Board Thread:Fanon: Season 8 & Beyond/@comment-25551215-20191204022821/@comment-25551215-20200103014019

'''"Anything on Tiana?" – Winged Pig'''

"Tiana's storyline kicks in midway through the first arc," Mekia Cox says. "We see that even years after the curse has broken, she still struggles with reconciling Tiana and Sabine. Her story really comes to a conclusion in the second half, where we're going to see where the conflict between cursed and original persona takes her and we see whether or not she gets a happy ending."

'''"What can you tease on the returning mains' arcs this season?" – Matheus1234zx'''

We sent this question in, hoping to get a bit of scoop about everyone's arcs – boy, were we in for a treat!

"Regina's arc is setting her up for the conclusion of her story, at which point she will have cemented herself as the Good Queen rather than the Evil Queen. We see in this season, and hopefully next season, that Regina has some things that she's going to have to work on. This season, we see that she's going to have to learn to trust others more, even with everything at risk. She has to put aside her pride if she wants to defeat the big bads this year. I'm really excited to see Regina grow as a person," Lana Parrilla says.

"Like last season, I'm playing Nook instead of Hook, who's with Emma and Hope living his happy beginning," Colin O'Donoghue says. "Nook and Tiana both have interesting arcs this season which deal with identity, and this season, Nook's arc deals with whether or not Tilly still needs him. During the time gap, they've gotten closer, but Rogers struggles this season with the realisation that she's grown up and that she can take care of herself. It's an interesting arc, and it also comes in around the same time that Nook struggles with the death of his best frenemy, Rumple, and how that affects things going forward."

"This season, Alice knows that she's been found and that she has a home," Rose Reynolds says. "But there are lots of close calls this season that really make her concerned about whether or not that home is going to stand the tests of time and darkness. There's something really big – cataclysmic, even – that happens in the premiere of the second half that really puts the permanence of everything, and we see throughout the season how she deals with that. The arc fits especially going forward, since a big theme we're really tackling as the show progresses is change, because things on this show are only going to keep changing, and it's going to change a lot."

"Robin has always been a free spirit," Tiera Skovbye said when we brought this question to her. "But we're going to see this season that she's trying to ground herself on something solid. There's a big surprise we find out later this season that I'm excited for everyone to find out about, and Zelena's reaction is honestly everything. She's also going to deal with trying to expand her family, since Henry's not in town and Regina and Zelena are, you know, busy saving the world – but what I'm most excited for is that we get to see her relationships with Tilly and Nook grow deeper."

Interestingly, this question was also passed on to Giles Matthey and Rebecca Mader, who said a few things about their characters.

"Gideon's not a main character this season, but he and one other character take the place of Rumple. He's the new Mr. Gold in town. He's become a bit of a connoisseur of magic himself, and we're going to see that he has his own agenda, which luckily matches up with the heroes' for the most part. His biggest struggle this season going forward is coping with the loss of Belle and Rumple, and where that puts him," Matthey commented.

"Like Gideon, Zelena isn't a main character this season, but keep an eye out for her going forward. She's more connected to the Shadow Raven and its mythos than she realizes, and that makes her useful to the heroes beyond, you know, her magic. While she does help out throughout the season and has some pretty badass moments, the biggest thing that she does this season is start the chain reactions that set up the new Rumplestiltskin."

Note that the "new Rumplestiltskin" does 'not' refer to a new iteration of everyone's favorite Dark One, but the role that he played throughout the series, as Matthey alluded to.

To make this scoop a bit more ominous (perhaps?), we're also learning that there will be a major cast shake-up if the series is renewed for an eighth season, including multiple main cast members' departures.

''' "What more can you tease about Cressida? Will she be crazy like Helena's other characters?" – Nick Branson '''

"Cressida's a one-off character in the CuriousArcher centric," Hugo Schriftsteller says, "and everyone's in for a real treat. We've taken an iconic villainess from one of Disney's most iconic franchises and we've turned her into one of the most dangerous threats that the heroes face this season. There's no reasoning with her. She's as crazy as Helena's other characters, and I'm excited to see the reaction to her. Heads will roll!"