Okay, theories on spoiler pics from mufflednoise:
Not a flashback, definitely, because neither Neal not Killian was never with them like that. We know for a fact that the only ones Killian met before the curse are Rumple, Baelfire, Belle, Regina and Cora.
Not turning back time, obviously, because Killian wouldn’t be there and Neal grew up in the LWM.
Probably not a dream, because A&E would know that dreams take images from memory, and only Neal and Rumple have ever seen Killian in a red vest. Can’t be Neal because he’d never seen the others in FTL outfits. And Rumple, hmmmmmaybe, but unlikely.
Not a “what if”, because there is no one occurrence that would have led to all of them being there, as they are in the photos, at the same time. They wouldn’t have to just undo the curse, they would have had to prevent Neal from going to the LWM and come of age in FTL instead, which he wouldn’t have done what with his daddy issues. Killian would still be seeking revenge, not hanging out with the others – unless Rumple never killed Milah, in which case Killian would already be dead as he would have never went to Neverland.
Not an AU (flash sideways) either, for the same reasons as above. Plus, butterfly effect and all that jazz. It just seems too similar to our current reality to be an AU.
Not an event in the “present” time, because Killian is in NY in the last set of BTS photos, while here he’s even had a wardrobe change already. Plus, Snow has long hair again – that’s quite a bit of hair for her to grow back.
So that leaves me with only one theory: A flash forward. Basically, it could be a vision of things to come. When all this mess is done, this is what could happen – Killian, Neal and the rest of our characters in FTL, enjoying life, etc. This is the only option in which I see no problems. Even Killian’s red vest – because we know it could be in the Jolly Roger, and while we know that he doesn’t wear it post-Neverland pre-curse, he could decide to wear it again in the future.
Now this is where I stretch it: Dream catcher. It was shown in 2×06 and it was used in 2×10, but the implication is that it can do much more than catch dreams or memories. A few SQ fans asked Adam on Twitter whether it was coincidence that Regina wears dreamcatchers a few times, and Adam actually had to think about how “to answer without spoilers”. In the end he said it was an “overall thematic” – which tells me that it may come back.
So I’m going with that theory for now. Maybe Emma looks into the future that could be, where everyone is happy in FTL. Maybe she uses a dream catcher, and that’s a way to exhibit her growing control over magic. Maybe it’s meant to motivate her. Or maybe someone else shows it to her. If it’s a quick flash, that would explain why not all the characters are there.
Of course, we almost have nothing to go off of, so I could bewaaaaay off!
I hope she’s right, i’m not ready for my babies to be separated!!! 🙁
Keeper of Captain Swan's first kiss