Once Upon a Time Season 3 will premiere on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 8pm on ABC. While the premiere may still be a month away, we’ve got a new batch of spoilers to help ease the wait – including news about flashbacks for Charmin, Snow and others, how Snow and Emma will get some mother-daughter bonding time, Pan’s plans for Henry and more. 

Want more spoilers? Be sure to check out some cool interviews with the cast of Once Upon a Time for more teasers about the upcoming season. 

Snow and Emma Get Mother/Daughter Bonding Time

There are a lot of mothers and daughters out there who probably consider themselves so different that there’s no way they could connect. But just trying being a mother and daughter who are basically the same age and have been apart for over 20 years, thanks to a curse. Talk about challenging. 

In an interview with TV Line, co-creator Edward Kitsis said that Snow and her daughter will find something to bond over this season: being badass ladies. 

 “In a lot of ways, Mary Margaret may not be able to bond with Emma, but Bandit Snow and Emma have a lot in common,” said Kitsis. 

Don’t worry, dad will get closer to both his girls, too. “David and Mary Margaret last year were saying, ‘We are both,'” Kitsis said. “But this year it’s, ‘We need Snow and Charming.’ That’s what this mission requires.”

Pan’s Plans for Henry Will be Revealed

At the end of last season, we found out that the new (and apparently evil) Peter Pan wanted Henry, but we didn’t know why. Kitsis spoke to TV Guide about Pan’s plans. “In the first few episodes, you’re going to start realizing what he wants Henry for, but like any good mystery, you won’t know the whole picture until you watch the whole 11 episodes,” Kitsis revealed.

Will the Group Work Together?

In the finale, we saw everyone jumping on a ship together to escape to Neverland and find Henry. Those were some pretty strong personalities on that ship, so what will happen when everyone tries to be a leader at once? 

In an interview with TV Line, co-creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz spoke about the issues the group will face. “You’ve got five people on a ship who all think they’re leaders, so we’ll have to see how they react when they face their first obstacle,” Kitsis said. 

Horowitz added, “There’s certainly some friction, but there’s also a shared goal they have to achieve” – finding Henry. “The question is: Will they achieve it together, separately or at all?”

Neverland: The Movie

Season 3 will take the characters into Neverland and to co-creators of Once Upon a Time have designed the new season as an entirely new adventure of its own. 

Kitsis told TV Line that they wrote the trip to Neverland “as its own season, like one giant movie. And like any adventure movie, there’s romance, there are things that are terrifying, and there are things that are heartbreaking. That was always our goal, to have that big, summer movie feel.” He also promised a mix of “uplift, romance, action and quieter moments.” Horowitz added, “The best kind of roller coaster is the one that goes through all of that stuff.”

More Flashbacks for Snow and Charming, Plus Tinkerbell

After two full seasons full of flashbacks, it would seem that we may have learned all there was to know about the characters, but there is apparently still plenty more to learn. TV Line reports that Episode 2 will fill in gaps about a part of Snow/Charming’s story that fans haven’t seen yet. It will delve into the time between Snow waking up from the curse and she and Charming encountering Regina on the battlefield. “How did the queen react to that? And who first told her?” Horowitz wants fans to wonder.  

Meanwhile Episode 3 will go into Tinkerbell’s origin. The episode will feature The Blue Fairy, but not Amy Acker’s Nova, and will address the intriguing question: “What makes a fairy?” 

With Episode 6 titled “Ariel” we already know what character will be introduced in it, but you may not know that we will also meet the character of Eric – who will not be an existing character already seen on the show. 

Though it’s unclear which episodes it will happen, fans can expect to learn more about another piece of Rumple’s past, as well as the story behind how Hook became a pirate. 

What stories are you most excited to see in Once Upon a Time Season 3?

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(Image courtesy of ABC)



Michelle Carlbert

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV