Board Thread:Spoilers!/@comment-26159109-20170115054549/@comment-31231929-20170225155059

Aine1989 wrote: MBrody wrote: GothicNarcissus wrote: Personal preferences and shipping notwithstanding, Once is fortunately enough of a "choral" show that it would allow it to continue even if it lost a core character or two. I, for one, think it would be harder for it to go on without Bobby than JMo: even if the present day storyline could do without both, Emma isn't needed for FTL flashbacks, while Rumple has been lurking and toying with pretty much everything that has happened in the past 200+ years of FTL history; how many flashback can you realistically write without needing for him to pop up at some point? I completely disagree. I think the show would be much harder to do without Jennifer Morrison. In my opinion, if Robert Carlyle left, it wouldn't affect the show much at all. I don't see Rumplestiltskin nearly as important as Emma. I still see Emma as the focal point of the story and the glue that holds all the other characters together. In the past, whenever Emma has vanished, the other characters have resorted to fighting amongst themselves - "The Dark Swan" and "Wish You Were Here" come to mind. On the same thread, when Rumple disappears for a while, I barely notice he is gone. Holla.

When you think about it, Rumple is kind of the backstory and the reason for the curse. Yeah he's in a lot of FTL flashbacks but they can work around that (plus I'm getting th vibe that Bobby wants to leave). They could always get a new villain.

I stand by my view that Emma is the core of the show. This is her fairytale. They cannot kill her off because, as fairytales go, the story has to end with her Happily Ever After. If this was Game of Thrones or something maybe but on a family fairytale show? If Emma leaves its either spinoff or cancellation I agree that Emma is the core of the show. No matter how much a season may focus on a different character it always comes back around to focusing on Emma. If Jen leaves, the show will be pretty much over.