Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5821891-20160307122113/@comment-24674051-20160307185533

I agree that Hat Trick is probably within a week of SotD. We've seen the relationship that Regina has with her Father. Yes, she gets mad at him and does stupid things (like shrinking him and putting him in a box), but deep down, He IS the person that she loved the most (at least at the time of casting the curse). So it would be unlikely that Regina would let her father be prisoner very long.

And actually, whether or not is was originally planned, there is a sense of Urgency on Regina's part to rescue her father. and that fits well with what we saw in SotD.

Also, SotD  arguably adds some explanation why Regina was worried that her Mom might return, given that she has shown up twice now since she was originally shoved through the looking glass.