[GrhmLz]

Originally Posted by sherry02 (View Post) I'm glad to know we'll still be seeing some of the Regina we've been watching for 6 seasons. I'm sure new Regina will be fun, but I still want to see the real Regina too. I assume the flashbacks will jump around in time as they always have. So we might see the curse happen before we know why it happened.

I agree. I do hope so.

Some people are discussing the meaning behind the tiitle for episode 7x03: The Garden of Forking Paths. I'm thinking this might just be inspiration for how Henry came to be where he is, how he aged so quickly, and then his path crosses back with his SB family in this new EF. But others are taking the origins for the title more literally. I guess if you apply literal interpretation it could mean that different choices will create different outcomes in life and henceforth all choices end up happening etc. To me, that is still the equivalent of a multi verse reality, AU, even if it happens in the same time|space. So there are people speculating that we could be getting a different version of SB Regina, Rumple, & Hook who made different choices. But that would give us alternate versions to our characters and change the s1-s6 reality if they made completely different choices. . And A&E said no alternate versions for our characters. It would be different if it's not our Henry or our 3 characters.

Some think this would be how they keep CS together because Hook coming to the EF is different. But why bother to bring JMo back for filming with a 'Hook' that isn't going to be part of the show? If he's still with her, that would go without saying, why show it? Plus, I think that would get too complex|complicated for the general audience and would they really go out of their way to explain how our characters made different choices in SB?

Just curious what your thoughts are.

[sherry02]

I just popped in over at the main OUAT spoilers thread to see if they had any spoilers I hadn't seen yet and I saw that discussion.

Even if A&E hadn't already told us that they aren't doing alternate versions of the returning characters, I think that theory is way too complicated. They'd have to find some way of explaining this all onscreen (because GA doesn't read all the online articles and explanations like we do), they'd have to explain the alternate versions backstories and what happened that made them different from the original characters and they'd still all have to connect to Henry in some way. Plus I think they likely want to focus on moving forward with the new story, not spend lots of time inventing new backstories for returning characters.

I agree with you that the title likely relates to Henry's story and possibly Lucy and Cinderella's as well. If this is Henry's centric, then I guess we are waiting until at least 7x05 for Regina's.

ETA: I wanted to add that I think Adam's comments about not taking away any of the happy endings does not necessarily imply that the couples are physically together. I think it implies that they still love one another and want to be together. No one got a divorce or intentionally left their spouse. It's pretty obvious why Regina goes to new EF to help Henry and for some reason Hook (as opposed to Emma) and Rumple go as well. They plan on coming back, but something goes wrong. Somehow they end up cursed in Seattle. It's a temporary situation that will certainly be resolved by the end of season 7 and then Hook and Rumple will head back to their spouses and children. No happy endings are destroyed. I'm personally hoping Regina decides to stay wherever Henry and his family settle.

[GrhmLz]

Originally Posted by sherry02 (View Post) I just popped in over at the main OUAT spoilers thread to see if they had any spoilers I hadn't seen yet and I saw that discussion. Even if A&E hadn't already told us that they aren't doing alternate versions of the returning characters, I think that theory is way too complicated. They'd have to find some way of explaining this all onscreen (because GA doesn't read all the online articles and explanations like we do), they'd have to explain the alternate versions backstories and what happened that made them different from the original characters and they'd still all have to connect to Henry in some way. Plus I think they likely want to focus on moving forward with the new story, not spend lots of time inventing new backstories for returning characters.

Yes, exactly, see your line of thought is going where mine is. I joined in the discussion over there on it because I just think it's too complicated a direction that would be giving us alternate characters. Like I stated over there, what stake would AU versions of our characters from SB have in helping 'our' Henry? Wouldn't their Henry either still be with them or in another version of the EF we are now seeing? Even if it is their Henry, what would have been the point of showing us our Henry leaving SB in the premiere with our Regina only for it to turn out NOT to be our Henry or Regina moving forward in s7?

I agree with you that the title likely relates to Henry's story and possibly Lucy and Cinderella's as well. If this is Henry's centric, then I guess we are waiting until at least 7x05 for Regina's.

I would have figured 7x01 was Henry centric but maybe it's more ensemble to set up the new story? We'll probably be introduced to the new cursed versions first. So, yeah, I'm going to guess a centric for Regina comes later unless they have changed the centric formula this season.

ETA: I wanted to add that I think Adam's comments about not taking away any of the happy endings does not necessarily imply that the couples are physically together. I think it implies that they still love one another and want to be together. No one got a divorce or intentionally left their spouse. It's pretty obvious why Regina goes to new EF to help Henry and for some reason Hook (as opposed to Emma) and Rumple go as well. They plan on coming back, but something goes wrong. Somehow they end up cursed in Seattle. It's a temporary situation that will certainly be resolved by the end of season 7 and then Hook and Rumple will head back to their spouses and children. No happy endings are destroyed. I'm personally hoping Regina decides to stay wherever Henry and his family settle.

I understand people don't want to see their favorite couples|families separated. And to be honest, I think this is where a lot of this desire for our characters to be different is coming from for some fans. But the way you are explaining it is the way I was thinking about it too - that a physical separation is not destroying the happy endings|beginnings but rather it is a temporary obstacle and they will eventually reunite. I am open to being wrong but I just think the cast is talking about the new cursed identities and why they are different, not talking about Regina, Hook, & Rumple being different characters than s1-s6.

[sherry02]

I don't usually read the discussions over there, I normally just check the opening post for spoiler links, but I saw it hadn't been updated since last week, so I decided to read through some of the discussion to see if there was anything new. I admit I like it here where everyone thinks Regina is awesome.

I don't really see what the point would have been of the sneak peek either if that Henry is not the same as this Henry. They showed him leaving for a reason. If he were a different Henry, we wouldn't even need to see that. We could assume everyone was still in SB where we left them at the end of season 6. No flashbacks or explanations needed, it would be a completely different set of characters.

I'm open to being wrong as well. This show has done several things I said they wouldn't do. For the purposes of speculation though, I'm going to continue assuming these are the same characters from the previous 6 seasons unless we are specifically told otherwise.

And if we're wrong and they are alternate versions, then I want alternate Regina with alternate Robin because they've made a way for it to happen. (I know it's not happening.)

[GrhmLz]

I would take AU Regina with AU Robin too.

I don't mind joining the discussion over there but I do agree it's more relaxing here to speculate and discuss openly because we all find Regina to be awesome, lol.

I looked up 'string theory' for the fun of it since it was referenced on the board and, yes, I'm sticking to my initial conclusion: that is too complicated for the general audience who might not give a rats behind or know anything about physics or quantum theory, lol. They touched on that slightly in 3x22 when they altered the timeline of events for Snow Falls and changed how Snowing met. That is an example of two versions of a timeline meeting for them but somehow when Emma got back, things were fixed but the book still depicted it and BOTH meetings happened? I thought altering the past changed how they actually met and let me just say it was confusing then & it is now. That switch wasn't well received either and I think the same would hold true if they did it again by switching out our characters for ones with different choices. There is no way they are explaining all that when their focus is the new story.

[sherry02]

I guess in a way that is what split Queen did. The Queen and Regina were one person up until the split and now they are two versions of the same person living different lives. It doesn't fit the theory in that Regina chose for them to split rather than it being the result of her making 2 different choices, but the end result is similar I think.

On a different topic, I heard there were horses at the filming yesterday with Lana, Colin, and Andrew but never heard who was riding the horses. Do they let the actors do those scenes if they are experienced horseback riders or do they have to use stunt doubles? I didn't hear any mention about doubles unless they are going to film that separately. I remember when Robin rode horseback in NY, they used a double and then put Sean on a mechanical horse for the parts of the scene showing his face.

[GrhmLz]

Originally Posted by sherry02 (View Post) On a different topic, I heard there were horses at the filming yesterday with Lana, Colin, and Andrew but never heard who was riding the horses. Do they let the actors do those scenes if they are experienced horseback riders or do they have to use stunt doubles? I didn't hear any mention about doubles unless they are going to film that separately. I remember when Robin rode horseback in NY, they used a double and then put Sean on a mechanical horse for the parts of the scene showing his face.

That's a good question - I am not sure. I have seen actors who know how to ride, ride without a double, unless for a dangerous stunt, but would it apply to any of the three here?

I did read some speculation that the 'clothing' we saw them in might have been the actors changing to see the fans but to me, Lana looked dressed as 'SB Regina.'

I ran into this ....

More Once Upon a Time scoop please! — Kate As of now, we’ll be in one new story book when season 7 launches, but the OUAT bosses say they have the freedom to go through multiple books. And with multiple books comes multiple authors — that’s right, Henry’s not the only one! “There has to be one author for each book and I think that is the case,” EP Edward Kitsis says. But EP Adam Horowitz is quick to add: “Different books have different mythologies, so it’s not like we’re going to tell the Author mythology the same way, or the Dark One mythology the same way. There’s going to be new things and new mythology to explore.”

Spoiler Room: Scoop on 'Supergirl,' 'Once Upon a Time,' 'Defenders' and more

Think 'different books' could refer to the different realms Regina, Hook, and Rumple travel with Henry to? Didn't a very early article mention something like that (ie. An adventure with the 4 to different realms)?

I really hope they were just comparing rather than going to rehash the whole Dark One Mythology? Multiple authors for multiple books I can understand.

[sherry02]

I know I've seen a picture of Lana on a horse before, but I don't know how long ago it was or how much experience she has. I remember now Gabrielle mentioned at SDCC that she has already been on a horse, so I guess they let them do the scenes if they know what they are doing and it's not dangerous.

I think Andrew did change out of his costume because I saw one pic of him dressed in his EF clothes from the sneak peek and another of him in a t-shirt, but maybe the same pants. Colin was definitely dressed as Hook and Lana wearing the gray blazer makes me believe she is dressed as Regina.

I wonder who wrote Lucy's book? It looks different from the other book, more child like. We know it contains stories from Storybrooke because it ends on the scene at Granny's from the finale.

We know Oz was in the original book which is in a different realm than the EF, but maybe there are other realms that aren't in that book. It sounds to me like a way to introduce a new author.

I really don't want to see repeats of every mythology they've ever done. They need to come up with some new things, not just re-write the old things.

[GrhmLz]

I really don't want to see repeats of every mythology they've ever done. They need to come up with some new things, not just re-write the old things.

Yeah, I don't either. I hope s7 isn't like an experiment where they are just redoing what they didn't like was already done during the first 6 seasons. Granted, there are some things I would prefer to be different but I would like the new season to have originality. Don't know why they'd delve into other Dark One Mythology unless they are showing an alternate Dark One in a new book?

Yeah, the origins to Lucy's book are a mystery. The cover does look different unless it's the original book disguised by magic? Not sure why the SB story would be in another book besides Henry's but it does sound like a way to introduce another author. We don't need another drawn out story with that a second time around.

[sherry02]

Notice the pic I posted yesterday of Lana in the golf cart at filming. Andrew is in costume in the back of the cart. That is the same collar and coat that he is wearing in the sneak peek and I believe also in the ballroom scene from the promo. Either Henry calls Regina and the others for help shortly after all that happens or adult Henry only has one EF costume and he's been wearing it for a lot of years (which does happen with some characters on this show).

[GrhmLz]

Hm. Yeah, I think they were definitely dressed in character then. Maybe Henry has identical suits, one for each day of the week?

Just to resolve my own curiosity from earlier on, I went back to listen to Comic Con to hear again specifically what A&E said for Regina and the others regarding who they would be:

Transcribing ....

Fan: We're having like a new Cinderella, um, are there going to be other different versions of the characters say like Evil Queen, Captain Hook, or even Rumplestiltskin ... Eddy: Uh, I would say, there are going to be new characters we see but we aren't going to be seeing a new Rumplestiltskin, Hook, or ... Adam: You're going to be seeing the same versions of Rumplestiltskin, the Queen, Hook, you've seen before ... Eddy: I think to clear up what we're doing next year is as you saw, Henry is on a new adventure (ie. They showed the Sneak Peek we now saw), Henry has left home and he wants to go visit other Storybrookes with different stories and different characters and he obviously falls in love with Cinderella much like the romance he had ...his grandparents had, and what happens is what always happens, he gets into some trouble and he calls out for help from his family and the 3 people that you see on the stage that you know and love come to his rescue so um, it's really Henry and these 3 on an epic adventure and, um, that's the next chapter of Once Upon A Time.

Notice how Regina got referenced as The Queen? That is who she was as of the s6 finale, no longer the EQ.

I mean, unless they are outright lying to us, lol, it sounds pretty clear to me that our original 3 characters are the ones returning. Not AU versions, not a different adult Henry, and not versions effected by 'string theory' (ie. 3x22) who made different choices so that some parts of s1- s6 becomes an alternate outcome that happened. So I am treating it like that until we see otherwise.

[sherry02]

I agree from those quotes that it sounds like they are the original characters.

There would be no stakes with AU versions. There would be no "When will they get their memories back? When will Regina and Henry remember each other? When will Rumple and Hook remember their wives?" No one would care if we know the original versions are safely back in SB. Fandom might be happy because there is no risk to their favorites, but the majority of the viewing audience is not going to be interested in a story with nothing at stake, no risks taken, and no reason to care if this curse gets broken.

[GrhmLz]

Agreed. We're invested in the characters we already know. I will be curious when they start filming 7x03 to maybe see more of what it is about. My hunch is still that use of the title is more inspirational rather than literal. But we'll see.

ETA:

Hot seat questions! Going to bold the ones I found interesting tied to Regina:

The Hot Seat: Once Upon a Time bosses answer your burning Qs

Is Hyperion Heights invisible to the outside world as Storybrooke was? ADAM HOROWITZ: No. Is the curse caused by something that happened during a past season? ADAM HOROWITZ: Can’t say. Was someone’s heart crushed for Hyperion Heights to be created? EDWARD KITSIS: Can’t say. In this new town, will Rumple/Mr. Gold, the EQ/Regina and Hook/Killian have different names? DAVID H. GOODMAN: Yes Do the returning trio have any memory of Storybrooke? HOROWITZ: Can’t say. Is the evil or darkness that is after Henry someone/thing we’ve known before? KITSIS: Can’t say. Will the villain of the season be related to our original characters? HOROWITZ: Can’t say. Will the Dark One curse come back into play? KITSIS: You never know. Is Rumple still affected by the Dark One curse? GOODMAN: Yeah. KITSIS: Once you’re cursed, it’s like mono, you always have it with you. Will we get an update on Belle? HOROWITZ: Oh yes. KITSIS: Episode 4. In fact, we can say inepisode 4, she’s coming back. HOROWITZ: Emilie is coming back. Will the absence of most of the original cast be explained in the first episode? HOROWITZ: It will be explained in the first few episodes. Will there be references to*the original*story book throughout the season? GOODMAN: Yes. Any plans for Emma to return for more than one episode? KITSIS: Nope. Will Henry be visiting places from multiple new storybooks? KITSIS: Yes. Will we see multiple new versions of characters? KITSIS: That’s a complicated question. The answer is we will see new iterations of characters we may have met, but there will not be like six Cinderellas going around. We are not going to go to seven different worlds where eight Cinderellas band together to fight eight different Lady Tremaines. HOROWITZ: We’re also not seeing six Reginas. It’s our Regina. Will we see original Cinderella this season? KITSIS: Can’t say. Does Henry remember his family? KITSIS: Yes. Is the Henry who’s Lucy’s father the same Henry we know and love? KITSIS: I would say he is. Will there be other main couples besides Henry and his wife? HOROWITZ: Yes. Since Henry is grown, will we get to see his uncle Neal or cousin Robin? KITSIS: Can’t say. HOROWITZ: You never know. Did Emma regain her powers as Savior after the Final Battle? KITSIS: Yes. Will we see bonding between Hook and Henry? KITSIS: Absolutely. Will Regina have a new love interest? KITSIS: Can’t say. Will we see the Evil Queen again? KITSIS: Absolutely. Wait, which Evil Queen? HOROWITZ: Let’s leave it at that. Will Regina get to meet Lucy? HOROWITZ: Yes. Does Henry’s daughter Lucy have the heart of the Truest Believer now? KITSIS: You don’t know. Who knows? Will we know what happened with Maleficent and Lily? HOROWITZ: Maleficent and Lily are always asked! By the way, if we do five shows after this, I want you asking this in every show. Will we ever meet the real Morpheus? KITSIS: Probably at some point. GOODMAN: Can’t say. Could we meet another Peter Pan who is evil? KITSIS: Yes. HOROWITZ: We could. Will we get a nod to Wreck-It Ralph? HOROWITZ: That’s a great idea. KITSIS: Probably. That’d be amazing. HOROWITZ: Could we do that? KITSIS: We should absolutely have a videogame of Wreck-It Ralph. That’s a great idea. Will we learn more about Evil Queen and Robin Hood in the Enchanted Forest? HOROWITZ: Can’t say. Will we see any new realms? HOROWITZ: Yes.

Okay, so first, I think they have basically confirmed yet again that this will be our Regina. Not any new version. She will just become somebody else under the new curse. Yay.

Lucy will meet Regina. Check.

I found it interesting they answered yes to the question about Henry remembering his family. Don't know if that means he'll remember in time or he'll remember right away. But now I wonder if Henry does get his memory back first because of Lucy?

Maybe he was never even cursed to forgot his SB family. He was perhaps cursed to forget they ever came to help him in the EF 2? So Henry seeing them in Seattle could surprise him then.

It's also not clear if that answer includes his wife & daughter. Is it referring to just our returning trio? He didn't recognize Lucy at his door so maybe it's just Regina & the others he remembers. They also wouldn't say if our trio have any memories of SB either. Unless, they are just playing coy and the answer is yes to rememberimg but in the fb's, lol.

They also answered yes, there would be more than one main couple besides Henry & Cinderella. Probably the LGBT pairing, whoever that will be, Tiana and her prince, and then somebody for Regina? Somebody asked if she would have a love interest and of course they answered, can't say. But I think the possibility is more alive now than it was before. There was also a question about EQ & Robin Hood as well. That I think is less likely to see but we never know.

[sherry02]

Thanks for the hot seat Q&A!

I'm glad we have further confirmation this is our Regina. I think the whole AU version thing can be put behind us.

It's interesting that when asked about seeing the evil queen, they responded absolutely and then back tracked a little bit. That's confusing because I think of the evil queen as the person we see in flashbacks from before the curse, but I think the writers still see the evil queen and Regina as being the same because the season 7 summary refers to her as the evil queen. So I'm not exactly sure what they mean. As for the Queen and wish Robin, I wouldn't be completely surprised if she makes a brief appearance at some point, but I'll be very shocked if we ever see any version of Robin again.

The part I am most curious about is Henry remembering his family. Nearly everyone on this show is Henry's family, so we don't know who he actually remembers. For now I'm thinking that he remembers his Storybrooke family, but not Lucy and Cinderella. Although if he remembers his SB family and they don't remember him, that should convince him almost right away that there is a curse involved. He's been around long enough to know how these things work. Maybe he hasn't encountered any of them in HH yet, but Lucy knows where they are and so she takes him to them, which convinces him that there really is a curse?

I'm afraid to get too hopeful for a romance for Regina. We know Henry and Cinderella is happening and we know the LGBT romance is happening. I'm still guessing Alice is one half of that pairing, with possibly Drizella as the other half. I think Naveen will be part of Tiana's story, but maybe not be onscreen a lot, sort of how Aurora was more a part of the show than Philip. Do they have room for another romance? Maybe someone she meets in new EF and then they are separated by the curse? That would put it happening mostly in flashbacks unless the new love interest is cursed as well. I'll be watching casting news for someone who seems like they might fit.

[kindness is free]

Thank you for all the info Heather

Yes it is lovely we can discuss openly hear as we all think Regina is the best

I have too much to catch up on here