Were We Totally Wrong About This 'OUAT' Theory?

Well, I guess we have to let this go. A few weeks ago, Once Upon A Time announced the castings of Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff for its upcoming Frozen storyline with a twist. Elizabeth Mitchell was also cast as an unidentified, possibly villainous character, which prompted multiple theories on Mitchell's involvement in Season 4, including Bustle's theory that Anna might be dead and that we'll see a young Elsa in flashbacks, and an older Elsa in present day. But on Thursday, the first on-set photos of Georgina Haig as Frozen 's Elsa on OUAT arrived, and it looks like both of those theories are dunzo.

I, for one, was absolutely convinced that the two-Elsas theory was correct. This particular OUAT theory had Haig playing young, pre-Rumpel-imprisonment Elsa and Mitchell playing present-day, villainous Elsa with a revenge agenda against Rumpel. And, if that were the case, it would play nicely alongside the theory that Elsa's younger sister, Anna, had died before Elsa was imprisoned or during her imprisonment, leaving her sister to avenge her in Storybrooke in Season 4. Unfortunately, both of these theories — even though they sound like they'd make great television — seem to be completely wrong.

In these first photos of Haig as Elsa, it appears that she's actually going to be in present-day Storybrooke where she'll interact with Hook, Emma, and we can assume, the rest of OUAT's series regulars.

Sure, it's still possible that, in the time that Elsa was imprisoned in Rumpel's urn, Anna met a terrible fate. There's still potential for that storyline to come true. But the fact that Haig is appearing as Elsa in Storybrooke absolutely means that Mitchell can't play an older version of the character. (OUAT doesn't have a history of doing storyline-specific flash-forwards.) Haig in Storybrooke also reveals that time for Elsa might not have passed in the same way it passed for everyone else while she was trapped in Rumpel's urn.

So, now we're back to square one, OUAT fans. But at least Haig is the most convincing Elsa we could've imagined.

Image: Disney