Board Thread:Spoilers!/@comment-2153169-20140120210835/@comment-6175354-20140220135956

CoolDudeAl wrote: The creators have to play a fine line between foreshadowing and keeping people suprised. Do too much foreshadowing, people say the show (or whatever medium) gets boring and predictable, do too much unexpected suprises, people say the show (or whatever medium) is just doing things that no one expects just to screw with people, and that the show has no meaning or direction. {removed due to length} So like I said it's a balance and everyone must remember that, not everything is going to be a suprise, becuase foreshadowing is an important plot element, but it is not going to all be things we know months in advance either, otherwise, why even watch the show? Exactly.... you worded it perfectly!

The creators were doing everyone a favor, when they spoiled that someone would die. Better to find out from them, than through random fans who visited the set. Plus, the average viewer might not have even heard about the death.

There is an interesting theory that states, that the final scene of 3.11 foreshowed this death. Everyone was asking, why was is Hook who found Emma, and not Neal? Perhaps, it is not a stupid shipping thing, after all. What if the Wicked Witch killed Neal, to prevent him from reuniting with Emma? Emma is the savior, and the only person who can stop her. If Walsh is a winged monkey; it means Zelena was doing everything in her power to prevent Emma, from ever returning to Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest.