ONCE UPON A TIME: The Comprehensive Character Guide

• 2.01 “Broken”: Regina discovers she is powerless because “magic is different here”. In revenge for abducting Belle, Rumples unleashes a wraith to devour her soul but with the help of Emma her power briefly returns and she sends it to fairytale land.
• 2.02 “We Are Both”: Rediscovers her powers and uses them to get Henry back. Decides to let him go back to Charming; Meets Rumples who helps her break free from her mother.
• 2.05 “The Doctor”: Learns magic from Rumples but is unwilling to use it for evil. Changed her mind after Dr. Victor Frankenstein fails to bring her true love Daniel back from the grave; In Storybrooke, Dr. Whale brings Daniel back from the dead but Regina tearfully turns her once love to dust after he pleads her to let him go.
• 2.07 “Child Of The Moon”: Takes Henry to see Mr. Gold about his recurring and all-too real nightmares.
• 2.08 “Into The Deep”: Assists Henry and Charming in their respective sleeping curse endeavors to communicate with Emma and Snow. Show’s Henry her curse-making prowess. Discovers that her mother, who she believed to be dead, is still alive.
• 2.09 “Queen Of Hearts”:  Helps Gold destroy the portal so that Cora cannot make it to Storybrooke, but changes her mind at the behest of Henry, proving to him that she has changed, even at the cost of her own happiness; 28 years earlier, in the land that was, Regina is about to unleash the curse but needs to taken care of her Cora problem. She recruits Hook to kill her mother. She tells her seemingly dead mother that she’s was right, love is weakness — and that she can’t bring her to the far away realm because she still has a hold on her heart.
• 2.10 “The Cricket Game”: Regina is framed for the apparent murder of Dr. Hopper; [FTL] she’s captured by Charming and Snow and sentenced to death, only for Snow to change her mind. Regina fails Snow’s test and is banished, unable to ever hurt Snow and Charming, though Rumples points out that the deal is only valid in this land. Sets off the crash Snow and Charming’s wedding.
• 2.11 “The Outsider”: Regina abducts Belle to save her from “a lifetime of misery” with Rumples for a lifetime of misery in her tower.
• 2.12 “In The Name Of The Brother”: Regina accepts Cora back into her heart.
• 2.13 “Tiny”: Regina, Cora and Hook to use Anton as a distraction, temporarily turning him back into a giant to wreak havoc on the town while they plan their next move.
• 2.14 “Manhattan”: Regina, Hook and Cora find the treasure map to Rumples’ dagger. Regina and Cora double-cross Hook in their own crusade to command Rumples to kill Snow, Charming and Emma; leaving the way clear — they hope — for Regina to get Henry back.
• 2.15 “The Queen Is Dead”: Regina and Cora obtain ‘the dark one’s’ dagger from Snow. Regina discovers her mother’s hand in influencing her rise to Queen at the expense of Snow. She’s wary and perhaps slightly grateful, but all she wants is Henry.
• 2.16 “The Miller’s Daughter”: Regina joins her mother’s quest to overthrow “the dark one” but she is tricked by Snow into putting Cora’s heart back into her body, causing her to love, causing her to die.
• 2.17 “Welcome To Storybrooke”: Flashback to curse aftermath, 1983; with the town under her control, Regina is initially happy to have “won”, but soon becomes dissatisfied that no-one is fighting back. She grows fond of father and son duo, Kurt and Owen Flynn, who got caught in the newly manifested town. After failing to convince them to stay she has Sheriff Graham arrest Kurt so she can have Owen to herself, but when she sees how sad this makes him she changes her mind and lets him go, albeit without his father. In present day, Regina plans to cast another curse with the dual-purpose of making Henry love her and exacting revenge on Snow for killing her mother, but Henry convinces her that she can’t have his love and revenge. She does, however, take Snow’s heart when she begs to be killed, but returns it after figuring that letting her live would be far worse punishment.
• 2.18 “Selfless, Brave and True”: Regina realizes that Greg is Owen all grown up. Tells him that she let his father go shortly after letting Owen leave Storybrooke. Threatens to make him disappear if he doesn’t leave town.
• 2.19 “Lacey”: Restores Belle’s curse memories; discovers that Snow, Charming and the gang are planning to return to the Enchanted Forest.
• 2.20 “The Evil Queen”: Hatches a plan to return to the Enchanted Forest with Henry by activating a fail-safe that will destroy Storybrooke and everyone in it. She enlists the help of Hook but is shocked to find him aligned with Tamara and Greg who counteract her magic with science. In the land that was, The Queen uses Rumples’ disguise spell to help her kill Snow, but is surprised to learn that Snow still believes there’s good in her — until she doesn’t. Stung by Snow’s perception of her, Regina embraces the evil part of her nature.
• 2.21 “Second Star To The Right”: Regina is tortured by Greg and Tamara, who take the fail-safe diamond and reveal they are part of a much larger organization called “Home Office” who intend to rid Earth of magic. After much shock-therapy, Regina reveals to Greg that she killed his father and that his body is buried at their camp site. Greg tries to kill Regina but she is saved by the timely intervention of Snow and Charming. Regina comes clean about the fail-safe.
• 2.22 “And Straight On ‘Til Morning”: Regina uses her strength to counteract the fail-safe, with a little help from Emma. Storybrooke is saved! But in the melee, Henry is kidnapped through a portal by Greg and Tamara. Regina joins the search for Henry. The destination? Neverland.

SEASON 3

• 3.01 “The Heart of the Truest Believer”:  Now in Neverland, Regina and the Jolly Roger gang disagree on how to navigate their strange new realm as they face dangerous threats from below and above. However, they are forced to put aside their differences in the continued search for Henry.
• 3.03 “Quite A Common Fairy”: In Neverland, Regina encounters Tinker Bell with whom she has a complicated past; Regina gets Tinker Bell to see that vengeance isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In flashback, Regina  is saved from certain death by Tinker Bell, who takes it upon herself to find the unhappy Queen a soul mate. However, Regina’s fear prevents her from walking through the doors of fate and into Robin Hood’s tattooed arms.

• 2.01 “Broken”: Emma acts frostily to her parents for sacrificing her. Helps protect Regina from the wraith, seemingly activating her powers, the wraith takes her with it as it falls into the portal and into fairytale land.
• 2.02 “We Are Both”: Thrown into a dungeon in the Safe Haven where she meets Cora.
• 2.03 “Lady Of The Lake”: Emma returns to the place of her birth, where she comes to a better understanding with her mother.
• 2.05 “The Doctor”: Emma and the gang stumble upon Captain Hook who tells them about Cora’s plan to get to Earth using an enchanted compass. He takes them to a giant beanstalk where the compass and Giant reside.
• 2.06 “Tallahassee”: Climbs the beanstalk with Hook where they encounter the Giant. Emma makes a deal with the Giant and returns with the magical compass; Portland, Oregon, (2001) – Emma steals her now iconic yellow Volkswagon Bug and encounters Neil Cassidy. They strike up a relationship and steal many things together. Cassidy mysteriously abandons and frames Emma. She is sentenced to 11 months in prison where she discover that she’s pregnant.
• 2.07 “Child Of The Moon”: Aurora relays details of her latest nightmare, revealing that Henry communicated with her.

• 2.08 “Into The Deep”: Heads to Rumples’ old cell with the others in search of the magical ink that will help stop Cora.
• 2.09 “Queen Of Hearts”: Emma and the gang find the squid ink in Rumples’ old cell. She is taken aback by the fact that the he used it write her name over and over again. Cora is distracted by her inability to remove Emma’s heart. Back in SB, Emma confronts Gold about the prophecy, telling him that he had it rigged all along, but he tells her that the heart thing – that was all her.
• 2.10 “The Cricket Game”: Uses magic to witness the Regina’s apparent murder of Dr. Hopper. Tries to arrest Regina with a containment spell but fails.
• 2.11 “The Outsider”: Emma struggles to connect with Henry, learns that Cora is in town and framed Regina.
• 2.12 “In The Name Of The Brother”: Concerned by what he may have seen, Emma questions the town’s new visitor, Greg Mandel. Reluctantly agrees to join Rumples’ mission to find Baelfire, thus paying back the favor she owes him.
• 2.13 “Tiny”: Emma and Henry assist Mr. Gold in his mission to find Bae in New York.
• 2.14 “Manhattan”: Emma chases after Baelfire only to discover that he’s also Neil Cassidy, Henry’s father. She struggles to accept the fate/coincidence of it all and elects not to tell Henry and Rumples about her discovery. It all comes out and Emma has to tell Henry that she lied about his father being dead.
• 2.15 “The Queen Is Dead”: Emma struggles with how Henry sees her in light of her lies. She intervenes when Hook attacks Rumples. In a bid to save his life, she plans to take him back to Storybrooke with the aid of Bae, only to discover that Bae has a fiancee.
• 2.16 “The Miller’s Daughter”: Emma vows to save Rumples from Cora and even casts protection magic. However, she is no match for Cora who casts her and Baelfire into the woods.
• 2.17 “Welcome To Storybrooke”: Comes clean to Henry about Snow’s role in murdering Cora. Tries to protect Henry and Snow from Regina.
• 2.18 “Selfless, Brave and True”: Emma gets to know Tamara who has come to Storybrooke. Refuses to pander to Snow’s self pity following the murder of Cora. Asks Henry not to push her away.
• 2.19 “Lacey”: Struggles to accept the idea of returning to the Enchanted Forest; tries to figure out who August was trying to warn her about before he was rebooted.
• 2.20 “The Evil Queen”: Enlists Henry’s help to prove that Tamara is the “Her” August tried to warn them about. Her suspicions fall on death ears, but at least Henry believes her.
• 2.21 “Second Star To The Right”: Emma tries to prove that Tamara is behind Regina’s disappearance. She is vindicated when they find Tamara at the torture lair. A struggle ensues; Tamara opens a portal using a magic bean; Emma is saved by Baelfire but in doing so he contrives to find himself at the mercy of the green portal. Emma holds onto him — she can’t lose him again as she loves him —  but his hand slips and he falls once again into a great unknown realm, carrying a potentially fatal gunshot wound. Emma is devastated.
• 2.22 “And Straight On ‘Til Morning”: Uses her ability to help Regina counteract the fail-safe. Storybrooke is saved! But in the melee, Henry is kidnapped through a portal by Greg and Tamara. Emma joins the search for Henry. The destination? Neverland.

SEASON 3

• 3.01 “The Heart of the Truest Believer”:  Flashback Earth, 11 years ago. Emma gives birth to Henry but gives him up; Now in Neverland, Emma and the Jolly Roger gang disagree on how best to navigate their strange new realm as they face dangerous threats from below and above. Emma sacrifices herself, forcing to put aside their differences to save her and work together in the continued search for Henry.
• 3.03 “Quite A Common Fairy”: Emma is frustrated to learn that Peter Pan’s camp keeps moving.

• 2.01 “Broken”: Snow and Charming reunite with their daughter but find her somewhat bitter over the fact that they sacrificed their time together. She helps Regina send the wraith back to FTL, but winds up there herself after the wraith takes Emma with it.
• 2.02: “We Are Both”: Tries to escape Mulan, gets knocked unconscious and thrown into a dungeon with Cora.
• 2.03 “Lady Of The Lake”: Battles ogres and Cora on the journey to the palace. Comes to a new understanding with Emma; Discovers she can no longer bear children after George spikes her drink with a curse. The curse is broken with the help of Charming’s mother, Lancelot and the restorative waters of Lake Nostos. Marries Charming.
• 2.05 “The Doctor”: Snow and the gang stumble upon Captain Hook who tells them about Cora’s plan to get to Earth using an enchanted compass. He takes them to a giant beanstalk where the compass and giant reside.
• 2.06 “Tallahassee”: Helps Aurora through her nightmares to finally get some sleep. Prevents Mulan from chopping down the beanstalk when Emma fails to return after a specified time.
• 2.07 “Child Of The Moon”: Aurora relays details of her latest nightmare, revealing that Henry communicated with her.
• 2.08 “Into The Deep”: Following Aurora’s abduction, volunteers to go ‘deep sleep’ in order to revisit the Netherworld. There, she’s reunited with Charming but they cannot touch; receives word that the magical ink they once used to stop Rumples can be used against Cora. He reminds her that they always find one another, she wonders whether they’re fated to always lose each other. She wakes up. The gang go in search for that ink.
• 2.09 “Queen Of Hearts”: Snow and the gang find the squid ink in Rumples’ old cell, they use it to escape, stopping Cora and Hook from getting to Storybrooke. Back home, she puts true love’s kiss on Charming, bringing him out of the sleeping spell.
• 2.10 “The Cricket Game”: Believes Regina is responsible for the apparent death of Archie Hopper; [FTL] Captures Regina but spares her life, thus making them ‘even’. Banishes Regina after making a deal with Rumples preventing the queen from ever again harming them in fairytale land.
• 2.11 “The Outsider”: Mary and Charming look for a new house but wonder whether they want the same thing after Charming ponders returning to the enchanted forest.
• 2.13 “Tiny”: Saves Charming from getting stomped by Anton. Remains reluctant about the prospect of returning to the land that was.
• 2.14 “Manhattan”: Snow and Charming come to terms with the revelation that Rumples is Henry’s grandfather.
• 2.15 “The Queen Is Dead”: Young Snow’s mother becomes ill under mysterious circumstances. What seems like the Blue Fairy offers her a magic candle to save her mother’s life at the expense of another. Snow is unable to go through with it and her mother dies shortly before her birthday. Snow questions her choice but lives with the burden. In Storybrooke, it’s Snow’s birthday. Her former Handmaid Johanna sends her a gift and they reunite for the first time since leaving the land that was. Overhearing Regina and Cora’s plan to control “the dark one” using his dagger, Snow an Charming race to find it first, only for Cora and Regina to hold Snow to ransom: Johanna’s life for the dagger. Snow realizes that Cora posed as the Blue Fairy on that fateful night and learns of her quest to ensure that Regina would become queen. Snow gives up the dagger but Cora kills Johanna anyway. This convinces Snow that she needs to change..she’s going to kill Cora.
• 2.16 “The Miller’s Daughter”: Rumples convinces Snow to use the evil candle to kill Cora. After using the candle on Cora’s boxed heart, she tricks Regina into returning her mother’s heart to her body, causing Cora to die, much to Regina’s despair and anger.
• 2.17 “Welcome To Storybrooke”: Struggles to come to terms with her hand in killing Cora. Begs Regina to kill her. Regina takes her heart but returns it after figuring that the best way to punish Snow is to allow her to become just like her.
• 2.18 “Selfless, Brave and True”: Seeks redemption following her murder of Cora. Finds the completely varnished August living by himself in the woods. Helps reunite him with his father, but not before smacking Geppetto in the face after he admits that she could have traveled to Earth with baby Emma had he not sent Pinocchio in her place.
• 2.19 “Lacey”: Shows Emma the magic bean field, revealing her and Charming’s intention to return home.
• 2.20 “The Evil Queen”: Worries about taking Regina back to the Enchanted Forest with them; is shocked to discover all the magic beans destroyed. Unbeknownst to her, she saves Regina (in disguise) from her own men and proceeds to tell her how good she believes her to still be. She quickly changes her mind upon discovering a village of people killed by Regina for protecting Snow. She threatens to kill Regina but lets her go.
• 2.21 “Second Star To The Right”: Believing that finding Regina will redeem her soul, she joins the search for her nemesis and helps save her from Greg Mendell. Regina comes clean about the fail-safe which is no longer in her control.
• 2.22 “And Straight On ‘Til Morning”: Joins the search for Henry who has been kidnapped by Greg and Tamara. The destination? Neverland.

SEASON 3

• 3.01 “The Heart of the Truest Believer”:  Now in Neverland, Snow and the Jolly Roger gang disagree on how to navigate their strange new realm as they face dangerous threats from above and below. However, they are forced to put aside their differences in the continued search for Henry.
• 3.03 “Quite A Common Fairy”: Snow and the gang continue their search for Henry, but Peter Pan’s camp keeps moving. Snow enlists the help of Tinker Bell in return for a spot on the portal home, should they succeed in saving Henry.

• 2.01 “Broken”: Promises Belle that he wont kill Regina, but concocts an ‘even worse’ suffering by summoning a wraith to devour her soul.
• 2.02 “We Are Both”: Learns that leaving Storybrooke causes fairytale land memories to vanish, much to his displeasure;helps Regina break free from her mother and teaches her magic.
• 2.04 “The Crocodile”: Continues to use magic despite his promise to Belle. Rescues her from losing her memory and admits to being a coward. Holds Belle’s abductor William Smee for information about his “Captain”; Rumples’ dissatisfied wife Milah runs away for a life of adventure with Captain Killian Jones, with whom she falls in love. Some time later, the now powerful Rumples makes a deal with Jones and Milah — a magic bean in exchange for their lives. He kills Milah and cuts off Jones’ hand. Much to his surprise, Jones managed to keep the bean.
• 2.05 “The Doctor”: Trains Regina in the art of magic. When she refuses to use magic for evil, he hires Dr. Victor Frankenstein (via Jefferson) to purposely fail at bringing Daniel back from the dead, thus making Regina willing to use magic for evil purposes.
• 2.07 “Child Of The Moon”: Gives Henry a magical pendant to help him control his actions in the dreamworld.
• 2.08 “Into The Deep”: Worried by the prospect of Cora finding her way into Storybrooke now that he has someone to lose, he assists Henry and Charming in their respective Netherworld endeavors.
• 2.09 “Queen Of Hearts”: Unites with Regina to destroy the portal but watches as her resolve is broken by Henry. Tells the returned Emma that he didn’t make her, she’s simply the product of ‘true love’ — hence her ability to withstand Cora’s heart-snatching antics.
• 2.10 “The Cricket Game”: Helps Emma unlock her magic ability to uncover Archie’s supposed murderer; Manipulates Snow into making a deal that prevents Regina from ever harming her and Charming again, but it’s a ploy to inspire Regina to take them all to another land where she can harm them (and where he hopes to find his son, no doubt).
• 2.11 “The Outsider”: Successfully tests his memory spell on Smee but turns him into a rat after he helps Hook steal Baelfire’s enchanted shawl. Faces off against Hook, but Belle prevents him from killing Hook because she still sees the ‘good’ in him. His plan to leave Storybrooke to search for Baelfire is thwarted by Hook, who shoots Belle, sending her over the line where she seems to no longer remember who she is. Rumples prepares to fireball Hook but the dastardly pirate is run over by a car.
• 2.12 “In The Name Of The Brother”: Rumple is frustrated that Belle cannot remember him. Agrees a truce with Cora who gives him a device which he uses to find Baelfire’s location. Demands that Emma join him on his quest to find Bae by cashing in on the favor she owes him; Makes a deal with Frankenstein by supporting his research in return for knowledge of how to bring the dead back to life. Sets him up with Jefferson to acquire an enchanted heart from Regina to help with his endeavors.
• 2.13 “Tiny”: Travels to Logan International airport with Emma and Henry where he experiences disorientation, memory and power loss. They hop a plane to New York in search of Bae.
• 2.14 “Manhattan”: Rumples activates his deal with Emma when Baelfire runs away. Meanwhile, he thanks Henry for leading him to his son. He gets angry at Emma when he realizes that she’s not telling him the truth about her connection to Bae — who breaks up the argument, revealing himself to his stunned father. Rumples tries to apologise for abandoning Bae and offers him to chance to take away his memories so they can start over. Bae’s not having any of it. In the land that was, an excited Rumples joins the front line in the Ogres War; eager to prove himself not to be a coward like his father. There he meets a Seer, who warns him that his actions on the battlefield will leave his son without a father. Rumples doesn’t like the sound of this and when events continue to unfold as the Seer described, he purposefully injures his leg in order to leave the war, thus the limp is born — as is Milah’s disgust upon hearing of his cowardice. Rumples promises baby Bae that he’ll never leave him. Years later, after losing Bae, Rumples re-encounters the Seer who tells him that a curse cast by another will rip them from this land and put him on the path to reuniting with his son. Rumples assumes the Seer’s powers, giving him the ability to see the future, but it will take a while for him to interpret the fixed paths from the possible futures. As one final gift of gratitude for relieving her burden, she tells him that a young boy will be key in this reunion, but warns that he’s more than he seems and will ultimately be his undoing. He affirms that he’ll just kill the boy.
• 2.15 “The Queen Is Dead”: Rumples is attacked and poisoned by Hook. He reacts aggressively to Henry when the moppet shows his concern. Begrudgingly, Rumples tells Emma where the dagger is after word arrives that Cora and Regina are rummaging around Storybrooke for it. Bae and Emma plan to take him back to Storybrooke in a bid to obtain the magic needed to save his life.
• 2.16 “The Miller’s Daughter”: Rumples enlists Cora in his quest to cast the curse. They make a deal: he teaches her magic in return for her first born. They fall in love and he changes the terms of the contract, stipulating that she owes him his child. She removes her own heart, choosing power over love, noting that their deal is null and void as she wont be having a child with him. In Storybrooke, Rumples, dying, teaches Emma to use emotion to unlock her power, enlists Snow to kill Cora, and says emotional goodbyes to both Belle and Baelfire. With death approaching, Rumples asks Cora whether she ever truly loved him. Yes, she loved him. Rumples prepares to die, but in a dramatic twist of fate Regina returns Cora’s heart to her body, causing her to die.
• 2.17 “Welcome To Storybrooke”: Pays his respects to Cora; tries to warn Regina that she can’t have both revenge and Henry. Warns the Charmings that Regina plans to cast another curse to destroy Snow and make Henry love her. Protects Snow against Regina after being reminded of their new-found family bond.
• 2.19 “Lacey”: Takes ‘Lacey’ (‘curse memory’ Belle) on a date in an attempt to get to know her/restore her memories. Discovers that she likes the ruthless Rumplestiltskin, the side of him pre-curse Belle helped him keep in check. In the land that was, Rumples tortures Robin Hood after catching him stealing his wand, but Belle sets him free. Belle’s perspective persuades Rumples to let Robin live and their relationship begins to blossom.
• 2.20 “The Evil Queen”: In the land that was, Rumples appears to aid Regina’s quest to kill Snow by placing a disguise spell on her, but refuses to come to her aid when she calls his name. He eventually changes her back to her normal form having got Regina in the ‘right’ state of mind.
• 2.21 “Second Star To The Right”: Provides Emma with magic to help locate Regina. He reveals his magic to Lacey for the first time. She wants them to be immortal — there’s just one problem: the boy prophesied to be his destruction.
• 2.22 “And Straight On ‘Til Morning”: Rumples is heartbroken to learn that his son has been lost to yet another portal. Gives Lacey back her ‘Belle’ memories before joining the rescue party to search for Henry who has been kidnapped through a portal by Greg and Tamara. The destination? Neverland.

SEASON 3

• 3.01 “The Heart of the Truest Believer”:  Now in Neverland, Rumples teleports to the Island where he finds Tamara dying from an arrow injury. He gets intel on Henry’s whereabouts before crushing her heart into dust. Later, he meets a Lost Boy who warns him off Henry. Rumples is prepared to go down fighting. The Lost Boy leaves Rumples with a heartbreaking token from his past. Oh, it’s on.
• 3.02 – To be updated
• 3.03 “Quite A Common Fairy”: In flashback, Rumples taunts Queen Regina about her inescapable fate.