In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if Glinda herself is an Author. As the keeper of the Book of Records, it’s probably her primary responsibility to record what happens in Oz.
Prior to the Author reveal, we’ve had many conversations about fate and free will on this site before. Most of us assumed that while there was an element of fate at play, most of the choices we’ve seen our characters make were because they…chose it, not because of an Authorial insert of manipulation. For example, there was no way that Rumple (the master manipulator prior to the Author reveal) could manipulate Neal and Emma meeting and conceiving Henry, without whom Emma could not have broken the Curse with TLK in 122. There was a bit of a consensus (generally speaking) that Neal was perhaps right that “fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it…” had a hand in ensuring Henry’s conception but that it still came down to certain choices the characters made: Emma choosing to steal that particular car, choosing to get a drink with Neal…ect ect ect.
When it came to Neal and Emma meeting because of destiny, it would seem like it. But then there’s something that never made sense to me. Why did Peter Pan have a picture of Henry centuries before he was ever born? Did the Author give it to Peter Pan? And let’s not forget what Peter Pan said to Henry in S3. “What? You think it was a coincidence that the spawn of the dark one fell in love with the product of True Love?” (paraphrase) Those two things make me wonder if (1) Peter Pan knew the Author (2) much like Rumple manipulated Snow and Charming’s meeting in (1×3), Peter Pan manipulated events so that Henry would be born because Pan wanted the heart of the Truest Believer (3) That is why the Shadow kidnapped Baelfire (to preserve his life). That naturally leads me to wonder if one of the playwrights that August mentioned being an Author was J.M. Barrie–an obvious favorite of Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Did J.M. Barrie accurately record the tale of Peter Pan? It would seem not, since the Peter Pan of OUAT is much darker than the boy of the play or Disney cartoon. Did Peter Pan somehow manipulate information about of J.M. Barrie about Henry in exchange for being depicted more favorably in the children’s play by Barrie?
On a different note, if “Author” is technically a job title, is “Sorcerer” also a job, occupied by many different people at different times? If so, what’s the job description? And if not, then… who or what is it?
Yes, A&E already hinted that the title of “Sorcerer” can be passed on, probably depending on who has the hat. Maybe the Apprentice simply took the title of Sorcerer from the previous sorcerer, but hasn’t let on yet. I’m also questioning if Lily is going to be tasked as being the next Sorcerer (or if she is in fact the daughter of the Sorcerer). Her being branded by the Apprentice with the star mark, almost makes me think the Apprentice MEANT to do that and meant to send Lily to A Land Without Magic. I’m not so sure that the Author “made” the Sorcerer do anything. Why are we so sure that what the Apprentice says is so trustworthy? He reminds me a lot of the Sneaky Blue Fairy, whom I believe the Apprentice may be in cahoots with. What if the Apprentice meant to send Lily to this world the way (I suspect) the Blue Fairy meant to send Baelfire to ALWM?
Also, if the Author’s job is just to record, you’d think that the quill would recognize that something is not right and fight back somehow.
I think whoever made that quill is a lot sneakier than we might suspect. August said the Sorcerer made that quill. What kind of person would create such an all-powerful magical object–one that’s capable of literally rewriting history? Or is it simply a quill that doesn’t actually have any power (see my above theory about the Apprentice merely placing the blame on the Author).
That’s why A and E started ONCE in the first place: to tell a story that hadn’t been told before because we all know these classic stories to the point where there is very little surprise. Might the Author not also have a similar mind set? He knows how stories end, because all stories end the same, so he’s changing it so that they never end, which necessitates a constant stream of drama, twists, and often OOC moment in order to keep the story going.
This makes me think of the The Never Ending Story (1984), which I’m guessing is a big influence on A&E, much like Back to the Future was for the S3 finale. Does that mean Henry, the primary reader of the book, is like Bastian, and eventually will become the next Author? I’d put money on it.
"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
*sniff* They’ve really ruined the “Stiltskin” men on this show. Now I’m just waiting for how they’ll ruin the last one. Will Henry be able to escape the demonization and destruction that his father and grandfather have gone through?
That all depends on whether Henry becoming the next Author means he gets to rewrite his own happy ending or whether he has to give everyone else their happy endings. Remember Henry’s idea of a happy ending in S2 was him, Emma and Neal all getting a castle together in the Enchanted Forest. I’m pretty sure Henry would now include his adoptive mother into the mix. However, now Henry’s dad is dead, and his moms are both dating guys that Henry, at best, seems ambivalent about. We don’t know if he likes Robin. Does he like Hook? He said he didn’t. Does Henry have to sacrifice what makes him happy over what makes Emma happy? Henry said he didn’t like Hook and never did. Henry told Emma early in S4 he wasn’t really okay with her dating Hook but that he wanted her to be happy. If Henry continues with that train of thought of putting his mother’s apparent happiness first, then he tentatively is forced to put up with Hook, despite disliking him. Henry has effectively become the more mature in his relationship with his birth mother by putting her needs and desires ahead of his own — something which the parent ideally does instead by putting the child’s best interests first.
"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
