Entertainment

Recap 'Once Upon A Time' Season 6A

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Once Upon A Time returns Sunday for more adventures in Storybrooke. When a show has his many twists and turns, it's good to recap Once Upon A Time Season 6A just to refresh. The season hasn't had an overarching curse or taken our heroes to a specific new realm, but a whole lot has happened.

The season began with two major separations — Jekyll was separated from Hyde, and Regina was separated from he Evil Queen. With two versions of her sister roaming around, Zelena's loyalties wavered a bit. Meanwhile, Henry's YA romance seems to be going strong. We learned about other saviors, and a crash landing from the Land of Untold Stories brought refugees to Storybrooke. Belle and Rumplestiltskin broke up, so he used various methods to try and win her back. When Season 6 returns, there's going to be a musical episode, more twists on classic fairy tales, a dangerous realm that will bring back at least one of your favorite 'ships, and surely plenty of magical drama for everyone else. Upcoming titles reference everything from Shakespeare's Macbeth to Beowulf and either The Wizard of Oz or a Radiohead song.

Here are some other key things that happened in the first half of the season to help jog your memory.

Literature 101

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A few new Disney characters showed up, like Lady Tremaine and Jafar. However, the series also introduced refugees from the Land of Untold Stories that included Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Captain Nemo, and the Count of Monte Cristo.

"A Whole New World"

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Well, sort of — we didn't see much of Agrabah this season (though fans of Once Upon A Time In Wonderland know it well) but both Aladdin and Jasmine got to know Storybrooke and the heroes and villains who live there. Jasmine feels guilty for abandoning her kingdom, but since Aladdin is now a genie, they have other problems.

Belle's Son Grew Up

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This show has never shied away from an awkward family situation. Not only has Belle's newborn child grown up, but he's a hooded villain set on killing Emma Swan, his... sort of sister-in-law? Emma's vision involved a sword, which she finally acquired. At the end of the season, baby Gideon was abducted by the Black Fairy, who is Rumple's true mother. Meanwhile, the grown-up Gideon arrived to wreak havok.

A Sleep Dilemma

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The Evil Queen found a clever way to separate David and Snow. She cursed them so that only one can be awake at a time. They alternate in order to take care of their new baby. It's not ideal, but they're making it work.

Another Alternate Reality

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In the midseason finale, the Evil Queen sent Emma to a world where she never became the savior... but somehow still got pregnant with Henry at 16. Anyway, Regina followed her there and they almost escaped through a portal — but then the Alternate Reality's version of Robin Hood, and she paused.

According to Entertainment Weekly, this is called the Wish Realm. Will the fact that Regina could find happiness in a world where the Evil Queen was defeated, and Emma was never the Savior, be a problem? That's not going to be an easy pill to swallow when Once Upon A Time comes back, and with everything else that happened this season, it's a good thing this hiatus is finally over.