Board Thread:Spoilers!/@comment-26196542-20150930211355/@comment-2065721-20151013111348

Arctucrus wrote: Vertblancrouge wrote: I'm sorry if that was already answered in another thread: Did we established the timing between Arthur pulling Excalibur and the moment the Storybrooke folks arrived in Camelot? I'm also guessing that Merlin went missing prior to Arthur finding the sword which matches Blue's indication of the sorcerer not being seen for a very long time.

I'm also guessing that Merlin could be elsewhere from inside the tree. Arthur knows that and it's the reason why he didn'n want his visitors to try to speak to him (hence stealing that mushroom from Charming). It fascinates me, when and how Merlin must've been trapped in the tree, because he was free at one point, to go talk to a child Emma..!!! It was way in the past. Before Arthur pulled out the Excallibur. Arthur can see the future like Rumple, but probably in another way. Think Arthur found a way to trap him in the tree because they had a fallen out about the dagger. He seems to be in no hurry to free Merlin.