Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-34924658-20171107020655/@comment-25375217-20171108041225

Drizella casting the curse seems like the obvious answer, so I doubt it. Let's look at our options:

So I'd say the most likely culprits are Alice, Eloise, Drizella, the Witch, Hook, and maybe (hard maybe) Regina.
 * Victoria. Victoria plays a role in Hyperion Heights very similar to Regina in Storybrooke, implying she's in control here. However, if that were the case, it wouldn't be a secret. Furthermore, the "thing she loves most" would be Anastasia, who is still, presumably, preserved with one breath in her.
 * Henry or Jacinda. The "thing they love most" would be each other, but they're both alive. Of course, Snow and Charming did the same thing, but that would make this plot a complete redo of a past plot, which would suck.
 * Regina. Again, the "thing she loves most" is Henry, who is alive. We don't know if heart-splitting works outside of romantic True Love -- although it's a reasonable assumption -- but still, this would be very similar to Snow and Charming. Besides that, it would be an interesting twist that I doubt anyone could predict but could allow some fascinating plotlines.
 * Rumple. This honestly could make a lot of sense, except the "thing he loves most" is Belle, who's already dead. Next would be Gideon, but I doubt Rumple would ever kill his son. And power doesn't have a heart.
 * Hook. This could happen. His daughter seems to be the most likely "thing he loves most" but we have very good reason to believe that she is in Hyperion Heights. However, there has to be another half of the equation that is Eloise and we don't know where she is. Hook casting the curse with his lover's heart in order to be reunited with his daughter could happen. That is a bit similar to Rumple's motivations in Season 1, though.
 * Tiana. Tiana has no known romantic true love, which leaves her mother as a possibility for curse casting and we don't know where she is, either. However, her motive is questionable, especially since the curse put Victoria in power -- something Tiana wanted to prevent.
 * Drizella. Like I said, this seems obvious given recent revelations. Drizella is awake, in a position of power (more-or-less), has fairly good motivation (she wants revenge on her mother, power, and to torture Cindy). We don't know what the "thing she loves most" is, but that's assuming this curse even requires one. All signs point to her... but this early in the game, that makes me think she's likely a red herring.
 * Alice. This is the one I like. We don't know enough about her to know if she has any "thing she loves most" -- again, if that's a requirement. She's mysterious enough to not require an obvious motivation right now. She's been compared to Rumple in her character descriptions, meaning she could be morally ambiguous (although she is siding with Rumple in his apparently heroic state).
 * The Witch. The Witch is also very Rumple-like, except she's almost certainly evil. All of the signs are pointed to Drizella, but Witchy-poo is standing right behind her. We know literally nothing about her, so she may not have a "thing she loves most" or that thing could be dead. But, like Drizella, it's early enough that she could easily be a red herring.
 * Dr. Facilier. He's pretty mysterious and wasn't really defeated in the last episode, so why not? Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have a hand anywhere right now and hasn't even been referenced in Hyperion Heights. While that doesn't completely rule him out, it leaves me doubtful.
 * Eloise. Hook's daughter (or whoever Eloise is) could have cast the curse. Hook could be the "thing she loves most", though her mother could be, too, or it may not be a requirement. We've never met her, so she could be evil, though I doubt it. Or she could have a heroic reason to cast the curse -- such as being reunited with Hook. Maybe the reason Rogers can't find her is that she's hiding from someone, such as Victoria or the Witch. I could see this happening.