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Beautiful Lauren!

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Now here comes the retcon…why in the heck did we not see Zelena even give Robin a look in Season 3, as a matter of fact she called him and Charming “pests”. Now I know this wasn’t planned ahead of time, as Adam and Eddy said themselves that they changed their mind about her death a week after writing it, but still this would be another retcon.

Ret-conning is how A&E roll now. But yeah, all of that.

"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

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Things that I liked:
– Henry discovering the key to the Author’s door and then hiding it from Regina
– August’s revelation about the Authors
– Cruella and Ursula serving as the coming relief
– Rumple being all cryptic
– Kristen van Straten’s acting chops

Things I really disliked:
– Snowing as baby-snatchers
– The magical quill which can interfere with characters’ free-will.
– Emma letting the Author out of the book. Seriously, what happened to Emma? That wasn’t a wise thing to do, especially given what August told them about the Author being trapped in the book for a good reason. Also, good sense would be not letting the Author out of the book after discovering that is what Rumple wants. Emma is playing directly into Rumple’s dastardly plan! *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

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So does that mean Roland is really Zelena and Robin’s child?

I don’t think that’s what it means. I think Marian really existed. I think the Marian we saw in S2 episode Lacey was the real Marian. Remember how Marian was cursed while pregnant and Robin used the fairy wand to save her. Sadly, I think that she died soon after giving birth to Roland, since the fairy magic may have only been a temporary fix. I think Zelena simply then took her place by magically disguising herself as Marian and then hid amongst the villagers (unbeknownst to Robin) before she was taken prisoner by Regina’s guards, which was when time-traveling Emma saved her.

"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

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I wonder if we’re ever going to find out what happened to Belle’s mother. Not even Belle knows the truth. As mentioned in the chat by MP, might Belle’s mother have been one of the many Authors that August spoke of in 4×16? She was very intent on saving the books in her library during the war, for which she died. Was she just a bookworm, or do you think she could’ve been an Author? We still don’t know how the many empty books ended up in the Sorcerer’s mansion. What if the current day Author manipulated events such that there was a Second Ogres war and Colette died, which gave him the opportunity to take her title as Author. Perhaps the Sorcerer then simply took the books that had been in Colette’s collection after the Apprentice trapped the current author in Henry’s book.

Look at the books Colette was trying to save. They look a lot like Henry’s book and the blank books in the Sorcerer’s mansion.

"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

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With the revelation from August in 4×16 that there have been many different Authors of the book, there has been some speculation that Henry will become the next Author. Henry having the heart of the truest believer seems to make him especially well-equipped for this task. Perhaps Rumple telling Henry in the 4×2 deleted scene that his dark one’s lineage and savior’s blood would come to mean something one day was foreshadowing of Henry’s destiny as a future Author. Henry having the lineage of light and dark magic means he is ideal to take up the mantel of the Author one day.

"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

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I posted my own theory in another thread about what I think is going on with Rumple in 4b.

"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

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In 4×16, Rumple said that all magic comes at a price, and that he has so much debt he could never hope to repay. It sounds to me like the consequence might be losing his humanity, and that what concerns him is changing the rules of magic so that he’s no longer indebted or weighed down by the cost of his dark one curse.

In 4×12, Rumple said he wanted to survive for his happy ending. His son was his happy ending. It just is so confusing now exactly what Rumple’s happy ending now looks like since (1) his son died and (2) his marriage is effectively over. It sounds to me that Rumple’s idea of a happy ending now is to be free of the high cost of magic without actually losing his magic.

There was a deleted scene from 4×2 in which Rumple and Henry had a talk. The reason it was cut was because it contained too may spoilers for the rest of the season, such as Henry’s lineage potentially making him the next Author or Rumple’s potentially dying. What I liked about it was it revealed Rumple’s mindset.

Rumple: The truth is memories are more often bad than good. We make mistakes throughout our lives. There’s no avoiding them. And they’re woven into a heavy cloak of regret that we wear until we die. Believe me, mine is heavier than most. But it’s bearing it that makes you learn, makes you strong.
Henry: Have you learned?
Rumple: It’s a gradual process.

Rumple must’ve known for some time that things are changing with regards to his health or immortality. He said his mistakes are “woven into a heavy cloak of regret until we die.” I think Rumple knew even then that the price of his dark magic would eventually catch up with him and perhaps, result in his death, which is why he attempted to cleave himself from the dagger via the sorcerer’s hat. Yet that failed, because according to Rumple, the odds are staked against the villains.

Rumple has led the witches to believe that they need to darken Emma’s heart so that the villains get their happy ending. But I doubt Rumple really cares about the other villains getting their happy endings, since the only happy ending Rumple is really concerned with is his own. I now think his goal is to survive, rather than to die, by making it so that he doesn’t have to pay the price of dark magic. He wants the Author to change the laws of magic so that the dark one doesn’t have to pay the price of dark magic.

To do this, I think Rumple needs the literal heart of the savior, which I predict is gold in color, like Henry’s. I think Rumple wants to drive the darkness of his heart into Emma’s literal heart, just like the Apprentice drove Emma’s potential for darkness into Lily. Rumple wants to transfer his own darkness into Emma’s pure heart so that she, rather than he, must pay the price of his dark magic.

Remember how Peter Pan led Henry to believe magic in Neverland was dying and that only Henry could save it? Yet what Pan ultimately wanted was Henry’s heart to save himself. What if Rumple wants Emma’s heart to save himself the way Peter Pan wanted Henry’s heart of the truest believer? Perhaps Emma’s heart is the key ingredient Rumple needs to pay the price of magic without actually losing his magic.

I do think the chances of Rumple dying are increasing with every episode that passes. However, I think what Rumple really wants is live forever without being weighed down by the heavy cloak of his dark magic. What he needs is Emma’s literal heart, which is full of magic. While Rumple might succeed temporarily, like Pan did, I think his goal won’t be successful long term and that he will end up dying to pay the price of his dark magic.

"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

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Could be an AU in which the villains get their happy endings, meaning Cora has her heart and raises both of her daughters.

"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

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Another option, however, is that Lily is the sorcerer. We haven’t seen the sorcerer at this point, and people have commented that the apprentice seems to do everything and that they don’t think the sorcerer exists. Maybe it’s not that the sorcerer doesn’t exist, but that either 1) “Sorcerer” is a title, not a name, Author-style, and the current one died or something and then Lily is meant to be the next one, or 2) the apprentice knew that the sorcerer would be born one day, because he has the sight and can see the future, but she hadn’t been born yet until Lily came along.

I’ve long maintained that Lily is the sorceress. I think she may have inherited the title, along with the hat, from her dad. Just a guess. Either that, or she stole the hat from the sorcerer to gain the title for herself.

"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

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