Trivia / Once Upon a Time S6 E11 "Tougher Than the Rest"

• Deleted Scene:
  • Originally, the plan to stop Gideon which Belle asked David and Hook to let her try before they attempted to kill him involved going to Zelena and appealing to her for help, one mother to another—and when she gets to her farmhouse, Zelena is in the process of fulfilling the Screw This, I'm Outta Here trope (since she knows without Regina or the Evil Queen around, Gideon, either on his own or working with Gold, is far too dangerous to risk staying in town with baby Robin).
  • Another scene then reveals that after Zelena agreed to help, she wanted a backup plan in case Gideon couldn't be reasoned with: taking dark fairy dust from the Cobra!Evil Queen to use against him, after which he could be readily crushed. This acts as a What You Are in the Dark moment (since Zelena had frozen Belle so they could have the conversation), in which Hook and David had to weigh the danger to everyone against their promise to Belle they would try to save her son if they could, and shows that while she has mostly performed her Heel–Face Turn, Zelena still remains deeply pragmatic and anyone who works with her on the heroes' side has to consider it at least a White-and-Grey Morality moment if not an Enemy Mine.
    • It's also Foreshadowing of a number of things—the dark fairy dust used by the Black Fairy to transform Gideon's friend Roderick (and which she will later trick Zelena into creating more of), the Evil Queen getting changed back later (Zelena also references her plans to leave town with the cobra when she can), and even the globe of dark fairy dust that will create the curse to start the Final Battle. Presumably if these scenes had been left in, Emma's return, showdown with Gideon, and destruction of the sword would have convinced David, Hook, and Belle that Zelena's help wasn't needed, allowing them to focus on other means to protect the town or restore Gideon to himself as Belle and Gold had discussed at the well—such as Gold's talk with Gideon (and assisting him with the Blue Fairy) which would happen two episodes later.