Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25896389-20150509042358/@comment-24674051-20150526142528

Miss Starr wrote: The only problem with Emma's disappearing is that it can overshadow many other story lines, for example, Henry would never go on a date now when his Mom is in such condition , so here goes the "Henry's love interest" plot etc. So first thing, Emma should come back to SB safe and sound and normal. When that is settled, they go to Camelot in search of Merlin. and I'd like to see there other characters which originally have nothing to do with Camelot but can fit in, like:Ivanhoe, The Count of Monte Cristo, Don Quixote, Mulan and Li Shang (plzzz!) and an interesting one - Dustfinger and Roxanne from Inkheart... I just hope for some new faces apart from the obvious (Merlin and co.) Couse they will probably need some people to fill an intire realm ;)  While I agree that the first thing is to resolve Emma's disappearance, I highly doubt she will show up safe and sound and normal.  Safe, probably.  Normal, absolutely not.  I see two ways that they can go with resolving Emma. One is the quick and easy way, which is to pick up the dagger and summon her. 1 scene and she's back, and with a highly vested interest in finding Merlin as quickly as possible.

The other is an arc focusing on the search for Emma. And for that they will probably need to travel to another realm, most likely the EF. Now if the Apprentice is not dead, travel between realms becomes greatly simplified. (Even if they don't show the apprentice much, he can still be "present", and he has just as much vested in finding Merlin as the rest of the gang.)  THe other way is for the Apprentice to die, and pass the role onto another (much like the Author). and while I can see pros and cons of having Rumple as a new apprentice, he is not the only candidate. WHAT IF... Belle, in picking up after all the activitiy in the shop, were to pick up the apprentice's wand, and SHE becomes the new apprentice?

All of this to say, I think somehow moving the EF (or a combination of EF and Storybrooke) for the next season, would be really great.