Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-6963628-20130402013043/@comment-6175354-20130414180452

Erebus Elysium wrote: Well, the creators of the show DID promise us an appearence from both Aladdin and Ariel, and they kept alluding to a "mermaid" in Skin Deep and Into the Deep, and although I can see Ariel making the deal with Rumpelstiltskin for legs in exchange for the ink, I'd think adding ANOTHER indirect character allusion onto him (as Rumpelstiltskin, the Beast and the Crocodile) will just get repetitive. The creators never "promised" Ariel's appearance, on OUaT.

All they said, was they would like to eventually adapt The Little Mermaid, and that they already knew how Ariel would be written into the plot. However, for whatever reason, they could not fit her into the Season 2 storyline. Better to wait until Season 3, than rush and mishandle Ariel's arc.