ONCE UPON A TIMELINE
* Rumpelstiltskin’s son Baelfire is chosen on his 14th
birthday to fight in the Ogre Wars. To save him, Rumpelstiltskin
seeks a dagger that contains the name of the Dark One. Speaking the
name aloud summons the Dark One, and stabbing him results in a
transfer of powers. Rumpelstiltskin acquires seemingly unlimited
power before realizing the Dark One, Zoso, was the beggar who told
him about the dagger to begin with. Rumpelstiltskin destroys all the
guards who come to take Baelfire, and his new position as the Dark
One becomes known.
* Baelfire grows concerned for his father’s
well-being and makes a deal with him to restore his humanity should
he find a way to do so without anyone getting hurt or killed. The
Blue Fairy gives Baelfire magic beans that can transport him and
Rumpelstiltskin to a world without magic. Baelfire opens up a portal
using the beans, but Rumpelstiltskin backs out. Baelfire falls in,
and the portal is shut. The Blue Fairy accidentally reveals that
there is but one way to retrieve Baelfire, but it concerns dark
magic. Rumpelstiltskin vows to obtain it to get back his son.
- Flash forward an undetermined period of time –
* Jiminy grows tired of his parents’ dishonest
methods of obtaining money and wishes to break free of them.
Rumpelstiltskin gives him a potion that can do just that. When
visiting the home of a young couple, Jiminy’s parents swindle them
into buying a vial for protection from a supposed plague. Frustrated
at this, Jiminy attempts to use his potion before discovering that
his parents switched the vials. It turns out the potion transformed
the couple into wooden puppets. Jiminy wishes for there to be a way
to undo it. The Blue Fairy offers him a chance at both redemption
and freedom by transforming him into a cricket who will act as a
conscience to the child the couple left behind– Geppetto.
- Flash forward over 50 years -
* Regina rescues Snow White from a runaway horse,
unaware that she’s the daughter of King Leopold. Leopold proposes to
Regina to which her overbearing mother, Cora, accepts. Regina is in
fact in love with the stable boy, Daniel, and the two plan to elope.
Snow discovers this but promises Regina she’ll never tell anyone.
However, Cora tricks Snow into telling her about the couple. As they
try to escape, Cora catches them and kills Daniel. The morning of
the wedding to Leopold, Snow inadvertently reveals to Regina that
she told Cora about Daniel.
- Flash forward approximately 9 years –
* The fairy Nova accidentally spills some of her
fairy dust while traveling, and it lands on the egg of Dreamy the
dwarf. Dreamy and the other seven dwarfs are hatched.
- Flash forward one year -
* Leopold releases a Genie from a lamp he finds on
the shore. After using up his first two wishes (one of which to free
the Genie), he passes on the third wish left to him. Leopold
introduces the Genie to Snow and Regina, and the Genie notices how
depressed Regina seems. Clearly infatuated with her, he gives her a
mirror to boost her spirits. Leopold finds out about the mirror and
that Regina is in love with the man who gave it to her – not
realizing it’s the Genie. The Genie makes plans to run away with
Regina and has the King killed. He then discovers that he was a pawn
in Regina’s plan to overthrow the King, but determined never to
leave her, uses his third wish to be with her always. He is then
trapped in the mirror.
* Regina arranges for the Huntsman to kill Snow. The
Huntsman attempts to, but instead sets her free. He brings Regina
back the heart of a deer to pose as Snow’s, but Regina sees through
this. She instead rips out the Huntsman’s heart, forcing him to do
her every bidding.
* Red Riding Hood catches Snow stealing eggs from
her chickens. The two befriend each other and decide to track down
the wolf that’s been terrorizing the town. When coming to the
conclusion that it’s Red’s beau Peter, Red attempts to stop him
alone. Red’s grandmother reveals that Red, is in fact, the wolf, and
Peter is killed by Red in her wolf state. Snow helps her flee before
the villagers come after her.
* The Ogre Wars begin again, and King Maurice seeks
help from Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin agrees with the condition
that he take Maurice’s daughter Belle as a housekeeper. Belle
volunteers despite Maurice’s refusal.
* Regina seeks the help of Jefferson to retrieve
something that was taken from her and brought to Wonderland.
Jefferson complies and finds out it was a rescue mission for
Regina’s father. Because only the same amount of people can leave
Wonderland at once who go in, Regina and her father escape, and
Jefferson is captured and beheaded by the Queen of Hearts.
- Flash forward approximately three months -
* Belle and Rumpelstiltskin begin to fall for each
other. He sends her on an errand in hopes she’ll use the opportunity
to escape. While on the road, she meets Regina who tells her true
love’s kiss can break any spell. Belle returns and attempts this,
but Rumpelstiltkin angrily turns her away when realizing the kiss
was making him mortal.
* Dreamy meets Nova and is attracted to her due to
the spilled fairy dust. While in a tavern, he runs into Belle who
points out to him he’s in love. Dreamy and Nova plan to see the
world together, but Bossy and the Blue Fairy tell Dreamy that should
that happen, Nova will never get her wings. Dreamy breaks up with
Nova, and the bitterness swells up inside of him to the point where
he officially becomes Grumpy. Regina tells Rumpelstiltskin that
Maurice had Belle tortured as a means to cleanse her from her months
with Rumpel and that she committed suicide as a result.
* King George makes a deal with King Midas for gold
should his son James slay the dragon that’s invading Midas’ kingdom.
James is killed before this can happen, but Rumpelstiltskin reveals
there’s a twin who is now a shepherd. In exchange for this
information, George tells Rumpelstiltskin the whereabouts of a magic
wand. George has the Shepherd pose as James, and the Shepherd slays
the dragon. Midas arranges a marriage with his daughter Abigail.
George forces the Shepherd to accept or else his mother will be
killed. His mother gives him her ring to give to Abigail before
saying goodbye. Snow steals the Shepherd’s engagement ring thinking
him to be associated with Regina. The Shepherd, whom she christens
“Charming,” later catches her. When finding out that Snow sold the
ring to trolls, the two set off to reclaim it. Once they do, they
part ways obviously having bonded during the journey.
* Rumpelstiltskin kills Ella’s fairy godmother and
steals the wand. Desperate to get out of her current situation, Ella
makes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin to get her to the royal ball,
unaware of what the price is.
* Red delivers news to Snow of Charming’s impending
marriage to Abigail. Overwhelmed with grief, she bargains with
Rumpelstiltskin for a potion to completely wipe out Charming from
her mind. Hansel and Gretel are separated from their father in the
woods, and Regina offers to help them find him should they retrieve
a special item from the home of the Blind Witch. Charming sends Snow
a note to meet him at the palace the night before the wedding. Snow
sneaks in but is arrested. Meanwhile, Hansel and Gretel sneak into
the home of the Blind Witch and throw her in the oven after she
tries to eat them. Snow escapes from her cell with Grumpy and
Stealthy, but Stealthy is killed in the effort. King George
threatens to kill Charming lest she convince him she no longer loves
him. Snow does so, and both she and Charming go their separate ways.
Grumpy invites her to live with him and the other dwarfs, and Regina
witnesses this in her mirror. Hansel and Gretel arrive with the item
Regina sought from the Blind Witch – an apple. Regina offers to
adopt them as a reward, but they refuse. They go off in search of
their father, not realizing Regina has kept him in her prison the
entire time.
* The next morning, Grumpy hears that Charming has
called off the wedding and searches for Snow. Snow has no
recollection of Charming as it turns out she’s taken the potion
Rumpelstiltskin gave her. Charming finds out from Red that Snow
still loves him and was out looking for him. The two escape from
George’s soldiers. Abigail runs into Charming and admits that she’s
in love with Frederick, a soldier who was accidentally turned to
gold by her father Midas. Charming defeats a siren in order to
retrieve the magical water that’ll turn Frederick back.
* With the love and memory of Charming now missing
from her life, Snow becomes embittered. Grumpy takes her back to
Rumpelstiltskin in hopes of reversing the spell, but Rumpelstiltskin
instead gives Snow a bow and arrow to kill Regina with. Charming
arrives shortly afterwards and bargains with Rumpelstiltskin for
Snow’s whereabouts. He catches up with her and tries to convince her
to stop her revenge. Unable to do so, he leaps in front of her
arrow. This act proves to Snow that Charming truly cares for her,
and when kissing him, remembers him and their love. King George’s
soldiers show up and arrest Charming.
* Snow organizes a rescue mission to get Charming
back. She and various other characters raid George’s castle, but
it’s revealed that Charming is actually locked away in Regina’s
castle. Regina sends a message to Snow to meet her at the stables
alone and unarmed. Despite the protests of her friends, Snow goes to
meet Regina at the stables alone. Here she finds out that Cora
killed Daniel because of her mistake. Regina offers Snow a
magically-poisoned apple in exchange for Charming’s life. Snow bites
into the apple and is sent into a near-death sleep. Her friends
arrive at the scene after Regina has already left.
- Flash forward an undetermined amount of time -
* Charming finds the unconscious Snow in the forest,
kisses her, and breaks the spell. Snow and Charming are married, but
Regina crashes the ceremony to announce the curse. Regina visits
Maleficent and retrieves the curse from her. Snow becomes pregnant.
* Ella and Thomas are married, but Rumpelstiltskin
shows up to name his price – Ella’s unborn child. Ella becomes
pregnant and tells Thomas about Rumpelstiltskin’s demands. The Blue
Fairy arranges for a quill to be made that whoever uses it will be
frozen. Ella gives the quill to Rumpelstiltskin, and he’s captured.
Thomas suddenly disappears. Regina tries to enact the curse but
fails.
* Snow and Charming visit Rumpelstiltskin in his
cell and find out that their baby will be the key to breaking the
curse. In exchange for this information, Snow gives Rumpelstiltskin
her unborn baby’s name – Emma. Regina later visits him, and he
reveals to her what she must do to enact the curse. Regina kills her
father and uses his heart as the final ingredient needed.
* Pinocchio rescues Geppetto from a whale but is
killed in the process. The Blue Fairy revives him and transforms him
into a real boy. She commissions Geppetto to create a wardrobe that
can transport Snow and Charming to another world away from the
curse. Geppetto refuses unless Pinocchio can be guaranteed safe
passage in it as well. The Blue Fairy agrees and tells Snow and
Charming that there’s only room for one person. It’s agreed upon
that Snow will be the one to enter it so that she and the unborn
savior can be safe.
* Regina unleashes the curse on the land just as
Snow goes into labor. Geppetto sends Pinocchio off into wardrobe for
safety, and the wardrobe is sent to Snow. Her baby, Emma, is placed
there and escapes just as Regina arrives. The curse is enacted, and
everyone is transported to the town of Storybrooke.
WHAT WE DON’T KNOW:
* After trying to fetch Ella some water for what
ended up being a false labor alarm, Prince Thomas disappears. Ella
is told by Rumpelstiltskin that this likely the price for using the
magic quill on him, but it’s unclear what happened to Thomas in
Fairy Tale Land and why something bestowed by the Blue Fairy of all
people would come with a catch 22.
* In “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,” the Huntsman
gives Snow a whistle that he tells her will bring help her way
should she need. Snow has yet to utilize this for anything.
* Grumpy tells Snow in “7:15 A.M.” that he was
arrested by King George’s soldiers for stealing a diamond for a
woman he loved. We know the woman must be Nova, but the
circumstances surrounding this have yet to be explained.
* We haven’t seen Belle in Storybrooke since the big
reveal of her in the psychiatric ward at the end of “Skin Deep.” The
writers have confirmed that this plot point will be picked up again
for the finale.
* We learn from Rumpelstiltskin in “Heart of
Darkness” that love is the most powerful form of magic there is, and
it’s the one thing he lacks. In that episode, he takes Charming’s
coat, and earlier in “7:15 A.M.,” a hair from Snow. At the end of
“Heart of Darkness,” he manages to bottle up the magic of love in a
bottle using these two items. Exactly what he intends to do with it
remains to be seen.
* Regina’s mother Cora completely drops out of the
story with no explanation. It is quite likely Regina had her killed
in some way, though we won’t know till season two (in which Barbara
Hershey has been confirmed to be returning for a several-episode
arc).
* In “Hat Trick,” Regina reveals her motive for
entering Wonderland was to rescue her father from the Queen of
Hearts. No details have yet been given as to the circumstances
surrounding her father’s capture.
* Jefferson suddenly appears in Storybrooke in “An
Apple Red as Blood” after disappearing in “Hat Trick.” No
explanation, yet, has been given as to what happened to him.
* In the same episode, it’s clearly spelled out that
Regina knows Emma is the savior. We don’t know when in the series
she came to that realization, though it’s possible she’s known since
“The Thing You Love Most” when Gold makes certain implications
towards it.