Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20180221224616/@comment-31937823-20180222190711

Maybe when Rapunzel is talking to Gothel about the poisoned mushroom in 7x09 there was a deleted scene where Anastasia watches the exchange between them, which is how she might know her.

As for why Gothel needs the guardian, I have no idea. The Guardian wasn’t thoroughly explained in 7A, just that they have the ability to withhold large amounts of dark magic without experiencing the effects or having it take a toll on their morality. So Gothel probably needs Anastasia to absorb some magical force that the rest of the coven is unable to handle, and the scene with Anastasia taking Drizella’s power was a test run to see if she could handle it.

It could be that Gothel wants Anastasia to take all of the magic in the world, and would use it to fulfill Gothel’s wishes.