Elreland- I think ur right in saying that Cora and Mulan have a history. Im remembering in Lady of the Lake two points that make me think of this.
First- Cora saying that the people locked her up to be safe, as well as being Lancelot saying they did it with the knowledge of her past. I know that Cora was plotting with this and was probably never in the pit and the people didn’t even know she was in there, but if they did they would need to know who Cora was and that they needed to lock her up, she could have easily played the “I have no powers,” and they thought that locking her up would be enough. If they knew of Cora someone would need direct knowledge of who she was, and because she was in Wonderland for about 10 or more years, I would assume that only someone with direct contact would know she was in fact Regina’s mother and used to be powerful.
The next point is after Cora disappears in Emma’s nursery, Mulan states “I should have known it was Cora” and other things along that line. How could Mulan even know who Cora was if she hadn’t had contact with her. Even if everyone in the haven knew of her as Regina’s mother, Cora was all to smart to have somebody get to know her to the point where she could have been identified. It wasn’t Snow’s experiences with Cora which made her know it was her, but Emma’s mistake of telling Cora Henry’s name. Mulan must have had something to even dream of being able to tell it was Cora
Keeper of Swanfire's dream catcher, the Blue Fairy Plot Device, the contact name "Her", the lanyards, the trigger, the Netherworld room and necklace, Charming's quote on Thanksgiving, and PP's pic of Henry