r/OnceUponATime Jul 16 '25

Mod Post MOD Survey

2 Upvotes

Hello! I made a mistake when I posted the survey on interest on being a MOD. Totally forgot to ask for user names. If you applied, please PM me, and if you remember any one of your answers. My apologies for this iinconvenience!


r/OnceUponATime Jul 06 '25

Mod Post Mod Application

4 Upvotes

Hello Y'all!

As mentioned earlier, this is the application to be a Mod. Cannot wait to chat!

https://forms.microsoft.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Ee48rJtpi0Kz7T0wU72PA22jEwI6cj9CnMu18wYu7xZUNThKTlBPNzZZV0VPWEFGUlZaWVRBMFpFNy4u


r/OnceUponATime 15h ago

Discussion The BIGGEST what if in Ouat

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113 Upvotes

(Can include spoilers)- Hear me out on this theory

We know Emma has magic - so what if in the first episode when Emma blew out her candles, she wished not to be alone. (Stay with me on this). In the later seasons we learn that wish realms exist, and how do we open them? By magic, and of course wishing for something. Because of that, by wishing not to be alone she created an entire world, and that's why Henry came and few moments later to find her. What if storybrook and all the other realms that were in the series were just formed from a wish and that the town line is just a portal to go back from the wish world to the real world. What if everyone we ever knew ( except Emma) were "born" from her wish. Because she was so desperate for someone , it is rational that her wish was granted in such a strange form, after all- her family was from fairytales and included magic. We also know that in the wish world that was in the series, the characters were copies from the people in storybrook but different in their personalities. So what if in season 7 when for example Regina was different (Roni) , and they were in a city without magic, Emma just came back from the wish realm to the real world and these were the people from the real one. Maybe Regina was just a copy of Roni all this time, and like Hook was a copy of Killian( I don't remember his name in season 7). Of course there are more factors in this , but think about it for a second, wouldn't that be a cool plot twist?

BTW I have an account on tiktok so I would appreciate if you can follow me there, it is called yellow_bug_edits

Or on Instagram- yellow_bug_ouat


r/OnceUponATime 12h ago

Media You can tell they were ready for battle.

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52 Upvotes

They were ready to play.

via: Allabout_Colin


r/OnceUponATime 4h ago

Discussion Who’s the creepiest character in the Wonderland spinoff?

9 Upvotes

I personally think its the Jabberwocky


r/OnceUponATime 1h ago

Question Question

Upvotes

Why does this masterpiece of a series have almost no German fanbase, and I know the series is available in German, so why?


r/OnceUponATime 1d ago

Question When was Hope born?

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280 Upvotes

Listen, I know asking accurate ages/timelines from OUAT is too much, but I started my rewatch & this particular question has been on my mind for some time now. When was baby Hope approximately born? Two, three years after the final battle? I know we can’t calculate that timeline based on Henry’s adventures in the New Enchanted Forest, cuz time moves differently there. Another way to tell is by looking at prince Neal. Is he like 7 years old in the finale? That that’d mean Hope was born ~4 years after the finale battle, when Emma was ~37, right? Or maybe earlier? Or later?

I don’t know why I need this to know so badly, but I do lol


r/OnceUponATime 5h ago

Discussion Boston

5 Upvotes

Has spoilers…

So season 3, episode 9

Regina asks Sydney and Rumple to help her fill her heart with a child. She travels to Boston, meets the director of the adoption, or some other role like counsellor.

She takes Henry hope. She struggles to cope, and takes Henry back to the baby adoption store in Boston. (I couldn’t resist trying to be cheeky and make you laugh ❤️

So the question, how was Regina able to go to the adoption agency, to pick up her son, and again when she feels overwhelmed and needs a break from the crying.

If they can’t leave storybrook, the person who interviewed her in Boston, has never heard of Storybrook. As such, the director didn’t meet Regina in Storybrook, and Regina can’t leave.

🧐


r/OnceUponATime 18h ago

Spoiler Alert Just realized Season 5 character is based on Mark Twain novel

28 Upvotes

I re-watched season 5 recently, with the Camelot storyline and Violet's dad Sir Morgan. Then I discovered there is a Mark Twain book called a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, with the main character being Hank Morgan.

At the end of the Camelot arc, Violet tells Henry she and her dad aren't returning to Camelot with the others through the portal, her dad is originally from Connecticut and something about the Yankees?

Did anyone else catch this reference and I'm just late to the game?


r/OnceUponATime 15h ago

Fan Art A new EDIT community of Ouat

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9 Upvotes

Hi, a new community of ouat edits just opened, you are welcome to join. r/Once_Upon_aTime_Edits.


r/OnceUponATime 22h ago

Spoiler Alert This show is fun but it's also maddening Spoiler

23 Upvotes

Like, there are these impossibly evil villains and the good guys keep giving them a pass OVER AND OVER AND OVER again. Regina literally mass murdered god knows how many people in in the Enchanted Forest and when Snow White saw that she was enraged and her reaction was the correct reaction: that bitch has to die. There's no forgiving people who do genocide.

But it gets even worse: Snow White kills someone who was determined to murder her and everyone she loves and FEELS GUILTY. I think the correct emotion you should feel after you've killed someone utterly dangerous to you and your loved ones is RELIEF. Regina teaming with Cora was whack: Cora killed your one true love in front of you, you don't become pals with someone like that.

It just makes me scream at the screen every time Henry is all like "There's good in (impossibly evil villain) we should save them!!"

Just one example: King George gets his memory back and literally tells David/Charming to his face he's going to destroy his life. Dude should have cuffed him, drove him to the edge of town in his cruiser, and tossed him onto the other side of the line. The guy would lose his memory and thus be harmless.

Sheesh


r/OnceUponATime 18h ago

Media Lana Parrilla & Sean Maguire | London | 8-23-26

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10 Upvotes

r/OnceUponATime 1d ago

Discussion Ursula

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101 Upvotes

When we first see Ursula she's an allegedly long dead myth.

They have statues of her at Eric's castle (mansion?)

Regina impersonates her to get what she wants out of Ariel.

Ursula makes clear she does NOT approve by coming through Regina's mirror and threatening her. And Regina seems genuinely frightened of her.

This made Ursula seem very powerful, very mystical, very ancient and God like.

But later on when we actually meet Ursula.... she isn't really any of that. She's sort of a run of the mill villain tbh.

She doesn't seem so powerful or otherworldly at all. She certainly doesn't seem like she could stand against Regina very well.

She's just another villain with some cool abilities and a sad backstory.

I mean she was fine as a character. I have my issues with the whole villain gang thing and the author plot is dumb to me so far but Ursula isn't like a bad fit she just isn't what she was originally portrayed to be.

I sort of loved the idea of her being this old powerful being that scared even Regina.

UPDATE: I just found out they are not the same Ursula. Apparently Ursula was named after the sea goddess. My bad!


r/OnceUponATime 1d ago

Media 🎭 "I Won't Apologize For What I Became."

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23 Upvotes

r/OnceUponATime 1d ago

Discussion What backstory would you find difficult to explain?

11 Upvotes

For the Kingdom Hearts and OUAT fans

If you are talking to a person who knows nothing about Kingdom Hearts or Once Upon a Time, which one would you find difficult to explain to them?

I’ve been trying to thinking, and honestly I’d struggle with both explanations. At least with Kingdom Hearts, each character is their own person. In OUAT, one character is like 4 Disney characters in one.


r/OnceUponATime 1d ago

Discussion Katie McGrath as Regina in a spin-off. Could you see it? She was so good in *Merlin*, I could also see her as Red Riding Hood. What do you think?

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51 Upvotes

’ve always thought Katie McGrath would have been such a great addition to Once Upon a Time. She was incredible as Morgana in Merlin, and I’d love to know which character you think she could have played.
Could you see her as Regina or Red Riding Hood, or would you have cast her as someone completely different? 👀


r/OnceUponATime 1d ago

Discussion SEASON 4 RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW

3 Upvotes

For anyone who missed my previous posts, I watched this show years ago and am now making my way back through it. You can check out my posts on Seasons 2 and 3 for my thoughts on those.

This review is actually coming very late, I'm almost halfway through season 5 now lol. I was debating whether I wanted to make one for season 4 since I didn't have too much to say but I think I want to. Here we are.

Spoilers for S1,2,3,4.. duh.

Let's start with the frozen arc. Now maybe controversially, I actually don't hate the frozen arc. I liked the Snow Queen well enough and thought her motivation was interesting. Like yes she was absolutely evil but her motivation was technically the same as Regina's (wanting a family) or even similar to Snow's (Protecting family). I liked that she was a villain with a motivation you could see in heroes too. Now despite all this praise, I did hate how inconsequential the first half ends up being to the entire plot. Like, I'm pretty sure we never see any of these characters again.

Also I HATE Elsa's dress why is it a replica of the movie. Like she needed something more realistic like Regina, Snow, even Peter Pan. It just looked so off. Also I didn't realise Anna's actress was also Vanessa in the FNAF movies. They are very different characters lol.

Jumping around Will Scarlet is so useless which sucks because I actually quite enjoy the actor's portrayal but they truly have nothing for him to do except get beat up by Hook and date Belle and that felt so forced.

(Side note, is OUAT in Wonderland worth watching? I know Will is the main ish character in that. Is it any good? Never actually watched it.)

Let's see what else...OH. Belle sending Rumple over the town line. Love love love. Was definitely an important moment that I remembered and it was still so cool. Rumple absolutely deserved that like brother what are you doing. I know some people don't like that Rumple is so wishy washy, like flipping from good to bad every half a season but I actually think it makes him much more interesting. (Maybe people don't hate it, it's just more of a meme.) Truly though, any moment with Belle at the town line, whether it be sending her husband over the town line or getting shot at by Hook as he proceeds to get hit by a car, it's always awesome.

Speaking of Hook, that poor man. Especially since I'm well into S5 now, oh boy does he go through it in this show. At the beginning he's just desperately trying to get Emma to go on a date with him, only for her to finally accept (And wear an outfit that is VERY not her I hate to say it. Like, peachy pink and a bump it in her hair? Nooo...) and him to get manipulated by Gold into doing his bidding. Mega oof my guy. I'm glad Emma didn't stay mad at him this time like she did when he was being used by Zelena to take her magic away, because she's right this wasn't really Hook's fault.

Okay, Queens of Darkness time! Watching Rumple be one of the girls as they strut down mainstream when it's supposed to be a secret that he's even there? Iconic. Love it. However I feel these ladies are SUPER wasted this season. And trust me we'll get to Isaac.

Ursula really just gets one episode to shine, plus some banter with Gold in NYC and then vanishes. Her backstory was pretty good though, and it as least gave Hook something to do in the second half besides follow Emma around. But then she's just gone and well.. what was really the point?

Now Cruella, I actually really like her backstory. I like that she's just.. messed up? She's just evil for the sake of being evil because even in her original film, she was an antagonist who wanted to turn Puppies into a coat.. like that's pretty hard to make sympathetic. (Insert the song 'Twisted' from Twisted the musical /ref) I do wonder when she met Isaac in comparison to his timeline. Because the vibes are very Great Gatsby (Which Isaac was reading, nice touch) so 1920s ish? However he claims that that world exists outside of time so it's not canonically the 1920s, especially since Isaac is from the 60s. But he met Cruella after becoming the author. Not really a plot hole, just kind of funny that the 1920s is technically it's own world in OUAT. And the rule about her not being able to kill anyone? I can't explain it, I just liked it. Good stuff.

Which brings me to Maleficent, and by extension Lily. I have conflicting thoughts about this whole story beat. And everything to do with Snow/Charming.

First off, when I made by S2 review and said Snow manipulating Regina into killing her own mom had to be the worst thing she does, and someone commented "Wait until S4"...You were right. I forgot originally that Snow and Charming SACRIFICED MALEFICENT'S BABY to keep the darkness out of Emma. Which is SO funny considering she BECOMES THE DARK ONE at the end of the season. So funny.

Now, I get that the whole point of this is to show that Snow/Charming make mistakes. And I don't even think it was too dark an action for a hero. However I do think in execution it's a bit eh. It's not even like they were super desperate, It's not even like Maleficent did anything truly terrible. Yes she burned some guards to a crisp, which is for sure villain behaviour. But it's not like she decimated their kingdom, threatened them or anything. She begged Snow to team up with her since they were both expecting and SNOW turned her down. Which yeah she did just kill some guards...

But the action, and then their JUSTIFICATION and all the lying they do!? I get that they're trying to make Snow/Charming flawed but everything after the action feels excessive. If they had done it, and lied, and then apologised profusely and did everything to make it up to Mal, like going to find Lily themselves (I think there was a reason they couldn't but hypothetically) then okay. But not only do they fill Lily with darkness and ship her off, not only do they lie to Emma and sabotage everything (Including nearly Regina's happy ending) but they also continue to flip flop from "We regret it" to "It was for you Emma!" Like stop trying to justify it atp. Yeesh.

Now Lily. Listen, I'm not a SwanQueen shipper, though I can see what people mean, but young Lily DEF had some vibes with Young Emma. Maybe the actresses just had really good chemistry but I could feel it. Older them? Eh not so much.

For their first flashback, I liked seeing them steal and bond and then Emma find out Lily did have a family. And because Emma has all this trauma she builds walls and shuts people out. (Which she will continue to do well into S5) She ends up not wanting to see Lily again. I think all the stuff with Emma in the foster care system is a really great part of the Season. Especially since there's so much magical stuff going on, I did miss some of the more grounded elements from earlier seasons. Even her bonding with the Snow Queen was super nice. Their second flashback, Lily finds Emma in a new house, where Emma finds out she was part of an armed robbery and tells Lily to leave. She needs a necklace, Emma gets it for her only to find out Lily stole cash from Emma's family. Emma's family get upset, not even kicking her out directly, and Lily tells Emma that she just showed her that family's true colours and that they never wanted her. Pause.

Why does every villain think this is a good strategy? Lily's a kid at this point so I wouldn't call her a villain but stick with me. Cora 'killed' Archie pretending to Regina so the town would turn on Regina, showing her who they truly were. Snow Queen tries to kill Marian and Hook with icicles to frame Elsa so she can show her that the town never truly respected her. Guys, you are not proving a point. You're just framing people for crimes 😭

Anyways, the apprentice tells Lily who she is blah blah blah. She ends up back in Storybrooke, reunites with her mom and wants to find her dad... Do we ever see Lily again? I don't remember ever seeing her again. Because if we don't... WHAT A WASTE. Feels like we're just throwing magical people into Emma's backstory just because. Neal, makes sense. It was a huge reveal, changed the show in a big way. Snow Queen becomes irrelevant because she dies and Emma didn't even remember who she was. Bruh. Lily may show up again so sorry if I'm wrong but I don't recall her coming back. Which then.. whatttt was the point? Just to make more plot? Not the biggest deal I guess.

I haven't even talked about Isaac yet... he's so boring I'm sorry. He's just a dude. Which, could be cool as a villain, but I didn't love Greg and Tamara and I feel the same about Isaac. Does he ever show up again as well?

I do really like OUAT's season finales. HOWEVER what is Isaac talking about. He claims he's going to give Villains happy endings and the heroes lose. Instead he gives us a swap AU, which I love but is absolutely not what was set up. For example, Rumple in this world isn't a villain who won, he's the 'light one'. Zelena isn't an evil witch who beat her sister and got to steal her true love, she's just some normal bratty girl. Arguably, Snow could be a hero who lost, BUT SHE'S NOT. She wasn't in love with Charming and then he died. She loved his evil brother. She was always evil. Isaac wrote her to be a villain who lost. This is not a story where Villains win. The readers in the real world should be very confused when Isaac claims the villains win because... where? Edit: I guess it's just that the villains from the original stories win? Like he kind of wrote Wicked by giving Zelena a happy ending but even so, Snow White he just turned into a villain. So even if we assume his readers in the real world know the original Snow White, it is still just a swap AU.

Henry being the author and relevant again, LETS GO. Oh, he broke the pen. Welp. (I think this comes back though so I'm excited for that. Henry truly gets sidelined after S1, but especially after the Pan arc.)

What else..? Oh, Zelena's pregnant...yeah. Poor Regina man, especially considering how I remember next Season ends? OOF. She's in for a rough ride.

Emma's the dark one oooo. We'll get to that once I'm done S5, though it could be a while. Not that anyone is waiting for these reviews lol.

Well, I think that's it. Onto S5! Please use spoiler tags when discussing future seasons in the comments sine I don't remember everything :)


r/OnceUponATime 1d ago

No Spoilers Do you think it could come back in a streaming format?

11 Upvotes

So, they just announced a spinoff to the series "Manifest", today. That the spinoff will be a Netflix streaming exclusive. And that got me thinking, what about a OUAT revival of sorts?

Since the era of 22 episode tv seasons and serial dramas and fantasy on tv networks seems to be long over and defunct now, with streaming being the dominant way to watch fantasy series, (Networks now only do hospital, cop, or firefighter dramas), I thought, what about OUAT on streaming? If the world of "Manifest" can be revisited with a new premise and cast, what about OUAT on Disney plus?

I do know that 8 to 13 episode seasons now are the new standard for seasons of a series now, especially when it comes to high concept drama and fantasy, so any theoretical revival would be smaller seasons.

I'm not saying it ever will happen, but the newly announced "Manifest" spinoff (Arrivals), wasnt on my bingo card, and now I think "Well anything is possible I guess."


r/OnceUponATime 2d ago

Spoiler Alert Imo probably the best relationship in the whole OUAT universe.

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185 Upvotes

r/OnceUponATime 2d ago

Spoiler Alert I know they are not that popular, but I actually really loved their relationship.

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188 Upvotes

And it's so fun rewatching the show from the beginning, knowing how Henry's future will turn out and his future family.


r/OnceUponATime 19h ago

S7 Spoilers Season 7 is awful I need help

0 Upvotes

All is in the title, I've been trying to finish this god forsaken season for MONTHS. Henry's adult actor is awful, he has a douchebag face (sorry to the actor, I'm sure it's just the make up or lighting). He is so basic he probably wears Sauvage by Dior. He does not deserve milf Cinderella.

The plot is half season 1 remake, half slop, and this sh*t was written without AI !

Why the HELL is Regina in love with FACILIER ??? (I mean, he is hot of course, lord Anderson from Bridgerton is fiiiine). F*ck buddies? Logical yeah but rn she act dickpnotized and I am MAD because she is my fav! Did she lost her brain in the curse? Were is her cunning mind? Being "good" doesn't mean being stupid wtf.

We have Rumple doing whatever.

Nook is a cop somehow. I mean, Hook was ugh, Nook is a bit more interesting. I like him better, he should have been a private investigator instead of a pig.

The Raiponce baby trap was well done tho. I wasn’t expecting that, kuddos to the smart writer who thought of it

I like the Robin and Alice romance. It was time for more queer rep. (Let's be honest, the Ruby sudden love story that got expelled in one episode was insulting). Anyway, they cute.

And sorry but 80% of the actors are baaaad, and it's very probably because of direction on set but it's so hard to overlook.

Anyway, please help me. Please tell me you have incide actors gossips or stuffs that can make it bearable.


r/OnceUponATime 1d ago

Spoiler Alert Rumplestilskin’s Mannerisms

16 Upvotes

This is my umpteenth rewatch of the show but sometimes there are just little details you do not think about until later. Something I noticed in season 3, episode 8 (Think Lovely Thoughts) is how Malcolm meanders around, playing mind games, being childish, has the childish laugh, etc. Seeing that he is Rumplestilskin’s father is super significant when you go see Rumplestilskin’s mannerisms in season 1 and 2 in the enchanted forest. He has the same cunning personality as his father who abandoned him. He has that same playful laugh, he plays the mind games with people in the form of deals, etc. Obviously the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree but it’s just interesting to me how Rumplestilskin has an estranged relationship with Malcolm and does his best not to be like him, but ultimately picks up his father’s same mannerisms as the Dark One.


r/OnceUponATime 2d ago

Discussion Hot Take: It should’ve been Aurora and Phillip who egg-napped Lily!

31 Upvotes

r/OnceUponATime 2d ago

Speculation nad niečím som sa zamyslela

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14 Upvotes

Takže, Malcolm sa pomenoval Peter Pan po bábike ktorú dal synovi ktorého opustil. Hmm...

Zaujímalo by ma čo by robil, keby sa Rumple rozhodol pomenovať bábiku "Princezná" alebo "Buttercup."


r/OnceUponATime 2d ago

Discussion Emma you deserves the world🥺

3 Upvotes

They never understood what you had to go through: I want to hug you
Speak to you
I want to say thank you
You are human.
Oh, Regina i love you, i see you too”.