Sean Maguire To Return As Robin Hood On Once Upon A Time

When it comes to Once Upon A Time, characters don't stay gone for long. Not even death can keep some of the show's characters away from a happy ending, so could that be why Sean Maguire is returning to the series? Entertainment Weekly is reporting the actor will reprise his role of Robin Hood in Season 6 despite his untimely end.

Executive producers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis told the site, "We're thrilled to have Sean back for this story arc and are excited for the audience to see what we have planned, which in the wake of his character's heartbreaking demise, is something we hope is unexpected and surprising."

Of course, fans of the Once Upon A Time will remember what befell the rascally character last season. Robin met a rather grim fate following an encounter with Hades. The character sacrificed himself to save Regina, his true love, and left fans sobbing. The show teased that Robin's end left his soul stuck in an eternal limbo, but the Season 6 premiere retconned that reality.

Instead, Regina learned from Henry that Hades might have been lying when he said Robin would never reach the afterlife. If that's the case, then it means Robin might have moved on - or he could be lingering around to say his final farewells.

The season shocker was teased earlier this year at San Diego Comic Con when both Horowitz and Kitsis said Hades might have been lying. After all, that's what villains do. However, the duo did say that Once Upon A Time would not 'pull a Hook' with Robin and rescue the character's soul from the Underworld.

"I don't see that happening," Kitsis said, calling the response a "respectful answer to [his] fans....We've had loss on this show, we've had people come back. We're not going to the Underworld this year, so I can tell you that a lot of this year is about Regina dealing with loss and moving on."

The producer went on to say, "By moving on, we don't mean falling in love with someone right away. That's not realistic to us. This was someone she did love, who she did lose. We hope that we deal with that grief and its aftermath in a real way."

Obviously, it will be Regina who is hit hardest by the loss. The Evil Queen had fallen in love with the fictional scoundrel, and many fans fear the death of Robin will lead the character back to the dark side. In a recent interview, Kitsis said Season 6 will be about "Regina dealing with loss and moving on, because I think Regina has the most unfair luck of anybody. We hope that we deal with that grief and its aftermath in a real way."

Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

[H/T] Entertainment Weekly