Once Upon a Time season 5 will introduce Merida in the premiere, but what else do we know about her? Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis offer some details.

The Scottish Highlands are getting the Once Upon a Time treatment when the series returns in just over a month’s time. Since the creators revealed that Merida would be putting her archery skills to use in a land Enchanted Forest adjacent at Comic-Con, fans have theorized how she would fit into the twisted fairytale narrative. Speaking to EW, Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis dispelled some rumors and offered a bit of information about what fans can expect to see when Merida makes her debut.

ICYMI: Watch the opening scene of Once Upon a Time season 5

Theories debunked

Prior to this interview, the creators already made sure to put any buzz about Merida’s maternal connection to Rumpelstiltskin to rest. This particular speculation took on some steam when a false casting call was placed to keep Merida’s reveal at Comic-Con a surprise.

Related: Once Upon a Time season 5: How will Merida fit in?

But the two are certainly not completely disconnected in the narrative. Horowitz explains, “Her bravery and his cowardice, that certainly fits into the story that we’re telling with him and her and all of our characters.” Speaking to the addition of another Scottish cast member, Kitsis joked, “As we can all imagine, when the two of them get together, we don’t know what they’re saying.”

Rumpelstiltskin aside, Merida’s hair and archery skills have some fans convinced that she is connected to two other characters. But rest assured, Merdia is not the lost-in-time love child of Robin and Zelena. “It’s just a fun theory, but the reality is we are sticking to the canon of the movie Brave in terms of who her parents are and where she came from, but post-movie is where our Once Upon a Time spin comes into play,” Horowitz said.

We still hold out hope that she will go shot for shot with Robin in at least one scene this season!

Meet the real Merida

So, where and when in the Brave world will we encounter Merida? Set after the events of Brave, Merida’s appearance will take place after she successfully turned her mother and brothers from bears back into humans and challenged her clan to change the laws surrounding her impending betrothal. “We’re going to give you a little taste of where she’s been since then, what’s happened to her since the end of that movie, and then we’re going to see that that somehow crosses with our people and with our Once Upon a Time mythology,” explained Horowitz.

Merida is the first Pixar character to make the leap from animation to Once Upon a Time‘s live-action world. Though this opens the door for more Pixar creations to make the move, we hope that De Vil’s car is the last iconic transportation vehicle that will roll into Storybrooke.

Following their recent experience adapting another of their favorite Disney characters from Frozen, Horowitz and Kitsis are excited to introduce Merida to the Once Upon a Time universe. “[Merida’s] a character Eddy and I have loved since the movie came out,” said Horowitz.

Kitsis described Merida as “a spitfire like [she was in] the movie. If she’s not your favorite new character this year, I won’t know what to say. She’s a lot of fun.” It will be interesting to see her mix in with the remainder of the cast as the season unfolds.

Speaking of which, when can you expect to see Merida meet everyone?

Emma Swan will be the first to meet Merida after becoming the Dark Swan. They will cross paths in the premiere. “It’s certainly a part of Emma’s journey as the Dark Swan and dealing with her darkness,” Horowitz said. While that is a rather vague answer, a bigger question remains — how does Merida mix into the Camelot mythology?

Not revealing much, Horowitz did tease that everything “ties together in a fun way.” He went on to say, “At the end of last year, Merlin was revealed to be very important to what Emma needs. You’ll get that pretty much from the start. In the season premiere, there’s a lot that happens, including Merida and giving you a taste of what we plan to do with Camelot.”

We’re certainly looking forward to seeing how everything falls into place for the Dark Swan arc of Once Upon a Time. Are you?

Watch Merida’s debut scene from Comic-Con here.

Once Upon a Time season 5, episode 1, “The Dark Swan,” premieres Sunday, September 27 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.