Board Thread:Spoilers!/@comment-26385535-20160920083926/@comment-25926288-20161126233520

The reasons that we can discern why any character is written out/killed off is:

1. New writing options for others, no writing options currently, no idea what to do. (75)

2. Fandom sway (20)

3. Other (5)

Basically, fandom sway is overstated as the fans are largely hectic and bounce in every direction. Robin was killed off because 1. They legit had nothing for him and it was obvous. He was poorly setup and barely established. 2. A good number of fans, like me, know he really served no purpose. (I mean he was "hiding in the forest" for several episodes, but it wasn't like he was doing anything before.) I think Adama and Eddy misjudged the backlash, but they would probably ignore that. They are only bringing Robin back in a small capacity, just as they did Neal. Those characters are more likely to have died because they stood in the way of some "bright idea" in the writers room.

I don't think we can argue "pointless" as nearly all of the core cast are in a redux (recycled plotline) of all previous seasons. That's easily seen by Regina and Rumple being the villains of Storybrooke, just like season 1. So, Zelena's hardly pointless because by relativity all the "character arcs" are rather pointless. What? Henry's not doing anything. Hook is just twiddling his thumbs, done his "redemption". Queenie is going after Snow and the town, again. Regina has an obvious solution. Emma's setting up for death, but not fighting. We're pretty much waiting as they are waiting for something to happen. It's a plot-driven story, so....

Nevertheless, generalizations don't help because they aren't factually true and debating our opinions only goes so far.