Board Thread:Spoilers!/@comment-27060727-20160808004056/@comment-24674051-20161011033210

Agreed. Evidently Jasmine was part of the DC, and we have Jacob (Clorinda's beau) that was already in SB as well. Makes you wonder if Ashley knew Jacob, or had any contact with him (though I imagine they would, since Thomas would likely have been in contact with him).

As for your guess about Mary being from VE? She will be coming with Tom Sawyer, since Mary is Tom's cousin (I'm going out on a limb and assuming that the Mary here is the one from Tom Sawyer, and not some other Mary). So she will not be from VE. I think we'll see them in SB, and if they go with Tom Sawyer from the books, they will be contemporaries of Henry and Violet (who is also returning this episode), and therefore be joining the school. We'll probably see their story (and maybe see them joined by Huck Finn?) later in the season.

Now, that will bring up the question about where Tom and company hail from, though it could be the same place that we get Dorothy. (an American Midwest world). that conversation will be for a future episode though (most likely).

Finally, Shirin is Jasmine. But why is she Shirin. Most obvious answer is that Shirin is her cursed SB name, and one that she has decided to keep (much like Mary Margaret or Ashely have maintained their SB persona). There are other possibilities (like witness protection), but I find these to be really low possibility. My money right now is on the reveal that the Oracle is Jafar, and Al is currently being held as Jafar's staff, and Jasmine is hiding her presence behind a false identity.