Snow White

"I will find you! I will always find you..."

Snow White is one of the main characters of Once Upon a Time, as well as the series' leading fairytale character. A disgraced princess posing as the target for her evil stepmother's plans for revenge, Snow White, a courageous, skilled adventurer, meets the seven dwarfs and falls for Prince Charming, with whom she has a daughter. However, the Queen's evil curse traps her in Storybrooke, Maine, where Snow White lives as Mary Margaret Blanchard, a sweet and earnest elementary school teacher, until the curse is finally lifted and both personalities merge in a single person.

Before the Curse
"You... you found me..."

Snow White and her mother, Queen Eva, are overseeing final preparations for Snow's royal birthday party when her mother wants to show her the special present she will be giving her on the day - a tiara. When Eva goes to show it to Snow, they find Johanna, the maid, trying it on, causing Snow to scold her. However, Eva reminds Snow that she raised her better than that, saying that she's not better than anyone just because she's royal. Soon, Eva collapses in a coughing fit and is taken to bed where a royal doctor diagnosis that she is dying. In fear of Eva's life coming to an end, Johanna tells Snow that if she wishes upon the blue star, she shall be met by a fairy who will grant her a wish, so long that her heart is true. That night, Snow goes out into the woods and is met by the Blue Fairy, who tells the girl that cheating death is something beyond good magic. Snow begs for a solution and the Blue Fairy gives her a candle, one of dark magic, and asks her to keep it a secret. Snow agrees and Blue explains that once the candle is lit, a life will be taken in exchange for Snow's mother. Not being able to take anyone's life, Snow apologizes to her mother for not saving her life, however, Eva tells her daughter that she is proud as she did the right thing. Snow later attends Eva's funeral and stays longer than anyone else, when she is taken out by Johanna, it is revealed that when the Blue Fairy gave Snow the candle, it was in fact Cora, a dark sorceress, in disguise, and it was also her who poisoned Eva, leading to her death.

A young Snow White is seen riding a wild horse and screams for help as it carries her down a hill; these cries for help are heard by the nearby Regina, who rescues Snow from the horse, saving her life. Regina is later approached by King Leopold, who is Snow's father, and he asks her hand in marriage. Regina does not want to accept, as she already has a love of her own, but Cora, Regina's mother, accepts on her behalf. Regina goes to the stable that night to tell her lover, Daniel, of this, and they decide to run away together. However, Snow witnesses them kiss, and is chased by Regina into the forest. Regina soon catches up and talks to Snow, explaining that true love is the strongest magic of all and that Daniel is hers. She tells Snow not to tell anyone about Daniel, and the young girl agrees, however, Snow is later approached by Cora, who manipulates her by stating that she loves her daughter, and Snow tells Cora not to make her get married, as she doesn't love her father. She then tells the truth about Daniel and as he and Regina are running away together, they are stopped by Cora, who rips the boy's heart out and crushes it, killing him. As Regina is fitted for her wedding dress, Snow walks in and comments on her being the fairest of them all. They then talk, and Snow tells Regina that she's the one who told Cora of Daniel, but out of kindness, Regina tells the girl that Daniel ran away, and was a mere infatuation, not true love like Leopold is to her. Snow is relieved to hear this, but when the girl has gone, Regina states that she should have let her die on that horse, and swears eternal vengeance on Snow White.

Regina is sat in her castle brushing a young Snow White's hair. When she looks at her hair, she tells Regina it looks beautiful, however, Regina tells her that it is her who looks beautiful, blushing Snow. She looks into a nearby jewelry box and takes out a necklace. When she asks what it is, Regina is clearly disturbed, explaining it's hers. Snow tells her it's pretty and then puts it around her neck, asking where she got it. She explains that Daniel gave it to her. Snow recognizes him as the stable boy who left her. Regina explains he didn't leave her. This statement shocks Snow, so she asks what she means. Regina tells her that he was killed, horrifying her. Regina angrily tells Snow that he was killed because she couldn't keep a secret from her mother. Snow White is frozen with fear and then tries to explain herself, saying Cora was going to help her. Regina growls that her mother corrupts young souls. She then pulls the necklace Snow is wearing tight against her neck and it behind to choke her. Snow tries to pull it away to get a breath as Regina says none of this would have happened if she were stronger. Snow then takes a final breath and falls back, dead. Regina suddenly snaps out of that dream and returns to reality, when Snow asks where she got the necklace. However, this time, a clearly traumatized Regina tells her she doesn't remember.

King Leopold finds a lamp in the ocean and rubs it, causing the Genie of Agrabah to emerge. He is given three wishes, and the king wishes for the genie to be free, and then wishes for his third and final wish to belong to the genie. The genie is taken home to King Leopold's palace where he meets his fair daughter, Snow White, and beautiful wife, Regina, who the genie instantly falls in love with. Later, during a ceremony, King Leopold calls Snow White out in front of his people and tells her that since the passing of her mother, Snow has taken her place as the fairest in all the land. Snow blushes at this, and Regina appears jealous, urging the genie to tell the queen of his feelings for her. Regina, already having hatred for Snow, then uses this to her advantage and manipulates the genie into killing the king for her by letting two Agrabahn vipers loose in his bed to bite him in his sleep.

Snow White is seen mourning at her father's grave before being approached by Regina, who appears just as sad as her stepdaughter. She comforts Snow, but once she returns to her chambers, she refers to her Magic Mirror, still wanting Snow White dead for what happened years ago. Regina doesn't want to kill Snow herself as the kingdom is still loyal to her, and so the Magic Mirror recommends someone without a heart: a Huntsman. The queen sees the Huntsman as a perfect specimen and hires him to kill Snow White, agreeing to ban the hunting of wolves in return. Snow White is taken out into the woods by the Huntsman who is dressed as one of her father's soldiers, however, when he fails to offer his condolences on Leopold's death and doesn't wear his armor correctly, Snow realizes that he was hired to kill her by Regina, and so hits him with a tree branch and runs away. Realizing that the Huntsman knows the woods a lot better than she does, Snow stops, accepting her fate, to compose a letter for the queen. The Huntsman soon finds her and she requests that the letter be given to Regina, but before he accepts it, he reads it, and takes pity on Snow. He then agrees to let her go, telling her to run, and Snow obliges, leaving to live a life on the lamb.

Red Riding Hood discovers Snow White in her chicken coop one morning, the princess having hidden there after hearing the sound of a fearsome beast the night before. Snow attempts to give a fake name but fails miserably, still being on the run, but Red comments that she just needs something to call her, and so Snow settles on the name "Mary". Snow and Red go to the village well to get some water when they discover a mound of dead bodies murdered by the village wolf the previous night. They then go to the village meeting where those who fight the wolf make a speech, however, Red's granny makes a speech of her own, recounting her own childhood experience with the wolf. When Snow and Red return to the latter's home, Snow comments on the looks exchanged between Red and Peter, a boy from the village, during the meeting, and Red admits that he's her boyfriend but that Granny doesn't approve of the relationship. When Red realizes that the wolf is what's holding her back from doing what she wants, she decides that she and Snow should kill it by finding it in its den during day and slaughtering it in its sleep. Snow and Red go looking together where Red teaches her new friend how to track beasts, however, based on the footprints, they soon discover that the beats is half wolf and half man, and when they see the tracks lead to Red's window, they realize that the wolf-man must be Peter, who goes there regularly. Red chains Peter up that night as Granny finds Snow asleep in Red's bed, however, when Snow explains the situation, Granny tells her that Peter isn't the wolf - Red is. Snow and Granny then find Red, in her wolf form, having devoured Peter, and drape the red cloak, which is charmed, over her, and she returns to her human form. Red soon realizes what she is and is devastated, but when a mob of villagers arrive, and and Snow are forced to flee the village.

Snow White is running through the forest with best friend, Red Riding Hood, from Queen Regina's soldiers, they are almost caught multiple times but still manage to escape, however, they escape with a casualty: Red's cloak. Red becomes worried as her cloak has a tear and she fears she may become the wolf and attack Snow, Snow tries to reassure her that that won;t happen but Red refuses to take any chances, saying she'll find another neck of the woods to sleep in, Snow agrees, saying that they'll meet by the lake the next day and try and find a nice cabin to stay in. Snow cannot find Red the next day and tracks her wolf-prints through the forest to find she is staying underground with werewolves, one of whom is her mother, Anita. Red asks to live with them from now on and Snow agrees, after having nearly been attacked by them. However, Regina's men soon burst in, having followed Snow, but are soon killed by the wolves, however, a stray arrow hits Quinn, Red's new friend, in the chest, he dies. Anita blames Snow for this tragedy and, against Red's will, has her tied up to be the feast of the night. Later, as Anita's wolf form is advancing on a captive Snow, ready to eat her, Red tackles her mother as a wolf and the two fight it out, Anita soon takes an arrow to the heart herself and a free Snow drapes the hood over Red, meaning she becomes human again. Snow and Red mourn the loss of Anita, whose death was an accident, and Red makes it clear that Snow is her new family.

Snow is hiding in a village but tipped off that Regina is searching for her, and so manages to escape in time. Unfortunately, when Regina arrives on the scene and none of the villagers offer up any information on Snow's whereabouts, she orders them all the be executed. Later, once Regina has disguised herself as an unrecognizable peasant so that she can kill an unsuspecting Snow White, she accidentally gets herself about to be beheaded, until that is, Snow swoops in and rescues her, taking her back to her shack in the forest where she begins to heal her. When Regina wakes up, she professes that her name is Wilma, a simple girl from a miller's family. As Snow bathes "Wilma's" wound, she tells her the story of how a woman saved her when she was a little girl, clearly referring to Regina. Later, when Snow and "Wilma" must move ground, she arms the disguised queen with a sword and they begin to talk about Regina. Snow admits that if Regina wanted to be good and meant it, she would forgive it, saying that it's not too late for her. However, the two of them then stumble upon the pit of dead villagers that Regina ordered to be executed and Snow takes it all back, saying it's too late for Regina and that there isn't an ounce of good in her. When "Wilma" slips up, making Snow realizes she's Regina, the princess draws her bow and arrow. Regina, not being able to do magic in her peasant form, runs away, and Snow lowers her weapon, devastated.

Snow White is seen perching in a tree, smiling, as she sees the carriage of a prince and Princess Abigail travel down the troll road. Thinking it's one of the queen's carriages, she plans to rob it. Snow robs the prince and Abigail's carriage, taking the former's pouch of jewels as she does so. The prince chases her on horseback and eventually catches up to her, however, when he is shocked to discover that she is a woman, she uses this distraction to beat him round the face and ride away. The prince promises to find her and later sets a trap in the woods, causing Snow to get caught in a net, at which time she nicknames his "Prince Charming". He recognizes Snow from the queen's wanted posters and tells her that he will turn her in if she does not help him get his mother's ring back, but she has already sold it to the trolls. She agrees to help him and gets cut down, and as the two of them travel together, they stop at a river. As Charming takes a drink, Snow pushes him into the water and runs, however, she is attacked by some of the queen's soldiers. As they are about to kill her, Prince Charming kills all of them, and Snow thanks him for rescuing her. They then make it to the Troll Bridge where Snow warns Charming to remain silent as trolls are bloodthirsty. When Snow tries to bargain the ring back, the trolls believe it is a set-up and attack Charming. Snow runs away but soon realizes Charming is being overpowered, and so returns and uses the dark fairy dust she had been planning to use on Regina on the trolls, turning them into mere cockroaches. Charming gets his ring back and tells Snow that his name is James (although this is a lie), but the princess tells him that she prefers Charming. The two then part ways but seem sad about it, having fallen in love on their journey.

When the Evil Queen's knights are pursuing her through the woods, Snow finds herself cornered at the edge of a cliff, and so she decides to jump off and into the waters below, where she is rescued by a mermaid named Ariel. Once they're on land, Ariel begins telling Snow of someone else she once rescued from the waters - Prince Eric, a man with whom she instantly fell in love. Snow is surprised to learn that this man isn't a mermaid like Ariel, and is further surprised when Ariel suddenly sprouts legs. Ariel explains that the sea goddess Ursula grants a mermaid's wish to walk on land once a year, and that she'll have legs for twelve hours, which is hopefully enough time to make Eric fall for her. Snow and Ariel then attend Prince Eric's ball together where the mermaid and the prince really hit it off, however, he is leaving to travel the world the next morning, and Ariel will be unable to meet him as her legs will be gone by then. Ariel is then approached by Ursula (who is in fact Regina in disguise), and the supposed sea goddess gives her a magical bracelet that will allow her to keep her legs, and give the wearer a fish's tail. The mermaid forces it on Snow's wrist, thinking this will mean she no longer has to run from Regina, but Regina then shows up, ready to kidnap Snow. However, instead of going to Eric, Ariel stabs Regina in the neck with a fork she earlier collected at the ball; she then takes the bracelet off of Snow's wrist - something the wearer is unable to do - and swims away with her to safety. Knowing that Eric won't have left without waiting as long as possible for his true love, Snow tells her new friend to go to him, but when the mermaid arrives, she is unable to alert the prince of her presence as Regina has stolen her voice. ("Ariel")

Snow White is approached by Red in the woods who delivers food, but Snow reveals that she is still miserable as she cannot be with Charming, and wishes she could forget him. Red reveals that there might be a way, and so Snow goes to see Rumplestiltskin who gives her a potion which will wipe Charming from her memory completely, in exchange for one of her hairs. Snow does not drink the potion as she receives a letter from Charming revealing that he loves her too, making her want to talk to him, and so she breaks into King George's castle but is almost immediately thrown into a jail cell by some of his guards. There, she meets Grumpy, a dwarf who is skeptical to love as it's what got him locked up in the first place. Soon enough, Grumpy's friend Stealthy comes to free him, and Snow too, but the princess is separated from them when she thinks her direction of escape is the better one. In the courtyard, Stealthy is shot by an arrow, and Grumpy is set to be killed too, however, Snow emerges and threatens to set fire to a pile of hay, which would soon set the palace alight. King George agrees to let Grumpy go, but takes Snow White prisoner, telling her that he'll let her go if she tells Charming she doesn't love him, as his heartache is becoming an annoyance. Snow does so and totally devastates her prince, however, on her journey out of the castle, she is approached by Grumpy and six other dwarfs who allow her to come and live with them. ("True North"/"7:15 A.M.")

Prince Charming refuses to marry Princess Abigail and so runs out on his wedding, meaning that King George and all his men set out to find him. However, when Charming is captured, it is not by George's men, but by Abigail's. She reveals that she doesn't want to marry him either as she loves another, Frederick, who her father accidentally solidified as gold. Charming agrees to help save Frederick with the magical waters of Lake Nostos, and so travels there and encounters the siren. The siren attempts to seduce Charming but he resists her charms, at which she takes the form of Snow White and begins to make out with him some more, before dragging him into the waters. Charming manages to stab the siren who dies as she falls to the depths of the lake, turning from Snow back into her true self, allowing Charming to collect some of the lake water and save Frederick. In thanks, Frederick offers Charming a steed which he uses to make his way to Snow White. When living with the dwarfs, Snow decides her pain over Charming is just too much, and so when Grumpy tells her that the prince has ran out on his wedding, Snow doesn't know who he's talking about, as she's already drank the potion that Rumplestiltskin gave her and purged Charming from her memory.

Snow White continues to live with the seven dwarfs but is angry all the time as the potion she received from Rumplestiltskin didn't only remove her memory, but removed her love too. The dwarfs become annoyed with Snow's anger and so hold an intervention for her in which she comes to the realization that she shouldn't be blaming everyone else for her problems, she should be blaming the queen. She decides she must kill Regina. Grumpy convinces her to visit Rumple again in order to reverse the potion, however, Rumple tells the princess that there is no way. Snow then asks him for something to help her kill the queen, and he gives her a bow that never misses its target when an arrow is fired from it. Snow leaves to kill the queen as Prince Charming arrives at Rumplestiltskin's castle and demands to know Snow's whereabouts. Rumple offers the prince a map for her in exchange for his cloak, and just as Snow is about to fire an arrow, having found out where Regina is travelling through via one of her knights, at the queen, Charming jumps in its path and takes the arrow in his shoulder. Snow is enraged by this and ties the prince up, where he tells her that he's her true love. She doesn't believe him but eventually succumbs and kisses her prince, and this kiss of true love leads to her memories of Charming returning. However, they are not reunited for long as Snow is knocked out by one of King George's guards and Charming is taken in a cage and carted off by them. Snow promises that she will find Charming, before returning home. When there, the dwarfs promise to aid her in rescuing Prince Charming.

As Prince Charming is about to be executed by King George, Queen Regina crashes the event and offers King George mounds of riches in exchange for Charming, who he wants to use to destroy his one true love: Snow White. Meanwhile, Snow is attacking the castle alongside the dwarfs, Granny and Red and they later signal the fairies to attack the castle as they climb the outer walls of the palace and fight the guards themselves. Soon enough, the fairies aid them and turn the guards to dust, allowing Snow White to get down into King George's dungeon and find Charming's cell. However, once she does so, she discovers that the queen has placed one of her magic mirrors there to make it appear as though Charming is in the cell, even though he is in fact locked up at Regina's palace. The queen then arranges to meet Snow "where it all began" to invoke a parley, and Snow arrives at the stables where Daniel died before being walked up to the young stable boy's grave. Snow is shocked to hear that Daniel died because of her, and Regina reveals this to be the reason she's hated Snow all these years, before proceeding to pull an apple out of the pouch she's carrying. She tells Snow then when she eats the apple, she will be put under a sleeping curse with dreams formed out of her own regrets, and says that if she refuses it, then Charming will be executed. Snow agrees to eat the apple to save her prince's life and immediately collapses, later being found by her friends who state that she sacrificed herself for all of them.

Prince Charming manages to escape his cell at Regina's palace and is soon helped out of the castle itself with a little help from the Huntsman, who wants the prince to be able to save Snow. Regina is furios when she learns of this and so uses her magic to send Charming to the Infinite Forest where he is soon met by Rumplestiltskin, who asks him to hide a golden egg with a "beast" (the golden egg contains a potion of true love made from the combined hairs of Snow and Charming). Charming discovers Maleficent at her castle and she soon reveals her dragon form, but Charming manages to hide the egg inside her before escaping the palace. Rumplestiltskin then changes the prince's clothes to allow him to look more dashing and gives him back his mother's ring that he stole, which now glows brighter the closer it comes to Snow. Prince Charming rides along a beach side where he eventually finds Snow White concealed in a glass coffin, being mourned by the dwarfs. He asks them to remove the lid so that he can say goodbye, and he kisses her. This kiss releases a wave of true love across the land and breaks Snow's curse, waking her up. Snow and Charming then take a stroll together where the latter proposes using his mother's ring, and Snow accepts. They realize that there's still the matter of King George and Queen Regina, and so they decide to take back the kingdom... together. ("Pilot"/"A Land Without Magic"/"Lost Girl")

Snow, Charming and the dwarfs rally up a group of villagers and tell them of their intentions to take back the kingdom. The villagers are supportive of this, until it comes to the prospect of doing battle with the Evil Queen. Regina then arrives at this meeting, causing all the villagers to hide, and tells Snow that she can live happily with her prince and the dwarfs so long as she gives up any claim she has to the throne. Snow has a day to make the decision, and for everyday she is not living in exile, another one of her subjects dies. Snow has no interest in letting people die for her and contemplates accepting the Queen's offer, much to Charming's dismay. The prince then visits Rumplestiltskin to ask him for a way to vanquish the Queen, and when Charming returns, he tells Snow of a magical sword, Excalibur, which is powerful enough to defeat Regina. The royal couple journey to a sword jammed into a large stone, and Snow, being the kingdom's true ruler, is able to dislodge it with ease, unlike Charming. Now inflamed with confidence, Snow meets with Regina and tells her that her offer is to go unaccepted, before drawing blood from Regina's cheek using Excalibur. The Queen tells Snow that she'll see her on the battlefield, before disappearing, and Snow's allies are proud of her for standing up to Regina. Snow then meets with Rumplestiltskin and asks him the price he requests in exchange for the information he gave Charming. At this, Rumple reveals that he told Charming nothing, and takes Snow's mother's necklace as payment for wasting his time. Snow is furious with Charming for lying to her about the sword as it's not really Excalibur, but she soon forgives him with a kiss once he explains that he got her to believe something he already knew, and that she was able to stand up to Regina on her own merit.

The royal council is at a loss with the regularity of King George's attacks to retrieve Charming, the army is soon close and must be battled off, Snow is captured and taken to King George, who drugs her with a curse made to prevent her from ever having children, she leaves and manages to see a stray rider speeding past her, she knocks him from his steed, pins him to the floor and threatens him with a staff, he assures her that he still has honor and introduces himself as Lancelot, of the round table, Snow trusts him a little more. Snow and Lancelot realize that Charming's in danger as the soldiers are heading to the cabin, where his mother is. When Snow and Lancelot arrive, Ruth has already been attacked and has a poison arrow in her chest. Charming suggests that they use the water from Lake Nostos. They journey there, and, on their way, Ruth shows Snow a necklace that is used to determine the sex of your first born, however, it detects nothing for Snow, she admits to having the curse that George afflicted and Ruth tells her to use the lake water for herself. However, when they arrive, the lake is empty. However, Lancelot finally manages to find a morsel of magic water and it is given to Ruth, but it does not work, her final wish is to see her son's wedding, which is then performed by Lancelot and involves sipping from a cup, Ruth dies. Charming later dangles the necklace over Snow's hand and it begins to show indication of a child, Snow realizes that Ruth never drank the water as it was really put in her wedding cup. Snow tells Lancelot that it'll be a girl.

All hope seems lost for Queen Regina in battle when Snow and Charming's army gain a major advantage. Regina refuses to accept this and, when running through the forest, Snow trips on a rock and is approached by Regina on horseback. Snow tells her to give it up as she's already lost, offering her parley to discuss the terms of her surrender. Regina says that her terms are quite simple - Snow's death, before advancing on the princess to which she signals the Blue Fairy to ensnare Regina with fairy dust, her and Charming having tricked her in order to capture her. The royal council decides for Regina to be executed, and, despite Snow's hesitation, she agrees. At the execution, Regina makes a speech about how she regrets not being able to kill Snow White before the archer's fire. Snow quickly stands up and halts the execution, making Blue stop the arrows with magic, saving Regina's life. Snow is later approached by Rumplestiltskin who offers her a test to see of Regina is truly repentant, and Snow takes him up on that offer. The princess sets Regina free, hoping that she can change back into the person who saved her life, however, Regina takes this opportunity to pin Snow to the wall by her neck. Snow pulls out a knife which Regina steals and stabs her with, however, no wound is made. Regina comments on this being impossible, but Snow corrects her in saying it's magic. She reveals that letting her go was a test that she failed and that with one of her hairs, Rumple has made a protection spell meaning that Regina cannot harm Snow in this land. The Evil Queen is banished and Snow tells her they're even, as they've both saved each other's life, she then says that if she ever harms anyone in her kingdom, she'll kill her.

It is the day of Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding and the two of them say their vows, promising eternal love to one another, and joining in holy matrimony, allowing the kingdom to celebrate. However, as they are still up at the alter, the Evil Queen walks in and crashes the wedding. Snow pulls her new husband's sword on the queen and orders her to leave, but Charming advises her to ease up, and Regina begins talking. She tells the happy couple that she has a gift for them: the happy day that they are enjoying. She goes on to say that the next day, her true work begins, as she plans to enact a Dark Curse that will rip away all that everyone loves. The Evil Queen promises Snow White that she shall destroy her happiness if it is the last thing she does, at which point Charming snaps and throws his sword at the queen. However, Regina disappears in a puff of black smoke and returns to her Dark Palace, taking the sword with her. ("Pilot"/"The Thing You Love Most"/"The New Neverland")

Snow is livid after Regina makes her threat, scared that the Queen wasn't bluffing, and Charming tells her that the way to defeat Regina is to go on their honeymoon and be happy, as that way she'll realize that she can't take their happiness away. Snow suggests going to the summer palace where her mother and father honeymooned, but it is soon revealed that she only wants to go here as she will be able to find something able to defeat Regina. Upon arrival, Snow sneakily begins trekking through the woods but is immediately caught by Charming, who decides to accompany her in her quest to find Medusa, a gorgon who is able to turn people to stone with one look of her eyes (Snow plans to use the immortal beast's head against the Evil Queen). But when they find Medusa, she turns Charming to stone when a sneak attack goes wrong, and Regina, through the reflection on an old shield, watches Snow and mocks her, pointing out that the princess is destroying her own happiness. Realizing that she can use this reflection to her advantage, she holds the shield up and makes Medusa look at herself, which turns the beast to stone. This then causes Charming to return to his normal state, and Snow apologizes for letting that happen, assuring him that he's the most important thing in the world to her. Back at the summer palace, Snow decides that her husband is right and that they need to be happy, and so she decides to start trying for a baby with him despite living in fear of Regina's threat.

Prince Thomas marries a girl named Cinderella and Snow White and Prince Charming are attendees of the royal wedding. When there, Snow dances with Ella playfully, breaking the formality of the event, and assures her that it truly is a day of celebration. Ella points out that all she did was get married, but Snow assures the new princess that she did more than that: she proved that it's possible for anyone to change their life. As the time comes to switch partners again, Snow tells her friend that she's proud of her whilst they part ways, and Ella is forced to start dancing with the dreaded Rumplestiltskin. Due to the fact that Rumple is the one who granted Ella's wish and made her life as a royal possible, he demands her first born in return, and when Ella falls pregnant, she tells this to her husband. Snow White and Prince Charming are soon alerted and the latter and Grumpy help Ella devise a plan to trap the dark wizard. Ella makes Rumple sign a new contract and the ink in the pen he signs with causes him to become ensnared, meaning that he's able to be captured and thrown into a jail cell at the old mines. However, when Prince Thomas disappears suddenly, Ella believes that Rumple is to blame, and the Dark One continues to promise that he will take her baby.

Snow White becomes pregnant with Prince Charming's child but is unable to celebrate as she still believes that Regina is going to act upon the threats she made at their wedding. Despite Charming assuring her otherwise, Snow wants to visit Rumplestiltskin as he's able to tell the future, and so the two of them go to see him in his cell. He tells the royal couple that Regina shall enact a Dark Curse strong enough to rip everyone from the land, however, Snow and Charming's baby will be the people's savior who breaks the curse when she reaches the age of twenty-eight. In exchange for this information, Snow White gives up her unborn child's name to the Dark One: Emma. A meeting of the royal council is held at which the Blue Fairy tells Snow and the prince of an enchanted tree which, if fashioned into a vessel, should be able to take Emma into the new world safely, but the tree only has enough magic to carry one. Geppetto and Pinocchio are asked to build such a vessel and so create a wardrobe which is ready for the day of the curse. As the curse is coming, Snow goes into labor and gives birth to a baby girl just as the castle becomes under attack. She tells her husband that he has to get Emma to the wardrobe and so he battles his way past Regina's men and manages to get his baby safely to the new world, however, he is cut down in the process. Snow is devastated to find Charming's body but is soon approached by Regina, who assures her that soon enough Snow shan't even remember she knew Charming, let alone loved him. The curse begins to envelop the castle as well as Regina and Snow, and the latter asks where they're going. Regina tells her stepdaughter that they're going somewhere horrible, where the only happy ending shall be hers. They are then transported to our world... ("Pilot"/"The Stranger")

Early life
"If you love them and they love you, they will always find you."

After the Dark Curse hits, Snow White becomes trapped in the town of Storybrooke, Maine with the new identity of Mary Margaret Blanchard, a sweet and earnest elementary school teacher. One day she is teaching one of her regular lessons, teaching the children how to build birdhouses. She explains to her class that what they're building is a home and that bluebirds are loyal creatures that will find you if you love them and they love you, before letting one fly out of her hand and onto a tree branch. The bell soon goes and class is dismissed and Mary Margaret is visited by Mayor Regina Mills, who wants to take her somewhere. The two of them are next seen within Storybrooke General Hospital as Regina shows Mary Margaret a John Doe coma patient, the counterpart of Prince Charming, asking her if she knows who he is. Mary Margaret does not and suggests that maybe someone who loves the patient will find him. Regina says that that would be nice for him, but she doubts it. The next day, Mary Margaret is seen visiting the John Doe in the hospital before walking along the sidewalk and bumps into Regina, apologizing immediately. The day after, Regina sees Mary Margaret in the hospital yet again before later accidentally bumping into her, yet Mary Margaret still apologizes. Noting the meekness in Mary Margaret's apology and acknowledging she isn't going to fight back, Regina realizes that the people of the town she runs aren't obeying her because they want to, but because they have to.

Soon after Mayor Mills adopts a baby boy by the name of Henry (who is in fact Mary Margaret's grandson, not to anyone's knowledge at this moment in time), Regina takes the boy to the town hospital, where Mary Margaret is volunteering, to be checked over by Dr. Whale. She is upset because the baby won't stop crying, and believes that maybe the answer behind this apparent affliction is in Henry's genetics. As she's calling Sidney on her cell to look into the child's birth mother, she hands Henry to Mary Margaret, who cradles him in her arms. When she does so, he stops crying, much to Regina's shock, and the Mayor tries holding her son in the same way Miss Blanchard just did. However, he continues to cry, and Mary Margaret apologizes to the upset Regina for she believes she's done something wrong. Regina tells the teacher that she's done nothing, and takes Henry home, beginning to worry that she may just be a bad mother.

Season 1
"Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing."

Mary Margaret Blanchard is teaching a class at Storybrooke Elementary School when Regina Mills and Emma Swan arrive to question her about the claims that Henry had stole her credit card, to which Mary Margaret insists that she knew nothing about. Regina, angry, realizes that Mary Margaret gave Henry the fairy tale book, and Mary Margaret defends her actions, explaining that he is a special child. Regina leaves the classroom and Emma talks to Mary Margaret alone, who explains that Henry needed the book so that he could have the hope of a happy ending. Emma realizes that Mary Margaret does, in fact, know where Henry is and suggests that she check Henry’s castle. Later on, Mary Margaret is working at the hospital as a volunteer and goes to see a coma patient, a John Doe who is shown to be the counterpart of Prince Charming. She takes flowers to the man and leaves in a hurry.

Mary Margaret, noticing Emma and Henry walking down the street together, approaches Emma and comments on how it's good to see Henry have his smile back to which Emma replies that she didn't do anything. Mary Margaret tells her that it's because she stayed and asks her if Regina knows that she is still in Storybrooke. Emma tells her that Regina does know and asks Mary Margaret how she got elected as Mayor in the first place and Mary Margaret explains that she inspires fear in the people of Storybrooke and that she fears that she has made it worse by giving Henry the book, as he now thinks that she is the Evil Queen. Emma, inquisitive, asks Mary Margaret who Henry thinks she is in the book, to which she answers Snow White. Emma, stunned by this, quickly changes the topic of conversation to Henry's therapy, and Mary Margaret tells Emma the location of Dr. Archie Hopper's office. When Emma is set up by Regina and arrested, Henry shows up at the sheriff's station along with Mary Margaret who is bailing Emma out, when asked by Emma why she is doing this, Mary Margaret replies that she trusts her. Later on, Mary Margaret is teaching a class outside when Regina approaches. Regina asks to speak with Henry, and Mary Margaret can do nothing but oblige.

Mary Margaret is seen out on a date with Dr. Whale but ends it quickly when he keeps ignoring her to ogle at Ruby. She then wanders the streets, moping over her love life, when she discovers Emma living out of her car. She offers Emma a place to stay but the blonde refuses, and the next day Mary Margaret is seen with her class decorating the coma ward of the hospital. There, Henry sees the John Doe coma patient and believes him to be Prince Charming, before reporting this back to Emma who thinks it would be a good idea if Mary Margaret read to him as it would help show Henry that fairytales aren't real. Mary Margaret reads to the John Doe and he soon grabs her hand, and she reports this to Emma and Henry the next morning. But when they arrive at the hospital, the John Doe is missing from his bed, and so Emma decides it would be a good idea to check the surveillance where they soon learn that he walked out of bed and into the woods. Graham, Emma and Mary Margaret then track the John Doe in the woods, and soon discover that Henry is with them. It's not long before the patient's toe-tag is found with blood splattered on it, and Mary Margaret finds the comatose man unconscious at the Toll Bridge. She runs over to him and performs mouth-to-mouth, which revives him, however, he retains no memory of his past. They return him to the hospital but Mary Margaret is shocked and saddened to discover that John Doe, who's apparently called David Nolan, has a wife, Kathryn Nolan, who finds him in hospital thanks to Regina. That night, when Mary Margaret is moping at home, she is visited by Emma, who asks if the offer to live with her still stands. Mary Margaret welcomes her new roommate indoors.

Mary Margaret prepares some food for her and her new roommate, Emma, who is happy to see that her belongings have arrived. Mary Margaret asks the blonde when the rest of her things will get there, and Emma replies that she already has it all. Mary Margaret is a little surprised at how little Emma packs with her and politely says that it must make things easier when she has to move. There is a knock on the door and Mary Margaret goes to answer it, greeting Mr. Gold into her home. He explains that he's there to see Emma, saying that he has a proposition for her. Mary Margaret is intrigued by the conversation, however, Emma and Gold make it clear that they would like to discuss the matter in private. At this, Mary Margaret awkwardly tells them that she's going to go and jump in the bath before running upstairs, leaving the two of them alone to discuss business.

Mary Margaret is seen at the hospital playing hangman with David as his recuperates, but their game is soon interrupted by Kathryn. That night, Mary Margaret angrily makes herself a snack as she complains to Emma, saying that this whole thing would be easier if Kathryn weren't so nice. Emma asks her what exactly would be easier, realizing that Mary Margaret still has feelings for David, and the blonde warns the teacher not to get involved with a married man as it always ends badly. When Mary Margaret returns to the hospital the next day, David feels like getting some fresh air, and so the two of them go on a stroll together where he ends up admitting that whoever married Kathryn isn't him and that the only thing that's felt real to him ever since he woke up is Mary Margaret. However, before the teacher can respond, Kathryn shows up with a basket of muffins and her and David begin walking together, and Mary Margaret returns to the hospital. That night, she terminates her volunteerism there, not being able to contain her feelings for David.

David is welcomed home from the hospital with a party containing all of is old friends. There, he talks to Emma and Henry, and wonders where Mary Margaret is, however, Emma tells him that the teacher decided not to come. This disappoints David and he leaves the party, going to find Mary Margaret who is hanging birdhouses. He tells her that he still has feelings for her but she refuses to reciprocate, refusing to believe that her and David have any kind of connection as he's a married man. However, the next day when Mary Margaret is at Granny's Diner, she is visited by Regina who accuses her of being a home wrecker, informing her that David left Kathryn the previous night. Mary Margaret is stunned, and when she is teaching her class, she is visited by David who says that he wants to run away with her, telling the teacher to meet him at the Toll Bridge that night. Mary Margaret heads to the sheriff's station where she finds Emma, who's now the town's deputy, to tell her of David's request, and Emma encourages her friend to go for it as the fact that David left his wife proves that he's serious. That night, Mary Margaret waits at the Toll Bridge, but when David arrives, he has full memory of his life with Kathryn before his coma, having regained them in Mr. Gold's shop. Because of this, he tells Mary Margaret that he wants to make things work with Kathryn, and she leaves, devastated, before heading back to Granny's. There, she bumps into Dr. Whale, who she gets to talking with and allows him to buy her a drink.

Emma sees a bouquet of flowers on the table and assumes that they are from Graham, before throwing them out, however, Mary Margaret fishes them out of the trash can and explains to her roommate that they are in fact from Dr. Whale, with whom she had a one-night-stand. Emma is proud of Mary Margaret for getting over David and the teacher then brings up the fact that Emma clearly has feelings for Graham, whether she'd like to admit it or not, telling the blonde that the "floral abuse" is an example of the "wall" she puts up to protect herself from getting hurt. Later, as Mary Margaret's class leaves for recess, she is visited by Graham, who asks her if she believes in other lives. She wonders if he means heaven, but he tells her that he means other worlds, such as that of fairytales. Mary Margaret presumes that he's been talking to Henry, regarding his book and the curse, but Graham actually had no idea. He then asks the teacher how long they've known each other and how they met, but Mary Margaret cannot reply as she doesn't remember, presuming that that's just because it was so long ago. However, Graham believes it to be an effect of the curse, before talking to Henry.

Mary Margaret returns home to find Emma angrily mutilating the toaster and wonders what's wrong, at which Emma tells her roommate she's angry as she's been fired from the sheriff's station and replaced by Sidney Glass. Mary Margaret notes how passionate Emma seems, and when Mr. Gold stops by and offers a little encouragement, Emma decides to run for sheriff of Storybrooke against Sidney, having found out she can do so thanks to Gold. After Emma saves Regina from a fire, Mary Margaret is one from the small group of townspeople to congratulate her on her heroics. Later, outside town hall, Mary Margaret is seen putting up fliers in support of Emma's role as sheriff, only to discover that David is doing the same thing. They greet each other and he announces that he got a job at the town animal shelter, something to which Mary Margaret is proud of. She soon notices that the fliers he's putting up are in favor of Sidney, and he explains that this is due to Kathryn's friendship with Mayor Mills. Mary Margaret is hurt by the mention of Kathryn and awkwardly asks David how she is, and he tells her that she'll be meeting him at the town hall. Angered by this, Mary Margaret quickly uses up all of her fliers and staples before fleeing the area, needing to get away from David. Inside the town hall, Mary Margaret consoles Emma, who doesn't believe she can win. Mary Margaret asks her roommate what winning would really mean to her and Emma admits that she needs to win for Henry, to prove to him that heroes really can prevail. Despite Emma's doubt in herself, Mary Margaret witnesses her win the election and is one of the first to congratulate her on becoming Storybrooke's new sheriff.

Emma brings home with her two orphans, Ava and Nicholas Zimmer, intent on helping them without using the foster system, Mary Margaret points out tat the system is put in place to help but Emma mentions that that's coming from the woman who was not in it for sixteen years. Emma finally manages to find the orphans' father. Later, after a long day of reuniting a family, Emma sits down with Mary Margaret to relax. When Mary Margaret spots Emma's baby blanket, it seems to trigger some sort of emotional reaction in her, clearly reaching through to the Snow White in her, however, Mary Margaret dismisses it. Emma then goes on to explain their roles in Henry's book. She tells Mary Margaret that she is Snow White and that Emma, herself, is Snow White's daughter. Mary Margaret and Emma laugh this off, saying that the book Mary Margaret gave to Henry weren't exactly fairytales in the traditional sense. But after dismissing this idea, Mary Margaret thinks to the response she had at Emma's baby blanket and suddenly finds the idea not-so-laughable after all, however, she chooses to think of it as nothing.

Mary Margaret is seen in a hurry one morning and Emma wonders why she's in such a rush to get out the door, at which the teacher lies and tells her roommate that she's got to get to school early as they're building a volcano. However, her true intention is to get to Granny's Diner at 7:15 A.M., as this is when David gets his morning coffee and she wants to see him. Later, when Mary Margaret is shopping, she bumps into Kathryn and discovers that she's buying a pregnancy test. Regina, who's also at the store, tells Mary Margaret to remain discrete and so the teacher takes a walk through the woods to clear her head. As she is doing so, she discovers a dove trapped in some wire mesh and decides to take it over to the animal shelter where David works as she's worried about it. There, she learns that if the dove is not returned to its flock by the end of the day, it will remain alone forever as its family will leave it behind. Being able to empathize with the poor bird, Mary Margaret drives it out to the woods in order to reunite it with its flock, but in the process, falls down a cliff in the rain, being able to grab on to a vine. Luckily, David rescues her, having followed her out to the woods, and the two of them break into a cabin in the woods to avoid the storm. In there, Mary Margaret reveals that she goes to Granny's everyday at 7:15 to see him, but David reveals that he does the same to see her. He also reveals that Kathryn isn't pregnant, and as the storm passes, the two of them decide to avoid each other from now on as it's too painful. Mary Margaret is able to release to dove and it rejoins its family, and the next day, she goes to Granny's at 7:45 A.M. to avoid David, but he does the same thing. The two of them realize that they just can't keep apart before kissing, unaware that Regina is watching them.

Emma meets up with Mary Margaret at Granny's Diner in order to vent about Regina having knocked down the "castle" which was Emma and Henry's special place, seemingly out of spite. The conversation is cut short when Mary Margaret receives a text from David, requesting that she meet him at their spot. She quickly excuses herself and leaves, showing up at the Toll Bridge where David is waiting for her. He hurries her, quickly telling her to follow him and she becomes confused. She wonders why they're rushing and he tells her that the wine will be getting warm, after having led her to a romantic picnic that he has set up in the forest. Mary Margaret is extremely pleased at this and kisses David out of gratitude as the two of them continue their recently developed, explicit affair. She wants to talk about their relationship and figure out what they're doing and David agrees, but says that they will do so... tomorrow. And so they decide that it indeed is tomorrow's problem and continue to enjoy each other's company. When Mary Margaret later comes home, she starts telling Emma something. However, she stops in her tracks when she sees that Sidney Glass is also there. She is unable to tell her roommate where she's been, which creates and awkward moment, and when Emma and Sidney reach an ethical stand-off where the former asks whether doing something bad for good reasons is still "the right thing to do", Mary Margaret guiltily says that they may be doing something wrong, but if it's meant to be and it's right then it's okay, clearly referring to her and David's affair, at which Emma tells her that she and Sidney are doing an awful lot of rationalizing.

Mary Margaret and David are seen talking quietly across the tables at Granny's Diner in order to discuss the book the former recommended and to allow their affair to remain discrete, but they are soon interrupted by Emma who sits opposite Mary Margaret to ask about Henry. Mary Margaret assures Emma that Henry's fine, aside from missing her, but their conversation is soon halted when Ashley and her new baby walk into the diner. She sits with the girls and admits how hard motherhood has been, and so Ruby suggests that the four of them have a girls' night out. Emma leaves, excluding herself from the night, but Mary Margaret heads to a club with Ashley and Ruby that evening. Whilst there, Ashley tells Mary Margaret of her troubling relationship with Sean as he's working all the time and the teacher uses this to reflect upon her own relationship with David, saying that being with someone you can't actually be with is a horrible way to live your life. However, Sean shows up at the club and proposes to Ashley, and she accepts, leaving Mary Margaret to leave early and wander the streets moping. There, she runs into David, who gives her a Valentine's Day card, however, she soon sees that it's one that was intended for Kathryn. Being disgusted by this, Mary Margaret tells her lover that they need to find a different way to be together as she can't continue carrying out an affair. He assures her that he will find a way to be with her, but Mary Margaret tells him to go home to his wife, before leaving.

Kathryn tells David that she wants the two of them to move to Boston where she's been accepted into law school and so he takes a walk to clear his head... with Mary Margaret. The teacher seems upset with the amount of lies they've told in order to be together and tells David that he must tell Kathryn the truth about the affair, as if they can't be honest with other people then they can't be honest with each other. David promises to do this, but still seems fearful of the idea, and Mary Margaret later meets Emma at Granny's Diner where they discuss the town's new resident followed by Mary Margaret admitting that she's been having an affair, and Emma revealing that she already knows due to the change in her roommate's behavior. Mary Margaret tells the blonde that David is telling Kathryn, but when the time comes to come clean to his wife, David merely says that he wants to break up with her due to the fact that they haven't been connecting properly since the coma. Mary Margaret is happy that the truth has been revealed but less so when she is slapped by Kathryn in the middle of school, who found out about the affair via Regina, and reveals that David never told her the truth. Now that the truth is really out there, Mary Margaret becomes hated by the entire town with the addition of someone spray-painting her van with "TRAMP", which she finds David washing off when she confronts him. She tells him that not only did he lie to Kathryn, but he lied to her too, and his "pain-free" way of ending things ended up hurting everybody. Mary Margaret leaves David and goes home where Emma finds her crying in bed and lies with her all night, however, elsewhere, Kathryn tries to leave town and mysteriously vanishes...

Storybrooke is celebrating Miners Day and Mary Margaret heads to Granny's Diner in order to have volunteers sign up to help her sell candles at the fair to raise money for the town nuns, however, due to her recent humiliation by David, she is given the cold shoulder by every customer, especially Leroy. Later however, at the nunnery, Leroy approaches Mary Margaret and tells her that he'd like to sign up, having taken a fancy to one of the nuns, Sister Astrid. Mary Margaret is a little disgusted by this but happy that someone wants to help her sell candles, but this isn't such a good thing as he's the second least reputable person in town and no one visits their stall at the fair. Leroy suggests that they go door to door in order to sell more candles, but everyone they knock on slams their doors in their faces, and so they go the day without selling a single candle. When they return to the nunnery, Leroy is unable to admit this to Astrid, and so he lies and tells her that he sold them all, much to the annoyance of Mary Margaret. He attempts to sell his boat to Mr. Gold in order to come up with a sufficient amount of money for the nuns to live off, but this merely leads to Astrid discovering the unsold candles and realizing that Leroy lied to her. Later, as Mary Margaret and Leroy are at Granny's digressing their woes in alcohol, Leroy goes up the the roof and takes an axe to the city's power box, causing a town-wide blackout. Because of this, he and Mary Margaret are able to sell every last candle, and Mary Margaret is even re-accepted into the community. However, her happiness soon fades away when she witnesses David being arrested by Emma for the disappearance of Kathryn.

Emma questions David at the sheriff's station but soon decides that he really has no idea what happened to Kathryn, and so lets him go. Later, when Emma is walking home, she is approached by Mary Margaret who wonders how David is, but the blonde assures her that he's fine as she's sure he had nothing to do with Kathryn's disappearance. Mary Margaret states that she hopes people don't think that he killed Kathryn in order to be with her, but Emma reveals that some people already are thinking that, and so tells the teacher to prepare herself. The two of them soon come across Ruby being hassled by Dr. Whale who they soon fend off, before discovering that Ruby's planning to leave town as she quit her job at the diner. Mary Margaret offers Ruby a place to stay and the former waitress soon finds a job with Emma at the sheriff's station. Later, Mary Margaret searches the town woods for Kathryn but only finds David, who appears totally disorientated and doesn't even appear to recognize his former lover. Mary Margaret tells this to Emma at the sheriff's station and so the blonde takes Ruby to go and search for David. The two of them find him in the woods and realizes that he doesn't remember anything since his interrogation the previous day, and Dr. Whale tells David that he's experiencing blackouts similar to that of the night he woke up from his coma. David uses this to decide that he's the one who killed Kathryn, and when Ruby searches the woods later, she discovers a heart inside a jewelry box buried at the Toll Bridge. Emma tells this to Mary Margaret and David and the latter insists that he be arrested, however, Emma reveals that she's not finished, saying that there were finger prints on the lid of the box... and they were Mary Margaret's.

After the discovery that Mary Margaret's finger prints were on the lid of the box in which Kathryn's heart was found in, the teacher is arrested by Emma and has her mugshots taken at the sheriff's station, where she insists that she didn't kill anyone. Emma says that she knows but that she has to do everything by the book in order to help her friend properly. In theme with this, Emma decides to interrogate Mary Margaret, in the presence of Regina, who insists on being there, and shows her the jewelry box used to contain the heart. Mary Margaret realizes that it's in fact her own jewelry box, which doesn't help her case. Emma then decides to search the apartment for any clues that someone is framing Mary Margaret but there are no signs of a break in and a hunting knife is soon discovered in the teacher's bedroom vent. As she remains in her jail cell, Mary Margaret is approached by Mr. Gold who requests to be her lawyer, and Mary Margaret allows him due to the fact that the evidence appears to be piling up against her by the hour. Henry later approaches Emma with his mother's skeleton keys and insists that Regina used them to get into the apartment and frame Miss Blanchard, and when Emma sees that the keys can in fact unlock the door, she becomes sure that Mayor Mills is the one framing her friend. Meanwhile, in jail, David visits Mary Margaret and asks her, in the face of all this evidence, if she had anything to do with Kathryn's murder. Shocked that he doesn't believe in her innocence, Mary Margaret insists that David leaves, and as he does so, Emma tells her friend that Regina is framing her. Mary Margaret has no idea why the mayor would do this to her, but when Emma is absent from the room, she discovers a key under her pillow which is capable of opening her cell door. Mary Margaret uses this to free herself and escape.

Mary Margaret is seen running out of town via the woods as Emma discovers that her friend is missing. With the arraignment coming up, Emma must find her fast in order to save her friend's future, and so begins driving through the woods in search for her. It is not long before Emma accidentally wounds a man, Jefferson, with her car and offers to drive him home, however, once she is there, he drugs her and ties her up. Emma manages to free herself and begins to wander through the mad man's home, and what she finds is Mary Margaret tied to a chair and gagged. The blonde quickly frees her friend but as they try to escape, Jefferson catches them with a gun in tow, telling Emma to tie Mary Margaret back up, and she obliges. Eventually, however, Emma manages to beat Jefferson around the head with his telescope when he lets his guard down and run to free Mary Margaret. As she begins ti untie her friend, Jefferson tackles the blonde and a struggle ensues. As Jefferson and Emma fight for the gun, Mary Margaret frees herself from the chair, and as the madman is about to shoot Emma, Mary Margaret whacks him around the head with a croquet mallet and kicks him through the window. The girls are shocked to see that Jefferson managed to escape as they find no trace of him, and when they give up their search, Emma asks Mary Margaret if she will return to jail. Mary Margaret doesn't want to, but when Emma names the teacher the only family she's got, she agrees to return to her cell where Regina is surprised to find her, having had a deal with Gold to make Mary Margaret leave town with the key and have something bad happen to her for doing so.

Mary Margaret wakes up in her cell to find Regina watching her and the mayor makes it clear that the teacher will be convicted, despite Mary Margaret's claims of innocence, as there is just too much evidence. In order to prove that Mary Margaret had nothing to do with Kathryn's death, she agrees to undergo a pretrial interview with the prosecution, at which time she meets D.A. Albert Spencer, who prepares to interrogate her. During the interrogation, Spencer begins to ask Mary Margaret if she wanted Kathryn out of the way in order to be with David Nolan, but Mary Margaret denies this. However, when the D.A. annoys Mary Margaret further with his persistent questions, she soon admits that Kathryn was the only thing standing in the way of her and David and so she wanted her gon, which does not help the case. Later, Mary Margaret is seen crying in her cell as she knows she's doomed which isn't made any better when she's paid a visit by Regina. The mayor taunts Mary Margaret by asking if she's had a bad day and saying that she wants to enjoy the teacher's suffering whilst she still can. Mary Margaret insists that she's innocent and doesn't deserve what's happening to her as she didn't kill Kathryn, and Regina strokes the tearful woman's face, telling her, "Oh, I know..." Mary Margaret is stunned by this, before Regina grabs her face and states, "But you do deserve this." Later, as Mary Margaret is being handcuffed, about to go to trial, Mr. Gold tells Emma that he's optimistic that things will turn out okay. Emma is slightly more skeptical, however, she soon finds a woman unconscious in the parking lot and moves in to investigate only to discover that it's Kathryn, who is very much alive.

Mary Margaret is freed from prison, having been exonerated with all charges dropped, and is happily welcomed back by Storybrooke (including a card from her whole class with a message saying "We're so glad that you didn't kill Mrs. Nolan") with a homecoming party. However, when David shows up, Emma turns to Mary Margaret who gestures for the blonde to get rid of him as she does not wish to speak to him, Emma then asks him to leave by telling him to take Henry home. David later approaches Mary Margaret in the street and begs her forgiveness, however, Mary Margaret tells him that she cannot forgive him for implying that she's guilty. She explains that she was in a moment where the whole world was against her and the one person that she thought would always be there for her was against her as well, telling David that she doesn't want to tarnish her memories of him with more like the one of him not believing in her. David argues that he loves her, but Mary Margaret tells him that that's merely what makes it all so sad, before walking away. Meanwhile, the mystery surrounding Kathryn's disappearance is solved as the woman herself states that she was abducted, drugged, and kept in some guy's basement. It is revealed that the DNA results on the heart in the box were indeed faked originally, all for the intention and framing of Mary Margaret. Kathryn is currently hospitalized, and it is later implied that the mysterious kidnapper of Kathryn was Mr. Gold, despite Sidney Glass confessing to the crime at Regina's will.

August installs a medieval-like latch on the door of Mary Margaret and Emma to prevent Regina from ever entering again with one of her skeleton keys. Emma comments on how it looks but Mary Margaret says that she doesn't care so long as it keeps Regina out. When the teacher learns that Emma has decided to get into a custody battle with Regina over Henry, she makes sure that the blonde is ready to be Henry's mother, and Emma assures her roommate that she is. Later, Mary Margaret walks happily among the school she teaches at, having returned innocent, but is halted by Regina. Regina asks Mary Margaret where Henry is, and the teacher tells the mayor that he's with Emma, but seem begrudged. Regina asks her if something's wrong and Mary Margaret reminds her that someone tried to frame her, making it clear that she doesn't believe the true culprit to be Sidney. Regina asks the teacher if she's insinuating something, and Mary Margaret answers positively, however, she tells the mayor that she forgives her for framing her as she must lead a pretty lonely life if the only joy she can gain is out of other people's misery, assuring her that it's so sad because it shan't make her happy, but in fact leave a gaping hole in her heart. After Mary Margaret leaves, Henry talks to Regina, addressing her as the Evil Queen and telling her that Snow White will have her happy ending with Prince Charming and that good will win.

Mary Margaret appears in Regina's dream in which the citizens of Storybrooke regain their fairytale memories. In this dream, they all tie her up and Mary Margaret and David scold her for taking their love and ripping it apart. Emma then cuts her head off with a sword before Regina wakes up. That night, when Emma returns home from trying to abandon Storybrooke, Mary Margaret is furious that she didn't get to say goodbye to her best friend, reminding her that when she tried to flee from the trial, Emma told her to stay as she is like family to her. Mary Margaret wonders why she left and Emma tells her that she took Henry so that he may come and live with her, but he convinced her to stay instead, insisting that she still must break the curse. Mary Margaret is further angry that Emma tried to kidnap her own son, pointing out that she's not thinking about what's best for Henry and only looking out for herself. Mary Margaret tells Emma that she has to do what's best for Henry now, and the blonde asks what that is, but Mary Margaret says that Emma is Henry's mother, so that's her job, telling her that she has to figure it out on her own.

Mary Margaret encounters David who tells her that he's decided to leave Storybrooke and live in the apartment Kathryn rented in Boston so that he can have a fresh start. He adds that he doesn't have a reason to stay, asking Mary Margaret if she can provide him with one, however, the teacher remains silent, giving David his answer. Later, Mary Margaret is seen reading to Henry from his book in hospital after he is put into a coma by Regina's poison apple turnover. She begins to tell the boy that she gave him the book because she knows real life doesn't always have a happy ending, but before she can finish her next sentence, Henry is seen flat lining, and Mary Margaret tearfully steps back as the doctors attempt to save him. They are unsuccessful, but once Emma learns that her son is dead, she gives him a kiss on the forehead which sends a burst of true love all across Storybrooke, returning everyone's fairytale memories, including Mary Margaret's of Snow White. As Snow wanders the streets, still in confusion, she hears someone call, "Snow!" and turns to see... "Charming," she utters as she runs towards her prince, and the two of them kiss passionately. However, their reunion is cut short when Rumplestiltskin brings magic to town in the form of purple smoke, and Snow and Charming embrace one another as the mist envelops them.

Season 2
"You found us..."

Snow White and Prince Charming are still clinging onto each other when the purple smoke dissipates, not knowing what just happened. They then run into Red Riding Hood and Granny and have a very happy reunion, which is made even happier when Snow shares a group hug with the seven dwarfs. It isn't long before Emma turns up, Henry near by, and Snow embraces her, knowing now who her daughter is. As they're walking through town, Emma states her surprise over her parents' true identity and the group is soon alerted via Archie that Dr. Whale has formed an angry mob against Regina with the intention of killing her, and so Mary Margaret and the others head to Regina's house where they stop the mob and decide to lock the mayor up at the sheriff's station. Knowing who's truly behind everything, Emma wants to visit Mr. Gold, but when her and her parents are in his shop, they all feel a sudden earth-tremor and are alerted to the sudden devastation Storybrooke is under due to the wraith Gold has brought to town. Snow, Charming and Emma go to Regina, who is being attacked by the creature, and they manage to fend it off. They wonder if it's dead but Regina tells them that it isn't and the four of them head on down to the mayor's office and retrieve Jefferson's hat so that they can send the wraith through a portal to the Enchanted Forest, which supposedly no longer exists. Emma, David and Mary Margaret prepare themselves with flaming brooms as Regina spins the hat, trying to get it to work, but it won't. As Charming battles the wraith, Emma touches Regina's shoulder, getting magic into the hat and opening s portal. The wraith goes through, but so does Emma, and Snow, not being able to lose her daughter again, jumps in after her, as does Charming, but the portal closes before he can get through. Later, Emma and Snow White are found in a deserted fairytale world by Mulan and Aurora, who think they caused the wraith, which killed their prince.

After Regina tells Henry that she wants to redeem herself, David demands that she prove it, and asks her if the fairytale land still exists. Regina says that it does, but that she doesn't know how to get back to it. Henry starts to lose all hope that they are ever going to see Mary Margaret and Emma again, especially seeing as how they don't even know if the two of them survived or not. However, David comforts him, saying that he has a feeling they did. It is then revealed to us that Emma and Mary Margaret have been taken prisoner by Mulan and Aurora, who bring them to their safe haven. There, Mary Margaret attacks the princess and makes a run for it, along with Emma, but the teacher is knocked out by Mulan. Emma comes back to her aid and the warrior tells her peers to throw the two prisoners into a pit. Emma and Mary Margaret, the latter still unconscious, are thus thrown into a caved jail, and there Emma tries to bring her mother back to consciousness... and is met by someone the survivors have locked up as well: Cora - none other than Regina's mother...

Mary Margaret wakes up and sees that Emma is talking to Cora, warning her against it, but the blonde accidentally lets slip that she has a son named Henry. Soon enough, Snow and Emma are requested to be brought before the leader and Snow is relived so see that it's Lancelot, an old friend. Snow reveals that she has a plan for her and Emma to get back home - to return to her old castle so that they can use the magic wardrobe. Lancelot warns them that the ogres have returned and only allows them to leave the safe haven if they take Mulan, his best fighter, with them. That night, as Snow is gathering firewood, she is attacked by Aurora, who followed them and puts a knife to her throat, still blaming her for Phillip's death. Snow defends herself but Mulan becomes angry with her, leading to Emma firing her gun in the air in order to protect her mother. However, this noise alerts the ogres and as they're running away from the creatures, Emma trips and is approached by one. Snow quickly manages to shoot the ogre in the eye with an arrow, killing it, and the four princesses continue their journey, eventually making it to Snow's old castle. They go inside and make it to Emma's old nursery where the wardrobe is, but are surprised to be met by Lancelot. When he mentions Henry's name, Snow realizes that he is not who he says he is, as Emma only mentioned the name to one person. Lancelot reveals himself to be Cora in disguise and Cora uses magic to pin Snow to the wall so that she can steal the wardrobe for herself. However, Emma manages to use gunpowder from her bullets to burn the wardrobe down, causing Cora to leave in anger. As they leave the castle, Emma tells her mother that she finally forgives her for abandoning her as she knows now what was given up. The blonde tearfully hugs her mother, not used to anyone putting her first, but Snow tells her to get used to it.

Snow, Emma, Aurora and Mulan are returning to the safe haven ready to tell the people of Lancelot's death and Cora's escape, however, what they arrive to find is that the entire place has been massacred, and Snow discovers that each one of them has had their hearts ripped from their bodies, she concludes that Cora's behind it. The girls find one survivor who professes that he's merely a humble blacksmith who survived by using the dead bodies as a shield and pretending to be dead himself, Emma doesn't believe him and puts her dagger to his throat, ordering him to tell them who he really is. Snow and the girls tie the man to a tree and threaten to leave him to the ogres should he not tell them who he really is, he admits to being Killian Jones, or, to go by his more common name, Captain Hook. Snow pulls his hook from his satchel and Emma asks him why he wants to get to Storybrooke, he explains that he wants revenge on Rumplestiltskin. Hook leads them somewhere and Snow is cautious that it's a trap, Emma says that it is a trap but that they can stay one step ahead because they know it's a trap. Hook leafs them to a beanstalk, telling him that the magic they seek to go home is up it, warning them to be wary of the giant at the top.

Snow, Emma, Aurora and Mulan are led to the beanstalk by Captain Hook to retrieve the magic compass to open a portal back to Storybrooke, and want to get climbing, however, they are told by Hook that the stalk is enchanted with a spell to keep off intruders and that he only has one extra counter curse. The ladies fight over who will go but it is Emma who finally volunteers herself with no arguments.The captain climbs the beanstalk with Emma and Mulan draws a circle and sticks a branch in the ground, saying it will help them keep track, they decide to sleep in shifts, guarding the stalk, and Snow takes the first. She tells Aurora to get some sleep but Aurora doesn't want to due to the nightmares she's been having ever since awakening from her sleeping curse, Snow reveals that the same thing happened to her but that her nightmares ended over time because her husband helped her through it, she tells Aurora to get some sleep, offering to watch over her. Snow later wakes Aurora up as she's having a bad dream, she then comforts her back to sleep. Ten hours pass since Emma went up the beanstalk and Mulan begins to chop the stalk down with her sword, Snow wonders what on Earth she's doing and Mulan explains that it was Emma's instruction, however, before Mulan can strike again, she is tackled by a protective Snow, this fight is cut short when Emma leaps from the stalk, magic compass in tow. Snow asks Emma why she asked Mulan to cut it down, before telling her that they go back together, no matter what.

Leroy finally finds diamonds in the old mines, and the Blue Fairy is relieved to learn that the magic did indeed bring them back. She tells the group that all they have to do is refine them and make fairy dust, and soon enough they will be able to combine the dust and Jefferson's hat and bring Emma and Mary Margaret back. She advises Charming to protect the hat, and Henry and everyone else are excited that they might soon be bringing back their beloved princess and her daughter. However, the vengeful King George gets a hold of the hat and tosses it into a fire, shattering the prince's hopes of being reunited with his family. He is then troubled with the thought of having to break the bad news to Henry, despite Ruby's encouragement that things will turn out alright. Unbeknownst to them, Henry himself has stumbled upon a way of communicating with Emma and Mary Margaret... In his recurring nightmares, Henry finds himself trapped in a room on fire, where another presence can be seen: Aurora. Back in the fairytale land, Mary Margaret is lost in a trail of thought about her distanced loved ones, and Emma tells her to come with her, for Mulan has some ideas about where Cora might be hiding. While the three brave women gather to discuss what to do next, their protégée, Aurora, is seen sleeping. In her dream, she finds herself trapped in the red room again, but there she finally meets Henry, who, thanks to Mr. Gold's necklace, is able to put out the fire and reach out to her. Aurora wakes up and calls out for Snow, and she and Emma come to her. Aurora tells them of her dream and of how it was different this time, thanks to the boy in it... the boy named 'Henry'. Emma and Mary Margaret are surprised and confused.

Snow and Emma are shocked that Aurora has seen Henry but soon figure out that it's because of the netherworld one travels to when under the sleeping curse. Snow sees this as a way home and tells Aurora to get Henry to retrieve the help of Rumplestiltskin, who will know how to defeat Cora. The four of them journey and are attacked by Cora's zombies, Snow and Emma manage to fend them off due to Snow's epic archery but Aurora is taken by one of them, meaning they've lost their connection to Henry. The three remaining princesses are contacted by a crow sent by Cora, it tells them that they must trade the compass for Aurora's life, and Mulan wants to do it, however, Snow and Emma argue that they must come up with a plan to both keep the compass and save Aurora. Snow decides that she must go under a deep sleep to reach the same netherworld and does this by obtaining more powder made from poppies. When there, Snow meets up with Charming who has put himself under a sleeping curse to find her, he tells her that she must journey to Rumple's old cell to retrieve some ink that will stop Cora. Snow tries to awake him with true love's kiss but it doesn't work, she wakes up and Charming is trapped. Snow is more determined than ever to get home but Mulan has run away with the compass, the girls stop her and Snow nearly kills her before being approached by Aurora. The four of them decide to journey to Rumple's cell, all the while not knowing Aurora is being controlled by Cora, who has obtained the girl's heart... apparently taken by Hook.

Snow, Emma, Aurora and Mulan arrive at Rumplestiltskin's cell, they are surprised to find a paper of his in which Emma's name is written repeatedly. The four are soon locked in the cell by Aurora herself, who's being controlled by Cora. The latter arrives on the scene with Hook and obtains the compass from Emma, the two of them leave, ready to go to Storybrooke. Snow comforts her daughter when she begins to blame herself and soon comes to a revelation, that the spells from Cora's spell books were always in the pages. Emma is confused but Snow blows on the paper containing Emma's name and the squid-ink used to write it breaks through the bars of the cell. They escape, but must tie Aurora up as she cannot be trusted. Snow, Mulan and Emma arrive at Lake Nostos to face Cora and Hook, they fight the pair and Emma manages to knock Hook out with a punch. Mulan takes Aurora's heart and leaves, giving Snow her sword which deflects Cora's magic. Snow wonders why Cora wants to get to Storybrooke so badly ad Cora explains that it's because she needs to see her daughter and decides that she wants to give her something she's always wanted - Snow's heart. She goes to rip it out but Emma jumps in her way, Cora is unable to kill Emma who blasts her with magic. Snow and Emma go through the portal and come out the other side. They are home. All is well once Snow awakens Charming with true love's kiss and the happy reunion is taken over to Granny's Diner.

David and Mary Margaret spend the afternoon in bed together, happy to be reunited, when Emma and Henry suddenly enter the apartment, looking for tacos for the party. Henry wonders why they're still in bed in the afternoon and David quickly says that he was helping Mary Margaret rest, Emma is appalled by this. Later, at Granny's Diner, a party is held in the honor of Mary Margaret and Emma returning to Storybrooke. David makes a speech saying that he and Mary Margaret have a saying, that they will always find each other, he then toasts to not having to look for a while. The guests are shocked when Regina turns up and Emma explains that she invited her, Mary Margaret and David are none-too-happy. The next day, Archie's dead body is found by Emma and Ruby and Ruby tells them that she saw Regina going into his office the previous night as well as the two of them arguing. The mayor is taken into custody and where Mary Margaret and David assume her to be guilty, Emma fights for her innocence and the Charming family go and look for evidence. All signs point to Regina but Emma suspects a frame job, she goes to Mr. Gold, thinking that he might be responsible, however, he tells them he can use magic to prove his innocence. He gives Emma a dream catcher that she uses to view Pongo's, the only witness', memories, which prove Regina is "guilty". Emma goes to head Regina off but her parents stop her, telling her that she needs a plan, David suggests fairy dust, saying that it worked before. They go to see Regina who is offended by the accusation, when she advances on Emma, Mother Superior fires a ball of fairy dust at her, however, Regina stops it from affecting her, asking Mary Margaret if she really thought that that would work twice. Emma worries about telling Henry about Archie's murder, being new at being a parent, but Mary Margaret and David tell her that they're going through the same thing with her.

It is the day of Archie's funeral and Mary Margaret gives the eulogy, she gives a beautiful speech about how Archie will always be with them before the beloved conscience is buried. Later, at the wake, Emma is saddened that she cannot cheer Henry up and Mary Margaret comforts her, that is, until Leroy steps out and says that they'd all like to go back to the Enchanted Forest. The princesses are opposed to this but Leroy points out that with Archie's death, Storybrooke isn't safe anymore, going on to say that there's a whole world out there that could see something in town like magic, also that they're all homesick. Later, in order to cheer up Henry, Emma acquires Pongo for him, Archie's dalmatian, to which the boy is very happy. Mary Margaret tells Emma that she thinks this is a great idea but that all of them in that loft shall soon become cramped, the teacher suggests that her and David find a place of there own. The royal couple are later at Granny's Diner and Mary Margaret is looking through real estate catalogs whereas David is dismissive of each and every house. This annoys Mary Margaret who picks up on something deeper, David tells her that he wants to go home to the Enchanted Forest, Mary Margaret warns him that it's not the home they once knew as the ogres are back and Cora is in power, however, David says that that's exactly why they have to go back, to fight for it. Mary Margaret is tired of fighting, saying that that's all they ever do, he tries to remind her that he's fighting for what they want, but she tells him that they do not want the same thing.

Mary Margaret, Emma and David show up at the town line to discover Belle who has fallen over the line and lost her memory, now terrified of Gold, Hook who has been hit by a car which has crashed containing an outsider who drove in to town. Emma comments that it looks like the world's come to Storybrooke. The Charmings head to the hospital where they plan to investigate the outsider, they take his phone and David tries to guess his pass code but to no avail. Emma arrives and hacks it easily, discovering that his name is Greg Mendell and that he is completely normal. It is suggested that they let him die and Dr. Whale tells them that that would be easy, as they would just have to allow him to succumb to his injuries. Mary Margaret and David are strongly apposed to this and tell Dr. Whale to perform the surgery, saying that they can think of the safety of the town after saving a life. They wait and Mary Margaret says that her nerves can't take it any more, asking if the surgery's almost over, however, they discover that it hasn't even started yet as Dr. Whale has fled. Ruby sniffs him out and returns with him soon and the surgery begins - Greg is okay. Mary Margaret and David want to question him with Emma, but she reminds them that they want him to think they're normal and normal sheriffs don't bring their parents in with them. Mary Margaret assures her daughter that they will be right outside. Later, Mary Margaret, David and Emma return to their apartment and to Henry when Mr. Gold walks in, he tells Emma that he's cashing in in his favor and that she must find his son with him. He tells the Charmings that if any harm is to fall upon Belle whilst he's gone, he'll kill all four of them.

After Emma and Henry head of to New York with Gold to find Baelfire, Snow, Charming and Leroy head down to the docks along with Captain Hook in order to learn Cora's plans, and the pirate takes them aboard his invisible ship where they soon discover the shrunken giant, Anton, sleeping within a cage. Mary Margaret wakes him up and sets him free, but upon seeing David, Anton becomes murderous and attacks the prince, causing Mary Margaret to draw her bow and arrow in his direction, making the giant flee the boat. At Granny's Diner, David deciphers that Anton isn't mad over something he did, but over something his twin brother, James did, and states that they must stop him. Mary Margaret, David and Leroy are next shocked to discover that Anton, in his fully-grown form, is terrorizing the town, hell-bent on revenge. They begin to run from him but Mary Margaret points out that if they keep running the way they're going, they'll soon cross the town line, and so David stops to negotiate with the giant, offering his life in exchange for the town's safety. Anton takes this deal and jumps towards David, making a hole in the earth where the magic keeping him big wears off and he is left human-sized and hanging from a sewer pipe within a pit, ready to fall. David and Mary Margaret gather a few of the townspeople to help pull him out, after David talks Anton out of committing suicide by letting go and falling. Once they've gained the giant's trust, he reveals that he has a plant that will be able to grow magic beans which can be used to create portals, such as one back to the Enchanted Forest. The dwarfs take it upon themselves to grow these beans along with Anton, but Mary Margaret isn't so happy, not wanting to return home as she fears that Emma may not want to go with them, however, her husband assures her that Emma can take care of herself.

While Emma is in New York with Henry and Gold, she finds the latter's son, Baelfire, but is shocked to discover that he is in fact Neal Cassidy - Henry's father. Upon learning this, Emma calls Mary Margaret who is shocked and confused. She wonders if Emma has told Henry but Emma answers negatively, saying that she told Henry that his father was dead in order to protect him. Mary Margaret points out that no matter what Neal has done, Henry has a right to know who his father is, reminding her daughter how hard it was not knowing who her real parents were all her life. Later, Mary Margaret tells David that Gold is Henry's grandfather, David, confused, says that he is Henry's grandpa, but Mary Margaret reminds him that a person can have more than one. They continue to discuss their dysfunctional family, mentioning phenomenons such as the fact that Regina is Henry's step-great-grandmother, as well as his adoptive mother. David goes on to state that it's a good thing that they don't celebrate thanksgiving in their land, as that family dinner would "suck". Mary Margaret disagrees, thinking that this may actually mellow everyone out.

Mary Margaret wakes up on her birthday to find David making pancakes, and is annoyed that he wants to celebrate, but he points out that he's not the only one, gesturing a present on the table. Mary Margaret opens it to find her royal tiara, sent by Johanna. Not knowing that she was in Storybrooke, Snow goes to see her old maid and finds her planting a flower bed to honor Snow's mother, Eva. During their reunion, Mary Margaret hears some noises in the woods and goes to investigate, and is shocked to discover Cora and Regina in search of Rumplestiltskin's dagger with the intention of killing anyone they wish. Mary Margaret reports this to David and decides to try and appeal to Regina's distrust of Cora. At Granny's Diner, Regina meets Mary Margaret who tells her that her mother doesn't care about her, however, Regina leaves, giving Snow one last chance to stay out of her way. David and Mary Margaret go to Mother Superior to tell her of Cora and Regina's plans and the three of them go to Gold's shop in order to find the dagger before Cora. Unfortunately, Gold has the shop sealed with dark magic whilst he is out of town and so Mary Margaret texts Emma, who's with Gold, explaining the situation. Rumple reveals that his dagger is concealed within one of the arms of the town's clock tower, and David and Mary Margaret go there to retrieve it. Once they do so, they are met by Regina and Cora who have Johanna captive, the former rips out Johanna's heart, telling Snow that if she doesn't hand over the dagger, her old maid will die. After hesitation, Mary Margaret gives Cora the dagger and Regina places Johanna's heart back into her body, however, Cora waves her hand and causes Johanna to smash through the clock face and fall to the pavement, dying, before disappearing. As they bury Johanna, Mary Margaret realizes that the side of good has gotten her no where and decides to change, vowing to kill Cora.

Mary Margaret is seen on the phone with David in which they talk about stopping Cora from using the dagger, which the Queen of Hearts herself is listening into via phone tap alongside Regina. However, she knocks the machine off the table when she insulted by the fact that Mary Margaret refers to her as "wicked". Snow and Charming next meet Emma, Neal, Gold and Henry at the town docks after they arrive in Hook's ship. Gold is escorted to his shop by the group, whereas Henry is kept out of the crossfire by Ruby, and Mary Margaret reveals that she still has plans to kill Cora, despite David telling her that she wouldn't be able to live with herself. Once they arrive at the shop, they begin to defend themselves against Regina and Cora, however, Gold asks Mary Margaret to fetch him an extra blanket. As she goes to do so, she discovers a magic candle, one given to her as a little girl that can save one life in exchange for another. Rumple tells her that she must find Cora's heart and whisper her name over it as she lights the candle, before placing it back into her body. Mary Margaret slips out as the fighting ensues and makes her way into Regina's vault, beneath her father's mausoleum. When she is there, she finds Cora's heart and lights the candle over it, whispering the witch's name repeatedly before blowing the candle out. Soon, Mary Margaret is intercepted by Regina and the teacher gives the mayor her mother's heart, telling her to put it back inside her body so that she shall be able to love again. Regina goes to do this and Mary Margaret is next found by David who she admits was right and that she can't live with herself for killing another. The two of them run back to the pawn shop, however, it's too late, Cora is dead and Regina knows that Snow is to blame.

Mary Margaret becomes mopey and stays in bed, feeling guilty after effectively murdering Cora. When Henry asks what's wrong with her, Emma replies that she's sick, but he sees this as a lie. She then admits that Mary Margaret was partially responsible for Cora's death, something which upsets Henry. The Charmings are later visited by Mr. Gold who tells them that Regina has plans to strike back and kill Mary Margaret, thus avenging Cora, however, Gold admits that he has no plans to help them, stating that the only way to end this blood feud is by the spilling of more blood. David reminds the pawnbroker that Mary Margaret saved his life and he is therefore in dept to her, something which Mr. Gold always pays. Later, Regina unlocks Mary Margaret's apartment door via magic and sees the teacher on the bed, happily approaching her. As she moves in to attack, Mr. Gold blocks her path, asking the mayor if she really thought it would be that easy. Regina assures Mary Margaret that Gold can't be her guard dog forever. Later, Gold hears the news that Regina's other plans have been stopped by Emma, David, Henry and Bae and prepares to leave Mary Margaret, but before he does, she asks him how he lives with himself knowing all of the bad things he's done, and he tells her that he just tells himself he did the right thing. At this, Mary Margaret goes to visit Regina and begs the mayor to kill her, stating that their fighting has caused too much death and must end. After initial hesitation, Regina rips out Snow's heart but is happy to see that she's blackened it because of what she did to Cora. Realizing that Snow will soon destroy herself anyway, Regina puts her heart back in her, seeing this as a way to have everything, despite Mary Margaret begging for death due to her not being able to live with her guilt any longer. The two of them remain oblivious that Greg Mendell has been filming them.

Mary Margaret continues to mope around in bed after what she did to Cora, and when she sees David make breakfast for her mother, Emma fears that he may be coddling her, thinking that Snow should toughen up and get out of bed. Mary Margaret hears this and decides to skip breakfast, putting on a coat and heading out to the woods to think things over. As she fires arrows at a tree, one goes stray and hits something not far from her. She goes to investigate and discovers a trailer in the woods, and inside, she discovers August, and he is completely made of wood. She begins to talk to him, trying to convince him to come back into town for Emma, who misses him, but August refuses, viewing his current predicament as his punishment. He asks Mary Margaret to leave and she obliges before heading to Granny's Diner where she tells Emma and Marco of August's whereabouts. As they make their way to his trailer, Marco admits that he sent Pinocchio through the wardrobe, meaning that Snow could not be with Emma, and so Mary Margaret slaps him, immediately apologizing and stating that she's not feeling herself. When they make it to August's trailer, no one is there, and Emma is called by the wooden man from the sheriff's station. Emma, Mary Margaret and Marco head to the station where outside it they find wooden August dying. With his last words, he tries to warn Emma of something, but he passes before he can do so. Henry notes that August's last act was truthful, brave and unselfish, therefore, he can be saved. Mother Superior arrives and agrees with Henry, before turning August into little boy Pinocchio again, however, he does not remember the warning he tried to give. When Mary Margaret arrives home, she tells David that she went to see Regina who showed her her blackened heart. David tells her not to worry as he believes in her heart and knows it more than anyone.

Mary Margaret and David drive Emma out to a roadside that appears to be the middle of nowhere. The blonde becomes confused until her parents reveal there to be an invisible barrier next to them, and through it, Anton and the dwarfs working on magic bean crop. Emma is initially happy to see Anton again, but soon realizes that the magic beans are being grown so that they may return to the Enchanted Forest, hence why Mary Margaret and David did not tell her of the harvest. She is undecided as to whether or not she would like to live out of her own world, which is her home, but her parents point out that it's been nothing but cruel to her. She also brings up the fact that their world is an ogre-riddled death trap, but she is assured that all of that will be fixed. Emma begins to contemplate all of this, and as she does so, she is approached by Regina who learns that Emma is keeping something, not knowing what it is. Later, Mary Margaret pulls up outside Granny's Diner with David and the dwarfs, the dwarfs go inside but David and Mary Margaret head home. As they drive away, Regina is seen using magic to guide her to the bean crop, now knowing that the Charmings plan on going home.

Mary Margaret is seen at the town docks with David, discussing the matter that when they return to the Enchanted Forest, they will leave Regina behind. Mary Margaret is unsure of this, saying that Henry shan't be happy as Regina was his mother, despite all the terrors, but David assures her that the terrors will continue. He says they will offer her a choice, stay in Storybrooke or in Rumplestiltskin's cell, but Regina overhears this, and isn't too happy. Later, after bumping into Tamara, Emma professes to Mary Margaret that she's the "she" August tried to warn them of. Mary Margaret is unsure and tells Emma that if Henry thinks there is something up with his dad's fiancee, he shall think there is a chance of his parents getting back together, advising the blonde not to tell her son before leaving. However, Henry overhears the entire thing and helps Emma snoop. Later, Mary Margaret, David and Leroy pull up outside the bean farm and walk through the invisible barrier only to discover that all of the beans have been destroyed, by Regina, destroying all hopes of returning home.

The Charmings head to Regina's office in order to retrieve the beans but are surprised to see it's empty. They discover the bean plant she was keeping as well as the fact that the beans have been harvested, and that someone broke into the office to steal them, meaning that the mayor is most likely in grave danger. Emma believes that Tamara is the one to have broken in, still thinking she's August's "she", but Mary Margaret does not believe this and warns Emma against it, and Snow and Charming decide to visit Gold to see if he has some sort of magical way to help find Regina. When they meet with him, David invokes the favor Gold owes him, and the pawnbroker reveals that he has one of Regina's tears, and asks for one of Mary Margaret's, which she consents to. This then creates a magical eye-drop that when put into Mary Margaret's eye, it will be able to see and experience everything that Regina can. Back home, David seems skeptical of this, but Mary Margaret wants to find Regina so that she can clear her guilty conscience over what happened to Cora, and so insists. David pours the drops into her eyes and Mary Margaret experiences the excruciating torture that Regina is currently going through. When the drops wear off, she tells David that she remembers awful pain as well as being strapped down, she mentions the smell of sardines and so Emma, Neal, David and Mary Margaret investigate the town cannery. Snow and Charming discover Regina being tortured by Greg, and so free her and have her healed by Mother Superior. When Emma arrives, however, she reveals that Tamara shot Neal and sent him down a portal, presumably killing him. As Mary Margaret consoles her daughter, Regina reveals that Greg and Tamara are currently in possession of a gem stone which acts as a fail-safe within the curse, able to wipe Storybrooke off the map, and kill all of its inhabitants.

The Charmings head to the park where Mary Margaret and David tell Mr. Gold of Neal's death, and Emma tells Henry. They then bring up the fact that Greg and Tamara have the curse's fail-safe, but Gold doesn't care, and leaves in grief. When the Charmings return home, a sudden earth tremor ensues and Regina tells them that it means the diamond has been activated. Emma tells Mary Margaret to take Henry and gather the townspeople at Granny's Diner so that they're ready to go through the portal when David and Hook steal back a bean. The prince and the pirate are successful and head to the diner where Emma tells them Regina stayed behind to hold off the diamond, and will die doing so, and so they decide that they will send the diamond down the portal instead to halt the self-destruct and save Regina. They go down to the mines where Regina is and tell her of this plan, however, Emma soon realizes that the bean is missing and susses that Hook stole it, having been skeptical at the idea of helping Regina. The Charmings prepare to die together until Emma realizes that where Regina may not be strong enough to hold the diamond off completely, the two of them together might just be, and so Emma harnesses her own supply of magic and her and Regina manage to stop the fail-safe, returning Storybrooke to normal. They are initially happy until they realize that Henry is missing and when they go up to the surface, they see Greg and Tamara jump down a portal with him. Hook soon returns with his ship and the final bean and Mary Margaret, David, Emma, Regina and Gold come aboard the ship. They discover via Rumple's magic globe that Henry's in Neverland and they use the magic bean to open a portal in the ocean before sailing down it - being warned of someone they must fear on the other side.

Season 3
"The minute I let go of the belief that things will get better is the minute I know they won't."

Mary Margaret, along with David, Emma, Regina, Gold and Hook, goes through the portal and comes out the other side in Neverland, where the Jolly Roger sails towards the central island. Whilst on the ship, Mary Margaret and David approach Emma in an attempt to comfort her about Neal and Henry, assuring her that neither of their respective losses was her fault. Emma agrees, and tells her parents that she blames them, as their message of "good will always win" is what got her and Henry in this mess. Before Snow is able to convince her daughter otherwise, Rumple explains how Neverland is run on belief, before disappearing before their very eyes. Soon enough, the Jolly Roger is attacked by a school of vicious mermaids; Regina uses her flame balls to get rid of them, and Mary Margaret and Emma manage to haul one up on deck. Here, the hostage mermaid summons a storm, and in an attempt to stop it, Regina uses her magic to turn the mermaid to wood. This does not work. This then prompts Snow into an argument with Regina, during which she punches her in the face. A fight then ensues between the princess and queen which leads into a separate fight had by Hook and Charming. Emma then realizes that the storm is being caused by everyone's hatred for one another, due to the way Neverland works, and jumps into the ocean so that the others will be forced to unite in rescuing her. Once Emma is rescued, she and the others arrive on the Neverland beach where the blonde explains that they will have to put aside their differences and utilize their strengths if they are to successfully save Henry, no matter how they manage to do so.

Mary Margaret and the others grow exhausted of hiking up the island in search for Henry, during which time Mary Margaret tries to persuade Emma to call her "mom", but Emma does not feel comfortable with the idea. They decide to set up camp but as they sleep Emma is awoken by the sound of crying children before being approached by Pan. He gives her a blank piece of parchment and tells her that it's a map that shall lead her to Henry only when she stops denying who she really is, and Emma goes back to camp to tell the others of this. Mary Margaret and David try to persuade her to accept that she's the savior, but when Emma states this, no map appears. Regina then decides to use a locator spell which causes the parchment to glow and fly, leading them straight to Pan. The five of them believe that they have found Henry, but it is in fact Pan in Henry's clothes, and he tells the Charming gang that they cheated, and cheaters never win, thus calling on the Lost Boys to attack them. Mary Margaret, David, Emma, Hook and Regina fend them off with their respective weapons and powers, and during this fight, David is scratched by an arrow dipped in Dreamshade poison, but believes himself to be alright. Emma stops the fighting when she has the chance to kill a Lost Boy, and Mary Margaret and the others are let go. They arrive back at camp and Mary Margaret asks her daughter why she stopped fighting that Lost Boy, at which Emma admits she saw herself in his face, as she felt like an orphan her entire life after being abandoned by her parents. This is hard for Snow to hear, but once Emma accepts this, a map to Henry appears on the parchment and the group continue their search for the boy. However, Pan appears to Emma again and assures her that she shall be a real orphan soon, and elsewhere, David is seen to have been scratched by the Dreamshade poisoned arrow, meaning that he's dying a slow and painful death.

The Jolly Roger crew are unable to use Pan's map to find Henry because Pan keeps relocating his camp, meaning that the destination on the map keeps changing. Hook suggests that they find it and get in by first finding the fairy of the island, Tinker Bell, who might also be able to give them some pixie dust in order to battle Pan. Regina, who has a "complicated history" with the fairy, purposely lags behind the others. The other four find Tinker Bell's tree house but do not find the fairy, nor do they find any pixie dust. Emma states that the tree house feels familiar somehow, and Snow regards it as simply somewhere to sleep, for someone who doesn't have a real home. Emma asks Mary Margaret how she would know of that, and Snow tells her daughter of when she was on the run from Regina back in the Enchanted Forest. After they realize that Regina is missing, they soon find Tinker Bell in a cave and point their weapons at her, demanding to know of the Queen's whereabouts. Regina reveals herself to be alive, having been kidnapped by the fairy, and the rest of the gang are disappointed to learn that Tinker Bell no longer possesses any magic to help them. However, she would be able to sneak them into the camp when she enters herself, but asks what would be in it for her. Snow says that the she can have a home with them, and when the fairy accepts, David asks his wife how he knew offering her a home would work. Snow admits that when she was on the run in the forest, all she dreamt of was having a home but she ever really found one until she met him. When he appears sad, she wonders what's wrong, but he merely tells her that he loves her as oppose to admitting that he's dying because of the Dreamshade poison now in his system. The two of them follow on from the rest of group.

Mary Margaret and the others are running through their plan to get into Pan's compound with Tinker Bell's help, but the fairy is shocked to discover that they have no way of escaping Neverland afterwards as no one ever leaves the island without Pan's permission. She leaves, telling them to come and get her when an escape plan is formed, and Hook tells the others of the only person he knows to have left the island without going through Pan: Baelfire. The pirate leads the five of them to the cave where Neal lived when he was in Neverland, and in there they discover a coconut with a light in it which creates a star-like pattern on the cave's ceiling. Hook explains that pirates can navigate using the stars, meaning that it's actually a map home, however, pirates also encrypt their maps, meaning that he's unable to read it, and the only person who can is dead. This deeply upsets Emma who storms out of the cave, crying, and Mary Margaret and David go after her. They attempt to console her but it's no use, and Mary Margaret becomes devastated when she's unable to comfort her daughter, which is the first thing a mother should be able to do. David assures his wife that Emma merely needs time to move on, to which Snow reveals that if David died, she would not be able to move on from him, so she doubts Emma would be able to do the same. This statement causes worry for Charming, who is currently dying from Dreamshade poisoning; he continues to neglect to tell his family the truth about his fate.

In Baelfire's old cave, Emma discovers tallies covering the wall, counting off the days that he was there. However, she notices that he was there a lot longer than the tallies count up to, which means he lost hope, and she's worried that the same thing is going to happen to Henry. They decide to send the boy a message, and as they figure out how to do so, Charming and Hook head up a mountain to search for a sextant that could help them decode Bae's map. The girls then wait for a Lost Boy to come out into the open; they are able to capture one and tie him to a tree. They are shocked when the boy professes Henry's viciousness, and Regina suggests that they rip out the boy's heart to put him under their control to send a message to Henry. Mary Margaret is heavily against the idea and Emma is forced to restrain her mother as Regina does the deed; once she has, the former Queen says that not only are they going to send a message to Henry, but they're going to see him by means of two halves of a compact mirror she's enchanted. The Lost Boy is sent into the camp and where he's forced to give Henry one half of the compact mirror, and Emma, Regina and Mary Margaret talk to him from the other side. They assure him that they're coming for him and that they love him, but as Pan is returning to the camp, a now hopeful Henry is forced to ditch the mirror, which breaks. Charming and Hook then return with no sextant (which was never the plan: Hook tricked Charming into going up the mountain so he could use magic water to cure him of Dreamshade poisoning; however, drinking the water means that you can never leave the island), and David tells the others that they were ambushed by Lost Boys but Hook saved him. Mary Margaret and the others then toast to the pirate, before setting off into the jungle yet again.

When Regina is attempting to teach Emma magic, Hook returns to camp and tells David and Mary Margaret that Pan said Neal's still alive. Mary Margaret wants to tell Emma, but David believes that this will only harm her as, if Pan's lying, then she'll have to lose Neal all over again. Not agreeing, Snow quickly tells her daughter the truth, but Regina, who refuses to take Pan's word on this, abandons the others as they want to go save Neal. On their way to the Echo Caves, where Neal is currently being held prisoner, Mary Margaret tries to infuse her daughter with hope that he is in fact still alive because she believes Emma deserves a happy ending, all of which start with hope. They eventually make it to the Echo Caves and discover that Neal is locked in a wooden cage, which is resting on the other side of a deep gorge. Hook explains that the only way to get to him is to reveal your deepest, darkest secret, as that's how the Echo Caves work, and he starts by admitting that he's beginning to fall for Emma, and that the two of them kissed. Mary Margaret then reveals that she's actually very upset by the fact that Emma's an adult as it means her and David missed watching their daughter grow up; she admits that, when they get back home, she wants to have another baby. David tells his wife that that's never going to happen by admitting that he was poisoned by Dreamshade but was cured by magical water, with the catch that he can't leave Neverland without dying. The bridge to Neal then becomes fully formed, and to open the cage, Emma admits that she wished Neal were truly dead as that would mean never having to lose him again. The five of them then exit the cave, ready to continue their mission to save Henry, but Snow is still extremely angry with her husband for not telling her about the Dreamshade. ("Ariel")

Now having saved Baelfire, he is able to explain to them how he escaped the island the first time: by capturing Pan's shadow. He, Emma and Hook set out to accomplish this task, whilst Mary Margaret and David decide to go and give Tinker Bell a heads up that they've found a way to escape Neverland. Before they leave, Emma notices her mother giving David the silent treatment for not telling her about the poison, and Mary Margaret in turn notices that Neal and Hook are currently fighting over Emma, and warns her daughter to be careful of that. On their way to Tinker Bell's, Mary Margaret is constantly giving the cold shoulder to her husband, who eventually calls her on it, demanding that she say something. She wonders why she has to, since he never did; even after he found a cure, he still never told her that his life was threatened. He says he was scared as he can never leave the island, but Mary Margaret assures him that she would happily build a hut in the jungle and live there fighting off poisoned arrows and Lost Boys for the rest of her life, so long as David was by her side. However, David tells her that that's exactly what he was scared of, as he didn't want to stunt her life by attaching her to his fate; he wishes for her to be able to leave Neverland. Mary Margaret is disappointed in him for not believing in their love, and when the two of them make it to Tinker Bell's tree house, they are soon met by Emma, Neal and Hook as well, who have managed to capture Pan's shadow. Now having an escape plan for after they rescue Henry, the five of them continue to plan the rescue itself.

Emma talks to her mother about David's predicament: not being able to leave Neverland without dying. She asks Mary Margaret if she really plans on staying with him, and Mary Margaret says she does, something which Emma can't accept. The blonde says that family means being together and, with surprising optimism, assures her mother that they will find a way for David to come home safely. Emma talks to Hook about the water that cured David, and suggests that they take some home so that his connection to the island never breaks, but the pirate points out that the water will run out. When Regina and Rumple return to the rest of the Jolly Roger crew, Gold reveals that he may be able to configure a permanent cure for Dreamshade back home in his shop, having read up on it after being poisoned himself. The seven of them soon storm Pan's camp, after knocking out some Lost Boys with magic, only to discover that Henry and the demon child aren't there. They find out from Wendy, who's Pan's prisoner, that Henry has been taken to Skull Rock where he will be killed in order to ensure Pan's own immortality. Emma tells Mary Margaret and David to trek up to Dead Man's Peak in order to collect more magic water to keep David afloat until such time that Gold is able to cook up a cure in Storybrooke, whilst she, Regina, Neal and Rumple head to Skull Rock to save Henry from Pan's clutches, and Hook and Tinker Bell stay behind to guard the unconscious Lost Boys. When Henry foolishly rips out his own heart and places it in Pan's body, a burst of magic is spread across Neverland and felt by everyone, including David and Mary Margaret, who are trekking up the mountain.

David and Mary Margaret return from their trek up to Dead Man's Peak, presumably having collected some magical water for the former, to find that Pan has taken Henry's heart and the boy is now unconscious and dying. In order to learn Pan's location, Emma connects with the Lost Boys by offering them a home, and they are soon coerced into telling the blonde that Pan's in his thinking tree, a place he goes when he wants to be alone, which is located in the pixie woods. Now that Rumple has been trapped in Pandora's Box by Pan, Mary Margaret knows that she and David cannot return to Storybrooke as a Dreamshade cure cannot be produced without Gold, thus these may be the final hours she spends in the presence of her daughter; this prompts Snow to accompany Emma and Regina to where Pan is hiding. When approaching the villain's thinking tree, Mary Margaret notices Pandora's Box resting on a rock, and, knowing that freeing Rumple is her and David's only chance at returning home, she makes a grab for it, but this causes vines to magically extend from the tree and tie up all three women. Pan then emerges, explaining that the tree the women are bound to forces them to reflect upon their regrets, and taunts them about what they've done wrong, including Snow's abandoning of her only daughter. But Regina, who regrets nothing she has done as it all led her to getting Henry, is able to break free and rip her son's heart from Pan's chest, returning it to Henry aboard the Jolly Roger], who regains his consciousness. Mary Margaret is soon relieved when Rumple is freed from Pandora's Box, meaning her and David can go home, and as the ship begins flying thanks to the [[shadow, she begins feeding the Lost Boys who are going home with them. Meanwhile, Henry is subdued below the decks by a hard-to-defeat Pan, who tries to rip out the boy's shadow. But Rumple intercepts and traps his own father, Pan, in the box he was previously trapped in himself. However, when this occurs, Pan switches his consciousness with that of Henry, so Pan now possesses the boy's body, whereas Henry, who possesses Pan's, is trapped in Pandora's Box, to no one's knowledge.

Mary Margaret, along with everyone else aboard the Jolly Roger, returns to Storybrooke met by the townspeople's cheers. After a few reunions, everyone congregates at Granny's Diner to celebrate, where Snow and Charming try to convince Emma to go on a date with Neal, now that Henry is safe. The next day, Mary Margaret is having lunch with her husband when Mr. Gold stops by to drop of an elixir he created that should cure David's Dreamshade poisoning once and for all; the prince drinks it and is cured almost immediately, having been sustained previously by Neverland's water, but Mary Margaret's happiness soon falters when she sees Neal having lunch alone, meaning Emma didn't take her advice. David then decides to find his daughter and talk her into it, but the blond can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen, commenting that Henry doesn't seem quite himself. David tells her not to dwell on the bad things that might happen, but to focus on life's good moments, and going on a date with Neal could be a good moment. Mary Margaret and David later hear a scream coming from the local nunnery and assemble there along with some of the other townspeople; here, they see Mother Superior being chased by the shadow, which has been freed from the Jolly Roger's sail to which it was bound, and it eventually rips out the Blue Fairy's own shadow, killing her. Knowing that Pan must have caused this, Emma frees the demon child over the town line where he will be powerless, and points her gun at him, ready to fire. However, Pan reveals that he is actually Henry, trapped in Pan's body, whereas the Henry walking around Storybrooke is actually Pan. Once he proves himself to be the real Henry, he, Emma, Gold, Belle and the Charmings head to Regina's mausoleum, where they find the Mayor unconscious, having been knocked out by the disguised Pan. Rumple soon deduces what has been stolen from the vault: the Dark Curse. With this, Pan will be able to wipe the memories of the townspeople all over again, and without Snow and Charming's true love woven into the paper, even Emma will be powerless to stop it.

Origins
The character of Mary Margaret Blanchard/Snow White is based upon the main protagonist of the popular fairytale known across most of Europe, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", the best known version being the Bavarian one collected by the Brothers Grimm. The generalized version of Snow White tells of a beautiful princess, she is depicted as living under her wicked, vain step mother, a Queen, who forces Snow White to slave labor fearing that one day her beauty would become greater than hers. After many years, the Queen's magic mirror confirms Snow White as being the "fairest of them all", which causes the Queen to cast Snow White out and send a huntsman to kill her. Unable to do so, the huntsman helps Snow White escape into the forest. Snow White stumbles upon the home of the seven dwarfs who happily aid her. This is the story that the 1937 film adaptation by Disney presents, and the one followed most closely by Once Upon a Time. However, there are many variations of the original tale. In some of these variations, the dwarfs are robbers, while the magic mirror is dialogue with the sun or the moon. Several other adaptations of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" have been made over the years. The great friendship between Snow and Red Riding Hood also mirrors the fairytale of "Snow-White and Rose-Red", by Charles Perrault.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the character.