AUSTIN, Texas -- Good news and bad news for “Once Upon A Time.” The good news is that after hearing co-creators Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz talk at the 2013 ATX Television Festival we know that season three is going to be epic. The bad news is that you’re going to have a bit of a break halfway through the season. (“I know the audience loves when we’re off the air for four weeks,” Kitsis joked. “I know it’s a good schedule for everyone.”)

Don’t worry too much about the bad news, though. The duo explained that since they are splitting season three into 11 episodes in the fall and 11 episodes in the spring, fans won’t have to deal with pesky random breaks throughout the season! Phew!

What can we expect come fall? We’re breaking it down for you:

The Season Three Breakup

Kitsis and Horowitz are approaching season three as two seasons, which is why they split the season in two. The first will be a really “focused and contained” beginning, middle and end for the characters, meaning that fans will pretty much have two season finales this year.

Where Season Three Will Start Off

“I think we can say it’s pretty much a direct pickup. We’re not going to skip ahead 10 years,” Horowitz said. “What you saw at the end of the finale is the jumping off point. There are characters with Hook. There are characters left behind in Storybrooke."

Working Together

Season two ended with some pretty interesting teamwork. Emma helped Regina defeat the crystal that would destroy Storybrooke, and Hook turned his boat around to hand over the last magic bean. Horowitz teased that our hero and villain are going to continue working together to rescue Henry … and it’s definitely going to be interesting to see how they get along.

“For us what’s interesting is to see this motley crew on this ship and you’re wondering how the hell are they going to work together,” Kitsis jumped in.

Storybrooke

“We have the characters left behind in Storybrooke like Belle and those folks and what they’re going through,” Horowitz explained. “So we’ve hopefully created a situation where the dramatic stakes are heightened but allow us to delve deeper into each of the characters.” Fans are going to be able to see how everyone reacts to the news that Gold, Regina, Mary Margaret, David and Emma are gone – potentially for good.

Captain Hook And Emma

Forget about Neal. Fans are rooting for a “Captain Swan” relationship and it’s something that the “Once Upon A Time” co-creators said is totally possible.

“Here’s a guy that want’s a new chance and I think being surrounded by all these characters last year and even seeing his nemesis happy made him realize that maybe after these 100 years I need to get over Mila,” Kitsis dished on Hook.

As for whether Captain Hook and Emma Swan will hook up, “Who knows,” he teased. “They are on a ship together and Emma thinks Neal’s dead.”

Rumpelstiltskin’s Fate

Rumpelstiltskin has tugged at fans heartstrings for the past two seasons, flip flopping as a totally evil and a not so bad guy. In the end of season two, viewers watched as he attempted to kill his grandson, but ultimately ended up changing his mind. Believing Neal to be dead, Rumpelstiltskin now realizes that he has to rescue Henry as payment to his son.

“Right now, unfortunately for him, he’s on a path where the prophecy said he’s going to die, so we’ll see if he’s going to survive that,” explained Horowitz.

As for whether he’ll still be out for Henry since the boy is his “undoing,” both Kitsis and Horowitz answered: “Excellent question.”

“Once Upon A Time” returns to Sundays on ABC this fall.