Land Without Magic

"Somewhere horrible. Absolutely horrible. A place where the only happy ending will be mine."

- The Evil Queen to Snow White referring to Our World

The Land Without Magic is a world featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the first episode of the first season.

The Land Without Magic is the world the Evil Queen sent the inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest when she enacted the Dark Curse.

During the Curse
The Evil Queen enacts a Dark Curse in the Enchanted Forest, destroying that world and taking most of its inhabitants (and others) to the Land Without Magic. Specifically, everyone is trapped in Storybrooke, Maine. ("Pilot")

Emma Swan escapes this curse by being placed in a magic wardrobe by her parents. Unknown to her parents this wardrobe actually has the power to bring forth two people to a land without magic. Geppetto places his son Pinocchio in this wardrobe so that he to can escape the impending curse. ("Pilot")("The Stranger")

The two arrive in this new land. They both end up in the foster system and at some point end up in the same foster home. Pinocchio, now going by the name August Booth leaves this foster home after a fellow orphan leaves with the money he found in a sock drawer. ("The Stranger")

Emma grows to be eighteen and meets Neal Cassidy while attempting to steal a car. The two become a couple and survive by stealing. Neal later tells Emma that he is wanted for stealing expensive watches. Emma helps Neal retrieve these watches while Neal Cassidy runs to find someone to sell them to, he is stopped by August Booth. August begins to tell Neal his history with Emma. He then shows Neal something in a box and convinces him to believe in magic. Then he tells Neal that there is a curse that Emma must break.

Emma is arrested for possession of stolen goods. The officers tell her that Neal tipped them off and by now he is in Canada. She is sent to a minimum security prison in Phoenix, Arizona. Sometime after this Neal meets up with August in Vancouver. August tells him Emma's fate, this prompts Neal to give August the money and the keys to the bug. In her prison cell Emma receives a letter containing the keys to the car and a keychain. ("Tallahassee")

Emma gives birth to her son, Henry in prison. He is adopted by Regina Mills. At some point Emma becomes a bailbonds woman. She never settles anywhere for too long, her longest time being two years in Tallahassee. ("The Price of Gold")

On her twenty-eighth birthday she is living in Boston and tracks down an embezzler named Ryan on her birthday. Shortly after this Henry shows up at her door. She drives him back to his home in Storybrooke. After she returns Henry to Storybrooke she is concerned with his wellbeing and decides to stay. ("Pilot")

She spends a short time at Granny's Bed and Breakfast but eventually moves in with Mary Margaret Blanchard a teacher in Storybrooke. ("The Thing You Love Most")

While in Storybrooke, Emma becomes sheriff after the death of the previous sheriff. ("Desperate Souls") She often clashes with Regina, Henry's adoptive mother and mayor.

She becomes best friends with Mary Margaret but this friendship is tested when Mary Margaret is accused of murdering Kathryn. ("Red-Handed") - ("The Stable Boy")

When Kathryn returns, Mary Margaret is released from jail. ("The Return")

When Emma decides to leave Storybrooke Regina gives her an apple turnover, before she can eat it, Henry does. ("An Apple Red as Blood")

She eventually breaks the curse using true loves kiss on a sleeping Henry. This returns all of their Enchanted Forest memories. ("A Land Without Magic")

After the Curse
Mr. Gold drops a true love potion into Storybrooke Wishing Well, returning magic to Storybrooke. Residents of Storybrooke are still trapped in Storybrooke due to the return of magic. ("Broken")

Neal receives a postcard from August with the word's "Broken" written on it. ("Broken")

Ways to travel to The Land Without Magic

 * By passing through the Magic Wardrobe.
 * By passing through a portal created with a Magic Bean or with ashes from the Magic Wardrobe and the waters of Lake Nostos.
 * By casting the Dark Curse.

Prominent Locations

 * Boston
 * Portland, Oregon
 * New York City
 * Storybrooke, Maine

Other Locations

 * Phoenix, Arizona
 * Vancouver, Canada

Mentioned Locations

 * Las Vegas, Nevada  ("Snow Falls")
 * Madagascar ("Red-Handed")
 * Nepal ("Red-Handed")
 * Phuket, Thailand ("The Stranger")("Tallahassee")
 * Pamplona, Spain ("Heart of Darkness")
 * Tallahassee, Florida  ("The Price of Gold")("Tallahassee")

Current Inhabitants

 * The Outsider

Boston

 * Ryan

New York City

 * Neal Cassidy

Storybrooke
For the inhabitants of Storybrooke, see the Storybrooke page.

Trivia

 * Jefferson says that this is one of the Lands that don't have magic, but need it.
 * Although it is still called The Land Without Magic, there is magic in Storybrooke.