Madani

I disagree regarding Regina. He really corrupted her soul when she wanted nothing to do with magic. That was after Daniel died. But I get why he did that though. She had to cast the curse.

T'Lynn

Everyone is full of great theories! This promo really was kind of a game changer!

Just some of my thoughts:

Rumple: Yes, he has proven that he is a master at manipulating people to get something he wants. The promo makes it look like he is going to directly target Emma ... I wonder if he will be able to go through with that.

Regina: If Emma being corrupted is the key what will Regina choose in the end? Will she play both sides?

Hook: Will he stay on the hero side or will he follow Emma into darkness like Rumple did when belle was Lacey? And how is the dagger going to play into this?

Snow & Charming: What on earth is their secret?!?

Emma: I'm thrilled to see my favorite have the promo revolve around her. Emma's journey had been the focal point of each full season arc and I am really glad that now we also get more backstory to go along with that!

fox24

I agree Regina and Zelena made their own choices but Rumple worked at corrupting them to get them to have a mindset to cast the dark curse. He even said I am creating a monster

FAU

IA, I think it's because they were starting to work out the split season story arcs and they wanted to do Neverland since forever according to interviews. I feel like S2-3a was a transition period for the show.

Belleislove

Agree about Rumple and corrupting others.

And yeah, I don't know where people are getting that he's going to be fighting for her. It seems to me from what we know he isn't, at this moment, even a little concerned about his marriage or her, which really damages him in my eyes and it's why I don't have a problem with Will and Belle dating if that's what's going to happen.

I don't understand why the married them in the first place. If they seriously think this is what people are going to enjoy seeing I don't see a whole lot of hope for the show.

fox24

I do think s2 was a bit of a transition period like they struggled a bit as to how to go on after the curse was broken. I also agree them getting the rights to Neverland caused a stir in the sl. I do think in s3 the show found it's groove again and I do like the split season even if the hiatus are long it's better than the episode breaks we had in s2. It's not perfect but its better than before

T'Lynn

I think the quote from A&E about having hope for Rumbelle is what people are talking about ...

Rumple does love Belle but they had a terrible ending. He's going to be a bit unpredictable when he returns...

Belleislove

I took that as pretty much of a blanket statement. "They're not over" doesn't necessarily mean they'll be together, but maybe they'll just have feelings for each other. I personally think that's going to be a disaster. They're a popular couple and this isn't going to go over well, imo. I don't think a whole lot of people want to see them with others.

scififan2009

He loves her. But the dark one doesn't. The dark one only loves power. If he wasn't cursed things would be very different.

Belleislove

Well, he fell in love with her as the Dark One, so I think he loves her too. But this whole story just hasn't been enjoyable to me if you understand what I mean?

I love angst and drama, believe it or not, but this is just "let's come up with different ways every season to keep them apart" and that's not fun.

T'Lynn

I know this is not the comparison that most people will make but Rumbelle reminds me of Ross & Rachel on Friends. They literally spent TEN seasons coming up with ways to keep them apart and they reunited them in the final episode. But somehow it was still a very fulfilling ship.

It is so hard when you ship something so much ... I really feel bad for Rumbelle shippers because you get a lot of angst. But half your ship is the Dark One so it kind of goes with the territory.

Belleislove

And that ruined Ross and Rachel for me. By the time they got together at the end, I was like "eh." Just didn't care. They were both with so many other people and had just lost that specialness about them.

But they shouldn't have married them, imo, if this was their intention. JMO.

And I have to say those three villains look just pure campiness. I'm not crazy about this overall arc. Although I wasn't crazy about Ingrid either and she actually turned out to be a somewhat sympathetic villain.

Austenphile

They're doing the same thing with separation for Emma and her parents ( once they stopped doing it to Snow and Charming) And to Outlaw Queen. It's their go to angst method. I think Captain Swan has only been spared because of Emma being separated (either emotionally or physically or both) from her parents instead.

fox24

Yeah that's what made me also stop being invested in Ross/Rachel in the late years the back and forth got tiring. I like them still do in the early years and was happy they got together but I didnt jump for joy

Belleislove

I hear ya. I do enjoy watching the early re-runs but their last reunion wasn't the same to me.

But maybe Belle can say they were "on a break" to explain her and Will, lol.