All signs point to Neverland!
That’s pretty much what Once Upon a Timeexecutive producers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis told fans at the show’s PaleyFest panel on Sunday after teasing the final two episode titles of Season 2. Hint: They’re the directions to Neverland! But that wasn’t the only clue given, and it definitely wasn’t the only scoop the producers and cast provided!
Before the ABC fairy-tale drama ventures to another realm, dark times lay ahead — especially for Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin), who will make a declaration on Sunday’s episode that will send her down a dark path. Ahem. Check out the 13 best spoilers from the panel below:
1. The end, revealed: The final two episodes of Season 2 will be a two-parter, entitled “Second Star to the Right” and “Straight on Till Morning.” Considering these are the directions to Neverland, it sounds like we’ll be meeting the Lost boys soon!
2. Not-so Snow White: A tragedy in Sunday’s episode will put Snow White on a path for revenge. “What she is going through is going to shake her self-identity and self-definition,” Goodwin says. “If she is not the Snow White… then she doesn’t know who she is.” Seeing this different side to Mary Margaret will certainly cause some concern in David (Josh Dallas). But “he’s going to be there for her no matter what and support her through everything,” Dallas says. But how dark will Disney let the producers go? “When you see ['The Miller's Daughter'], the answer to that is they’re pretty much letting us do what we want.”
3. Family reunion: After Sunday’s episode, Bae (Michael Raymond-James) will be Storybrooke-bound alongside Rumple (Robert Carlyle), Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and Henry (Jared Gilmore), but whether that means there’s a reconciliation on the horizon remains to be seen. “In Episode 22, there’s a game-changer that really happens in terms of the relationship with his son,” Carlyle teased.
4. Henry’s fate: After the seer told Rumple that a boy would be his undoing, the Dark One will find himself in a very similar position to when he lost his son. “When Rumple was last given a choice between love and power, he let his son go, so the question is, has he learned anything? Or will he let his own grandson go?” Kitsis said. Since semantics was very important to the seer, Horowitz made sure to note, “Is ‘undoing’ a bad thing?”
5. A return to fairy tale land? Now that the key to their return is literally growing in their backyard — Anton’s bean! — the possibility of returning to fairy tale land will become a hot topic in Storybrooke. “As much as David likes electricity, he misses his sword, his horse and his castle,” Kitsis said. “He wants to kill some ogres and wants to rebuild his land. That is something a lot of people will get on board for, but we’ll see what happens.”
6. Captain Hook’s vengeance: Ye ol’ captain will get a taste of revenge in Sunday’s episode, but don’t expect to see him again for a few episodes, considering that Colin O’Donoghue actually broke his leg in real life. When he does return, Kitsis teased it would be in a very surprising way. “He is out for himself,” Kitsis noted.
7. The Evil Queen returns: Though Regina (Lana Parrilla) has made attempts at being good this season, her dark side will really take over in the coming episodes. “Being good didn’t quite work out for Regina,” Parrilla said, noting that part of Regina’s downfall was her need for her mother’s love. But redemption is a thing of the past now. “It’s a little bit behind her now. Regina as the Evil Queen is going to make a comeback in a different way and it’s going to be exciting to see.”
8. A very twisted love triangle: Though some viewers still have hope for Emma and August (Eion Bailey) — whom the producers said will return later this season — most seem to be divided between her chemistry with Hook and her previous relationship with Bae, which seriously makes for a really weird triangle. The Charming parents wouldn’t necessarily stop Emma from reuniting with her former flame. “They want to make sure she has a shot at their happy ending,” Dallas said. But they would in the case of Hook. “I don’t think that we would be too keen on being with someone who shared her baby daddy’s mother’s bed,” Goodwin adds.
9. Welcome to Storybrooke: That’s actually the name of an upcoming episode that will flash back to the first week after the curse was enacted in 1983. The episode will also mark the return of Sheriff Graham (Jamie Dornan) and Billy the Mechanic (Jarod Joseph). “We are going to get more insight into what that was like in that very first week in 1983 and what is was like for the Evil Queen to win,” Kitsis said, adding that we’ll discover why Regina chose to adopt Henry in the episode.
10. The Once spin-off: Despite internet rumors — or maybe because of them — Kitsis and Horowitz said that they do not plan to re-cast the Mad Hatter. Sebastian Stan will still play Jefferson, though they noted that we won’t see him any time soon since Stan is a very busy man.
11. Belle’s getting racy: Remember when David initially woke up from his coma and his cursed alter-ego life finally kicked in? The same will happen to Belle (Emilie de Ravin) in the upcoming episode “Lacey,” which is the name of her cursed alter ego who is the complete opposite of Belle. “Things are going to get a lot more interesting for Mr. Gold,” Kitsis noted, before Parrilla added that Regina may recruit Lacey.
12. A new land: The producers teased that the show will venture to a new land before the end of Season 2. They also teased that we will get more backstory on Hook and Bae, who, we’ll learn into Sunday’s episode, can also sail a pirate ship. Hmm. Considering the final two episode titles, it seems like the show will be venturing to Neverland. But does that mean Bae is Peter Pan?! Kitsis also noted that they’ll tease a new character in that land, but we won’t actually meet him or her until Season 3.
13. Emma’s heart: Why Cora (Barbara Hershey) was unable to rip out Emma’s heart in the midseason finale is easily explained in a Harry Potter-esque way. It was love that protected her heart after she planned to sacrifice herself to save her mother. “Emma proved in that moment that love was strength,” Kitsis said.
