All the characters on ABC's Once Upon a Time are fairy tale characters who have been cursed to spend eternity in Storybrooke, Maine. They are still their fairy tale selves, but they've lost their memories of who they really are, and have been torn from the ones they love ... One of the fun challenges of the show is putting clues together to figure out who everyone is/was, and what story they belong to.
A few weeks ago, a mysterious stranger showed up in Storybrooke, riding a motorcycle, and carrying a mysterious wooden box. We later learned that he carried an old typewriter, and he was later dubbed, The Writer. Does he have something to do with putting these fractured faery tales back on track?
There are a lot of theories floating around out there as to who he is, and why he can leave StoryBrooke, when no one else can (besides Emma). Some crazy theories out there like :
1) He's the son Rumple lost (Look, I'd love to see Baelfire come back, but this is not the guy. Bael had beautiful brown eyes ... )
2) He's Henry as an adult (Then why does he seem to have a love interest on Henry's mom? Ewe!
3) He's Henry's father - then why doesn't Emma remember him?
4) One of the Brothers Grimm - Maybe. He is a writer.
No--there's only 1 theory that makes any sense in my mind : Pinocchio!
Evidence :
A) The coloring is about right : blue eyes and brown hair, lighter as a kid.
B) He's good with his hands, learned a lot in the workshop with Gepetto. In a later episode, we see August fixing / amending Henry's storybook -- in a workshop somewhere in Storybrooke. He hasn't forgotten what he learned from his father!
C) There are numerous instances where Mr. Booth says things like, "I cannot tell a lie," and then he tells some whopper about lemurs in Nepal (what?). Yeah--maybe he has traveled the world, but there are no lemurs in Nepal!
D) He seems to be able to come and go, like Emma, whereas all other residents of Storybrooke are trapped there. Their cars veer off the road anytime they get near the city limits.
Other Observations : He spends a lot of time around the town well, and knows the powers of the healing waters to bring back anything lost (like memories?). He is invested in the stories in Storybrooke, but is it for the common good? Or is he just a pathological liar?
Anyway, he'll be a good one for Emma who has a talent for being able to tell when someone is lying. She will keep him in line!
See those Pinocchio Blue eyes! It's got to be him!
Update March 25, 2012
In this scene from the Heart of Darkness episode, AWB sits in Grannie's diner with Henry. AWB tells Henry that the stories in his book really happened. They are "as real as I am," he says. I also see a little eye roll, there, that totally reminds me of the puppet! Pinocchio was a wooden puppet who wanted to be real. This is another way that his character "leaks out" in Storybrooke. Only time will tell if I'm right about this!
Update April 25, 2012
As of The Return episode aired this week, we now know that August is NOT Rumple's long-lost son, Baelfire. They didn't explicitly come out and say he was Pinocchio. However, the donkey paperweight in August's room is a pretty good indicator that he very likely IS Pinocchio :
Here you see Mr Gold snooping around August's room looking for clues to August's true identity. Photo from here.
Here's the Pinocchio-Donkey Transformation scene from Disney's Pinocchio movie:
Update April 25, 2012
As of The Return episode aired this week, we now know that August is NOT Rumple's long-lost son, Baelfire. They didn't explicitly come out and say he was Pinocchio. However, the donkey paperweight in August's room is a pretty good indicator that he very likely IS Pinocchio :
Here's the Pinocchio-Donkey Transformation scene from Disney's Pinocchio movie:
I guess he keeps that little trinket around to remind him NOT to be a jackass. We all learn our lessons in life!
Update as of April 29, 2012
All this is verified in The Stranger episode. Yes! He's Pinocchio!
Kitsis and Horowitz have said that they named August W. Booth after the guy who coined the phrase "the unreliable narrator." Pinocchio is a storyteller.
Well done, Once Upon a Time! I have enjoyed the mystery these many months. ;-)
10 comments:
sounds like a GREAT theory to me. whichever way the case turns out, i'm just excited to be able to witness it. i guess we'll see.
August W. Booth
A.W.B.
A Wooden Boy
Totally agree! I just saw Pinocchio, and the last half seems to be revealing to me...like at Pleasure Island, Jiminy Cricket walks across and under a broken book...Got be thinking about how August dug up Henry's book at the playground.
Watch Pinocchio…the last part seemed revealing to me…like at the deserted Pleasure Island, Jiminy Cricket runs across and underneath a broken book. Got me thinking about August digging up Henry’s book in the playground.
Plus August has bright blue eyes...
I agree with the theory that August is Pinnochio. I also believe he is the 7-year-old boy who found baby Emma and the author of Henry's book. Here's why:
1) We have seen Pinnochio as a young (7-year-old?) boy in at least a couple of scenes in Fairytale Land. We have not, though, seen a boy in Storybrooke who could be Pinnochio's counterpart. We have seen Gepetto's and Jiminy Cricket's counterparts in Storybrooke...why not Pinnochio's?
2) If they went through the portal to escape the curse at the same time, 7-year-old Pinnochio certainly would have been in the right place at the right time to "find" baby Emma and take her to someplace where she would be safe.
3) If Pinnochio did not end up in Storybrooke like the other Fairytale characters, he would have aged just like Emma has. August looks like he's in his mid-30s, so the math would be right (age 7 + 28 years = 35).
4) Regina commented that there was something familiar about August when he first showed up in Storybrooke. Presumably she knew (or at least had seen) Pinnochio when he was a child in Fairytale Land, so it wouldn't be a stretch that she thought the adult version of Pinnochio resembled someone she had seen before.
5) Since Pinnochio lived in Fairytale Land and had knowledge of what happened there before the curse took effect, it makes sense that he would be the one who wrote the stories in Henry's book. It also makes sense that he showed up in Storybrooke 28 years later to add to the book. He no doubt knew that Emma was going to show up then as the "savior" to shake things up and that the final battle would begin then. Before then, nothing new would have happened for him to write about...
I can't wait to see if August really is Pinnochio and, if he is, how he escaped the curse. Maybe he was built into the magical tree or just put in there by Gepetto before Emma was, particularly if Gepetto knew that Snow had given birth and was not going to be able to join Emma in the tree.
Whatever happens, I LOVE this show!!
Oh my God that's brilliant! Well done. I think you are totally right.
I recently watched some commentary from the writers and they said that someone in the blogosphere was right about AWB.
AND there is an upcoming episode entitled "The Stranger" that tells the backstory of...none other than...well I think you can guess. ;)
Another interesting tidbit - there is a literary theorist named Wayne C. Booth (AWB's "W" is for Wayne - or so he says) whose main work is on the concept of the "unreliable narrator".
Wikipedia says:
"This narrative mode is one that can be developed by an author for a number of reasons, usually to deceive the reader or audience."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreliable_narrator
Not the most trustworthy, eh Pinocchio?
Here is something to think about. Only one person could fit in the chest with emma. But pinocchio is not a real boy.....
I think you are right on the money about AWB, and thank you for that Donkey ref. that sealed the deal for me.
If any is wondering how Pino would have been able to travel in the wardrobe, here is my theory.
Spoilers say Gepetto is going to make a deal with the Blue Fairy to save his son. Only one person could go through in the wardrobe. I'm thinking that Gepetto had the BF turn Pino back to wood allowing him to travel in the wardrobe. Once Pino got to our world where there is no magic he reverted back to flesh, just like Jimminey changed from cricket to human once arriving here.
Now why is AWB dying? Once Emma started the clock and the curse slowly begins to end, AWB is now reverting back to wood, seeking out Rumple for a cure.
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