Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-27079851-20160910101800/@comment-1916997-20160913211045

Hmcooper4 wrote: Going back to the topic, this is one huge theory that fans would like confirmation. As was mentioned there are subtle, and some not so subtle, hints throughout the Wonderland series that leave you wondering what the truth of the matter is.

In support of the theory:

1. the presence of Ashley Boyd as one of the characters in the pilot. Even more interesting since she was not in any of the Season 3 episodes of Once proper. (at least as I recall)

2. Conversation between Ana and her mom, talking about the Mom's wish to marry into nobility and having sisters remaining that could do it.

3. This is the big one: The reveal by the Jabberwocky regarding the fact that she had a stepsister that was chosen by a prince. Given that Jabber is not omniscient, but only reads people based on their fears, this would imply that Ana was actually aware of the situation of her stepsister.

Now, situations opposing the theory are timeline related:

1. The Cinderella story appears in the show in the Price of Gold. We see David and Snow at the wedding Ball, which puts the Wedding after the Charming wedding (most likely), and therfore within a year of the Dark Curse. And we see Ashley very pregnant when they capture Rumple, which puts that event no more than 2 months prior to the Dark Curse. So the only unknown is the amount of time between when the Prince chose Ella and the Wedding, and I don't see that time being more than a couple of months. So for Ana to be one of the 2 stepsisters seen in the Price of Gold, she would still have to be in the EF 18 months prior to the Dark Curse tops.

2. Conversation between Alice and Ana discussing their past history. Ana seems to be aware of a younger Alice. since Alice's current age (while unknown) appears to be around 19-20, That would put an earlier meeting of a child Alice to be 7-8 years prior.

3. Events with Alice capturing the White Rabbit (one of the Wonderland flashbacks) seem to line up with the Events of "Mother". Alice had the White Rabbit to take back as proof of the existence of Wonderland, but released him Right after finding Cyrus (if memory serves). And this occurred in the Maze for the Queen of Hearts, and as I recall, Alice had just rescued/stolen the rabbit from the Queen of Hearts. And, as was noted in "Mother" Cora used the White Rabbit to visit Regina. All of this puts Cyrus meeting Alice prior to the Dark Curse, by a good margin, since my feeling is that the events of Mother took place while Regina was chasing bandit snow. And when Cyrus meets Alice, Ana is already well established as the Red Queen.

4. If we could place in the timeline when Cora went to visit Ana, that would complete the picture. Cora went to Meet Ana when she was to be married to the Red King, and at that time Ana did not know magic. Cora taught her. And as we saw with Regina, and even Emma, Mastering magic takes time, and by the time we see Ana in the Flashback where she blasts Cyrus off the cliff, Ana has a solid grasp on magic. which would indicate that she's had time to practice.

All of this to say that from a timeline standpoint, Ana has been in Wonderland for quite some time when we first meet her, and would have been in Wonderland before the Ball where Thomas chose Ella. Making it difficult for Ana to be one of the 2 infamous step-sisters to Ella. To be fair, Ana could be an older sister of the two we see in Price of Gold, and simply heard about her younger stepsister marrying a prince through someone. And Wonderland seems to be one of the easier lands to get to from other magical lands, so it is likely people were coming and going between EF and Wonderland. As for Ashley being in the Pilot, it is very odd, because she has only appeared in three episodes of Once proper so far (2 in Season 1 and 1 in Season 4).