'OUAT' Season 5 Will Introduce Rumple's Mother

Ugh, is it the end of September yet? Once Upon A Time Season 5 seems like it's shaping up to be one of the best yet, but it's still more than three months away, and the time is going so slowly. We already know that we're going to be looking for Merlin and will likely take us out of Storybrooke for part of the season, but now another piece of the puzzle has fallen into place: As reported by TV Line, Once execs are looking to cast the role of Rumpelstiltskin's mother, Evanna, meaning we're likely to get a whole lot more insight into the former Dark One's background.

Of course, attempting to restore Emma to her former Savior self and cast off the Darkness-with-a-capital-D will likely be the main focus of Season 5, but Gold's story will be an important one, as well. When we left him in "Operation Mongoose", he'd been put into a magical status, of sorts, by the Apprentice, after he attempted to use the hat to take the Dark One out of Gold to save his blackened heart from giving out completely. It backfired, obviously, but Gold can't stay in that coma forever. When we wakes up, he'll just be plain old Rumple again: powerless, a bit cowardly, and likely none too pleased about losing his magic. So how does Rumple's mother come into all this?

According to the casting notice, the role of Evanna should taken by a "stunningly beautiful" actress in her mid-20s to early 30s who's "plucky, strong and imbued with an unshakable sense of self-confidence". Oh, and she's got to be able to do a mean Scottish accent. The character herself is said to be pretty different from how her son turned out, with an impulsive but caring nature. She'll likely be seen only in flashback scenes (no one's crossing realms, here, or so it seems), which means we're probably going to delve into what made Rumple who he was before he became the Dark One, and why he was so cowardly.

This is a perfect time to introduce Evanna, particularly because Rumpelstiltskin is going through such a monumental change. Having the Darkness removed from you after, oh, 400 years or so would leave anyone more than a little bereft, and it'll take more than a few visits to Archie's office to come to terms with all he's done. Still, we'll need to delve deep if Gold's truly going to rehabilitate himself, which may or may not end up happening in the end, anyway. Robert Carlyle has done a tremendous job with the character over the years, but he's been somewhat neglected in recent seasons in favor of telling some bigger storylines, so it'll be nice to see him get a bit of attention come Season 5.

Something tells me, however, that Rumple's relationship with his mother was not necessarily the best, for whatever reason. While Evanna isn't described as an evil monster, there must have been a reason for Rumple to have turned into such a meek and cowardly man once grown. Plus, we already know his father ended up being Peter Pan, so how that came about will be interesting to see. In addition, we might actually get to find out the story of why he had that limp. Was it a serious childhood illness? An unexplained accident? Who's to say? I know one thing, though: I can't wait to find out a little more about what makes Rumple tick.

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