Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5821891-20140314235842/@comment-24667994-20140315031307

Well, Maleficent is not important to the plot...until the writers decide to make her important to the plot (or don't, whichever turns out to be the case). The Wicked Witch was completely irrelevant to the story until "New York Serenade" for example.

Maleficent has had a number of "trapdoor" deaths. ** Basically a trapdoor death being a writer's device where you kill a character under an ambigous set of conditions--this leaves the writer's options open so that they can leave the character as dead or bring them back.

Now, the fact that the first storybrooke was destroyed at the end of 3A is perhaps the strongest intimation that Maleficent is deader than dead. But I suppose the argument could be made that this too is a trapdoor as the writers can claim that this simply returned Maleficent back to the EF as well, as she did still exist in some form...wether she returned in her undead or more alive form being anyone's guess.

OUAT is becoming notorious for its aborted arcs and characters--mostly due to actors going to other shows and such. Personally, I would like to see Maleficent again in some way. Right from 1x02, Regina singles her out as her only "friend." That line alone hints that their friendship must be very complicated indeed. It would be a shame to not have this elaborated upon.

I won't hold my breath, but I will keep my fingers crossed :)