Once Upon a Time (TV series)/WMG

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Henry's father is George Kirk

There was some sort of time travel/transporter incident that resulted in amnesia and since Emma looked just like his wife... Unfortunately, he was returned to his own time before Henry was born and promptly forgot about his trip to the past with a similar bout of amnesia.

Henry's father is Thor

Which makes it terribly creepy because his grandfather is Fandral, one of Thor's best friends. And you don't sleep with your best friend's daughter?! Also, apparantly Bucky is alive and has a secret daughter and can travel through worlds with a magic hat.

Regina's mother made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin for her magic

In "The Stable Boy", it's mentioned that Regina's mother was a miller's daughter and that she made deals in order to get to where she is. The original story of Rumpelsiltskin is about a miller's daughter who marries into wealth and power. We don't know how Cora and Regina got their magic; it doesn't appear to run in the family - certainly, we don't see Regina use it until after her mother is dead, and the powers they use look very similar, which may mean that the magic her mother received works like the power of the Dark One. It makes sense that a social climber like Cora would find it more convenient to manipulate people with magic than to simply marry someone with power, and if the cost of that magic is anything like the price Rumpelstiltskin paid, then it explains how Cora and Regina were able to degenerate to the point of murdering people to achieve their ends. No idea what Cora traded for, though.

Mr. Gold has a third radio

No matter how tragic his story is, he's been about acquiring power for a long time and has his own agenda beyond taking a 'side' in Regina and Emma's conflict. No way he let that opportunity for additional information pass him by. He doesn't do anything only out of the goodness of his heart.

Ruby is also Rose-Red

  • She was called "Red", and she was very close to Snow White.
  • Gold is both Rumpelstiltskin and the Beast, so there's no reason why Ruby can't be both.
  • Whether their sisters or not looks like the show's going to at least give us an allusion come "Red-Handed" in which Red is dressed in a red cloak and Snow's dressed in white, with both going to tackle the mother together.
    • "Red-Handed" shows the first time they met, and Red had no idea who Snow was.
    • And don't bother saying they were separated at birth - Red's grandmother claims her Lycanthropy was genetic. Snow White shows no signs of it, and it's too much of a stretch to say they're related with that fact alone.

Midas got his gold-touch from Rumpelstiltskin

Since the imp's responsible for every other magical fuckup. Midas' consequence might be turning his daughter into gold like what happened in the original story. Oh, and an upcoming episode is titled "What Happened to Frederick" or something. Remember what a certain king said to his knight when his glove was being removed?

  • Expanding on this: Midas got his gold touch from Rumpel and accidentally turned his daughter to gold, thereby freeing James from the marriage. Rumpel shows up, makes something terrible happen to Midas (why he's not in Storybrooke?) in exchange for returning Abigail to normal.

Emma will get out of her deal with Mr. Gold by realizing which fairytale he is

In the original story the miller's daughter had to guess his name in order to get out of her bargain; Henry admitted that he doesn't know who Gold is in the real world yet.

  • Well the other characters have certainly figured out who he is, why doesn't the same thing work for them? He probably got rid of the name clause in the contracts. Either that or it was a one time thing.
    • "Guess my name" was specific to that one contract; it's very obvious that it wasn't in all of them. However, I can see this being a big part of things in the real world, as opposed to the fairy-tale world.
      • What about if Emma figures out Mr. Gold's full name?

This shows version of Ariel will either be paraplegic or paralyzed from the waist down

I read in Entertainment Weekly that the writers are working on adding Ariel to the cast, it would only make sense if she couldn't walk because of Mermaid state in the past.

  • Alternatively, she'll be mute.

Rumpelstiltskin is responsible for the various evil people of the fairy tale world

After all... surely not everyone can get out of his deals and he certainly does enjoy asking for first borns.

  • I don't know if Rumpel is this in particular but the Dark One does seem to be the living body of Evil in that world, spreading darkness and corruption.

The favor Rumpelstiltskin will ask from Emma will be saved until after she wins

He'll ask her to let him go free.

  • Could it also be that, since he was made powerless in Fairytale Land, that the favor will be to somehow restore his magic abilities?

The grain merchant's daughter...

Is the miller's daughter from the original Rumpelstiltskin tale. However, given the universe differences, it is not likely she will go through the "guess my name" hoops as in her original story.

  • There's a theory mentioned above that Regina was the Miller's daughter (hence her "earth" last name of Mills), and if this was true, it would somewhat explain her hatred of Snow White/Mary Margaret.
    • Not really. "Snow Falls" (at least the fairy tale parts) takes place immediately after "The Shepherd", and in "Snow Falls", Snow White has been wanted for such a long time that even a shepherd knows about her. There's no way that James could have been standing in for his dead brother long enough for the first part of the "Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs" story to play out. They didn't even bother training him to go after the dragon and right after that was over, he and Abigail (who was wearing the same dress) left.

The past life thing can be proven via DNA testing

If Snow White is really her mum, and Prince Charming her dad, DNA testing might just be able to convince her.

  • Or make it really awkward, since they look approximately the same ages, and finding out each one of them shares half their DNA with Emma may lead them to believe she's their shared half-sister rather than their daughter from another life. Which will bring up so many Squicky questions...

Breaking the spell won't mean everything will be over

The residents of Storybrook will be returned to the Fairytale world, but they'll still have to defeat the Evil Queen on her own turf.

The Curse created the real world/the real world is simply a transformed version of the fairy tale world

So when the curse is eventually lifted (or can be lifted) there will be a sadistic choice - destroy the real world versions of people and restore their fairy tale version or (effectively) destroy their fairy tale versions and leave the real version. And of course either way, Rumpelstiltskin wins.

Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold's deals, contracts and items are a key element to the curse

Emma may be the catalyst to removing the curse, but its ability to affect people can be influenced by the various contracts and items that Mr. Gold has. This may be why Mr. Gold has not been as affected, if he was affected at all, by the curse. As he is the 'memory keeper' because of all the items, he did not get affected. I would not put it past him to be Crazy Prepared for the curse.

There is a Bigger Bad we haven't met yet who created the dark curse and is pulling all the strings

Think about it, the show has to be able to continue for multiple seasons, which means the basic curse arc with Regina and Rumpel can't be all the writers have cooked up. Maybe some sort of ultimate evil/Dark One figure, who could never truly win in a fairy tale world, created the Dark Curse as a means of getting access to the real world, where good has no guarantee of triumphing over evil, but the good fairies from Sleeping Beauty were able to water down the curse (much like they did Maleficent's death curse) before it could be used so that casting it required the heart of the one you love the most. And of course, the Dark One, the one person so evil he'd actually be willing to cast it, is also the only person who is physically unable to do so, because he's pure evil, and thus incapable of love. Thus the curse, and the Dark One, were sealed away until Regina unwittingly released him. Who is this Dark One, you ask? Why, none other than Disney's ultimate villain, Chernabog.

The curse gets broken but people will end up wanting to stay in the real world since the Fairy Tale world is not one they know

Alternatively, they'll end up being able to cross over between worlds. Or Emma will take a Third Option and split the two worlds so that there's two of each person - one real, one fairy.

Graham and Regina never had any actual sex

Because Graham's heart was removed, he doesn't feel anything - no passion, no love, no lust, so he can't get any arousment. Do all they do in bed is kiss and cuddle next to eachother in their underwear. According to Episodes 4 and 7, most likely.

The Huntsman's curse was broken due to true love

It has already been said that true love's kiss will break any curse. This should also apply to the Dark Curse. Graham and Emma aren't fully in love when they first kiss, so it doesn't work entirely, and he gets only flashes. Also, he pulls away in surprise before it can take full effect. Later, Emma and Graham's relationship develops and becomes deeper. When they kiss, the curse breaks and Graham remembers. (And unfortunately immediately dies). Taken further, this would mean that when Mary Margaret and David finally kiss, as a couple without guilt and complications from Catherine, the curse would be broken and both would remember.

  • What about Ashley and Sean?
    • There is a lot of emphasis being placed on them getting married. Wedding kiss, perhaps?

The Book came from Mr. Gold

We know Henry got the Book from Mary Margaret, but where did she get it from? If, as has been speculated, Mr. Gold does have a master plan, he could have given it to her with the suggestion that one of her students might enjoy it.

The season will end like it began with Snow and Charming share "True Love's Kiss", this time it will restore both of their memories of the fairytale world

  • The reason the kisses they have had so far haven't worked is because they have been "tainted".

When Rump is defeated, he will try to beg for his life (or what have you) with "Please"

See, he's so use to being effectively all powerful, all influencing, and able to manipulate people on a whim even in Storybrooke - even EQ. So when he's defeated, he'll keep trying with his ace in the hole even though it only works on EQ because of the curse. He doesn't fully understand what it means.

Part of breaking the Dark Curse will be when Rump uses the word "Please" with honest intent rather than merely as a way to manipulate EQ

Rumpel in FTW wanted first borns in order to break his curse

See, his plan was to raise a child to adulthood and get them to kill him (nothing like getting back at your captor to motivate someone). However, given the time frame involved and the corruption of being the Dark One, he finds it difficult to stick to that plan since there's always just one more deal to be made which involves sending off said child somewhere...

Rumpel will ultimately not be able to defeat Emma because he find out her past and will emphasize with her

Let's see, she was abandoned as a child (at least in the real world). She had someone she love run away while she was with child (result being Henry). She's kind of got that cynical streak in her. Someone she loved was killed. And so on. All things Rumpel/Mr. Gold would appreciate since he's been through the same.

David's blackouts

Charming is somehow making random appearances, but David doesn't remember it because the curse hasn't fully broken yet.

  • To elaborate David is suppose to be Charming's opposite in the real world thus his method of things(in regard to Kathryn and Mary Margaret) were less than noble. When he saw the windmill in Gold's shop his personality shifted more towards what David was suppose to be than what Charming is. When David hit his head it might have cause something(Charming) in his subconscious to surface. As the WMG says he doesn't remember because the curse isn't broken.
    • And it seems confirmed or leaning heavily that way as of that session on Archie's couch.

Rumpelstilskin - on some level - allowed EQ to enact the Dark Curse because he wants to be punished

He's a pretty fatalistic guy who doesn't seem to believe things will change. He feels he is, and will always be, a coward. The Curse was a way of him punishing himself but if he was to enact it himself, he'd be rewarded as it were so he got someone else to do it.

  • Seems to be Jossed. He wanted to go to "Land Without Magic" and find his son.

Bluebeard will make an appearance

'cause this show is far to light at the moment.

  • He could be next season's Big Bad or a dragon of the EQ: a serial killer who seduces and then kills his targets. Death is a pretty good way to stop somebody from having a happy ending.
  • Addendum: Dr. Whale is Bluebeard. He's a handsome lech who always seems keen on bedding women, and he works for Regina so we know he isn't exactly on the up and up...

Rumpel needs Snow and Charming to stay in love

During "Heart Of Darkness" Rumpel keeps on repeating to Snow "I’m invested in your future". His investment? He’s using her and Charming as his source of 'true love in a bottle', what happens to the contents of that bottle if the source material falls out of love?

  • Possibly. Or he's counting on their future child, Emma. (Him knowing the future is well established) Depends on what his real motives regarding the curse are.
  • This actually may be the case. Since he doesn't know who Emma is other than an interloper, he may be using her as a pawn without being aware that she's the child he's looking for.
    • Except Mr. Gold knows Emma is their daughter because Snow told him her name. That was why he commented on her name in the first episode.

Rumpelstiltskin purposely wanted Regina to use the curse and created Emma to break it for a reason

Finally tired of Regina's antics and power-mongering (not to mention her turningBelle against him, which led to her 'death' or so he thought), Rumpelstiltskin crafted the perfect revenge: a curse powerful enough for Regina to not pass up. The curse takes away 'what she loves most' and leaves her incapable of love. Using the hair he acquired from Snow and Charming, he creates Emma or some potion that has control over their eventual child. He later made a deal with Snow for her unborn child's name, yet another way he has control. Ultimately, the breaking of the curse would make Regina's 'victory' hollow and temporary. Rumpelstiltskin serves his revenge very, very cold.

Grace is Alice

She'll go looking for her father, Jefferson, and end up in Wonderland. Unfortunately, he'll have already been driven to insanity after making hundreds of hats in a futile attempt to find his daughter and he won't even recognize her.

Emma will believe in the curse by the end of the first season

At the very least, she'll believe it's a possibility, even if outright evidence doesn't present itself.

The curse will be broken when Gold and Emma make a deal after she truly realizes they are fairy tale people

And the deal will be just like in the story. Gold will promise to break the curse if she can guess his fairy tale name, just like in the story.

There isn't a multi-verse. It's that books become real

We've seen that Oz and Wonderland are real. Certainly one could say that Oz and Wonderland's common characteristic is a protagonist that journeys from our world to theirs as way for the stories to get to our side. But this doesn't explain the fairy tale world which is basically self-contained. What connects all three is the fact that they're all written works - in the fairy tale world case, it's the works of the Brothers Grimm (more importantly, they codified and collected them into their stories). This would also tie into August Booth and his typewriter...

Rumpelstiltskin will be the last Dark One

Someone (Regina or August?) will attempt to kill him in order to take his place as the next Dark One. However, Belle will save him with True Love's Kiss and change him back into a human, effectively breaking the curse. He may even experience a Redemption Equals Death, effectively changing the focus of his character from being a Chessmaster that makes deals (Rumpelstiltskin) to being the monster redeemed by love (The Beast).

Regina's mother is the Miller's Daughter from the original Rumpelstiltskin's story

They said she started as a miller's daughter and she did say she had to make some deals to get where she is. Bonus points if this comes out again in the future and gives Mr. Gold some kind of leverage against Regina.

  • Now does that make Regina the first-born? And mama is so overprotective because she almost lost her once? Or is Regina the "second try" after losing child one to Rumps? And mama can't bear to lose another?
    • Considering Rumps involvement, it's really hard to say unless we get told. After all, Charming was a replacement for his twin who was himself a replacement for King George's son that died very young.

Dr. Whale's identity

  • The Bear Prince from Snow-White and Rose-Red. He primarily targets Mary Margaret and Ruby(who acts as stand in for Rose-Red in this case). Also it was an evil gnome(sometimes an imp) that cursed the Bear Prince. It might explain why he sided with Regina.
  • He's the godson from Godfather Death. Doctor who becomes smitten with a princess, some backstory for thought, he was attracted to Red Riding Hood but then was asked to heal Snow White who was weakened to the point of death from giving birth to Emma, he becomes smitten and saves her earning the wrath of his godfather Death who shows that his life candle is about to go out but gives him the rest of the day instead of being a jerk like the original story, just as his candle is about to go out the Dark Curse hits. In Storybrooke, Death's counterpart(or Death itself) is trying to kill anyone who should be dead and goes after Mary Margaret for obvious reasons probably using someone to shoot her, Dr. Whale finds her in time to save her but it costs him his life and by repeating his choices in a symbolic way he dies remembering his FTL self. A sorta reverse Graham where Graham was a contender for love Dr. Whale isn't.
  • He's the Master Thief.

Regina did not necessarily intend to be so evil

See - if we think about this logically - the only person Regina should want to take revenge on is her mother. We know that her mother is more than likely dead because she's not in Storybrooke. In Heart of Darkness, Rumpel reveals that if Snow killed the Queen she would become as evil as the woman she killed. When Regina killed her mother, she became just as evil as her mother - and, at the same time, inherited her powers (which we do not see her having in the episode with her backstory) in a way similar to that of Rumpel's. Rumpel also stated in Heart of Darkness that Snow became the way she did - so revenge bent - because she'd forgotten her true love. The only way to be cured of that was through true love's kiss. Snow's true love was alive, so this was manageable. Regina, however, had a worse fate - her true love was killed in front of her. She didn't have someone to stop her from killing her mother, and she didn't know what the result would be. Also, why did she name Henry after her dad instead of after Daniel? But that's something else entirely. When Regina killed her mother and became as evil as her mother, the revenge took even more control. That's when everything went broke and she started going after Snow. In the same way, Regina is cursed with this power and evil just as her mother was - it seems to spread in the same way as Rumpel's, and that is most certainly a curse. Therefore, Regina can be healed through true love's kiss. She would only have to be open to love again (which she is, but not in that sense, through Henry, as a previous WMG stated. So it's possible that she could love again...just not very likely).

Rumpelstiltskin can't turn down a chance to make a deal

He seemed to have a pretty good idea what would happen if he signed Cinderella's contract, but he signed anyway. He could have gotten the cup back from Regina just by saying, "give me the cup, please", but instead he traded an honest answer for it. It really seems like something in his nature forcing him to make a deal whenever the chance is offered, even if he knows that the other person is negotiating in bad faith and even if they are in no position to negotiate in the first place.

Jack (of the beanstalk) is responsible for starting the Ogre Wars

Somehow he was able to get a hold of some magic beans, which led him to the world of Ogres. He met the one from the story and defeated him, and stole all the gold and the harp, but not long after the other ogres discovered a way into the Fairy Tale World and invaded in retaliation.

Emma will develop a Cartwright Curse

Emma's track record with romance is being set up to be pretty bad, just in the first season. Graham died. August is dying, and breaking the curse appears to be the only way to save him, which (presuming the show continues on more than one season) isn't going to happen in the near future.

The whole plot is a Batman Gambit by Rumpelstiltskin

In Episode 19, he asked the Blue Fairy if there was a curse to get to the "world without magic" that Baelfire went to. This eventually leads him to make the Dark Curse. Counting on Regina being willing to do anything to get back at Snow White for her perceived crime against her, he tells Regina about the curse. Rumpelstiltskin knew that (at least) he would remember his life in the Fairytale world, because he would need his memories to try and find his son in the other world. The curse is designed to keep them all in Storybrooke purposefully, so Rumpel can narrow down which of the city's residents is his son.

The Ringmaster of Pleasure Island will be an eventual Big Bad

August mentions being on "an island where all your fantasies come true" during the twenty-eight years between Emma's arrival and the present. He may have been on the actual island from the story, simply transported to a different place in the real world than Storybrooke (possibly because it was powered by dark magic). After August manages to leave, the Ringmaster will realize that he's headed towards the only person who can break the curse, and restore his powers. He and his minions will follow him to Storybrooke and attempt to gain that small amount of magic in this world for himself.

  • The island was Phuket, Thailand; August specifically said so. It's simply a nod on the show's part to the Pleasure Island of the story, as Phuket is the closest thing the real world has.

Rumpel made the Genie the Genie

This would be one way to spread his influence if he was the one controlling how the wishes would get messed up.

August and Baelfire have met in the Real World

How else could August have known so much about Bae in the first place? They've certainly never met in Fairytale-land. In "The Return", August was talking to someone on the phone. It was obvious that August was collaborating with another person on jump-starting "their plan". When Mr. Gold found the drawings of the knife of the Dark One in August's room, I wondered where August got it...and there's only one person who knows about Rumpelstilskin's source of power.

  • The person August was talking to on the phone was Henry and the plan was to distract Mr. Gold, so August could look around his shop.

Emma's denial is the reason why the curse isn't breaking

"The Stranger" showed that Emma is so far in denial that she can't even see magic. Her denial is the reason why the curse hasn't broken yet. There's cracks in it, but the curse can't be truly broken unless Emma believes.

Everything in FTW has a counter part in the real world (and else where)

The magic tree teleported Pinocchio and Emma into another tree so perhaps they were the same 'tree' just in different realities. So each FTW character had a real world counter part and the Dark Curse merged things together. This might extend to other realities too so the Queen of Hearts might be Regina of Wonderland.

The Whole Show is a Giant Take That to the state of Maine

Where there are no Happy Endings!

Regina has almost everyone's heart in her vault

The whole "heart in a box" thing is how she killed Graham, and the DNA test said the heart found in the woods was Katherine's, even though she turns up alive later. Chances are, Regina has everyone's heart in her vault, save Emma, Gold, and maybe Henry, and will just kill someone off if they get too close to the truth or in the way of her plans.

  • It may be that she can use it to control them but she's hesitant to do so because magic is hard to come by in the real world and/or she's gotten complacent with the status quo for 28 years that she's more use to using mundane means.

Breaking the curse will involve getting everyone their heart back

Literally and metaphorically. See the WMG about EQ having everyone's heart and how symbolic that is. Heck, it may be that true love's kiss doesn't work/only partially works because deep down, they're not actually -feeling- anything. It worked (sort of) for Graham because Emma has no such limitation.

No fairytale character can die by real world means

Pretty straightforward. We have one death so far (Graham) which was accomplished through the crushing of his previous-to-curse captured heart (magical means). Jefferson and Kathryn SHOULD both have died from what happened to them, but they haven't. Doomed to no happy ending may include being doomed to no ending at all.

  • Not so far-fetched, as the curse has prevented them from aging...

Baelfire crossed over into our world centuries ago

Rump took centuries to form the Dark Curse and start the chain of events that caused it to be cause. Thus Rump will never actually find him since he'd have been dead long long ago unless time flows -really- differently between worlds. In context of the story, finding him will be more finding his grave and accepting his own faults and responsibilities - accepting that he must give up his power to have any hope of being with his son. So in this world, this means giving away his wealth and land since that's the equivalent of being the Dark One in FTW.

When they break out Oz, they aren't going to use The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Alice and Dorothy both come from the real world

Or at least the real world that Storybrooke was created in. They were able to find other ways into those dimensions similar to the portals within Jeffersons hat, and escape as well. Their descendants could still be around and may one day find their way to Storybrooke.

  • If that´s true, perhaps one of them is Henry's grandmother. If by the time of her story one of them was older than classicaly portrayed, she might have got pregnant while in Oz or Wonderland, which would explain how Henry's father can be a fantasy character living out of Storybrooke.

Fairy tale characters all go by aliases

Since the guard warned Snow White and Prince Charming that Rumpelstiltskin has power over people by having their names, it seems odd that neither one freaked out when Rumpel knew their identities. The decision to reveal their baby's name seemed to have a lot more weight to it and the name in question is a lot more normal. With names having power in the fairy tale world, most Genre Savvy or royal/magical people use aliases. A king and queen call their son Charming in public because he's polite when really his true name is Bob. A beautiful girl is called Snow White because of her appearance when really her name is Fran. A woman is called an Evil Queen because she was smart enough to never share her real name, et c...

  • Turns out Snow White is her real name, but she was also being hunted by an evil sorceress, so maybe her name just got spread around. On the other hand, Prince Charming seemed perfectly willing to tell a thief his real name, but then Love At First Sight was in play.
    • But then, would a shepherd really have known the taboo of giving out his name? He seems to have lived a sheltered life and the king didn't bother giving him any sort of training before going after the dragon and immediately after, he was engaged so there wouldn't really have been time for him to learn the ins and outs of protecting one's royal self.
      • Turns out 'James' is his twin's name. so the alias applies to prince charming, if no one else.
        • There wasn't really anything that said the name he gave was the name of his twin. The way I see it, he just wanted to be able to have someone call him his real name after being forced to live his twin's, so that's why he told Snow White. It's not like she could have gone out and told everyone his secret because she was a wanted woman.
          • He's called 'James' in front of king Midas, who was supposed to believe he was the original twin.
  • Had Emma been raised in that world, chances are she would have been called Goldilocks because of her hair or Snowflake because of her mother so that no one would have power over her.
    • Well Emma is a Special Snowflake
    • Or, given her real world last name, she might have ended up as the Swan Princess.

Emma has to play out the fairy tales in the real world to break the curse

When Emma came to town the town clock started moving indicating that the town is no longer frozen in stasis. The various fairy tales are going to start moving forward now playing out real life version of the stories. If Emma can help bring them all to a happy ending, the curse will be broken.

  • This includes bringing a happy ending to both Regina and Mr. Gold.

On some level, Mary Margaret has figured out she's Snow White

  • She seemed pretty blasé about Henry stealing her credit cards, almost as if he did it with her blessing or while she agreed to look the other way. She also had the book in her custody before lending it to Henry, and presumbably read it. Her life in Storybrooke stinks to the point where "well, wouldn't it be kinda nice if it were true..." Worse, she's spent an unknown amount of time being Regina's favorite verbal punching bag to the point where she has no self-worth or ability to fight back. But while she's accepted the crappy life she has, she's not condemning Henry to the same - so one book of stories and a credit card later...

David isn't David

  • The man who was in the coma was David's twin brother, the real world version of James. David and James were in a car accident together and as a mix of confusing things he had been told with his own memories, Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin interfering, and a bit of Twin Telepathy James now believes that he is his brother ( and he either doesn't remember his true self yet, or he thinks died in the crash). It explains why "David" just completely doesn't understand any part of his life. Also, it could be that James and David, (like their fairytale counterparts) didn't grow up together, which could be why Katheryn can't tell the difference and James doesn't remember him yet.

Rumpelstiltskin wants Emma to become the new The Dark One but...

He believes that by doing so in the real world where magic has a weaker hold, Emma becoming the Dark One will have less impact - perhaps transferring the price but not the powers (since there wouldn't be any power to transfer at the time). Thus once the curse is lifted, he keeps the power but gets rid of the price.

Regina will try to recast the Dark Curse

And use Henry's heart.

  • ...Which would lead to the ultimate twist of it not working because there is no love between her and Henry.
  • Potential Fridge Horror here if the Queen DOES love Henry, which she may in a very twisted fashion, she did seem genuinely concerned about him when he fell down the tunnel. Secondly Rumpelstilskin stated the curse only requires 'the heart of the thing you love most'. Nothing in that said the love had to be mutual.

The Stranger's typewriter/book works for the Real World as Henry's does for the Fairy

The book was written by Glinda the Good

There are illustrations in it of characters from bioth Literature/The Wizard of Oz (the flying monkeys) and Literature/Alice in Wonderland (the caterpillar) plus the Mad Hatter is apparently going to make an appearance so we already know that these lands exist either alongside or as part of the Fairy Tale World. Glinda had a book that magically recorded everything that happened in Oz. She learned about the curse, couldn't stop it but created Henry's book as a loophole.

Rumpelstiltskin's "eyes and ears" include Mary Margaret or Mr. Glass

He knew Regina and Emma would be in the mayor's office when he set it on fire because one of them owed him a favor. Margaret left the room when Mr.Gold asked her, and Mr. Glass is a pawn.

The fairies from Sleeping Beauty will be The Blue Fairy, Tinker Bell, and The Fairy Godmother

The Dark Curse was (accidentally) created by the Blue Fairy

Although she has only appeared in a few episodes, so far she seems to have circumvented the Equivalent Exchange rule of the fairy tale world (Thomas' disappearance was caused by breaking the deal with Rumpelstiltskin, rather than the quill's creation). However, it's possible that her powers only extend to delaying the price of the spell. After countless years of dark magic building up to balance her good deeds, but not being able to act upon anything, eventually the Dark Curse was formed and continued to become stronger and stronger.

We're going to see a Kingdom Hearts Shout-Out

  • If they are going to fly in a reference to Space Paranoids, then why not? Three kids in Henry's school named Sky, Carrie, and Rick make a one-shot appearance to help Henry's fight?

Alternately, Henry is Sora

There's just a little matter of Square forcing the writers into a Captain Ersatz version so they can fly it under the radar. But, he is a kid, he knows something's wrong with the world he's in, even if he can't pinpoint it, and everyone's memories are tampered with. Plus, he's the guy who's trying to free the princesses (including his mom and grandmother).

  • And in that last episode, the kid gave Emma reasons for "reasonable doubt" by arming himself with a keychain.

Henry's father is Dean

If you consider the possibility that the story Emma told Henry wasn't a total lie, it's not hard to imagine Dean pretending to be a fireman and complaining about lack of pie. And giving Dean's life, it wouldn't be much of a stretch for Emma to discover he'd "died" at some point after they'd met. Also: Rule of Cool.

Students at Henry's school are...

Henry's a decendant of Baelfire

It's a possibility; Baelfire was send to our world presumably centuries ago and probably started a family of his own. One of the later generations could be Henry's father, despite being a one in a million chance.

Henry's father will remain offscreen and only be mentioned in dialogs

Accordng to Season 1, the show doesn't seem to want anything to do with Henry's father. And according to Emma, he was an awful person. Chances are he'll never make an appearance. Emma can do fine on her own, and when the curse gets broken, she's be royalty, and maybe find a man of her own to rule with.

Emma's love for Henry will save him

It doesn't necessarily have to be true love for Henry to be woken up. A mother's love for her son could wake him up.

  • Maybe when one of Emma's tear falls on Henry's face, he'll awake.
  • Most people would define True Love as a love that is true - it is not faked, it is genuine and real. Romantic love is not a requirement, and parental love should work just as well. Emma definitely has True Love for her son - she sacrificed her entire life to date to be near him. However, since this is a fairly obvious solution, allow me to propose the twistier version.
  • Confirmed as of the season 1 finale.

Agrabah was originally a separate world from the Fairy Tale World

Similar to Wonderland and Oz, this was a world of stories (from 1001 Arabian Nights) that was contained in its own plane of existence. However, somehow this world and FTW were conjoined, or at the very least travel between the two became very easy. That's why we see very few Agrabans in the FTW, but all residents are aware of its existence and can at the very least obtain items from there.

Jefferson is a Time Lord

And his hat is his TARDIS.

They never left the Fairytale World

Everyone is still in it, it's just been moved into a new, less magical, place.

  • Jossed: Regina states their world still exists when she employs Jefferson to go fetch something from it.

Worlds existing within the Hat.

The people of Storybrooke didn't return to the fairy tale world because of a hidden clause in the Dark Curse

  • The reason Rumple wanted to come to Earth to begin with was to find his son, so of course he wouldn't make it possible for anyone to go back until he found him. Even though the bulk of the curse is broken now, no one can go home until Baelfire shows up again. Or more generally, until everyone from the fairy tale world gathers in Storybrooke—like no one goes back until everyone can.

Breaking the curse will bring back Graham

  • With the excuse that, yes, his Storybrooke self died, but his true self, his fairy tale self, the Huntsman, never died before the curse was enacted. And just like breaking the curse brought back everyone else's original selves (mentally), it'll also bring back Graham's original self (physically).

The Blue Fairy is secretly evil and will be the series Big Bad

  • She's got some strong Chessmaster tendencies—she interfered with Nova and Dreamy's relationship, got rid of the Dark One, and lied about the tree without so much as a flinch. Who's to say that she hasn't been manipulating everyone (including the master chessmaster himself) from the beginning for some heinous plot?
    • When Baelfire first summons her, and the way the girl talked about "Reul Ghorm", such a being sounded pretty scary. I definitely wasn't expecting a fairy.
    • That's...actually not that farfetched, now that I think about it. After all, she was the one who told Rumpel about the curse in the first place. Possibly, she knew that he wouldn't follow Baelfire into the real world (and even if he did, she'd be rid of a powerful enemy), and with that, she knew that he would do anything to get to that world, even sacrifice the whole land with a dark curse. So she "accidentally" let it slip when he was asking for ways to get to Earth. What her motive might be, I have no idea, but it's actually a pretty interesting thing to think about.
    • She also appears to be trying to rid the world of magic in various ways - she gave away the last magic bean, had the last enchanted tree cut down, had one of the most powerful magicians in the world locked away...a Land Without Magic may be her goal.
    • Alternatively: Her goal is a land where the only possible magic is the kind exclusive to fairies.

Henry's father will never make an appearance at all. Who he is doesn't matter in the least

August wanted to tell Emma who he really is from the start

  • He came to Storybrooke without knowing if Emma believed or not, and decided to wait until he knew that she believed before telling her who he is. That's why he avoids telling her his name for several episodes. His original plan was to skip right to telling her that he's Pinocchio. When he realizes that she doesn't believe and isn't going to believe without a lot more pushing, he gives in and tells her a name. August is probably either his pen name for writing or a name he picked up sometime in his childhood, because it's unlikely that he could get away with being named Pinocchio in this world (even though it really is his name, no one would believe him).

In the Season 2 premiere, everyone will be back to the Fairytale world.

The battle with Regina will now continue when it all started. How will the flashbacks look like no one knows, as the events take place in one and the same place. It's gonna be pretty weird when the characters have no Storybrooke counterparts anymore, but that's my guess.

Rumpelstiltskin will be redeemed, Regina will not (heavy spoilers).

While Rumpel has made some horrible choices and decisions there is evidence that he is mending his fractured humanity. He immediately regrets not following Baelfire and rejecting Belle and has gone to great efforts to make things right, albeit by questionable means. Regina, however, throws her humanity away at every turn. Sacrifice the heart of the one you love the most? Sorry Daddy, you've got to die (though she did try the horse which probably reminded her of Daniel beforehand). Oh someone else is falling for me... what a convenient pawn. My 'best friend' has a spell that I need? Make that bitch give it to me. A child told a secret to my powerful mage mother that I told her not to? I will shatter that kid. The last bit of magic I have is for a picture of my beloved... sure I'll use it to power another spell. And in that last comparison we have something of the difference between Rumpel and the Queen. Rumpel was faced with the choice of 'reveal your true name, or loose this cup from your presumed dead beloved', he choose the cup.

Baelfire is Henry's father

And he knew who Emma was, and made sure she ended up pregnant and alone so that his son would seek out his mother when she turned 28 thus ensuring that the curse would be broken. It would make sense for Henry's father to be from the FTW, and one of the few that came to the other world with their memories intact.

  • Of course, Baelfire would be somewhere between 15 to 20 years older than Emma, depending on how long it took Rumpelstilskin to get Regina to cast the curse after losing him. Not that that makes this impossible, though, just saying.
  • But what if Rumpelstilskin is Really 700 Years Old? If Baelfire went to "our" world, he aged like normal people (and Emma and August) which means he would be dead long ago. On the other hand, unless someone else managed to escape before the curse started, Baelfire is the only character from the FTW who could be Henry's father.
  • Regardless of Rumpel and Baelfire's ages, Rumpelstiltskin said Bae traveled through the barriers of TIME and Space, and seemed to think it was entirely possible for 35-year-old August to be him. So I'd say it's not too much of a stretch to assume that Bae could have landed in our world at a point in time AFTER the curse was enacted, or at the very least around the same time, making the age difference between he and Emma much smaller, and thus making it more conceivable that Bae could be Henry's father.

If Mulan shows up, she will be trans

In the original story, Mulan is a girl who crossdresses to join the army to save her father from certain death (as he is old and will never fully recover from injuries suffered in the last war). It's not out of the question that in Storybrooke she is biologically a boy, and can't transition because it would bring shame upon her very-traditional family (among other reasons). She'll be miserable because in both worlds she doesn't want to pretend to be a man, but must, and her love interest will only see her as a boy. Furthermore, if she comes out transphobia and homophobia will strike (remember how Mary Margaret was treated after the affair? Storybrooke is pretty conservative), even if Emma and other characters are supportive of her. Also, it's a great way to spread awareness of trans issues.

  • I want this to be true so badly. It could also work the other way, if Mulan was biologically female but wanted to "dress up" as male, leading to the same issues above.
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