Finally, the characters from Frozen are starting to meld their way into the Once Upon a Time family. I mean that literally. We recently learned about Sara "Ingrid" Fisher, aka the Snow Queen's missing sister Helga, and odds are we've met her before. You don't throw siblings around on this show willy nilly. She has to be somebody we already know, or connected to somebody important. Grand Pabbie says that Ingrid and Helga vanished. It is presumed that something awful happened to Helga. Ingrid may have even killed her. That would certainly explain the fear culture that took over third sister Gerda's household when Elsa was growing up. But I find it somewhat unlikely that Helga was killed as a child. One theory buzzing around Tumblr is that Helga is David's mother and Emma Swan's grandmother.
Tumblr users baristafangirl and hollycassie7 brought to my attention the possibility that David's mother, who we know as Ruth, might have been a princess of Arendelle all along. There isn't too much we know about the young shepherd's family. We know that David's twin brother James was taken by Rumplestiltskin to be a prince. Considering the emphasis that Ingrid seems to place on family, that would be a major betrayal if she ever found out. We know that David's father died when he was young, however we just learned that this season, so it must be significant. Could Ingrid have been responsible for the death of David's father? She doesn't seem to mind getting rid of family members she deems "unworthy."
I really like the implications of this theory, and not just because it means Emma did live with family growing up. There's ice truck loads of evidence to prove it as well.
She looks like Emma
In the illustrated family tree that Emma and Belle found in the library, Helga is said to look just like Emma, and this theory makes the two related, as Emma would be Helga's granddaughter. In an upcoming episode, Helga will be played by Sally Pressman (according to the official ABC press release). So unless OUAT is planning some convoluted time travel plot again, or Ingrid's prophecy means to somehow transform Emma into the dead Helga, it would make sense that she took after her grandmother.
It would explain Emma's magic
I don't know much about magical biology — but I do know that there is no magic in Snow or David's biological families. If magic is genetic, Emma must have gotten it from somewhere. I always thought that Emma had magic because she was the product of True Love™ and this kind of takes away that mystery. However, I might not be right. Emma has a different kind of magic than Elsa and Ingrid, so there's clearly more to it.
David has been to Arendelle
He also knows Kristoff. Maybe Helga and David used to visit in secret when David was a child. They could have grown up in Arendelle until being banished to the Enchanted Forest, or ran away to the Enchanted Forest because of whatever happened to Ingrid. It's possible that Helga is responsible for Ingrid getting trapped in that urn.
David is royalty after all
This is what I love most about this theory. It would mean that David was always meant to be a prince. That is a lovely sentiment. Deep down, Snow White's royal beau has some insecurities about having grown up as a struggling shepherd, and living through the curse as the incompetent and dishonorable David Nolan. This proves his destiny. It's a family connection on this show that's sweet for once, not sinister.
This also means that David and Anna (and Elsa) are cousins, which is just adorable. They had a nice, familial chemistry in that flashback. Anna could tell he was meant for something greater. Before we learned anything about the Snow Queen and her history, I suspected that David's family was related to Kristoff. This, however, seems much more fitting for the future Charming.
Images: Jack Rowand/ABC; mauradorableisles, herardentwish, onceuponatime-fairytales/Tumblr; Giphy
