Once Upon a Time

About the series

Contains story spoilers.

Emma Swan comes to Storybrooke after Henry, the son she placed for adoption, asks her to help. He believes the town’s residents are fairy-tale characters whose memories were erased by the Evil Queen’s curse, and that his adoptive mother, Mayor Regina Mills, is the Queen. The pilot introduces this bond as a birth mother and an adopted child negotiating how much to trust one another: Emma does not accept Henry’s explanation at first, but becomes concerned enough to stay. The show pairs this Maine town with flashbacks to the Enchanted Forest, where the same people lived other lives. Its two timelines make ordinary relationships—parent and child, mayor and sheriff, teacher and patient—carry hidden histories that only the viewer gradually learns.

‘The Thing You Love Most’ makes Regina’s fear of losing Henry visible through her efforts to drive Emma away. Regina uses local authorities and a newspaper story to portray Emma badly, then arranges for Emma to be arrested after Emma retrieves Henry’s medical file. Emma retaliates by cutting down a branch of Regina’s prized apple tree; their conflict is personal long before either woman openly accepts the fairy-tale explanation. In the Enchanted Forest, the episode shows how Regina brought about the curse. Her first attempt fails, and Rumplestiltskin explains that completing it requires the heart of the person she loves most. Regina’s valet is revealed as her father. She embraces him, kills him and uses his heart to cast the curse, grieving as the spell takes effect. Her role as Henry’s adoptive mother is therefore shadowed by a past decision that destroyed the family she once had.

In ‘Snow Falls,’ Mary Margaret reads the storybook to the comatose John Doe at Henry’s urging, and his hand grips hers. The patient wakes and leaves the hospital, but when Mary Margaret catches up with him, she learns that the amnesiac man is married to Kathryn. The parallel flashback introduces Snow White and Prince Charming through a failed robbery: Snow steals his valuables, including his mother’s ring, and escapes after striking him. Charming later saves her from the Queen’s guards, and Snow repays him by using fairy dust to turn hostile trolls into insects. She returns the ring but briefly puts it on her own finger before they part. In the town timeline, the developing connection between Mary Margaret and David is complicated by Kathryn’s existence; the past shows why the same pair’s story began with mistrust, mutual aid and a ring.

‘True North’ lets Emma’s own childhood inform her response to Ava and Nicholas, two siblings living without food or parents. When Regina calls social services, Emma learns they would be separated into different foster homes and promises to find their father instead. Mr. Gold supplies a false lead; Emma discovers the children’s father, mechanic Michael Tillman, believes he cannot manage twins. Regina orders Emma to take them toward Boston, but their car breaks down at Storybrooke’s boundary. Ava’s compass points toward her father, who arrives in his tow truck, meets the children and changes his mind, accepting them into his life. The Enchanted Forest version begins with Hansel and Gretel lost after their father disappears; the Queen coerces them into the Blind Witch’s house to retrieve a satchel. They escape the witch and refuse the Queen’s offer of a palace, insisting that they want their family back.

‘The Price of Gold’ makes Emma’s adoption history relevant to a practical case. Ashley, a pregnant young maid, wants to leave Storybrooke and fears that Mr. Gold will claim her baby because of a contract. Emma recognizes Ashley’s vulnerability and helps her escape. In the flashback, Cinderella makes a bargain with Rumplestiltskin to get away from home; he later demands her firstborn child as payment. Her husband Thomas tries to free her through a second contract, but disappears after Rumple is caught by a trick involving the Blue Fairy’s pen. Ashley’s car fails near the town line while she is in labour; she gives birth in hospital. Gold comes to collect the child, but Emma warns him about the legal consequences, then accepts his deal: he gives up the baby in exchange for a future favour. Ashley and Sean name their daughter Alexandra.

The first-season finale, ‘A Land Without Magic,’ resolves Henry’s belief and the curse together. Henry eats a poisoned turnover meant for Emma and collapses. Emma finally believes the storybook after it shows her memories of her birth and the curse; Regina admits the food was intended for her. Gold explains that Emma is the child of Snow White and Charming and can break the spell with the remaining true-love potion, hidden inside the dragon Maleficent. Emma kills the dragon and retrieves the golden egg, but Gold tricks her and leaves Regina bound. Henry dies before Emma returns; she kisses his forehead, and the act of true love revives him and breaks the curse. Residents recover their memories, David and Mary Margaret recognize one another as Charming and Snow, and Belle returns to Gold. He uses the potion to bring magic back, ending the season with the town engulfed in purple smoke and the clock striking 8:15.