Season 1 of Once Upon a Time introduces us to Emma Swan, a woman whose world takes a drastic turn when her son, Henry, brings her to the small town of Storybrooke. As the “Savior” foretold to break the town’s curse, Emma is thrust into a world of fairy tales and mystery. However, a deeper layer lies beneath the surface, suggesting that everything happening around her is part of a subconscious journey.
The season’s first three episodes hint at this underlying truth. In the Pilot, we see Emma in a car crash, followed by a sequence that delves into Henry’s fairy tale book, showing images from Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz—both iconic journeys into the subconscious. This subtle detail suggests that Storybrooke itself may be a construct of Emma’s mind, a world built around her subconscious traumas and unresolved experiences.
In Episode 2, Emma makes a powerful observation about the town, noting that “for decades people have been walking around in a haze, not aging, with screwed-up memories, stuck in a cursed town that kept them oblivious.” While this line accurately describes the Storybrooke curse, it also hints at Emma’s own state—a coma-induced haze keeping her locked in a reality that isn’t truly hers. This could reflect how Emma’s memories and experiences, as they appear in Storybrooke, are distorted and symbolic rather than literal.
Then, in Episode 3, we meet David Nolan (Prince Charming), who has been in a coma until Mary Margaret (Snow White) brings him back. His awakening hints that comatose states and blurred memories are central themes in this story, potentially pointing to Emma’s own medical state. The episode’s focus on David’s coma serves as a nod to Emma’s predicament—she, too, may be lost in a state of unconsciousness, and the journey through Storybrooke represents her battle to awaken to reality.
As the season unfolds, Emma’s trauma, especially surrounding Henry’s conception and adoption, becomes a central focus. Storybrooke’s cursed inhabitants and her interactions with them seem to mirror Emma’s unresolved pain and sense of abandonment. The concept of Emma being the “Savior” may have a double meaning: while she appears destined to break Storybrooke’s curse, she may also be subconsciously fighting to “save” herself, either from her declining health or perhaps even from a medical crisis involving Henry. It’s possible that Henry himself needs a transplant or a life-saving procedure, and Emma’s subconscious, knowing she’s a match, has positioned her as the “Savior” in this fairy tale world as a metaphor for her real-life role.
Season 1 ultimately lays the groundwork for a layered narrative, where the surface-level fairy tales mask a deeper exploration of Emma’s psyche, her trauma, and her journey toward self-discovery and acceptance. By weaving in familiar tales of curses, lost memories, and the struggle to “wake up,” Season 1 sets up Once Upon a Time as not only a story about fairy tales but also a subconscious journey of healing and self-acceptance.