Jefferson (Storybrooke)

> Perhaps you're the one that's mad.
>       —Jefferson to Emma

**Jefferson** is a character on ABC's *Once Upon a Time*. He débuts in the seventeenth episode of the first season. He is portrayed by guest star Sebastian Stan, and is the Storybrooke counterpart of **Jefferson**.

## History

*For events occurring before the Dark Curse was enacted, see Mad Hatter.*

### During First Curse

After the curse is cast, Jefferson retains his memories from his old life while also gaining memories of a false life in the town of Storybrooke. In obtaining this new identity as a result of the curse, Jefferson gains a large house, something never obtainable in his prior life, but he is left without his daughter, who is now the child of neighbors and she has no memory of her actual father. He attempts to map escape routes out of Storybrooke, but can never leave town. Due to the curse, Jefferson and the other residents do not age because time is frozen. Following twenty-eight years, the savior of the curse, Emma, arrives to town, and Jefferson becomes aware that she has magic. Wishing to return home to the Enchanted Forest and be with his daughter, he keeps a close eye on Emma; watching her through a telescope while she on duty at the sheriff station. One night, Jefferson captures a runaway Mary Margaret in the woods and kidnaps her to his house. Then, he feigns a limp when Emma, out searching for Mary Margaret, nearly hits him with her car. Believing he is seriously wounded, she drives him home as an apology. Once at his house, Jefferson invites her in for tea and plants a sedative. Once she passes out, he gags and ties her up. Later, he finds Emma, after freeing herself, is attempting to untie Mary Margaret. After forcing the blonde to rebind her friend in place, Jefferson demands that Emma use magic to fashion a hat so he can return to the Enchanted Forest. Emma believes he is delusional, but expresses sympathy when he mentions how the curse separated him from his daughter, Paige, who has no memory of him. However, once his back is turned, she knocks him out and rushes to free Mary Margaret. Awakening moments later, Jefferson blocks the two women from escaping. He aims a gun at them, but Emma forces the weapon out of his reach. While fighting, Mary Margaret kicks him out a window, to which he mysteriously disappears. *("Hat Trick")*
Later, Jefferson strikes a deal with Regina to get rid of Emma by retrieving something from the Enchanted Forest in exchange for erasing memories of his past life, and creating new lives for himself and his daughter. After Regina provides him with his old portal-jumping hat, he requests magic in order to open a vortex. She sacrifices a ring, but it only has enough power to open a tear into the past Enchanted Forest. Thus, Regina retrieves a poisoned apple, which she bakes into an apple turnover and gives to Emma as a parting gift. Though her hopes are set on the savior consuming it, Henry falls victim to the apple's cursed power. *("An Apple Red as Blood")*
With his end of the bargain fulfilled, Jefferson confronts Regina as she is visiting a comatose Henry at hospital. He desires his reward for helping her, but she coldly refuses to honor their agreement as the deal became void since Emma didn't eat the poisoned apple. Furious at being "screwed over" by Regina a second time, Jefferson threatens that their business is not finished, but she doesn't take his warning seriously. Realizing there is still one other way to ruin Regina, he breaks into the hospital's psychiatric ward, drugging nurse with spiked tea, and frees Belle from her imprisonment. While the girl is puzzled by his help, Jefferson simply instructs her to seek out Mr. Gold and tell him that Regina was the one who locked her away. *("A Land Without Magic")*

### After First Curse

After the breaking of the curse, Mr. Gold marks Regina for death with a medallion and sends a creature to kill her. Due to Henry's concern for Regina, Emma decides to protect her from harm. Since the creature cannot be killed, Regina suggests sending and trapping it in another realm, and she brings out the magic hat for this purpose. Surprised, Emma recognizes it as Jefferson's hat, though Regina feigns ignorance. *("Broken")*

In the aftermath, the creature disappears into a portal made by the hat, though Emma and Mary Margaret are sucked in as well. Desperate to regain his wife and daughter, David seeks out the owner of the hat by bargaining with Mr. Gold for a locator potion. Infused with potion substance, the hat takes a life of its own and leads David straight to Jefferson, who is stuck under an overturned car. Once freed, Jefferson is questioned about how to find Emma and Mary Margaret, but he laughs at David's assumption that the Enchanted Forest is destroyed and gone. Refusing to assist him with the rescue mission, Jefferson then escapes. *("We Are Both")*

Seeking solace at the dock, Jefferson is approached by Henry. Assuming the boy wants the same thing as David, he once again refuses to help. Instead, Henry queries him about why he hasn't spoken to his daughter, Paige, yet. Distraught over the possibility of bringing himself into her life again, Jefferson admits he feels guilty for having left in the past to Wonderland and then being unable to return to her. With persuasion from Henry, who firmly believes it's now or never, the former portal-jumper decides to take the youngster's advice. Following school dismissal, Jefferson notices Paige walking in the opposite direction on the street. As he calls her by the name he has always known her as, Grace, she turns around, ecstatic to see her father, and runs into his waiting arms. After an emotional embrace, the two walk off together. *("Lady of the Lake")*

## Trivia

* The name "Jefferson" is of English origin derived from an English surname that means "son of Jeffrey".
* According to Once - The Untold Stories, he is twenty-nine years old.
* He claims to be an amateur cartographer, and has mapped the woods surrounding Storybrooke; possibly searching for a means to escape its confines. *("Hat Trick")*
* He describes himself, or rather his Enchanted Forest counterpart, as a "portal-jumper," with his hat being the portal. *("Hat Trick")*
* He retains a scar on his neck from where the Queen of Hearts had his head cut off. *("Hat Trick")*
* Though originally stuck in Wonderland, he was brought to Storybrooke under the Dark Curse because Regina had the power to bring whomever she wanted. *("The Doctor")*

## Appearances

 "Home":*Absent*

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.

* Jefferson is featured in *Once Upon a Time'*s Season One novelization, *Reawakened: A Once Upon a Time Tale*.

## References

1. ↑ http://www.behindthename.com/name/jefferson
2. ↑ http://onceuponatime.wikia.com/wiki/File:USGraceLetter.PNG