‘Once Upon a Time’ season 6 winter finale: What the Sean Maguire surprise means

Kudos to the producers of “Once Upon a Time” for figuring out a way to surprise us in the closing minutes of tonight’s winter finale — they delivered a gut-punch of an ending, and also found a way to distract us so much by the alternate-universe twist that we didn’t even think about a potential Robin Hood return. What makes this even funnier is that it was reported well over a month ago that the excellent Sean Maguire would be returning, but in a capacity that was unclear.

What do we know about this new iteration of Robin? Well, there is some of the same backstory that is present here, but at the same exact time, the roads have diverged. This is not the same man who Regina loved in Storybrooke, but there is that element of destiny to it. Will Regina want to stay in this Enchanted Forest forever? We presume it is difficult, and she will be incredibly torn. She has a great romantic love here in this world, while in Storybrooke she’s got a different sort of love in Henry. If she’s in this world, she’s not with her son and that could get complicated.

Speaking of complicated, there are many other questions that we’ve got. For example, is there still an Evil Queen in the Enchanted Forest, and could someone else find a way to get over to that world and back? Is there a way to bring this Robin back to Storybrooke and for Regina to get a happily ever after that way? Also, what about the arrival of Rumpelstiltskin and Belle’s son in Storybrooke, and what does he want with the Savior?

Obviously, there are many questions still to be answered, and to think, there is still that prophecy hanging over everyone’s head for the time being. We gotta wait until March, regrettably, to see what happens next. For the time being, let’s just be happy we’re getting a little more of Sean in the coming episodes.

If interested, head over here to read our review from this past episode of “Once Upon a Time” in full! We’re going to have some further updates regarding what comes next in the coming days. (Photo: ABC.)