History Fridge / OnceUponATime

* Why Rumpelstiltskin and Belle are the FanPreferredCouple. Their true love has yet to overcome their external faults and conflicts, (Rumpel's a coward, and Belle will not love him while he's inflicted with a curse), which leads to a romance that audiences can identify with as something more real and raw because despite our best intentions our personal demons and flaws can ruin our chances of romantic happiness and familial success. Belle is also quite relatable to Rumpel's fangirls. Rumpel is not "attractive" by Hollywood standards; but many female viewers are drawn to him. Which ones? Probably the oddballs, quiet bookish eccentrics, who are drawn to "dark" and unusual guys; girls who most easily identify with Belle. In short, the "Belles" out there are the ones who like Rumpel, and the writers probably figured that out.

* Why did Cora listen to King Xavier over Rumpel and take her own heart out? Because Xavier, in his [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative words]] and blatant NotSoDifferent overtones, just went from someone she hated to ''a father figure''. Cora had to live with a drunken, neglectful father all her life, and so she always had a void left from a lack of fatherly guidance. She'd been without a proper father far longer than she'd been without romantic love, so of course she chose the former over the latter when given the option. Xavier even calls her "daughter" when she's naming Regina, again showing just what the relationship between these two is.

* Henry has a lot of ''Film/{{Tron}}'' swag, but it makes sense when you think about it. The curse brought everybody into Storybrooke in 1984, when Flynn and ENCOM would have been marketing the ''TRON'' game (in-universe, assuming it's the same world as ''Film/TronLegacy'') for all it was worth. Also, what's the plot of ''TRON''? A self-interested man falls into a world not his own and teams up with a noble, faith-based hero to defeat evil and return home. A perfect story for Henry to identify with. It's also a ''massive'' [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar middle finger]] when it comes to Regina's [[NewMediaAreEvil idea to get him hooked on video games]] so that he doesn't pay attention to fairy tales. ''TRON'''s an Internet Age fairy-tale.

* It is clear from "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter" that Graham is meant to be the Huntsman from "Literature/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs". However, there was a second layer to Graham's character that was not so obvious. The Huntsman could also be considered to be [[Literature/TheJungleBook Mowgli]], who was also taken care of wolves, considered them their family, and only remembered and accepted his roots thanks to a human girl (just like Emma was the one that helped him remember his true self).

** the dialogue in is even kind of a LiteralMetaphor. Robin asks Regina why she would give her heart literally to a known theif, the she replies you can't steal what was given to you. You can interpret this as robin asking why regina would open up to him and her replying he cant steal her heart because she giving it to him.

* Ruby Slippers? Okay, so the ship itself was a little sudden, but the fact it's a pair of girls - and those ''particular'' girls - shouldn't be much of a shock. Ruby was already hinted to be BiTheWay all the way back in the first season. As for Dorothy? [[Literature/LandOfOz The original books]] had buckets of LesYay with Dorothy and Ozma, [[Literature/{{Wicked}} Gregory Maguire's take on Oz]] (one of the best known in modern times) ran on EveryoneIsBi. And then you have the LGBTFanbase of Creator/JudyGarland and the archaic slang term "friend of Dorothy" for a gay person (gay male in particular). Heck, one theory going around is that the Gay Pride rainbow flag itself is a nod to the song "Over the Rainbow." All in all, Dorothy Gale was the ''perfect'' candidate for the first-established same-sex True Love's Kiss.

* [[spoiler:Rumple and Hook attacked an Old Man who once was the Sorcerer's Apprentice whom Rumple had turned into a [[HomageShot Mouse]] in the enchanted forest and sucked him into the void within the Sorceror's hat. Given that the creators like to use the Disneyfied versions of characters, (Ariel instead of the Little Mermaid, Maleficent instead of the Evil Godmother, Belle instead of Beauty) and that the Sorceror's Apprentice in ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'' was played by a [[MickeyMouse beloved childhood icon]] then does that mean that they just killed off...!?!]]

* When Regina and the other's release the captives from the Sorcerer's Hat, [[spoiler:they also release the dark entity Chernabourg from the void]] what do these two plot points, the hat and [[spoiler:the Chernabourg]], have in common, they both appeared in segments, one right after other actually, from the film ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}''

* Running away from your responsibilities to an island of pleasures, only to be abruptly and horrifyingly transformed? Don't you know what they say about what happens to people who don't learn from their mistakes, [[spoiler:August]]? [[{{Disney/Pinocchio}} They make a jackass of themselves...again]].

* Isaac's request for tickets to {{Theatre/Hamilton}} may seem to be a sort of nod to the fact that the playwright of the musical also did music for {{Disney/Moana}}, but consider that one of Hamilton's major traits is his ability to write, with one of his feats being him writing fifty one pages of the 85-paged Federalist Papers. As an author, this is one trait that Isaac would most definitely sympathize with.

* Assuming that Sidney is {{Disney/Aladdin}}'s Genie, why wasn't he freed before meeting King Leopold? Did Aladdin die before he could free the Genie with his third wish? Was the Genie freed and then imprisoned again? Was Aladdin just another jerk who used his wishes for himself? Or maybe the "Jafar" of the series stole the lamp and it was lost in the sea during a struggle? None of these possibilities are very appealing.

* Now that it's revealed that [[spoiler:August is Pinocchio]], there's one thing that stumped this troper. [[spoiler:August]] has dark hair while [[spoiler:Pinocchio's is red]]. Then it was pointed out to me that [[spoiler:wood]] darkens with age.

* Why did Regina lock up Belle? Belle, who is one of the few characters NOT to cross her? To make Gold miserable? That's probably a bonus. But the curse of Storybrooke can only be broken by true love's kiss, and it's pretty strongly suggested that Belle and Rumpelstiltskin would've had true love's kiss had he not rejected her. While we know that Emma's the savior who will break the curse, it's hinted that Regina doesn't know HOW it will be broken. Why not cover all the bases and make sure nobody who fits the criteria for True Love's Kiss is together in Storybrooke? It both makes them miserable AND is extra security that the curse will stay in effect. Furthermore, while it's fuzzy how the time frame falls, but it's plausible she was kept as a contingency plane. Seeing as how Rumpel is both a stronger magic user than Regina by far, and has cut a deal to be able to recall his Fairy Tale life. Considering this is a man who does nothing without some manner of an agenda, not having an ace in the hole is foolishness at the very best.

* When the previews for "The Doctor" first aired, there was a good deal of speculation that Dr. whale would turn out to be the Wizard of Oz. While this proved to not be the case, several characters connected to him actually do fit Oz personas quite well:

* Episode 4x03 "Rocky Road", Elsa assumed that the reason Emma was so distant to Hook was because of her responsibility: "When you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, it's hard to fully trust someone, even when they want what's best for you". Her assumption was revealed by the end of the episode to be wrong. Emma's reason is a lot more personal and emotional. This was entirely in character with Elsa's personality from the movie, she may become a HighQueen by the end, but she still have zero experience with love and only speak from experience, it wouldn't make sense for Elsa to suddenly become a love Guru without any justification. This also further prove the creators' claim that Elsa is a CelibateHeroine earlier in the season.

* No one is going to dispute that ripping through her bonds and dropping Pan ''wasn't'' a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for Regina. However, think about what she said and just proved. She regrets none of the horrible things she did up to the point of getting Henry because they led to her getting Henry. She doesn't regret murdering her father. She doesn't regret cursing the town. She doesn't regret trying to murder her stepdaughter and all her friends. She didn't regret slaughtering and terrorizing her way through ''entire villages'' or running away when she had a chance to love again. She did not regret sending ''dozens'' of children (younger than her boy is now) to their death at the hands of the Blind Witch to get that apple. Or trapping the Flynns and murdering Kurt. She might and probably does regret the things she did ''following'' getting Henry, but even ''then'' she's able to push them out of sight and out of mind, for better or for worse.

* [[spoiler:It's possible that Ivy and Anastasia suffered from HappyEndingOverride given that as revealed in "Is This Henry Mills?", the Coven's curse not only sent the inhabitans of the New Enchanted Forest to Seattle, but it also sent them backwards in time to shortly before Henry left Storybrooke. Meaning, when they returned to the New Enchanted Forest in "Sisterhood", they have been sent to the New Enchanted Forest of that time, though Ivy was likely aware of this. There can be extreme negative consequences, and let's hope they didn't run into their younger selves. Additionally, in "Homecoming", Wish!Henry erased the powers of the Guardian, including Anastasia. And [[YankTheDogsChain just when we thought]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Drizella]] got her happy ending...]]
* [[spoiler:When Gothel murdered Isla, the latter could have been sent to the Underworld given that her unfinished buisness is killing Gothel, the last Tree Nymph. Given Gothel's defeat at Alice's hands thousands, if not ''millions'', of years later, it's likely that Isla ''never'' [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence got to ascend to Mount Olympus]] regardless of whether or not she had a HeelRealization.]]

* At first glance, it may seem that Hook is way too EasilyForgiven by Charming after it turns out that [[spoiler:Hook killed Charming's father Robert]], especially considering Charming [[spoiler:nearly killed George upon learning he had ordered Robert's murder]]. However, upon closer examination, there are actually a number of reasons why it makes perfect sense. Even putting aside Hook's relationship with Emma, Charming has seen first hand that Hook has changed (Neverland, Hook sacrificing himself as the Dark One, being willing to remain in the Underworld to save Emma and her family, convincing Charming not to kill George, etc.). In contrast, [[spoiler:George]] has basically been Charming's main enemy his entire life (at least before Regina came into the picture). So Charming has every right to explode; learning that [[spoiler:his father's death was actually murder]] is the last straw. Furthermore, Hook's reasons behind the deed were NothingPersonal and he is truly remorseful when he puts everything together. [[spoiler:George]], on the other hand, is more or less a complete sociopath, and it becomes [[FridgeHorror even more disturbing]] when you realize he always knew David and [[spoiler:Robert]] were related and has essentially been tormenting an entire family for years for the most astoundingly petty reasons.

* Regina pushed Cora through a mirror. Where did she end up? [[spoiler:Wonderland. How did she get there? By going Through The Looking Glass.]]

* The last line about how the final battle is won is definitely a confuser, especially with "evil" doing what's "right". However, think about the Dark Fairy's clever trap: She can get darkness by the murder of the Savior or force the Savior to kill an innocent. A double-cross situation. Therefore, it only makes sense to counter-back the final battle with light double-crossing as well. Emma's willing sacrifice, and Rumple overcoming temptation and reversing Gideon's heart control became what is the light's version of having their own double-cross, that darkness cannot win against.

* The last line about how the final battle is won is definitely a confuser, especially with "evil" doing what's "right". However, think about the Dark Fairy's clever trap: She can get darkness by the murder of the Savior or force the Savior to kill an innocent. A double-cross situation. Therefore, it only makes sense to counter-back the final battle with light double-crossing as well. Emma's willing sacrifice, and Rumple overcoming temptation and reversing Gideon's heart control overcame the final battle, with light having their own double-cross that's impossible for darkness to win against.

* [[spoiler:It'd make sense that Wish!Rumple would try to kill Jacinda by making her and Lucy freeze to death, given that she also had a similar near-death experience before as shown in "One Little Tear".]]

* [[spoiler:It's possible that Ivy and Anastasia suffered from HappyEndingOverride given that as revealed in "Is This Henry Mills?", the Coven's curse not only sent the inhabitans of the New Enchanted Forest to Seattle, but it also sent them backwards in time to shortly before Henry left Storybrooke. Meaning, when they returned to the New Enchanted Forest in "Sisterhood", they could have been sent to the New Enchanted Forest of that time. There can be extreme negative consequences, and let's hope they didn't run into their younger selves. Additionally, in "Homecoming", Wish!Henry erased the powers of the Guardian, including Anastasia. And [[YankTheDogsChain just when we thought]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Drizella]] got her happy ending...]]

* In Season 1, episode 12, Rumpelstiltskin turns Gaston into a rose. In the following scene, Rumpel gives Belle the Gaston-rose (unknown to Belle that the rose is her ex-fiance) that she proceeds to cut off the stem. [b]The lower anatomy of the rose.[/b]

* Emma is the Ugly Duckling. The first clue is her name, ''Swan''. Then there's her back story. She grew up an orphan, implied to be abused and rejected to an extent we don't know, and by at least 17 she was a criminal. Anyone who knew her probably thought she wouldn't amount to much. But throughout the series she finds her family, her home, and accomplishes many great achievements. As the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, who were to be king and queen of their kingdom, she's also WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess.

* In the original story, Peter Pan sliced off Hook's hand and fed it to the crocodile, who then chased Hook to get the rest of him. Here, the crocodile (Rumpelstiltskin) took off Hook's hand, so now Hook chases the crocodile to get revenge for both his hand and Milah. Does a captain pursuing the beast that dismembered him sound familiar? Captain Hook is also [[Literature/MobyDick Captain Ahab!]]