u/Admirable-Try-5287

I know, I KNOW we are never going to reach a consensus on how time moves differently in different realms that makes sense with the timelines and ages the show itself presents, but I just cannot let it go, and I‘m especially curious about the effects on those people who stay behind… (s7 spoilers ahead)

In s7, >!Henry travels through the new EF, he ages faster than people back in Storybrooke. He has a daughter who is ten before the curse sends them back in time.!<

>!How does that feel for the rest of the family? Emma is pregnant and has a newborn in the time her son meets his future wife, gets married and has a child - who is older by many years than Henry’s half-sibling/Lucy‘s aunt. Wouldn’t you feel like you‘re missing out on too much? I know they couldn‘t have Emma appear any more often than she did, but even a mention of her here and there might have been nice.!<

I‘m on a season 2 rewatch and got to the part where August gets turned back into a boy, and man…. Is it sweet that Marco gets to continue raising his son when barely any time has passed for him? Yes.

But I am upset at the loss of friendship (potential) for Emma and the fact that they remove the character from everything that made him August. The role he played in bringing Emma to this world. The role he played in getting her to Storybrooke and breaking the curse.

Okay, firstly, I have SO many questions about the logistics of this realm after it is wished into being, but sticking to one subject:

Has Emma gone to therapy for all the different timelines in her head? Seriously. She has

1. her original life, no parents or family for 28 years
2. the New York timeline, where she remembers living and growing with her son
3. her entire life, except WITH her parents AND son, happy and safe from any dangers.

When Emma wakes up in the wish realm, she mentions remembering everything from that life. Coming out of it and realizing that it was fake would be absolutely crushing. Yes, she probably prefers the truth, ultimately. But can you imagine all your life‘s trauma coming back to you at once?

(This post is just about Emma, but side note, given that the writers made this a realm that continues to exist, no wonder wish Henry hates Regina - she killed his grandparents and then kidnapped his mom, and he’s just left behind)

Flashbacks to the EF provide backstory to character, but they don’t always move the plot forward. We get to know Jiminy, but his character and knowing him better don’t directly impact what happens at that point in the show.

The EF plot is not just there to serve the Storybrooke plot. Yes, we learn about how the curse came to be. But not every bit of history we get relates to it. There are characters who rarely, if ever, interact with Regina or Snow pre-curse. It is great world- and character-building. Even if it does build up to the curse (Regina’s backstory), we get a long history of events that led to that moment.

Season 1 takes its time. There are several scenes where nothing happens and characters just chat - perfect filler.

Season 7 rant/questions, many spoilers ahead.

I knew going into season 7 that it wouldn‘t be anything like previous seasons - and maybe that’s a good thing lol. I abandoned this show mid-season 5 back when it aired, and recently made it my mission to finish it up.

This show is obviously flawed, and yet it‘s probably one of my favourites. I am overall cool with ignoring most plot or character inconsistencies, questionable storylines, sped up redemption arcs, you name it. If I weren’t, I wouldn’t enjoy the show.

That being said, having finished season 7 now, I have some thoughts 😅 DISCLAIMER: with how convoluted everything is, it’s very likely I missed or overlooked some bits. If anything is (reasonably) explained by the show, please let me know.

Did they write this season assuming it would get cancelled? It has a weird mix of the half-season and full-season approach, with Rapunzel dying halfway through, while the curse, Gothel plot and relationships take a full season to develop. They wrap up some of the storylines WAY too quickly. I know previous seasons struggled with that at times (especially the later half-seasons) but some of this is intense.

I do also want to say, I don’t actually hate season 7. I thought I would, but looking at it as its own thing more so than a continuation of season 6, I think it had some great moments and characters. I think Facilier could’ve been a great villain if the show (and he) had stuck around longer. I thought Gothel was a great overarching villain. Despite previous confusion on my end, I liked the time travel curse - maybe not how late they let viewers know though to avoid confusion. I liked that, rather than having a bunch of love stories, we mainly had Alice/Robin and Henry/Ella, even if we only got one season with them. Given that they lost most of their main cast, I think they did a good job coming up with a somewhat reasonable sequel, new characters and new curse personas.

But still….

Season 7 starts with the resistance fighting Lady Tremaine. It is said that they have defeated her - unsure what that means exactly, since she is still around and has magic. Years later, she helps the group petrify Drizella. When did they start working together??

In Hyperion Heights, Victoria‘s whole quest is bringing back Anastasia, at all costs. She puts Lucy in a coma/almost kills her to do this. Not to mention the emotional abuse that she subjected her to while she lived with her probably. And then suddenly she goes out of her way to rescue Lucy once Anastasia is back? Not just to appease her daughter, she actually says something along the lines of “I’ve always liked her.” Which in itself doesn’t make much sense, considering how much she hated Cinderella. As far as we can tell, she’s never shown a particular interest in Lucy in the new EF.

The disconnect between Lady Tremaine and Drizella is never quite explained. I know we see that they are awkward with each other when Rapunzel returns. I know the show wants us to believe that she assumes Drizella hates her or something. But based on what little we see, the intense shift from “my daughter doesn’t really like me” to “I am ready to sacrifice this daughter to bring back my other one,” seems too intense and sudden, even for this show.

While I am on this family, Drizella spent years angry and seeking revenge and justice. She’s bitter and brainwashed. She goes through the trouble of casting a curse. And then, once her mom (who she resented/hated for years) sacrifices herself and Gothel betrays her, she instantly tries to be better. In fact, she only has a few lapses in judgement, but they are short-lived. The same woman who was about to kill Henry in the new EF to have her curse cast. I‘m not saying she can’t have any sort of redemption - this show is good with redemption arcs. But maybe not this quickly…? And with very few wavers in confidence overall.

Do we know how Anastasia got so powerful? She’s been in a magical coma for years, she was still a child when she almost died. How did she just get all this magic and knowledge how to control that power? If she is so powerful, why is she in approximately two episodes, contributing fairly little to the development of the story once she’s back? She’s indirectly responsible for most of the events in the first half of the season.

Back in the EF, how did a troll free Alice from the tower? I know they made a weird link of it being tied to her fears/desires, but this makes it look like almost anything magical could’ve smashed it. The fish hook that Hook (haha) initially wants to try out is taken, but if a troll can also do the job, why not a magical sledgehammer or anything from Gepetto’s toolbox? It seems like they couldn’t figure out a reasonable way to break blood magic and eventually just said “f*** it, she needs to leave. Magical troll time.” I also assume this isn’t the first time she made a birthday wish to be free.

Moving on to the curse in the real world, once Regina was awake, why didn’t she tell Lucy the truth? That could have 1) prevented her losing hope and nearly dying and 2) pushing so hard for Henry and Jacinda to kiss - knowing her dad will die if they do might have made her rethink playing matchmaker.

Lucy also knows there’s a curse and who is who - but she doesn’t have any of her EF memories. Did she just intuitively put it together? And why is there so much memory potion around, but no one gives her any?

Aaaand lastly (I’m sure there’s more), why did Rumple just forget about Gideon? I get wanting to reunite with Belle, but unless he’s still in the realm where time moves at lightning speed and is also close to death, I feel like he might be upset about losing both his parents?

This is a lot haha. I have a whole string of thoughts related to the wish realm, but this is already too long. Part of me wishes I hadn’t abandoned this fandom in 2016 so I could’ve had a whole community experiencing this confusion in real time, but better late than never

SPOILERS
In season 7, we see that Rumple is starting to more shiny the more evil decisions he makes. This doesn’t even require magic, just evil intent (we see his hands are golden when he leads Alice to Dr. Facilier to crush his heart. He doesn’t use magic to convince her or hurt Dr. Facilier besides the first time they meet).

We know Nimue is immediately shiny - original Dark One, whatever.

Rumple isn’t immediately like it when he first gets the power. And, apparently, it can go away if you don’t make bad decisions for a while. Considering he doesn’t immediately turn shiny when back in a world with magic, there also seems to be a delay.

Emma emerges from the birthplace of Dark Ones normal-looking (maybe a little tired), and with fairly simple clothes. When she fully commits to using the powers (fully is a stretch, but they try to make it seem that way), she goes through a transformation and her appearance changes - but, unlike all the other prominent Dark Ones, she never goes shiny, not even in the EF.

Is this just the show picking and choosing which rules apply to which character or is there a show-realistic explanation?

I try not to take inconsistencies too seriously, because the whole show would come apart. But some make me giggle, because how did no one notice (or care)?

I’m currently watching season 7 (spoilers ahead??) for the first time after abandoning the show mid-season 5 when it first aired. I understand time moves differently in all the realms, explaining SOME of the weird ages of characters.

Henry having a whole 10-year-old daughter, while Regina hasn’t aged - even though she was with him most of the time after episode 1. Robin being 18, whereas, again, Zelena hasn’t aged. I haven’t seen all of this season yet, so maybe I will learn a little more about the situation, but even with Emma pregnant, it makes no sense that she would’ve never come to see her literal granddaughter. She must have known about it. Can you imagine how wild that would be as a mother? You’re pregnant for 9 real-world months, whereas your son, who is technically 18 years younger, ages 10 years almost overnight and has a daughter that’s older than her future aunt/uncle. Even with some wild realm math, none of this quite adds up.

I’m used to the show messing up timelines etc., but this one just makes me laugh with how wild it gets. I know there are a whole bunch of these in the show - so, what are your favourite (unserious) plot holes?