‘Once Upon A Time’ Producers Talks Rumple Robert Carlyle Evil Plans with Maleficent Kristin Bauer, Ursula Merrin Dungey and Cruella Victoria Smurfit after Belle Emilie Ravin Betrayal [MID-SEASON]

During the mid-season finale of ABC’s Once Upon A Time, Rumple (Robert Carlyle) was kicked out of Storybrooke by his one true love, Belle (Emilie de Ravin).Now Rumple is enlisting the help of some of the enchanted forests greatest exiled villains, The Queens of Darkness, Maleficent (True Blood’s Kristin Bauer van Straten),The Little Mermaid’s Ursula (Merrin Dungey) and 101 Dalmations' Cruella De Vil (Victoria Smurfit), in order to steal back his happy ending.

Following last weekend’s mid-season finale, executive producer Eddy Kitsis spoke to TV Line about how Rumple’s plan stacks up to Regina ( Lana Parrilla) and Henry’s (Jared S. Gilmore) Operation Mongoose:

“It’s not that it’s different. It’s setting them on a collision course. As we saw in that [car] scene last night, Regina laid out to him, ‘Villains don’t get a happy ending, so I’m going to find this author,’ and he said, ‘That’s bulls**t. Watch me take one.’ Well, that blew up in his face, and now he is a man without magic in a land where he is very much not in control, so he’s beginning to see what she said. He has reached a point in his life where he is now asking for help -- he can’t do it alone -- and he thinks that Regina is on to something.”

Kitsis went on to confirm that Rumple will infact be the lead villain for the second half of the season:

“Rumple is absolutely the Big Bad. And I would also say that the three women can more than hold their own. It’s a very formidable team of evil coming our way.”

Are you happy to see Rumple return to his wicked ways? Do you want to see him receive his happy ending? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.