All posts by DatNuttyKid

lol rip me

Let's try to get this on paper, shall we?

• 904: Forever A Beast -- Fiona is met with disdain from the other students and parents when Snow suggests that she pick up Lucy from school, leading her to try something big to prove herself: solve the missing person case. Lily and Maleficent attend their first therapy session with Archie, but Lily ends up storming out before they can begin. Zelena makes a startling discovery that leads her to believe Tilly and Margot’s wedding may be in danger. Henry makes an effort to get to know Abel, but his nerves get the better of him as he worries Abel may not approve of his relationship with Jacinda. As a young girl, Fiona attempts to break free of her wicked stepfamily when she falls in love.
  • Fiona's backstory is based on two Brothers Grimm fairytales: "Mother Hulda" and "Jorinde and Joringel". Hulda and Henriette fill the roles of the awful stepfamily from "Mother Hulda" while Fiona and Malcolm are Jorinde and Joringle with Hulda also being the witch. Fiona falls into a magic well and meets a mysterious woman portrayed by Kristin Chenoweth, who offers her a magical flower that will help her escape her family; Fiona takes the flower but decides against using it. After she falls in love with Malcolm, Hulda finds out and transforms him into a bird to keep them from being happy and Fiona uses the flower, freeing Malcolm and turning Hulda and Henriette to stone. The mysterious woman returns and reveals that the flower was powerless; Fiona possessed the magic all along.
  • Zelena discovers Roquat is back and leaves to face him on her own at the end of the episode.
  • Fiona's present-day storyline is also primarily setup for the next episode.
  • As far as I can remember, nothing particularly interesting comes out of the Lily/Maleficent and Henry/Abel storylines; just some fun character moments.
• 905: No One Mourns the Wicked -- With Tilly and Margot’s wedding on the horizon, Zelena slips off to face a dangerous enemy on her own. Regina and Sir Henry double their efforts on the missing person case after their only witness is murdered, but Fiona brings evidence that indicates Zelena is involved. Lucy worries her friend may be putting them both in danger when Lana requests her help. Back in the land of Oz, Zelena makes an unsteady alliance in order to finish her time travel spell.
  • Backstory sees Zelena and Roquat team up. Roquat now has a son; he wants to use the time travel spell to be a better man for his sake. At the end of the episode, Zelena fears Roquat will betray her and banishes him to another land, thus also separating him from his son.
  • Camilla is murdered and Fiona discovers that her fairy tale counterpart is Billina the chicken from Oz, one of Zelena's former enemies; because Zelena is MIA fighting Roquat, Regina is unable to defend her. Roquat is actually the one who killed her and he takes Zelena's magic again; Regina, Margot, Tilly, and future-Zelena "Kelly" show up to defeat him.
  • Tilly and Margot get married; Kelly and Chad are there for it. Zelena and Kelly talk about what happens in Seattle and how she eventually finds love with Chad; Zelena has Regina wipe her memories to ensure it will happen and moves to Emerald Acres Farm with Robin.
  • At the end of the episode, Lana talks Lucy into stealing Maui's Fish Hook from the locked-up Pawn Shop and running away to find Maui.
• 906: Family Bonds -- Jacinda and Sabine rush back to the United Realms when they learn Lucy is missing, but Snow and David must step in when Henry and Jacinda still struggle to work together. On Regina’s request, Fiona begins attending sessions with Archie as well, who advises her to reach out to Gideon, but their meeting goes awry. A young Cinderella’s heart is crushed as her family is torn apart.
  • I don't exactly recall but I believe this backstory was going to be how Rapunzel and the Prince killed Marcus.
  • All of the modern day plots go basically as described. Lucy shows back up at the very end of the episode.
• 907: The Heart -- Lucy is able to finally convince Moana to ask for help in finding the Heart of Te Fiti. Lily reaches out to Fiona as they both realize how much they have in common. While Regina helps Lucy and Moana, Snow and David try to help Sir Henry relax from the missing person case. In flashbacks, Moana’s pride gets the better of her when she encounters the crew of the Jolly Roger.
  • Backstory shows Moana lose Maui's Fish Hook to Captain Ahab.
  • Lily and Fiona strike up a friendship; antics with Snow, David, and Sir Henry. Nothing super noteworthy.
  • Henry and Lucy dedicate themselves to researching Te Fiti and Maui.
• 908: Creation -- Moana’s information leads to a break in the missing person case as Henry and Lucy investigate the history of Te Fiti using the storybooks. Feeling left out, Jacinda decides to spend a day trying to bond with Abel, but worries when she is unable to connect to him, either. Sabine hires Lily and Fiona to help her on Rollin’ Bayou, allowing the three to bond and finally start to heal. As the realms of storytelling come into existence, a lonely Gaia decides to create a family for herself.
  • Backstory shows what was already described in "Titan". Big reveal at the end is that Trudy betrays Gaia, using the Spear of Destiny to separate Gaia's spirit from her physical form, which transforms into the island of Motunui.
  • Henry and Lucy learn that Gaia is an alternative name for Te Fiti, but they also finally find Meagan in the storybook as her servant.
  • Jacinda/Abel just helps alleviate some of Jacinda's stress as Abel assures her that she is enough just as she is and that she doesn't have to try to be someone else for everyone else's sakes.
  • The Sabine/Lily/Fiona trio finally starts to resolve Sabine's identity crisis, Lily's mourning of Zorro, and give Fiona people she can actually confide in without being judged. Just a fun, "out-of-left-field" powerful women team-up.
• 909: Walk Away -- After realizing that her family is somewhere in the United Realms, Lucy encourages Moana to find them. However, Moana refuses to even try, so Lucy recruits Sabine to help her look. Snow and David worry that they are missing out on Neal’s life when they learn that he has developed an interest in soccer and try to remedy that by becoming involved with the team. Jacinda decides to do her own research in the storybook. Early in Henry’s adventures throughout the realms, Regina and Emma urge him to return home for his birthday, but he is reluctant.
  • Henry's backstory shows more of his desperation to find his own story; in present-day, this helps him bond with Moana, who wants the same thing.
  • Lucy and Sabine are eventually able to find Motunui, though Moana still refuses to go, leading to the aforementioned bonding between Moana and Henry.
  • Snow/David is just a hilarious subplot of them going WAAYYYY over-the-top as soccer parents. The soccer coach would have been a storybook character; hadn't decided who since it just would've been a cameo role for one episode.
  • At the end of the episode, Jacinda finds a picture in the storybook of Meagan, in the middle of an ocean during a storm, wearing a familiar purple dress...
• 910: Earth and Heaven -- Jacinda’s discovery helps Regina and Sir Henry to identify their Jane Doe, allowing them to finally figure out where she may be. Moana works up the nerve to make a trip back home. However, Gaia is already prepared for the heroes’ arrival. Many years ago, Megara and her true love flee her family by boat, but are caught in a storm and end up shipwrecked, and Megara makes a choice to save his life.
  • Backstory reveals that, yes, Meagan is our second take on Disney's Megara. She is shipwrecked on Motunui while escaping from her family; Tala takes her and her true love in, but he is dying and her magic cannot save him. Megara journeys to a cave rumored to be connected to Te Fiti to see if she can; she does, but Megara is forced to pledge her soul to Gaia in return and is thus unable to return to him. At the end of the episode, he awakens and is revealed to be Tui; Tala informs him that Megara likely had to trade her life for his and tells him about the protection spell around the island, offering to let him stay in her home until he gets his feet beneath him. A bond is formed between him and Tala's daughter, Sina, as Megara watches from a distance.
  • Jacinda finds this backstory in the storybook, leading Regina to conclude that Megara must be on Motunui. The episode ends with the heroes departing on a boat for Motunui, with David, Sabine, and Fiona staying behind.
  • This episode serves as the mid-season finale and ends with the cliffhanger of the heroes who went to Motunui waking up without their memories on an unknown beach.
• 911: Stranded -- The heroes awaken on a beach with no recollection of how they got there. Together with Tala and the other inhabitants of Motunui, they attempt to piece together what happened. Back in the United Realms, David, Sabine, and Fiona are surprised when Megara turns back up, seemingly unaware that she ever went missing. In flashbacks, Tala makes a deal to provide her people shelter.
  • Backstory shows Tala make a deal with Gaia to protect the people of Motunui, resulting in the protection spell being put up. Gaia assures Tala that someday, her child will break the spell.
  • In present-day, the heroes figure out that they are in Florida, presumably because of a Dark Curse, and that the inhabitants of Motunui minus Tui are there, too, concluding that they must have reached Motunui and been cursed by Gaia. However, they also discover that Motunui's protection spell came with them.
  • Nothing particularly interesting happens with Megara yet.
• 912: Bittersweet and Strange -- David, Sabine, and Fiona continue to try to figure out what happened with Megara and their family, but when Fiona devises a plan, she worries that David will not trust her. Regina tries to work with Tala to break the protection spell around the town, but Tala is hesitant to work with the ex-Evil Queen. Shortly after eloping, Fiona and Malcolm struggle to make ends meet until Fiona decides to make a deal.
  • The backstory shows Fiona reunite with Kristin Chenoweth from 904 and sacrifice her magic in return for gold.
  • I don't remember how, but David, Sabine, and Fiona learn that the others are in Florida trapped behind a protection spell, but then lose contact with them. I probably had a MacGuffin for this? Or maybe Moana went to find them since she can leave the protection spell? Idk.
  • Fiona's plan is to rip out someone's heart and send them into the protection spell, maintaining contact with everyone using the heart. Abel volunteers as tribute because he wants to make sure Jacinda and Lucy are safe.
  • Tala/Regina is mostly just continued strife for Regina based on her past.
  • Fiona (through Abel) suggests the painfully obvious idea of using a Locator Spell on the Fish Hook to find Maui. Big reveal at the end? The Fish Hook leads straight to Moana.
• 913: Manatu Atu -- Moana refuses to accept the truth about her heritage and runs away with Maui’s fish hook, the others’ only hope at escaping. Megara is able to break free from Gaia’s control long enough to ask for help, so while Tilly searches the Land Without Magic for Moana, David, Sabine, and Fiona seek a way to free her.
  • No backstory.
  • In light of the last episode's reveal, Sina confirms that Moana is the child of Tui and another woman, who must have been Gaia. Moana is upset to learn that this was kept a secret from her and storms off. Tilly volunteers to find her because she understands what she's going through.
  • Megara plot is basically what it says on the tin.
• 914: Sweet Emotion -- When Snow begins having strange dreams, Tala casts a spell that allows them to enter her mind and see if they can learn more. Sabine, Tilly, and Moana work to regain Maui’s Fish Hook while David and Fiona protect Abel’s heart, but an oversight in their plan provides Megara with leverage. As Jacinda worries that Abel may be in trouble, he tells her the story of how he and Cecelia fell in love.
  • Backstory is the Abel/Cecelia love story. I don't recall any of the details.
  • Megara, back under Gaia's control, steals Abel's heart and threatens to crush it if the heroes don't give her the Hook.
  • The Hook is stolen by Madame Medusa (who escaped after Roquat was defeated). Sabine and Medusa are able to make amends and Medusa agrees to help them. Moana breaks the Protection Spell, but Megara escapes with Abel's heart.
  • The Snow's dreams plot was a one-shot Inside Out side story. The heroes are led through Snow's mind by multicolored Ginnifer Goodwins that represent Snow's emotions. Joy Snow gets on Regina's nerves. They eventually uncover her memories on Motunui before the curse, revealing that Gaia and Trudy require the power of the three most powerful magic users in all the realms to regain their bodies. It's also revealed that Megara was forced to cast the curse, crushing Tui's heart.
• 915: Control -- With Gaia’s ultimate goal revealed, family becomes the most important thing as Regina rushes to find Emma, Fiona reaches out to Gideon for help with Megara, Henry and Jacinda work to save Abel, and Moana tries to protect her grandmother. Several years prior, a mysterious mermaid appears on the shore of Motunui, impacting Tui, Sina, and Tala’s lives in an unexpected way.
  • The backstory shows a mermaid, also portrayed by Vanessa Hudgens, appear on Motunui and seduce Tui, then disappear, leaving a child behind. At the end, this is revealed to have been Gaia briefly taking a physical form, explaining Moana's birth.
  • The heroes figure out that Gaia and Trudy's spell requires Emma (the Savior, representing belief) and Tala (representing elemental magic).
  • As a descendant of both the Black Fairy and the Dark One, Gideon's powers combined with Fiona's own are able to free Megara from Gaia's control. Gideon is convinced by Henry and Jacinda to give Fiona a second chance.
• 916: Queen of the Fairies -- Fiona is forced to reach out to an old ally in order to stop Gaia, but it comes with a painful reminder of her past. Meanwhile, Regina, Emma, Henry, and Jacinda accompany Moana and Megara to stall Gaia, but a stowaway hinders their plan. With Regina preoccupied, Sabine is left to ease the inhabitants of the United Realms’ fears, and Sabine learns something new about herself. In the past, a powerful young woman makes a new friend.
  • We finally learn that Kristin Chenoweth is playing Clarion, the queen of the fairies. The backstory shows her literally create the Blue Fairy to be her friend, followed by many others, and explains the shadiness of fairykind through Clarion's own questionable morals as she manipulates the fairies, who legitimately believe they are doing the right thing, to entertain her at any cost.
  • Clarion is determined to be the third and final magic user required for Trudy and Gaia's spell (representing light magic) and Fiona seeks her out, but Clarion is kind of a jerk and basically just makes Fiona feel bad about herself. Fiona eventually stands up to Clarion and Clarion agrees to join her.
  • Sabine continues to realize that she's actually pretty good at this whole queen thing.
  • Regina, Henry, Jacinda, Moana, and Megara bring Emma to Gaia and Trudy to distract them, but Lucy sneaks onto their boat. When they reach Motunui, they discover that Emma isn't actually the representative of belief -- Lucy is, and Gaia and Trudy capture her.
• 917: Breakdown -- As Lucy’s life hangs in the balance, Gaia and Trudy arrange to meet with Tala and Clarion. However, unwilling to let Gaia and Trudy gain the upper hand, Fiona convinces Lily and Sabine to help her enact her own plan behind Snow and David’s backs. In the past, Fiona’s life is changed when she discovers that she is pregnant.
  • Backstory has Fiona generically dealing with fears of the future. Sets up her whole Black Fairy downspiral from the kind and gentle Rowan Blanchard-Fiona.
  • Snow, David, and the other heroes agree that the only way to save Lucy is to do what Gaia and Trudy ask and refuse to listen to Fiona. Fiona, Sabine, and Lily manage to reach Lucy, but it's too late and Gaia and Trudy regain their physical forms, putting Lucy, Tala, and Clarion into a comatose state.
• 918: Alpha -- Gaia and Trudy begin their preparations to reshape the world in their own twisted images. Jacinda must make a choice that could impact the results of the ensuing battle when Regina and Henry have differing thoughts on how to best face Gaia, but with some encouragement from Sabine, Abel, and Snow, she elects to follow her own path.
  • This is where I stopped having any particularly specific plans, so basically what you see in the summary is what you get. The episode ends with Gaia and Trudy somehow subduing everyone except the people who sided with Jacinda.
• 919: Omega -- The fate of the realms rests on Jacinda, Sabine, Fiona, Lily, and Snow’s shoulders as Gaia’s plan nears fruition. But Mother Trudy has her own scheme, and the battle takes an unexpected turn.
  • Again, that's kind of it. At the end of the episode, it seems like Gaia has won, but her spell suddenly backfires on her and she's turned to stone as the other heroes are all freed and Trudy reveals that she was manipulating Gaia the whole time.
• 920: Moments -- Mother Trudy sends the heroes back to Storybrooke and Hyperion Heights to gather items for her spell.
  • Trudy reveals that she wants to destroy Gaia and has no interest in reshaping the world in her own image, so the heroes are forced to team up with her. They are split into groups that have to find items representing past villains.
  • Regina, Emma, Lily, Snow, David, Megara, Gideon, and Medusa end up in Storybrooke to get the Poisoned Apple (Regina), Tamara's Taser (Tamara and Greg), the Magic Ribbons (Ingrid), and the Deplorable Word (Mother Trudy) from Regina's vault; the Excalibur Stone (Arthur and the Dark Ones) from Emma's house; and Lily's Egg (the Queens of Darkness) from Maleficent's house. In the process, Lily deals with some leftover trauma and Regina, Emma, Snow, and David reflect on how far they've come.
  • Henry, Jacinda, Sabine, Fiona, Moana, Sina, Tilly, and Abel end up in Hyperion Heights to get the Straw Doll (Peter Pan), Zelena's Pendant (Zelena), the Olympian Crystal (Hades), the Black Fairy's Wand (Black Fairy), and the Dark One Dagger (Rumplestiltskin) from the evidence room; Cora's Spell Book (Cora) from Roni's storage; and a Golden Flower (Mother Gothel). In the process, Tilly and Moana bond some more over their parentage, Henry and Jacinda patch things up, and Sabine resolves her two-year identity crisis.
  • Once they gather all of the items, Trudy is able to banish Gaia's soul for good, saving Lucy, Tala, and Clarion. She then drops everyone back in the United Realms, but when Regina and Fiona take the miscellaneous items to the pawn shop for safekeeping, they find Trudy is now operating it. She assures them that she doesn't plan to cause too much trouble and they reluctantly agree to leave her be. The season ends with Trudy's intentions left completely mysterious.
  • Moana, Sina, and Tala return to Motunui.
  • Megara is last seen having a meet-cute with Gideon.
  • Clarion... does whatever the heck she feels like. She's Kristin Chenoweth for crying out loud.

I was going to come up with two Merida-esque episodes to fill in 921 and 922 (probably one in the first half and one in the second). I have no idea who they would have focused on, though.

During the winter break, a Once Upon a Time in Oz spin-off would have aired. This would have focused on the new character of Ozma and resolved Zelena's first attempt at the time travel spell. Hilda/the Blind Witch would have been revealed as Mombi, we would have seen cameos by Mr. and Mrs. Beaver as well as Camilla/Billina, and, most importantly, we learn that Roquat's son is a young Prince Caspian.

After the season ended, Season 2 of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland would have aired, taking place in modern day and revealing that Caspian's mother is actually Anastasia, who had her mind wiped of his existence by Cora. Alice's daughter would have played a significant role and Anastasia's stepmother and Jabberwocky would have been major villains.

I didn't have any specific ideas for the plot of Season 10, but future seasons would have seen Mother Trudy promoted to main cast and playing a Rumplestiltskin-esque role. Unlike Rumple, though, she would have less back-and-forth: nah, she'd just be outright shady 24/7. The final season would see her finally set her plans into motion.

I mean... I feel like most of the demotions that have occurred have been because the person was not fit for their position? So like...

How many are there who just retired or stepped down for other reasons? We could always just exclude the ones who were problems if it really is worth it to honor the rest.

Hopefully soon. I noticed a couple of kinks in the plot of the second half of the season that I need to iron out, but I'm particularly busy for the next week or so, so we'll see.

Okay so from my own thoughts on the matter and the responses here, I'm definitely leaning towards 2. Unless anyone has any major objections, I'll post my full plans in a couple of days.

Okay guys, so here's the deal.

Obviously I haven't had a bunch of time to work on this. I haven't even started the script for 802 yet. And although the press releases, character histories, news articles, etc. are hardly as difficult as writing scripts, it's still rather tedious to try to mimic the different writing styles and update so many pages, so even when I do have the time to do it, I really just want to spend that time doing something else, lol.

That said! I really love this storyline I've come up with and I really want to share it. Also, as I discussed during Season 8, I hate being the person who just leaves everyone hanging! So here's the question: would you guys rather...

1. I keep doing what I've been doing, hopefully getting enough free time to do so soon. Spring break is coming up; I might be able to pump out a couple of episodes then. OR...
2. I just post all of my notes here, not written in any particular style, to summarize all of the upcoming plots I had planned. None of the pages will be updated (at least for the foreseeable future) and all the secrets will be revealed at once -- but at least in chronological order, so there will be some manufactured suspense, just less than if you were waiting weeks for each episode.

Honestly, 2 is your better bet at actually getting the full story, but it will also be a bit less dramatic. So yeah, it's up to you guys!

Oh, that makes sense! Is the hint, then, Alice's encounter with her mother?

Only things I could see being potential hints are the lightning strike and the use of the word "WICKED"; the latter seems to point towards Mombi or another Ozian character. Not sure if the lightning strike points towards anyone.

Congratulations!

Of course. But it's not like we can add an exception to the rules that people are allowed to be rude if they feel offended. Like I said, two wrongs don't make a right; acting rudely towards someone who has offended you accomplishes nothing except make the discussion more toxic. Offensive statements should already be against the rules, so any user who has said anything homophobic/racist/etc. should be warned and/or banned as necessary; there is no reason for any other users to engage.

That's not entirely true. Two wrongs don't make a right, and no one has ever had their mind change from being treated rudely. If someone is posting something offensive, harassing someone, etc., the admins will deal with it. There is zero reason for users to engage them aggressively; it will only ever escalate the situation and likely result in more required action by the admins.

How do we know anyone "stopped" their aging? We know it's not hard to be de-aged (Rumple has made the offer a lot, and we've seen it done a few times); maybe Regina takes a daily dose of De-aging Dust.

Just updated most of the pages for "What You Give"; one of my favorite backstories. I'd recommend checking James (What You Give) and Madame Medusa to get most of the info. I'll add the present-day information for Moana and Abel next, but it's not nearly as interesting, lol.

As Jacinda and Henry go on a break, Sabine suggests that she and Jacinda take their own vacation to Seattle for a roommate reunion and, hopefully, a solution for both of their troubles. In order to distract Henry, Lucy enlists his help in researching her mysterious new friend. With the pressure too much for Zelena to handle, Regina puts the missing person case aside to help Tilly and Margot in her place, but Zelena begins to regret not being involved. Maleficent requests that Lily begin attending therapy sessions with her, but Lily continues to avoid the issue. Shortly after being granted his own kingdom, Tiana's father James is forced to find a balance between his identity as king and his identity as a soldier when an old friend asks for help, on Once Upon a Time, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11 (8:00 PM ET).

Once Upon a Time stars Lana Parrilla as Regina Mills/Evil Queen, Andrew J. West as Henry Mills, Dania Ramirez as Jacinda Vidrio/Cinderella, Alison Fernandez as Lucy Mills, Mekia Cox as Sabine/Tiana, Rebecca Mader as Zelena, Agnes Bruckner as Lily Page, Jaime Murray as Fiona Gold/Black Fairy, Josh Dallas as David Nolan/Prince Charming, and Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret Blanchard/Snow White.

Guest starring in this episode are Laya DeLeon Hayes as Lana/Moana, Tiera Skovbye as Margot, Rose Reynolds as Tilly, Matthew Fox as Abel, Kristin Bauer van Straten as Maleficent, Shemar Moore as James, Freema Agyeman as Eudora, Navia Robinson as young Tiana, Toby Stephens as Eli La Bouff, Francesca Capaldi as Lottie La Bouff, Johnathan McClain as Henry Fenner, John Ross Bowie as Harvey Fenner, Garwin Sanford as King Roquat, and Karen Gillan as Madame Medusa.

"What You Give" was written and directed by DatNuttyKid.

Wait... What?

Okay, I'm super curious now.

Sorry, this isn't the Adelaide Kane-centric wicked stepfamily announcement you've been waiting for. (Still holding our breaths, though.)

As we delve into the Black Fairy's backstory in the fourth episode of Once Upon a Time's ninth season, "Forever A Beast", it looks like we'll be meeting her unsavory step-fam: Hulda and Henriette, portrayed by Leigh-Allyn Baker (Will & Grace) and Sofia Carson (Descendants). As previously announced, Rowan Blanchard (Girl Meets World) will be portraying the Black Fairy's younger self.

Although their names don't bring to mind any obvious connections like Lady Tremaine and Drizella would, Baker assures that Fiona's backstory has a basis in fairytale lore. "There are a few different clever ties," she elaborates. "I don't know that everyone will catch them the first time through. That's what's great about this show."

The ninth season of Once Upon a Time premieres September 27th, 2019.

Great work! Definitely been enjoying your season and I can't wait for OUAT in Seattle/Season 9.

Besides its twisted family tree and its penchant for making villains into fabulous heroes (and sometimes vice versa), if there's one thing Once Upon a Time is known for, its the fairytale relationships. Some are obvious -- like Snow White and Prince Charming -- but the best ones are those we never see coming, like the Ugly Duckling and Captain Hook, Rumplestiltskin and Belle from Beauty and the Beast, or the Evil Queen and Robin Hood. Season Seven followed the latter path when it introduced the love story of Henry Mills, descendant of both Snow White and Rumplestiltskin, and a new take on Cinderella. Over the course of the season, we saw them go from Grand Theft Motorcycle to the parents of an adorable daughter, Lucy, in the New Enchanted Forest, then saw them fall in love a second, equally magical time in the Land Without Magic, but one very important part of their love story was missing: the wedding.

This hole was remedied in the second episode of the show's ninth season, aptly titled "Stroke of Midnight". But the journey there wasn't as smooth as Cinderella's first motorcycle ride (seriously, how did she figure out how to drive it so easily?), as the couple quickly ran into a pretty big argument: whereas Henry plans on inviting half of Storybrooke (which is fair, seeing as most of them are related to him somehow), Ella is hoping for a small-scale, romantic moment for the two of them. It isn't until they get over their respective ideals and listen to each other that Henry comes to understand Ella's logic: without a family of her own to invite, she fears that their wedding, supposed to be about the two of them, will become lost in his family reunion. In the end, they come to a compromise: two weddings! The first, a small, personal ceremony, with Wish Hook and Tiana as best man and maid of honor and Regina (tearfully) officiating, is the one we get to see. Although a beautiful romantic moment for Henry and Ella, it comes with the side effect of Henry's other mother Emma not being there to see her son be wed; however, Regina passes along her congratulations and a personal note she wrote to Henry. Endless tears. And of course, Emma will be present for their second, larger wedding, though we don't see it on-screen (maybe someday).

Their wedding blues are tied in with another squabble in the present day. Feeling overwhelmed by the chaos that is the United Realms and looking for a post-Narnia breather, Jacinda has made plans for their family, including her newly-reunited father, Abel, to go to their old home of Seattle on vacation. But when she springs these plans on Henry, Lucy, and Abel, they quickly shoot them down. This time, Henry and Jacinda are unable to reconcile their differences -- Henry refuses to leave the rest of his family during a rather stressful time, while Jacinda is being crushed under the pressure of the extended Mills family. In the end, the couple tearfully decides a break is in order. Seems this relationship bump will be spread across several episodes. Hopefully the couple can work everything out in the end.

The ninth season of Once Upon a Time premieres September 27th, 2019.