Board Thread:Fanon: Season 8 & Beyond/@comment-25375217-20180529030357/@comment-25375217-20180721031156

 ONCE UPON A TIME DOUBLE FEATURE ANSWERS QUESTIONS 

We recently got an action-packed Once Upon a Time double feature with the fifteenth and sixteenth episodes of the eighth season, "", which focused on Tiana, and "", which focused on Anastasia. And in these episodes, we got the answers to a number of long-standing questions. So here's your extensive recap:


 * Tiana's Hunt for Naveen: In the Season Seven episode "A Taste of the Heights", Dr. Facilier is able to save the life of a wounded Prince Naveen, but this bit of voodoo comes with a price: he takes Naveen. Tiana swears to find him, which she fails to do until after the Dark Curse has been cast and broken, but we never see any of her search nor where Facilier was keeping Naveen prior to reaching Seattle. We finally see that in "Hop To It" -- Tiana tracks Facilier to a ball, where she goes undercover to try and catch him. After some voodoo-related shenanigans, she does manage to interrogate the witch doctor briefly before he escapes and, as thanks for Tiana's help with something else (more on that later), Facilier gives her a brief vision of Naveen, showing him... as a frog, locked in a cage. Honestly, we're not sure why we didn't see that coming.
 * Where's Charlotte? Although we got to see Tiana, Prince Naveen, and Dr. Facilier over the course of the seventh season, one character from The Princess and the Frog has been conspicuously absent: Tiana's sassy and spoiled best friend, Charlotte La Bouff. But while Tiana is undercover at the ball (and going by the name "Stella", which you may recognize as the name of Charlotte's pet bloodhound), she meets Anastasia, who is similarly undercover -- using the pseudonym "Charlotte", of course! These two lovely queens quickly bond after realizing they're both on a mission. Unfortunately, while Anastasia is able to help Tiana catch Facilier, there's no sign of Will Scarlet, who Anastasia was seeking, and Anastasia leaves via rabbit hole to continue her search; which comes in handy in present-day, where Anastasia and Will have already been reunited, as the White Rabbit's rabbit holes take Tiana, Regina, Zelena, and Jacinda to their family in.
 * Doctor Sage Pre-Curse? After first being teased in "", the fifth episode of the eighth season, we finally saw, one of the members of Gothel's Coven of the Eight, in action in "En Passant" as the of Wonderland. We first see her healing Anastasia after a magic training mishap, but she really shines several years later, where she has taken over a mostly abandoned Camelot after Emma Swan's Dark Curse. Anastasia joins Lancelot in the battle to regain the kingdom, and they're able to chase the Duchess off -- presumably to the New Enchanted Forest, where she joins up with Gothel.
 * Cora V.S. Lancelot: Back in Season Two, when we first met Lancelot, we were told he was killed by Cora. But in Season Five, we find out that's not true, though Lancelot elected not to explain to Snow White why. Fortunately, now we finally know. Shortly after leaving the company of Snow White and Prince Charming, Lancelot ends up in Wonderland, where he saves a village being terrorized by a Jabberwock -- specifically, Cora's Jabberwock, sent to harass the villagers for them failing to pay taxes. Cora is, of course, none-too-pleased with Lancelot's interference, but elects to use it as a teaching moment for Anastasia. Anastasia manages to capture Lancelot but sets him free rather than killing him, as Cora requests, with only one caveat: he can't let anyone know he survived. Lancelot accepts this and leaves the realm, but Cora is less pleased, warning Anastasia that her unwillingness to kill may be her downfall.
 * And the Red King? "En Passant" opens with the fate of the Red King, who was last seen when Cora ominously assured Anastasia that she wouldn't have to worry about him much longer. We see Cora pressuring Anastasia to kill him but, as becomes a pattern, Anastasia is unable to go through with it. Instead, Cora banishes him through a looking glass.
 * Guinevere and the Sands of Avalon No, that's not the title of an epic novel. When we last saw Guinevere, she was under the effects of the Sands of Avalon due to King Arthur, who was afraid she'd leave him for Lancelot (and rightfully so). Arthur is now dead, ruling over the Underworld, and we saw Guinevere happy with Lancelot early in Season Eight, but we never saw how exactly they freed her from the Sands of Avalon -- or, perhaps, if the spell was broken when Arthur died. That's finally been fixed: when Anastasia meets up with Lancelot in Camelot, he explains to her that Guinevere is being locked up like a common prisoner due to the effects of the Sands of Avalon making her dangerous now that Arthur is gone. He desires to get into Camelot Castle, hoping to find some of Merlin's magic to save her, but can't because of the Duchess. After Anastasia helps him chase the Duchess off, she uses skills the Duchess taught her to fashion a cure. We don't see Lancelot use this cure on-screen, but since we've seen Guinevere seemingly acting normal, it's safe to say it worked.
 * The Tragedy of Ana and Will In Season Four, Will Scarlet showed up in Storybrooke again, even though he was supposed to be off ruling Wonderland as the White King alongside Anastasia. Even stranger, he briefly coupled up with Belle French. So what happened between Will and Ana? Well, now we know: someone used the Curse of the Poisoned Heart on Anastasia, forcing them to separate. Now that she's been cured, Anastasia is traveling the realms, searching for both Will and the person who cast the curse. Fortunately, we already know she eventually finds Will, since they're both on the.

Of course, the episode raised a few questions of its own, too:


 * How did Tiana help Facilier? As mentioned above, Facilier gave Tiana a glimpse of Naveen as thanks for her help with the Firefly Ruby. What exactly does this mean? Tiana claimed that he meant when she gave him the Ruby back in "Greenbacks", but it definitely seemed like she was hiding something.
 * Where is Prince Caspian? In present-day, we were told the story of by, who advised Henry, Lucy, and Lily to find him for help defeating the . However, their search is fruitless, and they begin to suspect he may not want to be found. So where is he, and why is he hiding there?
 * Who cursed Anastasia? As mentioned above, Anastasia and Will were separated by the Curse of the Poisoned Heart -- but who placed it on her? And why?
 * Where is Will? Anastasia and the White Rabbit have been traveling the realms for a while when we first see them in "Hop To It", so Will Scarlet is probably not still in Storybrooke, seeing as the Rabbit would know to look there. So where is he? And how does Ana find him?

There's no news on when any of these questions will be answered, but we can only hope to see more in the upcoming episodes!

Season Eight of Once Upon a Time will premiere on September 28th, 2018.