Board Thread:Spoilers!/@comment-27060727-20180128024732/@comment-33472525-20180331231008

Chad won't be the Guardian simply because he doesn't appear beyond Chosen, and Rumple dies until the end of 7x21 or at the begging of 7x22, which I believe will be the moment when the power of the Dark One will be transferred to the Guardian. And while I could be wrong, I feel that the Girl in the Tower and Beauty were foreshadowing for Alice being the Guardian, she has Magic, she was the first person that Rumple met as he entered NFTL, she can see the good in people, and while I agree that she shooting Rumple could be a point against her, as previously pointed it wasn't for revenge or anything bad, like Anastia killing Drizella would have been. And the fact that it seems like this episode will be a Rumple & Alice centric, plus the fact that she might have a big role in the finale, as she appeared in most of the Storybrooke scenes, I had say that it's highly likely that she is. And while they might go for the unexpected, they have been highly foreshadowing everything from Alice being Hook's daughter, to The Witch being Gothel, to Lady Tremaine being Rapunzel, to Jack being the Candy Killer, so I had say the chance of them going for something unexpected are pretty slim. Also add to that, that when there was a potential season 8 in the plate, it seems like they were trying to build up Alice to be a main, as she was A) The LGBT+ character that they teased for Season 7, B) She was Hook's daughter another of the important threads of the season C) Making her the Guardian would have also given her a tie to Rumple which would have made her relevant enough, and D) During the promotion of Season 7 they called her a character in Rumple's nature.