Board Thread:Fanon: Season 8 & Beyond/@comment-25551215-20191204022821/@comment-25551215-20200123214121

Once Upon a Time: Rumbelle set to make a reunion with Gideon in midseason opener

Seems like Belle and Rumple’s tale as old as time is getting a few new pages! We’ve exclusively learned that Emilie de Ravin (Belle) and Robert Carlyle (Rumplestiltskin) – the only former Season Six regulars who haven’t appeared this season – will be returning for the midseason premiere, titled “The Black Cauldron” a la the not-so-well-known Disney film. Additionally, de Ravin is set to guest star in the 12th episode, where she will have an encounter with an unexpected face from this year. But back to “The Black Cauldron”. Thanks to intel, we’ve learned that the legendary Black Cauldron itself will be appearing on the series as a means to talk to the dead, like the Ale of Seionadh in Season Five. So basically, it’s a MacGuffin that doubles as a reason to get the two fan favorites back on the series.

“We briefly touched upon Gideon’s grief in the holiday special,” Giles Matthey says, offering some insight as to the plight of the Rumbelle progeny. “We’re going to see in the midseason that Gideon’s grief is his unfinished business, and it’s something that the Raven can take advantage of. Gideon’s a desperate soul, and the Raven needs that.”

Though Carlyle wasn’t available for comment, de Ravin did have a little to say about Belle’s return to the series: “It’s a heart-wrencher,” she confessed. “Gideon was left without his parents even being able to say goodbye to him, and the episode where Rumple and I return deals with resolution and moving forward.”

De Ravin and Carlyle are the last former Season Six regulars to appear in the season, following Jared S. Gilmore (Henry) and Rebecca Mader (Zelena), who are set to recur throughout the season, Ginnifer Goodwin (Snow White) and Josh Dallas (Prince Charming), who will be returning later in the season after appearances in the holiday special and Scarlet Letter-centric fourth hour, and Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swan), who briefly appeared for the holiday special.

The Dorian and Zelena-centric fifth episode, “Bad Guy”, is set to air either tomorrow, or with episode 6, “Sign of the Raven”, on Friday, January 31st.