‘Once Upon a Time’ season 3 spoilers: Who is Rumpelstiltskin kissing?

Sometimes, we feel like it is impossible for the creators of “Once Upon a Time” to introduce a new character without somehow getting the involved with the other people already on the show … or finding a way to attach them to the family tree. For example, just look at Peter Pan being Rumpelstiltskin’s father, or the image attached here that we are talking about today.

Who knew that the Dark One had such a storied romantic past with the Wicked Witch? What we can tell you for now about this image is that it is from the April 20 episode of the show, and just from looking at the characters’ closing, it actually looks like it is happening more in present-day Storybrooke than at any point in the past. Does this mean bad new for Rumple and Belle? A photo taken out of context can be very misleading, and for the time being, we’re going to hope that this is all part of a larger plan.

For now, executive producer Adam Horowitz is staying um on what is really going on here, save for a quote that he handed to TV Guide (who were the first ones to post the image). Maybe this will be enough for Rumbelle shippers to have a little bit of hope:

“Either the Storybrooke Tinder app has an extremely limited pool of potential dates or there’s more going on here than appears at first blush.”

One possible strategy here is for Robert Carlyle’s character to do his best to convince Zelena that he is completely under her control, and what better way to do that than pretend he is in love? The trouble here is that she’s very smart in addition to being wicked, and you have to wonder just how long she would believe that.

Hopefully, Sunday’s “It’s Not Easy Being Green” should at least give you some ore insight on that.