Many of you know I run a Once Upon a Time spoilers group and Twitter account where I keep a very detailed spoiler guide each season. After much frustration over promised things not coming to fruition, I decided to go back through the guide and compile a list of all the promised things that never happened…for science.





Announced For 4A:





#1 Inaccurate Frozen Casting Call:

Ultimately Elsa appeared in 11 episodes, Anna appeared in 10, and Kristoff appeared in 9. [Source]





#2 Curse Confusion

The “new curse” refers to the curse that Snow and Charming cast. Since we didn’t find out until towards the end of 3B that Zelena didn’t cast the curse, we didn’t know any of the rules of the curse. But before the rules could even be explained, Elsa’s ice wall was put up and the Snow Queen kept it up, so we didn’t technically ever learn the rules. Even when the ice wall came down the magic remained. And no one ever questioned whether or not their memories would remain intact. No rules were ever established. And I don’t think anyone tried to leave town either, nor was leaving ever discussed because the wall made that impossible. [Source]





#3 Baby Neal Confusion

When the Snow Queen was taunting Emma she said, “..and don’t you think they thank their lucky stars everyday that he was born normal” But since that was during a serious manipulation/taunting session, fans were left to argue the validity of the Snow Queen’s statement. Some fans wondered if he wouldn’t demonstrate signs of power until he was older, but seeing as they’ve only showed the baby twice in all of 4B, I’d wager that’s not looking likely. [Source]





#4 What Happened To Anastasia

For starters, Will Scarlet doesn’t even make an appearance until episode 4x03 so the “first couple of episodes” isn’t true. The only time Anastasia is brought up is when Will tears out a picture of her from Alice’s book in the library. We know Will is brokenhearted over losing her. But we have no idea what happened. Those who didn’t watch Wonderland are still confused. Those who did watch Wonderland are probably even more confused. It’s 22 episodes later and we have no context on what happened. [Source]





#5 Missing Wonderland Blanks

When a Wonderland explanation didn’t happen in the “first couple episodes” they promised it would happen in the “later half of the season.” Whether that was supposed to mean the second half of 4A or 4B, it never happened. As for that “interesting connection,” We know that Will has been to Granny’s diner before as shown in the Wonderland spinoff, but other than that we never saw an “interesting connection.” [Source]

#6 Emma’s Own Place

Later on in the season the creators explained that they wanted for Emma to have her own place, but that they didn’t have the budget for it. Fans were less than thrilled, and it didn’t help their case either that Emma kept saying “I really need my own place" and then failing to follow through on that. [Source]

#7 Elsa and Marian Interaction

I think that Elsa was in the room where Marian was frozen a couple times. Maybe not even a couple, maybe just the first time she was accused of freezing her. And that’s it. No interaction actually ever happened between the two. [Source]





#8 Hook’s Backstory

(I know that this one is hard to read. The point is Eddy saying “We will not be seeing his backstory in the first eleven episodes, but we will absolutely be seeing more in the second half of the season)

Hook backstory was promised multiple times in multiple places. Fans were bouncing off the wall excited for more of Hook’s backstory in 4B. Hook was included as part of Ursula’s backstory, but it was her backstory, not his. It didn’t fill in any of the hole’s about his past or tell us anything new about him. [Source]





#9 Lost Aurora Appearance

That article was published mid-October of 2014, which was during the filming of 4x09. Sarah did not appear in the rest of 4A. Her next episode wasn’t until 4x14, which was not filmed until mid December. So whatever Sarah was supposed to film in October was sadly scrapped [Source]







#10 Honeymoon House Mystery

We know that the significance of the house is that it belongs to the Sorcerer and has a bunch of empty books in it. But we don’t know the specifications about why Belle found it, just that she stumbled across it. If her finding the house was supposed to be intentional, we still don’t know what exactly those intentions were. For Rumple to get the hat? For Operation Mongoose to find the storybooks? For the Frozen characters to get home? What is that sneaky Sorcerer up to? [Source]





#11 The Repercussions of Sharing a Heart

We still have no idea how sharing a heart affects them. If Snow’s dark spot is still on the heart, does that mean that one of them got the black spot? Did each of them get part of the dark spot? Can they love fully with only half a heart? The questions could go on forever. [Source]





#12 Evil Queen Flashbacks in 4A

To be fair, Lana was probably just referencing playing the Evil Queen in Storybrooke during the Shattered Sight curse and covering that up by saying “flashback.” The only Regina flashback in 4A was for the split second in 4x05 where Sidney showed her who Marian was since she couldn’t remember, and this interview took place in November after that episode aired.

Lana did post a picture during the time period of 4x10/4x11 in costume as young Regina. We never got a young Regina flashback either. It’s possible her and Sean were posing for page 23 of the storybook, but that doesn’t really fit the timeline for filming either. [Source]





Announced for 4B:





#13 Confusing Theme

This was supposed to be the theme of this season. While we know what a few characters define as their personal happy ending, we never got a real answer to any of those questions. We just have conflicting statements from the characters about what they personally see as heroic or villainous. [Source]





#14 Focus on our Core Characters

I think one of the biggest fan complaints about 4B was the lack of focus on the main characters. Between the Queens of Darkness, the Author, and the Apprentice and Sorcerer, it sure didn’t feel like the focus was on the main characters. [Source]





#15 More Will Scarlett

We saw a tiny bit of Will’s background with Robin in Oz. And he didn’t play a larger part in the story. In fact, he barely had any screentime at all. I think he may have had more in 4A than he did in 4B. One thing is for sure though, fans are definitely demanding to see more of him. [Source]





#16 Cruella’s Connections

At the time the article was released, we already knew that Cruella had ties to the other Queens of Darkness and Rumple. Fans were excited to see who else she had ties to. But sadly, all we ever saw beyond that was her connection to the Author. [Source]





#17 Pongo’s Lineage

The only Dalmatian’s we saw in Cruella’s past were made into coats. So if one of those was Pongo’s grandfather, then there must have been puppies that survived somewhere? But then how on earth would the puppies have gotten to the Enchanted Forest? How on earth did Cruella even get to the Enchanted Forest? Throw us a bone writers! [Source]





#18 Regina’s Hidden Past with the Queens of Darkness

Maleficent had a past with Regina that wasn’t hidden, and in 4x14 we did learn about additional events in their past. Regina impersonated Ursula, but we also know that Ursula was named after another Ursula. So if Regina was impersonating original Ursula, then there was no hidden past with her and Ursula. And sadly, Regina had no hidden past with Cruella. [Source]





#19 Hook Making Connections in Storybrooke

Aside from the connections Hook made with Emma’s face, he mostly served as really attractive set furniture this season. He did reach out to Ursula, but that had nothing to do with integrating into Storybrooke life. [Source]





#20 Hook Seeking Revenge on Rumple

Was Hook happy with Rumple? Not even close. Did he seek revenge on him? No. In fact, Hook gave multiple speeches about how vengeance was not the answer. He even talked Emma out of the grudge she was holding. Sure he was trying to help the villains thwart Rumple’s plans, but he never sought out revenge. [Source]





#21 Emma as the Black Swan

Maybe that is what will happen in season 5 now that Emma is the dark one? Emma never technically went evil. She got super pissed off for a few episodes, she went crazy in the alternate universe in the finale, but we never saw the Black Swan. [Source]





#22 How Belle and Will Came Together

Viewers barely got a taste of that relationship in its current state, let alone finding out how they came together. Both characters had multiple scenes cute, so it’s possible that explanation landed on the cutting room floor. Maybe we’ll find out in season 5? [Source]



#23 Permanent Death Mystery

Doc and Hook both died temporarily. Rumple’s fate is in the air. Some media outlets are reporting that the Apprentice died. Others are saying his fate is still up in the air as well. TVLine’s May Sweeps Scorecard said that The Apprentice’s fate was still in the air. So as far as we know, no one is actually permanently dead. Now would be the time for a press interview for the creators to explain themselves. [Source]





#24 Evil Blue Fairy

We saw the dwarfs as villains, which was great. But what little we saw of Blue in the finale was nothing new. Someone actually tweeted Keegan at some point during 4B and asked her something along the lines of what dark Blue would be like and Keegan said something along the lines of “You don’t want to know.” That was one of the most disappointing things to me about the finale, the loss of dark Blue. [Source]





#25 Custody of Zelena’s Baby

Robin and Regina discussed some things, like erasing Roland’s memory and going back to Storybrooke. But no one committed to raising the child, and no one discussed who should or should not raise it. I think it’s safe to assume that Zelena isn’t going to get the baby on account of a childhood in a padded cell would suck, but neither Robin or Regina came forward and said they’d raise the child. Maybe we’re supposed to assume that with Robin’s honor he will raise the child? [Source]





#26 Finale Kissing Action

One of the biggest complaints about the finale was the lack of kissing action. And this wasn’t the only article that promised it either. Robin gave Regina a little kiss at the end when he arrived at the diner, but that was just about it, unless we’re counting Robin and Zelena’s kiss that we’re all trying really hard to erase from our memories. [Source]





Even though I’m strict about source links, even they can be unreliable in this unpredictable OUAT universe. I understand that writing for TV is incredibly difficult and things change at the drop of a hat. But twenty five things sure seems like an awful lot to me. Check back after season 5, or even season 5A, since chances are my frustration will fuel another one of these articles.

Xoxo-L

Spoiler Links:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/752232061471185/



https://twitter.com/OUATSpoilers

