Netherworld

The **Netherworld** is a world featured on *Once Upon a Time*.

## History

### Before First Curse

One day, Briar Rose is inflicted with the Sleeping Curse by Maleficent. As she is under the curse, her soul ends up here. The curse is later broken by King Stefan.

Sometime later, Princess Aurora, the daughter of King Stefan and Briar Rose, is inflicted with the Sleeping Curse by Maleficent out of anger against her parents. Aurora's soul then travels to this land, where she is trapped until the curse breaks. Prince Phillip, along with Mulan goes on a quest to find her.

Years later, when the Evil Queen curses Snow White, she falls into a deep sleep and her soul goes to the Netherworld. Prince Charming later brakes the curse, but the side effects remains and she returns to this world from time to time.

About a year later, the Evil Queen cast the Dark Curse. Due to Cora protecting part of the land with a shield, Aurora's body remains in the Enchanted Forest but as she is still under the influence of the Sleeping Curse, her soul remains frozen in the Netherworld when time comes to a halt.

In 1983, the Evil Queen casts the Dark Curse, freezing the Netherworld in time for twenty eight years.

### During First Curse

In Storybrooke, Henry eats an apple turnover meant for Emma and is inflicted with the sleeping curse. Emma believed that the turnover is poisoned but Dr. Whale fails to find any evidence of poison. This results in Emma believing the existence of magic and the curse. As both Emma and Regina plot a way to save Henry, Henry's soul remain intact to his body and does not end up in the Netherworld. Henry is later awaken via Emma's maternal love towards him.

### After First Curse

When the curse broke, Prince Phillip is able to reach Aurora and managed to break the Sleeping Curse, freeing Aurora, but the side effects remains.

Days later, Henry ends up in this world as a side effect from the Sleeping Curse. In the Red Room, he notices Aurora trapped with him. He later tries to send a message to Mary Margaret and Emma through Aurora, but fails to do so. David volunteers to do so and is inflicted with the Sleeping Curse by Mr. Gold. Arriving in the Hall of Mirrors, Charming makes his way to the Red Room where he unexpectedly finds Snow instead of Aurora. He tells her about the squid ink which is needed by them and its location. After Snow leaves the Netherworld, Charming remains trapped until Mary Margaret returns to Storybrooke and breaks it with True Love's kiss.

Sometime later, Aurora returns to this land to find Henry and to tell him about his father's whereabouts. As she couldn't locate him, her soul returns back to the Enchanted Forest.

### After Third Curse

Years later, Dorothy is cursed with the Sleeping Curse by Zelena and Dorothy's soul ends up in this land. Red Lucas frees her later with True Love's kiss. During this time, Belle inflicts herself with the Sleeping Curse in order to protect her unborn child from Hades. Due to the curse's effects, Belle's soul is send here.

## Notes

* The Netherworld is between life and death.

## References

1. ↑ Flashbacks featured in Misthaven shows Aurora existing years before the curse was cast and was placed in a sleeping curse. Aurora's soul ends up in the Netherworld, where she remained frozen for twenty-eight years and was not aware of time passing until Emma Swan's arrival in 2011 which weakened the curse and allowed time to resume. This is further confirmed in *Broken* when Aurora mentions to Mulan that she's been asleep (referring to her time in the Netherworld) for a year, not factoring the remaining twenty-eight years.
2. ↑ In *Into the Deep*, Henry's soul experiences the first trip to the Netherworld. This confirms that Henry did not spend any time in the Netherworld while the curse was active despite it being weakened.