‘Once Upon a Time’ season 3 spoilers: Will Tinker Bell, Ariel return?

At the end of the first part of “Once Upon a Time” season 3, we understand that you could make an argument that the story of Tinker Bell was over. She was a woman who had lost her ability to be magical, but thanks in part to her new-found friends and Neverland (and a little bit of self-belief), she was able to get it back. Then, you could also say the same exact thing about Ariel. This is a woman who struggled for a longtime to find her identity and her one true love in Prince Eric, but she now has. These two moves were set up pretty perfectly, at least in that if for whatever reason we were never able to see the characters again, you would still be happy. (If only we had that for Mulan, Aurora, or Red right now…)

But, the good news now anyway is that you are going to see both Rose McIver and JoAnna Garcia Swisher back on the show again as these characters at some point this season. Co-creator Edward Kitsis confirmed as much in a TV Guide interview:

“We’re still going to get to see Tink (Rose McIver) again and Ariel (JoAnna Garcia Swisher) and some of the people we met in the first half of the season as well. Lumiere (Henri Lubatti) is one of our favorite characters. He’s really fun and interesting. “

Some of the other new faces that you can expect to see in this new season include also the Wicked Witch (the Big Bad for this part of the season) and Rapunzel, who can bring a touch of new fairy-tale mystique to a show that has already shown us plenty so far.

The show returns on March 9 with “New York City Serenade,” otherwise known as an hour of TV that is essential for bringing the Emma Swan character back into the world of magic versus the world of New York City.