Timeline

The village coward, Rumplestiltskin, loses his wife Milah to a pirate by the name of Killian Jones when refusing to fight for her. Rumple is led to believe Killian kidnapped her when in reality it was Milah who chose to leave, abandoning her husband and son.

Rumplestiltskin's son, Baelfire grows to be 14, thus meaning he is able to be recruited for the Ogres War. Not wanting to see him go, Rumple steals a magic dagger from the Duke's castle, thus giving him control over the Dark One, Zoso. However, he kills the sorcerer instead, stabbing him with the knife, thus making Rumple the Dark One himself.

Baelfire makes a deal with his father that if he can find away to get rid of Rumple's Dark One powers and go back to the way things were then Rumple would agree. Bae then seeks out Reul Ghorm, who gives him a magic bean that will take them to a Land Without Magic, thus making Rumple's powers useless. However, Rumple backs out once the portal has already been opened, and Bae falls through alone.

Rumple meets William Smee, who promises a magic bean in exchange for eternal life. Rumple then runs into Killian Jones and challenges him to a duel, as he is no longer a coward. Just as he goes to kill the pirate, however, Milah arrives and stops him. Rumple learns the truth behind her leaving him, which ends up in him taking her life and cutting off Hook's hand. After Rumple leaves, Killian leaves for Neverland, and Smee joins his crew.

A young man by the name of Jiminy grows up with pick-pockets for parents, by the names of Martin and Myrna, but as he grows up, he begins to regret the ways he lives, and starts plotting to get rid of his parents. He receives a potion from Rumplestiltskin to use on them, and after pulling an "elf tonic" scam on a couple by the names of Donna and Stephen, Jiminy learns his parents switched the "elf tonic" with the Dark One's potion. Jiminy discovers the couple have drunk the potion, and turned into wooden puppets. Sometime after, the Blue Fairy grants Jiminy a wish, turning him into a cricket and tasking him to look after the couple's son Geppetto.

A young Regina saves Snow White from her runaway horse, but is then proposed to by King Leopold, who has been in search of a new wife and mother for his daughter. Regina goes to reject, for she is in love with the stable boy, Daniel, but her mother, Cora, accepts on her behalf. Regina goes to run away with Daniel, but they're caught by Snow, who Regina's makes keep it a secret. Snow agrees to until Cora manipulates it out of her. Once learning what her daughter has planned, Cora stops the two and murders Daniel. Regina learns it was Snow who told her mother, and from that day forward, her hatred for her new stepdaughter builds.

Regina tries to escape her marriage to King Leopold days before wedding, but is stopped by Cora. Regina soon learns from her father of the Dark One, Rumplestiltskin, who she summons with her mother's spell book. Rumple gives Regina a looking glass that can banish Cora to another realm, which she soon does. Regina ends up not leaving Leopold after all, and instead begins learning magic from Rumple with the help of Cora's spell book.

Once day while strolling the shores, King Leopold discovers a lamp, and upon rubbing it, out comes the Genie of Agrabah, who must grant the King three wishes. Leopold uses his first wish to free the Genie, and the second to give his third wish to the Genie as well. Leopold then offers to let the Genie stay in his palace, where he soon falls in love with Queen Regina, Leopold's wife. Regina manipulates the Genie into killing the King, and rather than use the escape plan Regina had set up, he uses his third wish to be with the Queen forever and always able to look upon her face; it backfires and traps him in a mirror.

With King Leopold now dead, Queen Regina decides it's time to have Snow White killed. She searches for and hires a Huntsman to do the job and bring back the Princess's heart, but once taking her out into the woods, the Huntsman can't bring himself to kill her and instead allows her to flee. As a replacement, the Huntsman cuts out the heart of a dear for Regina. This doesn't fool her, however, so as punishment she rips out the Huntsman's heart and keeps him as her slave.

Now on the run from the Evil Queen, Snow White spends one night in a village home's chicken coop, only to be caught in the morning by Red Riding Hood. Red and her Granny allow Snow, who takes a false alias, to stay with them, and she soon learns a wolf has been terrorizing the village for sometime now. Snow and Red go out searching for the creature, and come to the conclusion it must be Red's lover, Peter. That night, they have Peter tied up for safety, but only to discover the wolf wasn't Peter, but Red, however it was too late as she ate him. Red and Snow escape the village while Granny holds off torch wielding villagers.

As the Ogres War worsens, Sir Maurice contacts Rumplestiltskin in hopes he'll help him and his people. Rumple agrees in exchange for Maurice's daughter, Belle, to come work in his castle as a maid. Maurice initially refuses, but Belle agrees, and the two leave. Once arriving at the Dark One's castle, Belle is forced to sleep in the dungeons. She later prepares tea for her new master and accidentally chips a cup.

When King George's kingdom becomes increasingly poor, he attempts forming an alliance with King Midas, for he was cursed to transform anything into gold the moment he touches it. Midas agrees to assist George if a dragon that is harassing one of his villages is gotten rid of permanently. To prove his worth to Midas, Prince James takes on the Behemoth, but is killed at the last minute. While mourning his dead son, George makes a deal with Rumplestiltskin to procure James' twin brother, David, to fill in as James to secure Midas' gold. In exchange for providing David, Rumple is given the location of the Fairy Godmother. David succeeds, and is then coerced into an engagement with Midas' daughter, Abigail. David says farewell to his mother, and is given her engagement ring as a parting marriage gift.

When, David and Abigail take the sync route through the woods to the Golden Castle, their carriage is ambushed by bandit Snow White, who robs the Prince of his jewels, which contained an engagement ring he intended on giving to Abigail. David goes after Snow and blackmails her into getting the jewels back, threatening to turn her over to the Evil Queen if she does otherwise. They make their way to the Troll Bridge where a fight ensues, but Snow saves them both by using fairy dust to turn the trolls into bugs. Prince Charming, as he has now been dubbed, gets back his jewels, and the two then part, but have unknowingly fallen in love.

A poor servant girl by the name of Cinderella grows up in a home with an abusive stepfamily, and one night she is saddened to see them all leave for a ball she was forbidden to go to. Her Fairy Godmother shows up, however, but is immediately murdered by Rumplestiltskin, who has come for her magic wand. The Dark One then makes a deal with the servant girl that in exchange for helping her to the ball, she will grant him a mystery favor to be called upon at some point in the future.

One day while Rumplestiltskin is spinning straw into gold, Belle chats with him while trying to pull open his nailed in curtains. She succeeds, but falls from the ladder and into Rumple's arms, and an awkward, but romantic moment ensues.

Rumplestiltskin tells Belle of his long lost son Baelfire; her fiancé, Gaston then arrives, wanting to fight the Dark One for Belle, but instead he is turned into a rose, which Rumple gives his maid as a gift. Rumple then makes a deal to tell Belle all about Bae if she returns from town with more straw for his wheel. Belle agrees, but while on the road, she is stopped by Queen Regina, who tells her she can break Rumple's curse with true love's kiss. Belle heads back to the Dark Castle and tries to, but Rumple catches on and forces her away and out of his home forever.

A year after the hatching of eight dwarfs, a fairy by the name of Nova gets in trouble, but dwarf Dreamy helps her. Later on at a tavern, Dreamy meets Belle, and after a conversation with her, he realizes he loves Nova; he and Nova later plan to travel the world.

Dreamy gets ready to leave the mines forever, but is stopped by the Blue Fairy and Bossy, and convinced to leave Nova so she can fulfill her dream and become a Fairy Godmother. Dreamy does so, and is left heartbroken. Once going back to mining, his dwarf ax no longer works, so he is forced to get a new one, which now reads the name "Grumpy."

Regina visits Rumplestiltskin, who is alone in his castle, and lies to him, stating that Belle now dead, having thrown herself from a tower.

After going into the woods, Hansel and Gretel lose their father, and are stopped in their tracks by the Evil Queen. Regina offers to help find their father if they steal a poisoned apple from the Blind Witch for her. Seeing how they have no other choice, the children do so and they succeed, killing the Witch in the process. Impressed with them, Regina offers to let them live with her, but Gretel objects, for she and her brother want their father instead. Offended, Regina transports the two children and their father to the Infinite Forest, where they are left to wander, most likely never finding each other again. Regina later looks in her Magic Mirror where she finds Snow White with the seven dwarfs.

Snow White secludes herself in the forest after becoming lovesick for Prince Charming. The only one to see her is Red Riding Hood who brings her food once a month, but this time she brings news of Charming's upcoming marriage: it's set to happen in two days' time. Wanting to forget the love she can never have, Snow goes to see Rumplestiltskin, who provides her with a forgetful potion. Meanwhile, however, Charming is unhappy at his own engagement party, as he yearns for Snow White. King George, however, threatens to harm everything dear to him if he does not marry Abigail. Charming still cannot ignore his feelings, so he sends a messenger dove with a letter for Snow, asking if she feels the same about him and asks for her to meet him at the castle. Snow does so, but is immediately caught and imprisoned by George's men. There, she meets the dwarf Grumpy, and Grumpy's friend Stealthy arrives to free them. Though he is killed as they are escaping, Snow and Grumpy still make it. Snow goes for her true love, but George finds her, and forces her to turn back, threatening to kill Charming otherwise. Snow leaves, heartbroken, but finds comfort in Grumpy and his six dwarf friends.

The approximate time Geppetto and Pinocchio escape the whale, Monstro, and Pinocchio jumps overboard so his father can have the only life jacket. After washing up to shore, Geppetto discovers Pinocchio has turned back into wood, but the Blue Fairy makes him a real boy, and promises he will remain one so long as he is selfless, brave, and true.

King George's men are sent after Charming when he abandons his wedding to Abigail, but the Prince is caught by his former fiancée, who reveals she also doesn't wish to marry him. Abigail reveals she was once betrothed to a knight named Frederick, but when he was saving her father, they touched and he was turned to solid gold. Charming decides to journey to Lake Nostos and bring back water so she can save her true love, which he succeeds at. In return, Abigail and Frederick provide Charming with supplies so he may find Snow White. When the Prince goes after her, he finds Red, who reveals she went to stop his wedding and never came back. The two then flee together as George's men approach them.

Having heard the news of Charming abandoning his wedding to Abigail, Grumpy goes to alert Snow, but is devastated to find she has drunken the forgetting potion.

Charming and Red continue running from King George's men, but after being ambushed one night, Red stays behind and turns into a wolf to hold them off while the Prince escapes. Meanwhile, Snow, per the effects of the forgetful potion, becomes cold and tactless, something the seven dwarfs don't take well to. Instead of changing like they plea for her to do, Snow decides to kill Regina, blaming her for all her problems. Grumpy tries taking Snow back to Rumple one last time, but since there's no undo potion, the Dark One provides Snow with a bow that never misses its target instead. Charming learns of his true love's plans, however, and makes a deal with Rumplestiltskin himself to track down the fugitive princess. Charming ends up taking the hit of the arrow Snow meant for the Queen, who is riding along the road. Though true love's kiss breaks the potion's curse, their reunion is cut short when George and his men arrive and capture Charming.

Charming is nearly put to death by King George, but is instead given to Regina at the last minute, who promises to have even worse intentions for the Prince. Snow, Red, and the dwarfs plan to rescue Charming from George's castle, having not learned what Regina has done, but ends up meeting with her stepmother via magic mirror, and agrees to meet her at the old stables with no weapons in order to have the Prince back. There, Regina instead blames Snow for the death of Daniel, and gives her stepdaughter the ultimatum of eating a poisoned apple, causing her to fall into a deep sleep forever, or she will have Charming killed. Snow ends up eating the apple, and Red and the dwarfs arrive too late to save her.

Charming flees Regina's palace with the help of the Huntsman, only to end up trapped in the Infinite Forest. Rumplestiltskin arrives, however, making a deal with the prince; he enchants a ring that will lead him to Snow and in exchange, Charming is to put a golden egg inside of a dragon-form Maleficent. Once doing so, Charming is given the ring and finds Snow, awakening her with true love's kiss, and they decide to take back the kingdom.

King George goes after Charming once more, scheming to kill the traitorous prince. He ends up cursing Snow White to be barren forever when tricking her into drinking a potion. Snow keeps this a secret from her true love, and the two of them, along with Lancelot are tasked with getting Charming's mother, Ruth, to Lake Nostos after she was shot by one of George's men. However, seeing how the lake has dried up, the only manage to find a few remaining drops. Ruth sacrifices herself so Snow may drink the water, uncursing herself. Wanting Ruth to be able to see her son get married, Snow has Lancelot perform a small ceremony, and Ruth passes away shortly after.

The approximate time Regina meets up with Jefferson, wanting to take a trip to Wonderland, and in exchange she will provide him with the ability to give his daughter, Grace, the childhood she deserves. Jefferson initially refuses, but finally gives in. However, he soon realizes Regina was there to retrieve her father, Henry, who had been taken captive by the Queen of Hearts. Since the same who came through must return through the hat, Jefferson finds himself abandoned by the Evil Queen. The Queen of Hearts' men capture him, and he is tasked with building a new hat to get him home, which causes him to eventually go mad.

Snow White and Prince Charming are married before the entire kingdom, but their wedding is crashed by the Evil Queen, who threatens to destroy their happiness if it is the last thing she does.

The night of Snow and Charming's wedding, Queen Regina visits her friend, Maleficent, whom she steals back the Dark Curse from.

Cinderella and Prince Thomas are married, and, at the wedding, Rumplestiltskin reveals that the favor he wishes to collect from her is the promise of her first born. The new princess soon becomes pregnant and knows Rumple will come for her child, so she tries to leave, but Thomas convinces her there must be other ways. With help from Snow, Charming, and the seven dwarfs, Cinderella tricks Rumple into believing she is pregnant with twins, and makes him sign a new deal. The quill is of ink that magically freezes the Dark One, however, but Thomas then disappears as payment until Rumple can get a hold of the Princess's first born. Charming and Grumpy take Rumple to the Dark Dungeon where he remains locked up until the casting of the Dark Curse.

Months pass and Snow White is now far into a pregnancy. Still fearing the Evil Queen's upcoming curse, Snow and Charming visit the imprisoned Rumplestiltskin who reveals their unborn child to be the Savior. In exchange for this information, the royal couple provide the Dark One with the name of their unborn child to be Emma.

The Blue Fairy goes to Geppetto, seeking help about carving a magic wardrobe which can send two people to the Land Without Magic, helping them avoid the Dark Curse. Geppetto agrees to do so, but makes the Blue Fairy promise Pinocchio can be one of the two to go through, with a pregnant Snow White being the other. Blue accepts these terms, and they agree to keep it a secret that more than one can go through.

During a strategy meeting held by Prince Charming about how to overcome the Dark Curse, the Blue Fairy arrives with news of a magic wardrobe. She lies that it can take one through a portal to safety, and that it must be the pregnant Snow White. Geppetto and Pinocchio get started on carving the wardrobe. ("Pilot"/"The Stranger")

Regina attempts casting the Dark Curse by sacrificing the heart of her beloved horse, Rocinante, and a lock of hair from the darkest wizards in all the land. It fails, however, so the Evil Queen seeks help from the imprisoned Rumplestiltskin, who has already spoken with the royal couple. The Dark One reveals she must sacrifice the heart of the person she loves most - Prince Henry. Regina does so, and the curse is cast. She later goes to his gravestone and leaves a flower.

Snow White unexpectedly goes into labor and gives birth to Emma, however, thus meaning she cannot accompany her daughter through the magic wardrobe. ("Pilot"/"The Stranger")

Hearing of this, the Blue Fairy goes back on her promise to Geppetto and tries to convince him to allow Snow White to go through the wardrobe with Emma. She points out that Emma will need someone to guide her on the right path to becoming the savior, but as soon as Blue leaves, Geppetto makes Pinocchio go through the wardrobe and watch over Emma himself.

Snow insists Charming send Emma through anyway, as she is their only hope, so the Prince does so, fighting his way through Regina's men. He manages to send Emma through the wardrobe, but then collapses due to his wounds. Snow finds him, but is joined by Regina; the Princess tells her stepmother she won't succeed, and then the curse engulfs them all, sending them to Storybrooke.