The upcoming third season of Once Upon A Time will be split into two parts, showrunners Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz announced during a Q&A session at the 2013 ATX Television Festival on June 8.

"I know the audience loves when we're off the air for four weeks," Kitsis joked about the show's rabid fan base. "I know it's a good schedule for everyone."

With the lengthy break, which WetPaint speculated could be as long as 11 weeks, the showrunners believe it would allow the chance to shape the season into two distinctive acts. They would both be "focused and contained" with its own opening and conclusion. They also offered some clues as to what might go down come the fall. For instance, the premiere is set to begin right where the show left off, as several of its characters sailed away on the Jolly Roger to recover Henry from Neverland.

"I think we can say it's pretty much a direct pickup. We're not going to skip ahead 10 years," Horowitz told the audience. "What you saw at the end of the finale is the jumping off point. There are characters with Hook. There are characters left behind in Storybrooke."

Horowitz also noted that just because some characters are off on an adventure to Neverland doesn't mean that the action is moving completely away from Storybrooke. Belle is just one of the characters remaining in the town, and the showrunners suggested that there's a good story just in the reactions that the characters left in Storybrooke have toward those who have left.

"We've hopefully created a situation where the dramatic stakes are heightened but allow us to delve deeper into each of the characters," Horowitz continued.

As for the motley crew aboard the ship, there appears to be the potential for strange bedfellows, in terms of both alliances and romantic relationships.

"For us what's interesting is to see this motley crew on this ship and you're wondering how the hell are they going to work together," Kitsis said, likely referring to the odd pairing of Emma and Regina in the latter stages of season 2.

They also teased a potential love connection between Emma and Captain Hook, as "they are on a ship together and Emma thinks Neal's dead." Kitsis said he believed that a new romance could help Hook finally reconcile his past relationships.

"Here's a guy that want's a new chance," Kitsis said, "and I think being surrounded by all these characters last year and even seeing his nemesis happy made him realize that maybe after these 100 years I need to get over Mila."

Among the plot lines is Rumpelstiltskin, a character who's walked a tightrope teetering between good and evil for the past two seasons. He might just be on a quest for redemption and with Neal presumed dead, the showrunners said that he is likely to assist in Henry's rescue to honor his son. Horowitz said, "Right now, unfortunately for him, he's on a path where the prophecy said he's going to die, so we'll see if he's going to survive that."

Despite being rather forthcoming with other aspects of the show, Kitsis and Horowitz did remain coy one one subject. When asked if Rumpelstiltskin may still have it in for Henry because he considers him his "undoing," they simply answered, "Excellent question," and said little more past that.

Once Upon A Time will return in the fall 2013 season.

Tags
Once Upon A Time, Once Upon A Time Season 3