Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-6252544-20140905050048/@comment-24674051-20140919140643

The thing with Neal flashbacks is that they would all be in the LWM, either pre or post Emma. Given that Bae was around 15 when he left Rumple and went to the Darlings, and then went to NL, most of his life was spent as a teenager (ewwww). Based on his apparant age (I would say early 30's), he would have left NL and arrived back in LWM somewhere around 10 years into the first curse (around 1993). He still would have been a teenager at that time (a rather street smart and experienced teenager given his true age), so you would not see the MRJ (adult Neal) until closer to 1996/1997, and he hooked up with Emma around 1999/2000. So that is what the writers will have to work with for MRJ flashbacks.

practically speaking, any flashbacks will likely be in the Emma years, and in assiciation with his interaction with Emma. So really, any flashbacks will be Swanfire related flashbacks.

Just as an interesting side story, it would be kinda cool to see teenage Bae after he escaped NL and came back to the LWM. but I'm not sure if that story would be relevant to anything, so I don't really have to see it.