Once Upon a Time Forums

I'm sure there is some topic already about this but I couldn't find it. So who do you think Henry's dad is?

Dependent on how time is with FTL and SB I would like to say it might be baelfire but that is still kinda out there. I think it would give a nice rounded plot for the families. The only massive problem is time because Emma says she got pregnant when she was 18, let's add a year to 10 on to that and baelfire's age of probably 15 and it doesn't really make sense but it would be an interesting plot of it where true.

If Bae came to our world shortly after his 14th birthday (certainly not more than 15), the question is timelapse. Rumplestiltskin is rumored to have been the Dark One for centuries. We know for fact that Bae was being conscripted into "the" Ogre War- arguably the first; that Granny met her wolf around the end of the Second Ogre War (direct statement by character); And that Belle's housekeeping stint began at the close of the Third. (Characters did not say it was the Third, but it's easy to place in time because of Regina's and Belle's current ages, and the fact that Charming came to the same house to talk to Rumplestiltskin- that's when Rumplestiltskin gothis hair for the true love potion off the cloak.)

Even if Pinocchio and Emma arrived in Storybrooke's world minutes after Bae's arrival, due to some kind of magical time warp (cue Rocky Horror soundtrack), there's still the 18 years it took Emma to grow up. Bae would be a minimum of 32, with no extra years required. Then there's the 10 years needed to get to the present day- Bae would be a minimum of 42 years old. So I'm thinking they'd need a 40-50 year old actor to play Bae, IFthe producers use the straight timeline same as I did. This kind of squares with my notion that when Emma said Henry's father was a bad man, she was referring to someone considerably older than herself.

I'm not saying that Bae is Henry's dad (there's a whole lot of bad guys in the world); but it's not impossible. The whole "magically retrieving the poison apple" sequence could plausibly be hinting at this. I'm sure Mr Gold confronting his son, who is the same age he is, can't be any stranger than Emma being older than her own parents!

I still maintain that Henry's dad has no reason to know Henry exists (since Emma didn't tell him she was pregnant); but since Henry has already gotten Emma to Storybrooke, he may well decide to work on the "dad" angle next. While the jury is still out on Emma's ability to detect people lying to her, it's fairly safe to say that she's not very good at telling lies herself- Henry will get the secret of his father's identity out of her pretty quickly once he decides to.

Is it possible that Rumplestiltskin's interest in "true love and what it creates", as well as his "investment" in Snow's and Emma's futures, both stem from Emma's being the one who can reunite him with his son? Or is this not complex enough a plotlinefor the writers of this maddeningly good show?

Some people think Jefferson is Baelfire- it could be possible, if the green vortex created by the magic bean and the green vortex created by the Hat are the same. That actually fits in with your theory of Bae being Peter Pan (the eternal boy, which is kind of how Rumplestiltskin pictures him), and rules out Bae being Henry's dad in one fell swoop, since Emma didn't recognize Jefferson right off. It could also fit with the loss of Grace's mom.

I'd really like to see a scene with Jefferson and Rumplestiltskin, to see how they react to each other!

Given the most recent trailer, there's also the possibility that Captain Hook would be Henry's dad! Right coloring, definitely a bad guy, and closer to the proper age. He'd most likely have been a drug smuggler, and Emma was in prison in Florida when she had Henry; so it's plausible. Not someone I'd want to tell Henry about!

The only problem I would have with Captain Hook being Henry's father is, my understanding is EVERYONE (except Pinocchio, Emma, and Bae) was secluded to this one never aging town. So how would Captain Hook have left? We've seen what happens when people try to leave Storybrooke, they can't. Though this brings up an interesting thought, why was Henry able to leave? I suppose it is because he is not originally from Fairytale Land?

The only people from Fairytale Land that haven't been forced into this town are the ones I mentioned earlier. And to be honest, because Emma believes that Henry's father was a bad man it makes me sad to think it's Bae, since of Bae and his father, he seemed to be the good one.

Dracomom made some good points in their first post here. It got me thinking. If Rumplestiltskin had been the Dark One for a few hundred years before Emma was born and after Bae vanished, the timeline of Bae being Henry's father obviously wouldn't make sense, and I know the Blue Fairy's powerful, but I'm pretty sure she can't alter time. So maybe time between there and here is sort of like Narnia time. If a year goes by here, it's a hundred in Narnia. I could have been seconds between Bae showing up and Pinnochio with Emma for all we know. True, it might be a bit creepy if Bae was 14 years older than Emma, but it could be worse. Also, we know that Emma didn't want to tell Henry the truth about his father. Bae looked super angry when his dad went back on his promise, and that can lead to bad-boy like qualities.

I have a strong feeling that at the time of Emma growing up, she hooked up with a character from the Fairy Tale world who was transported to the real world before the curse. Do you know where I am getting at?

Aside from Emma and August (aka Pinnochio), the only other individual who left fairy tale world, out of the curse, into the real world was Rumplestiltskin's son, Baelfire. So, I have a feeling that in the real world Baelfire and Emma hooked up and eventually had a son together. Does anyone else agree on this possibility?

The theory of Bae being Peter Pan or one of the other lost boys makes a lot of sense from the timeline aspect; not so much from the "Land without Magic" view. However- Pan took characters from Victorian London. (Sherlock Holmes and Alice in Wonderland were contemporaries) So Pan had some way not just to get to the Storybrooke universe, but to bring people from there with him. And a fairy companion- we haven't seen Tinkerbelle yet, but in the original story she was a bit working-class and rebellious against authority. Maybe she goes up against Rheul Ghorm? (Go Tink!)

Henry's dad is known to be 1) a "bad guy", whom Emma doesn't want to admit to; 2) older than Emma, thus possibly Regina's age; and 3) unaware of Henry's existence. He was not identified on the official paperwork, according to Emma (she didn't want him in Henry's life) Emma would know him when she saw him, or recognize his name, unless he used an alias. (Thus he cannot be Jefferson, August, or Mr Gold. Sorry guys!)

Henry's dad is probably 1) darkhaired; 2) dealing on the shady side of legal; 3) wealthy enough to dazzle a broke teenager (Emma was probably 17 when she got pregnant). My cynical nature suggests drugrunning as a profession (although robbery or pimping might fit).

My personal belief is that he set Emma up to go to jail- she spent 2 years in Tallahassee (which could include the initial arrest, trial etc), It wasn't too serious an offense (youthful offender, short sentence), but it would limit her employment options.So she took to bounty hunting. Any guesses how a teen raised in Boston ends up in Florida?

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Hi All!

Sadly I just typed out a whole diatribe and this thing deleted it so let me try again!

I just wanted to address some of what I've read on the forums regarding the theories around Henry's Dad. I, like many, am eager to guess at who it could be!

Anyway, I've been going back and watching the first season to pick up on extra hints I likely missed and here are my thoughts:

Regarding Bae being Peter Pan:

So I remember in the episode where Bae received the magic bean from the Blue Fairy she told him the only way to help his father is to take him to a land where magic does not exist. If Bae went to Neverland that would nullify what the Blue Fairy said because Neverland clearly has magic (fairies, fairy dust, boys who can fly...?!?!) So, if Bae AND Rumpelstiltskin were both going through the vortex why would she send him somewhere where magic still exists. It was always my presumption that Bae came to our world - a land without magic.

Regarding Captain Hook as Henry's Father:

If the story Emma first told about Henry's father is true, about him training to be a fireman, would that fit the bill for Captain Hook... and man with one hand missing?!

Other Thoughts:

So I just saw an episode where Emma first starts talking to Henry about his Dad one clue she dropped had to do with him always asking for Pumpkin Pie... any other fairy tales/stories out there involving pumpkins besides Cinderella and Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater?! Now... the latter of course could point back to Henry's Dad being Peter Pan... though I don't feel Baelfire and Peter Pan are one and the same.

Hi All!

Sadly I just typed out a whole diatribe and this thing deleted it so let me try again!

I just wanted to address some of what I've read on the forums regarding the theories around Henry's Dad. I, like many, am eager to guess at who it could be!

Anyway, I've been going back and watching the first season to pick up on extra hints I likely missed and here are my thoughts:

Regarding Bae being Peter Pan:

So I remember in the episode where Bae received the magic bean from the Blue Fairy she told him the only way to help his father is to take him to a land where magic does not exist. If Bae went to Neverland that would nullify what the Blue Fairy said because Neverland clearly has magic (fairies, fairy dust, boys who can fly...?!?!) So, if Bae AND Rumpelstiltskin were both going through the vortex why would she send him somewhere where magic still exists. It was always my presumption that Bae came to our world - a land without magic.

Regarding Captain Hook as Henry's Father:

If the story Emma first told about Henry's father is true, about him training to be a fireman, would that fit the bill for Captain Hook... and man with one hand missing?!

Other Thoughts:

So I just saw an episode where Emma first starts talking to Henry about his Dad one clue she dropped had to do with him always asking for Pumpkin Pie... any other fairy tales/stories out there involving pumpkins besides Cinderella and Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater?! Now... the latter of course could point back to Henry's Dad being Peter Pan... though I don't feel Baelfire and Peter Pan are one and the same.

Emma confessed to Mary Margaret that she made up the story she told Henry about his father, because she didn't want her son to know the truth. So I figured there were no clues there- which may be wrong. But I don't think he was really a fireman at all.

If you remember the doors in the Hat, representing the different realms,I imagine that Neverland is one; also Oz. We know for fact that one is Wonderland. My point is that there may bemore than one way into the Storybrooke reality, depending on where you start. You might have to go from FTL to Neverland and then to Storybrooke, like switching planes when you fly cross country- unless you get a direct flight via magic bean, Dark Curse, etc. Maybe some connections are more complex than others?

Also, remember the poisoned apple. Jefferson brought it through time as well as space using the Hat, so there may be some loopholes there. Regina had to remember where the apple was to get it- this argues that you can go backward but not forward.

Okay I know this may be a stretch, but what got me thinking Henry's father might be Baelfire is because in Emma's story about him she said he was training to be a fireman. As we all know even when we are making stories up, many times we pull things from things we know are true. So I feel like him being a fireman and Baelfire's name having fire in it as well, the writers may have been dropping us a clue. I know the timeline is all messed up for that, but I mean come on - this is a show about magic and fairytale characters who were transported to a different land. I feel like the writers could make up whatever excuse they wanted to explain it and we'd just be like "oh okay." Lol.

Yay! A forum where I can discuss Henry's paternity.

First off, I agree with dracomom about the timeline and the only solution I can come up with is that the Dark Curse is able to alter time so that they arrive in Storybrooke right when Baelfire went through the portal.

I also agree with RodneshaGreen. It wouldn't make sense for Bael to go to Neverland, because Neverland also has magic. He must have come to our world, or a similar world without magic.

I originally thought that Baelfire was Henry's father, but lately I have changed my mind. I now feel certain that Henry's father is somehow connected to Regina, though I don't know how or why. Maybe Regina had a son or a brother that somehow passed into our world - or maybe her stable boy somehow came to our world. I don't know, but it is strange that Henry ended up with Regina and it is strange that Regina, who is cruel to everyone else, is so strongly attached to Henry, so there's got to be a reason.

NOW, SPOILER ALERT!!!! This is the trailer for the episode Tallahassee, which is supposed to tell Emma's past. I took it fromhttp://onceuponatime.wikia.com/wiki/Tallahassee

With the hopes of finding a magical compass that could help her and Mary Margaret get back to Storybrooke, Emma takes a journey with a not-too-trustworthy Captain Hook up a treacherous beanstalk in an attempt to steal the item from a murderous giant. Meanwhile, Emma's past is revealed to be anything but magical when she meets up with a fellow thief who wants to make an honest woman out of her [1]

So this makes it sound like Emma meets up with Henry's father in the FTL somehow. It makes it sound like both were thieves and it makes it sound like Henry's father proposes to her when he finds out about Henry. I assume this is what "make an honest woman out of her" means.

So I'd say she met Henry's father, a thief, who is somehow connected to Regina, in Tallahassee and they robbed someone together. Then Henry's father took off and Emma ended up in jail.

What do y'all think?

IF the dove that delivered the note "Broken" to the new guy in Boston was Mr Dove, Rumplestiltskin's henchman who drives away Moe French's florist van, THEN I don't think he can be Baelfire. But I could be wrong.

I also think August might offer to make Emma an honest woman; he tried to steal the Dagger, and he can leave Storybrooke.