Snow White

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

Snow White is one of the main characters of Once Upon a Time, as well as the series' leading fairytale protagonist. As a little girl, she was the apple of her late father's eye and inadvertently made herself a lifelong enemy in the form of her stepmother, Queen Regina, due to a terrible lapse in judgment. From then on, she was forced to ditch her pampered lifestyle and become a bandit; a skilled and courageous adventurer who would go on to meet the seven dwarfs and fall in love with Prince Charming, with whom she conceived a daughter by the name of Emma Swan. After having finally come out on top following many an ambush by the now Evil Queen, she falls victim to Regina's most diabolical plan yet as she becomes one of many to be engulfed by the Dark Curse, which transports her to the town of Storybrooke, Maine where she lives as Mary Margaret Blanchard, a sweet and introverted elementary school teacher. When the curse is finally broken, both personalities merge, but Snow has missed her daughter's entire childhood and, although she loves Emma dearly, eventually receives a second chance in the form of her son, Prince Neal.

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 she 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. ("The Stable Boy"/"Out of the Past")

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 begins 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.

Despite the circumstances surrounding the first meeting of Snow White and Regina, the former goes on to become one of the best riders in all of the Enchanted Forest, much to the dismay of her stepmother, who is thrown into a rage when Snow rides past one day and begins tearing down all of the ribbons and awards the young princess has managed to win. Rumplestiltskin shows up for one of his magic training sessions with Regina and finds himself amused by the irony at hand, due to the fact that Regina once had to save Snow from a rampant horse. She soon finds herself on a journey to help Maleficent, a sorceress capable of transforming into a dragon, and comes to realize that she doesn't need to kill Snow in retribution for Daniel's death as she's thought for so long... she needs to dish out an eternal fate, far worse than death. Rumple is happy to teach her such methods of revenge.

When her father is on a diplomatic mission outside of the kingdom, Snow is left to rule alone as a young princess, answering to her subject's complaints; however, she soon crumbles under pressure when the people begin to voice heavy concerns regarding the bandits currently plaguing the villages, and she ends up running away and falls into a hunter's trap. She is rescued by Hercules, a super strong demigod who decides that the best way for her to get around her problems is by facing them head on. He convinces her to face the bandits herself, telling her about how he overcame his first labor when he initially applied himself and proceeding to teach her how to handle a bow and arrow. When Snow attempts to fend off the bandits though, she completely fails and ends up falling over at the mere action of grabbing an arrow from her quiver. Hercules has to punch the ground just to keep the bandits - who were actually hired by Regina to make her stepdaughter look like an inept ruler - at bay, and Snow starts to commiserate her failure in private, being particularly harsh on herself. It is then that Hercules reveals the truth about his first labor; he didn't succeed on his first try, but in fact failed miserably like she did... which then led to his triumph. Due to the nature of the beast he was facing, he had to fail before he was able to succeed, and Snow has to do the same. When she faces the bandits again, things seem like they might go the same way as before, but then she disarms them with her arrows and compels them into running away. The people hail their princess as a hero, and she even shares her first kiss with the handsome Hercules before the two of them part ways.

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 lam.

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 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 has done 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, and 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 is soon accidentally impaled and a free Snow drapes the hood over Red, helping her become human again. Snow and Red mourn the loss of Anita, but Red makes it clear that she didn't lose her family today... she protected it, meaning Snow.

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.

When King George's son, Prince James, is killed in battle after having promised King Midas that he would slay the dragon plaguing his kingdom, fast action must be taken as George implores Rumplestiltskin to find James' twin brother - the shepherd David - and have him act as a brave prince, therefore still garnering Midas' much-needed money for the kingdom. David is successful in slaying the dragon, but this leads to him and Midas' daughter, Abigail, becoming betrothed so as to merge the kingdoms. As the union is made official by David having to give Abigail his mother's ring, the two of them proceed to ride off together, headed for the Golden Castle. David would like to take the scenic route via the troll road, which just so happens to be the exact same road where Snow White is waiting for a carriage to rob. She smiles as his goes past, thinking it to be one of Regina's, and decides 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 him "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 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. Regina tries using werewolves to track Snow, but the latter is helped by Red and the Huntsman, who temporarily escapes the Queen's clutches.

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 on fire. 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.

Meanwhile, at the seven dwarfs' house, the dwarfs are going about with their normal daily lives when Grumpy suddenly runs into the house, seeming like he has important news. He asks Doc where Snow White is and is pointed to the direction of a bedroom. Grumpy rushes through the house into Snow White's room, yelling cheerfully that the royal wedding has been called off as Prince Charming left Princess Abigail. Snow is lying elegantly and calmly in her beautiful white bed. When she hears the news, she just stares silently at Grumpy. Seemingly more excited than Snow is, he asks if she heard what he said, repeating that Prince Charming is not getting married. With a very tranquil look on her face, she asks who he is talking about. Grumpy is horrified and realizes what has happened. He then looks down at a bed side table and his suspicions are confirmed when he notices the potion that Snow received from Rumplestiltskin is empty: the memory Charming has been purged from her mind.

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 traveling 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 knock out the guards with fairy 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 furious 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, but Snow is captured by a rogue knight named Lancelot and taken to King George, who drugs her with a curse made to prevent her from ever having children. She is abandoned and later manages to knock an unsuspecting Lancelot from his steed, pinning him to the floor and threatening him with a staff; he assures her that he still has honor and Snow decides to trust him when he says he had no idea what the King would do. 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 gender of your first born; however, it detects nothing for Snow, and she admits to being barren thanks to George. Ruth tells her to use the lake water for herself to cure the curse, but 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, and her final wish is to see her son's wedding which is then performed by Lancelot and involves sipping from a cup. Ruth dies, and 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 than tells Lancelot that the child will be a girl.

On the Evil Queen's birthday she's up to her usual tricks terrorizing a village for information on Snow White's whereabouts. Snow, supported by her entourage of Prince Charming and the seven dwarfs, shows up just after Regina has finished disposing of one of the villagers, warning her that she's surrounded and saying that they should end this now once and for all. However, Regina instead decides to teleport away, receiving a lecture from her father about how she should let go of her anger towards Snow lest she become her mother. Regina refuses, and so Henry, after trying and failing to reason with Cora, sends a message to Snow White asking to meet with her. She agrees, toting her bow and arrow when she discovers him in the woods, but he suddenly rips her heart out... it's not Henry; it's Cora in disguise, and she tells Snow to forget what happened and go enjoy her final moments. Snow's heart is delivered as a birthday present to Regina, and the Evil Queen takes great pleasure in watching Snow writhe in pain as she squeezes it. As it turns out though, Snow is only writhing around because Jiminy Cricket has become trapped beneath her clothes, and her heart was given back to her and switched by the Queen's father. He continues to implore her to let go of her resentment, but she still refuses, punishing him severely.

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 archers 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 altar, 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.

Snow and Charming return from their honeymoon to find everyone in their castle under some sort of sleeping curse, and the culprit is soon revealed as Maleficent, who's come to make a deal with the two royals along with Ursula and Cruella De Vil: they want to go with them to the Tree of Wisdom, which only answers the questions of the most valiant heroes, so that they can figure out a way to stop Regina's Dark Curse. Snow and Charming agree to go with them, begrudgingly, but begin to have their doubts when Maleficent slaughters good soldiers who stand in their way; as such, they take off in the middle of the night when the self-named "Queens of Darkness" are sleeping, and they find the tree by themselves. However, when they ask it a question, it repels them, and the three villains soon catch up and realize that the reason it didn't answer them is because Snow is pregnant and, being a product of true love, their baby has potential for great darkness as well as a great good. The trip is deemed useless and the separate parties part ways, but Maleficent later revisits Snow in the middle of the night and reveals to her that she's pregnant as well, which is why it's so important to her that this curse be stopped. She wishes to join forces with Snow, but Snow declines, refusing to delve into darkness while trying to protect her child for she believes that there is a better way of doing things. She vows that she will never be like Maleficent.

Snow and Charming race to find a unicorn so that its magic horn will give them a vision of their unborn child's future; Charming sees a future where their baby is safe and happy, but Snow sees a future where their daughter is a villain, and she knows that something must be done to change it. They hear from a peddler who they give some brandy to that Maleficent has taken dragon form in a cave and laid an egg, and he advises them to go into the Infinite Forest and seek out an old hermit who might be able to help them with their problem. The royal couple find the Sorcerer's apprentice, and he explains how everyone is born a blank slate with the potential for both good and darkness; if they want their baby's potential for darkness to be eradicated, they must find another blank slate for that potential to be siphoned off into. As such, they head to Maleficent's cave and steal her egg from her, promising to bring it back once they're done with it. They take the egg to the apprentice and he performs the spell, but this also involves sending the egg to another world. Snow and Charming are appalled, especially once the egg starts to hatch and they see that a baby is inside. Cruella and Ursula try their best to stop the so-called heroes, but they merely end up being sucked into the portal as well, banished to an unknown realm. Snow and Charming are left to deal with the gravity of what they have just caused.

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.

A heavily pregnant Snow is horrified to see that Cinderella has sent her a unicorn-decorated mobile for the baby, because she sees it as a reminder of what she and Charming did to Maleficent's child. She reveals to her husband that she's been unable to sleep without what they did haunting her dreams, and he reveals in turn that he's been going through the same thing, but points out that maybe Maleficent deserves what happened to her, theorizing that she lied about this Dark Curse for Regina hasn't yet acted upon the threat she made at their wedding. Snow doesn't care, for all that matters to her is what they did; she thought they were doing something brave for their child, and they were brave... but they weren't kind. They were selfish, and they don't deserve to be called heroes anymore. Charming wonders how they're going to fix it, not wanting to raise their child in a guilt-ridden manner, and Snow says that she doesn't want that either, asking her husband if he really believes they have a chance at redemption. He does, but to get there, they have to be the best people they can, and spread hope with them wherever they go, especially if it is to rub off on their child, who is the very person they fought so hard to protect. Snow starts to think maybe the unicorns aren't such a bad thing; maybe they're there to remind them how easy it can be to lose their way. Charming adds that they can make sure to be the best version of themselves; it won't be easy, but they can take the hard path together.

Snow White continues to carry 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. ("Pilot"/"The Stranger")

Snow asks the Blue Fairy what will happen should the wardrobe fail, and she tells the princess that they will become slaves in the Evil Queen's curse and just have to wait for the savior to rescue them. Snow wonders how her daughter will know to be the savior if no one is around to tell her, and Blue assures her that their story will be revealed to the child in some way. Snow remains skeptical, but the fairy assures her that she has hope, before flying away. Charming attempts to calm his wife, who's bent on the idea that this curse will destroy their future and all the plans they made, by telling her that life is full of twists and turns one never sees coming, and this curse is just another turn. Snow says that all she ever wanted was for them to raise their child, as that was supposed to be their happy ending, but Charming tells her that, where that future may now be impossible, another, different one can still take its place, and it can be just as filled with happiness. Snow decides to choose hope, sadly staring at what will never be Emma's mobile and assuring her husband that she can believe in their child.

As the Dark Curse is coming, Snow goes into labor and gives birth to a baby girl, just as the castle becomes under attack by the Evil Queen's forces. She tells her husband that he has to get Emma to the wardrobe as they must believe that she'll return in twenty-eight years to save them, and so Prince Charming 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 herself, 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...

Early Life
"And what exactly do you think fairytales are? They are a reminder that our lives will get better if we just hold onto hope."

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.

Years later, in the October of 2011, Mary Margaret sees a ten year old Henry looking saddened in the school yard, and wonders what's wrong. He expresses his woes in that his birth mother gave him up and his adoptive mother merely pretends to love him, but Mary Margaret tries to convince him otherwise. Realizing that what he needs is hope, she takes a book of fairytales out from her bag and hands it to him, informing him that it appeared in her closet that morning when she was cleaning it out, and strangely enough, she had never ever come across it before. Henry wonders if he can borrow it, and Mary Margaret tells him that he can keep it, much to the boy's delight. He soon sees an image of Snow White on her wedding day and realizes how much it looks like his teacher, calling out for Miss Blanchard. When she turns around, he sees her as the character in the book, and makes the connection that it's all real. Instead of telling her this, he simply thanks her, and sees another picture of Snow White and Prince Charming with their baby, Emma - his birth mother. He sets out to find her.

Season 1
"I guess if true love was easy, we'd all have it."

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.

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 that 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 fingerprints on the lid of the box... and they were Mary Margaret's.

After the discovery that Mary Margaret's fingerprints 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 gone, 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, which is 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.

Mary Margaret and the others are still at the mausoleum where Gold explains that the only way to stop the new curse is by Regina, the original caster, breaking the scroll, but she must pay a price to do this. Mary Margaret then heads to Gold's shop with Emma, Regina and Henry - who's still in Pan's body - where she sees what would have been Emma's mobile and tells her daughter that giving her up was the hardest thing she ever had to do. A spell is then cast to return Pan and Henry to their own bodies, and whilst Gold confronts his father in the pawnshop, Snow and the others find Henry in the town, who has the curse scroll. It isn't long before Pan, having apprehended Rumple, emerges and immobilizes the villagers, wanting to kill those most loved by his son. But before he can, Rumple emerges also, and stabs Pan with his Dark One dagger after being reunited with his shadow. This act brings about Rumple's death as well, and his loved ones mourn him whilst Regina explains that the price she has to pay for stopping the curse is Henry, who she can never see again. When Regina makes this sacrifice, she will be able to replace Pan's curse with one of her own, but this will return everyone to the Enchanted Forest and wipe Storybrooke from history, meaning Henry and Emma (who's able to leave because she's the savior) won't be able to remember it or its people at all. However, Regina is able to give them fake memories so that, for all they know, Emma never gave up her son, and as soon as the two of them drive over the town line, their new memories enact. Meanwhile, Mary Margaret and everyone else is enveloped by the curse, which is made safe by Regina, and transported back home.

Before the Second Curse
"We're back."

Snow and the others arrive back in the Enchanted Forest where they're met by a frightened Aurora and Phillip. After a brief catch-up with the recently pregnant couple, they decide to head to Regina's palace, which the Queen reveals was protected from the original curse. On their trek, Charming notices that Regina has gone missing, and Snow finds her attempting to bury her heart in the woods so that she doesn't have to deal with the loss of Henry. Snow convinces her former stepmother to embrace her emotions for, when the grieving period ends, she will be able to feel happiness, which is what Henry would have wanted for her; Regina places her heart back into her body. As the two of them go to regroup with the others, Snow hears a rustle in the bush and it's soon revealed to be a flying monkey, which attacks the princess and the Queen. Regina tries fending it off with her magic but is ultimately unable to, and so the gallant Robin Hood steps in and injures the creature with his bow and arrow, causing it to fly away in fright. Snow is grateful but Regina is highly disgusted by the thief, and his Merry Men, who join the others on their trek to the palace. On the way, Snow points out that Robin is kind of cute, but Regina retorts that he "smells like forest", clearly uninterested. When they finally arrive at the palace, they are surprised to learn that it's surrounded by a protection spell - one that wasn't cast by Regina - meaning someone else is currently inside.

Red approaches Snow and comments how odd it feels to be running alongside Regina, as opposed to away from her, but Snow maintains the belief that her stepmother has changed and so attempts to comfort her when she appears depressed, clearly thinking about Henry. After another flying monkey attack, it is figured out that the foe inside the palace is the Wicked Witch of the West, much to everyone's dismay. The Queen later reveals that she may be able to get inside the castle and lower the protective spell should she enter via the underground tunnels she installed, and Snow wants to go with her her, but Regina refuses help because there's more of a chance they'd be detected. Snow assures the Queen that they'll be waiting for her on the other side, and Regina sets off alone, unknowingly joined by Robin Hood who figures he owes her a debt. The two of them are successful in their mission and the shield is lowered, meaning Snow and the others are able to begin storming the castle. As they do so, Regina confronts the Wicked Witch, Zelena, and discovers that the two of them are half-sisters; Zelena soon vacates the palace on her broom and Regina appears happy to have an arch-nemesis to destroy again.

Following a bad dream in which he had to experience Emma being snatched away from him once more, Charming's eyes shoot open as he wakes up from his nightmare, utterly terrified. After a few heavy breaths, he looks to see that Snow isn't lying in bed beside him, becoming curious as to where she is. He calls her name and soon sees that she's standing by the balcony, gazing fondly outside. She appears happy that her husband is awake and he forces a smile before getting out of bed and approaching her. She comments on the view, adding that she forgot how beautiful it was there, and the prince dons his dressing gown before pointing out what a good mood his wife seems to be in. Snow confirms this, saying that she has some pretty wonderful news: she's pregnant. Charming looks shocked beyond belief, and Snow asks him if he's not happy, to which he replies he isn't - he is thrilled. The princess lets out another big smile before hugging him ecstatically. His facial expression, however, continues to show dread and fear.

Snow and Charming gather with Regina, Aurora and Phillip, discussing with them whether or not it's a good idea to announce their pregnancy to the kingdom. The two of them think it's a good idea because, with the Wicked Witch of the West on the loose, a royal baby will provide the people with the kind of stability they need, but it is pointed out to them that the Wicked Witch is exactly why they should caution themselves. They are interrupted by the return of Belle, who reveals that Neal sacrificed his life to resurrect Rumple and now Zelena has the dagger, leading Aurora to assure that this is definitely a bad time for the pregnancy to be announced. In doing so, she lets slip that she and her husband told Zelena of everyone's return to this land because her own unborn child was under threat, and she knows for a fact that the Wicked Witch needs Snow's baby for whatever her plan is. Zelena herself then arrives via broomstick and punishes Aurora and Phillip by turning them into flying monkeys. She then paralyzes everybody in the room with a spell and inspects the pregnant princess, assuring her that, when the baby arrives, it'll belong to her.

Charming is deeply afraid that he'll fail his unborn child the same way he failed Emma as a father, and so he is set on a quest to vanquish these fears when Robin Hood tells him of Night Root, a plant flecked with star-like crystals which, when ingested, will allow the consumer to overcome what frightens them. He finds them growing outside a tower where a girl with long, long hair resides - her name is Rapunzel, and Charming climbs up her massive braid into her tower, learning that she locked herself away after inadvertently causing the death of her brother. She can't leave because then the witch will come for her, who Charming sees as a cloaked figure approaching the tower. He tries fighting her but can't, and when she makes her way inside, it is revealed that she dons Rapunzel's own face. The prince is shocked and soon comes to the realization that Night Root physically manifests one's fears so that they can literally defeat them, and he tackles the cloaked Rapunzel out a window. The manifestation tries climbing back up the princess' hair but she cuts it off, thus facing what haunts her and causing the cloaked figure to dissipate after existence. Charming is proud of her and takes her back to the Dark Palace where she reunites with her parents, while Snow wonders what her husband was doing all this time. He explains how afraid he was when he discovered she was pregnant, but she tells him that he doesn't have to be because they're going to be facing this pending parenthood the same way they face everything else: together.

Eight months after Zelena's threat, Snow is heavily pregnant and discussing with the royal council what to do about the Wicked Witch, and so she, Charming, Regina, Belle and Robin Hood break into Rumple's castle to ask the resurrected Dark One - who's lost his mind and is under the Wicked Witch's control - if he knows a way to defeat his captor. With Belle's aid, he reveals that the answers they seek will come from Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, and Snow, Charming and Regina manage to track her down in the dark forest. She explains that Zelena's magic resides in her pendant, but only the powerful light magic within Emma Swan is able to defeat her. To get back to their daughter, the Charmings realize that they must re-enact the Dark Curse, much to Regina's objection. Despite this, the Queen gathers the ingredients for them, but Snow must sacrifice Charming's heart in order to complete it. They say their teary goodbyes to one another and the prince's heart is ripped out by Regina before being crushed by Snow and added to the mixture. The curse begins to enact, but Zelena flies by on her broom, sprinkling a forget potion into it so that Snow and Regina won't remember what they're setting out to do back in Storybrooke. Not wanting her husband's sacrifice to be in vain, Snow comes up with a plan to save him and asks Regina to rip out her heart and break it in half so that she and Charming can share it, thinking they are able to do this because they are each other's true love. Regina does what Snow asks and Charming revives in time to see the curse wash over the land.

Season 3
"We're missing a year of memories in the Enchanted Forest; we suddenly find ourselves in Storybrooke about to have a baby. It's... a bit disconcerting."

When Emma returns to the newly-cursed Storybrooke, having regained her memories thanks to Captain Hook and a potion he gave her, she first visits her old apartment and knocks on the door; to her delight, David answers and remembers who she is. They hug, and he explains to her that they were cursed again when they were in the Enchanted Forest and so don't remember anything since Emma left town, meaning they lost a year of their lives. Emma wonders how he knows it's been a year if he can't remember anything that happened, at which point a heavily pregnant Mary Margaret descends the stairs, being a clear indicator of how much time has passed. She shares a joyous hug of reunion with her daughter, who is surprised that her mother is pregnant and that they've been cursed again; they are only left to wonder who is responsible...

Mary Margaret and David sit with Emma and Hook in Granny's Bed & Breakfast where they discuss the fact that people from the town have begun going missing, including three of the seven dwarfs. The next day, Henry wonders who the Charmings are and so Emma tells him that they're old friends, leading Mary Margaret to accidentally lead herself into a false story in which she was Emma's old cell mate. Regina soon sees Henry and remains distraught that he cannot remember her, and whilst Emma deals with everyone at town hall, and David deals with the fact that Little John was carried away by a flying monkey, Mary Margaret stays with Henry and begins reading her pregnancy book, shocked to find out about a head rash known as cradle cap. When Henry leaves for the bathroom, Zelena appears and assures Snow that cradle cap doesn't harm the baby, introducing herself as a former midwife back in the Enchanted Forest who missed the original curse. Mary Margaret asks Zelena to stick with her during the remainder of her pregnancy, not knowing she's actually the Wicked Witch of the West, and she says that nothing would make her happier. That night, Mary Margaret returns to the apartment with her family and is shocked to learn that people who go missing are being turned into flying monkeys, as is what happened with Little John. This leads them to realize that they're dealing with the Wicked Witch of the West, and they wonder what she's doing in Storybrooke and who she is.

Mary Margaret stays in the apartment whilst Emma, David and Hook work on tracking down the Wicked Witch, and Regina takes care of Henry. She arranges a meeting with her midwife, Zelena, who would very much like to meet with David also, so that she can prepare both halves of the couple for their upcoming baby. David arrives soon after Zelena, having been sent a text from his wife, but Mary Margaret picks up on the fact that he really doesn't want to be there. As the two of them discuss whether or not Zelena can be trusted, she is in the kitchen making tea for the both of them and drugs David with night-root whilst she's at it. The meeting ends with David having drunk a sufficient of drugged tea and Zelena allows him to get back to the important town business she pulled him away from. However, due to the night-root he ingested, his fears manifest into a cloaked version of himself which he has to defeat, eventually stabbing it with the hilt of his sword and turning his weapon into a symbol of his courage. But his courage is stolen by Zelena's magic, and she keeps the hilt safely tucked away in her purse as she leaves the apartment of Mary Margaret, who remains totally none the wiser.

Having learned that Rumplestiltskin is in fact alive and was being kept in the Wicked Witch's storm cellar, now on the loose, David and Emma leave to find him, with Mary Margaret being left at home, sad that she can't go with them in her condition since she's the best tracker in the family. Worried about the fact that her baby hasn't been moving lately, she phones Zelena, who arrives quickly, having heard panic in her patient's voice. She assures Mary Margaret that babies don't move much when labor is near, meaning she must be close to her due date; Zelena offers her a drink which helps the baby move, before stating that the little prince or princess could be arriving any day now and she won't be letting Mary Margaret have this baby without her. Later, David and Emma come bursting into the loft, weapons at the ready, wanting to know where Zelena is. Utterly confused, Mary Margaret reveals she's in the bathroom, but when they check, she is gone. Snow demands to know what is going on and they tell her that Zelena is in fact the Wicked Witch of the West, and has been playing them all along. But that isn't the worst news, for Emma reveals that she found Neal... and he died. Mary Margaret steps in to comfort her devastated daughter, and is later seen going into Mr. Gold's shop to break the news to Belle, who's in need of desperate comforting also.

Mary Margaret attends the funeral of Neal Cassidy, watching as multiple townspeople shovel dirt into his grave, and proceeds to the wake at Granny's Diner afterwards. She tries to comfort Emma, who's highly depressed over Neal's passing, but soon enough, Zelena bursts in with the Dark One's dagger held firmly in her hand; she mocks the death of Neal and Emma attempts to step in and do something, but Mary Margaret pulls her daughter back, pointing out that too many people will get hurt. Zelena tells Emma to listen to her mother, and Charming makes a point of shielding his wife's belly, leading the Wicked Witch to say she isn't there for his baby... not today, anyway. She soon reveals herself to be Regina's half-sister and challenges the Evil Queen to a fight on Main Street at sundown, allowing her time to unveil the truth of their familial connection. Emma and Mary Margaret head down to Regina's vault with her where Snow worried about Cora having booby trapped her belongings, thinking that a sleeping curse can't be good for the baby. Regina soon finds a letter which confirms Zelena being her half-sister and she leaves, incredibly distraught. Mary Margaret and the others head to Zelena's farmhouse where they plan to use Belle to lure Gold away from the Wicked Witch's cage, but their attempt fails and he remains in her control. That night, Zelena arrives on Main Street and Regina turns up late, battling her sister and soon being thrown through the face of the clock tower. Zelena then tries to rip out Regina's heart, needing it for her plan, but the Queen reveals that she took it out before she came to the fight. The witch flies away on her broom and the Charmings run to the Regina's aid as she explains that it appears Zelena is gathering ingredients, for she already has David's courage and now wants her heart.

Mary Margaret sits quietly at the apartment whilst Emma and David struggle to put together the baby's new crib. She soon suggests calling Marco, for he's an expert carpenter, but they refuse, wanting to do this themselves. Regina then stops by, having installed a protection spell around the building to keep out the Wicked Witch, and Emma mentions wanting to go to the Mayor for some lessons in magic. The Charmings offer to take care of Henry whilst she does so, however, she reveals she's already asked someone else to take care of him. They wonder why, and Emma is forced to tell her parents that Henry finds them boring, especially in comparison to Hook, much to their dismay. Mary Margaret and David are later strolling along the beach when they notice a crowd has gathered, at the center of which is Ariel, who's washed ashore. She explains that she's been traveling the realms in search of Prince Eric, who's been missing ever since the new curse took place. They dress the mermaid and bring her to Granny's Diner, where they ask Hook if he's seen Eric during the missing year, but he says he hasn't, going on to take Ariel to Gold's shop to see if a locator spell can be cast on one of the prince's possessions. Meanwhile, David tries to prove he's fun by teaching Henry how to drive his jeep, but it goes horribly wrong and Mary Margaret watches as several mailboxes are destroyed by the young man's reckless driving. When they return home, the others are shocked to hear what the Charmings let Henry do, and Mary Margaret wonders what became of Ariel. They assure her that she's living happily on an island with her prince, and Snow is overjoyed to hear her friend received such a happy ending.

After having her heart stolen by the Wicked Witch, Regina summons Mary Margaret, David, Emma and Hook to her house in order to talk to Cora and find out more about Zelena's past, which she's able to do via a spell which needs the deceased's murder weapon and murderer, Snow. The spell is successful and a portal to the afterlife opens in the ceiling, however, nothing comes out of it, which they take to mean Cora isn't interested in discussing her past with them. Mary Margaret stays behind when everyone else leaves to help Regina clean up, giving her time to apologize for killing Cora, and Regina concedes that it was a complicated situation. The two of them are then distracted by a noise upstairs and discover the ghost of Cora lurking in the house, and she tries to attack Mary Margaret, presumably wanting to avenge her own death. More than once, Regina stands in her way, holding her mother off with magic and demanding to know what she did to Zelena. Instead of answering, Cora simply possesses Mary Margaret, filling her head with memories. Regina is able to extract her mother from Snow's body and send her back into the afterlife, but Cora's memories still linger in Mary Margaret's head, and she explains that Cora didn't want to give Zelena up, but Princess Eva, Snow's mother, forced her to by spilling her secret. The others return, along with Belle, and they realize that Zelena wants Snow's baby as part of her spell to go back in time and kill Eva so that she would never have been abandoned, meaning Mary Margaret, Emma, Henry and maybe Regina will never have been born. Knowing what happened, Mary Margaret finds it hard to believe that her mother could have been so cruel to Cora, and, following a conversation about their past, Snow White and the Evil Queen finally decide to make amends and focus only on their future.

Mary Margaret and the others are discussing how to break the curse and they deduce that the key lies in Henry remembering and believing in magic, but to achieve this, they must first find his book of fairytales. Having found it in her closet one day back when the first curse was in order, Mary Margaret thinks it may be there again, and so they begin to search. Only Snow is able to pull it from a box that Emma previously searched, and she soon realizes that her daughter didn't want to find the book because she'd rather Henry's memories didn't return so that she and him can continue their harmonious lifestyle back in New York, but she agrees to do this if it means defeating Zelena once and for all. After discovering Henry is missing, they locate him down at the docks where he and Hook are being attacked by a flock of flying monkeys. The monkeys are slain and Henry is given the book, returning his memories at long last. However, just as Emma's about to kiss his forehead and break the curse, Zelena snatches him away and threatens his life. Emma is able to use her magic to take back her son, but the Wicked Witch threatens them severely before she leaves, mentioning that Hook failed the task she had set him. Finally, Regina is the one to kiss Henry's forehead and finally break the curse, and the memories of everyone in town are restored. Snow and Charming explain that they cast the curse themselves to find Emma so that her powerful light magic could defeat Zelena. On their way out, Emma demands to know what Zelena meant when she said Hook failed her, and he explains that his kiss was cursed so that, if his lips touched Emma's, her magic would be taken. Mary Margaret and David advise their daughter against trusting the pirate for he obviously lied about them sending him a message with the memory potion he used on Emma in New York, and the Charmings go on to take Henry to see Neal's grave. Whilst there, Mary Margaret goes into labor...

Still in labor, Mary Margaret gets driven to hospital by David, accompanied also by Emma, Henry and multiple other townspeople working to keep Zelena out. She is put onto a wheelchair and taken hurriedly into a delivery room by Dr. Whale, who lays the mother-to-be down on a bed where David promises that this baby isn't going to leave her arms. She points out that that's what he said about the last one, but he points out in turn that, this time, they have someone extra on their side: Emma, who's currently casting a protection spell along with Regina. However, after a run-in with the Wicked Witch, Emma's magic is removed whilst giving CPR to Hook, who David had earlier decided to trust. As the stages of labor go forth, the lights begin to flicker and the Charmings are warned that Zelena has entered the building, but Whale says that this doesn't matter, for the baby is coming now. With much pain, Snow births her child, and her husband is ecstatic to learn that it's a boy, being the first one to hold the baby in his hands. He then places their newborn son into Mary Margaret's arms so that she may wrap him up in a blanket... but Zelena then enters, knocks out Dr. Whale, freezes Charming and Snow with her magic and takes the baby for her own, proceeding to teleport out of the building with the child in her arms; Mary Margaret cries uncontrollably. David and the others work to stop Zelena casting her spell, and they are successful, managing to take away her magic pendant and reunite Snow White with her son. However, that night, after Zelena's death at the hands of Rumplestiltskin, the magic from her pendant pours across town, causing the Wicked Witch's time travel spell to enact.

Mary Margaret refuses to tell Emma the name of the baby until the official coronation at Granny's Diner has taken place, however, as everyone meets up, Emma is provoked into leaving when Hook brings up her plans to move back to New York. Hook goes after her with the storybook in tow, but everyone is soon distracted when they see across town that Zelena's time portal has opened, having activated when she died. Emma and Hook are soon dragged down it, having gone to investigate, and find themselves in the Enchanted Forest of the past. Emma accidentally interrupts her parents' meeting and makes it so it never happens, and so the Snow White of that period does not rob Charming's carriage and instead goes to Black Beard to pay for safe passage out of the land on his ship. He says she needs twice the money she presents to him, which she would have if she had robbed the prince, but as Emma distracts the Captain Hook of the past, the Captain Hook of the present meets with Snow beneath his ship. He tells her that he will grant her safe passage should she steal Prince James' ring for her, and so Snow crashes King Midas' ball that night in order to rob it. Just as she finds it, however, Prince Charming and Princess Abigail spot her and order Regina's guards after her. Snow isn't able to steal the ring, which ends up in Emma's possession, whilst Emma is arrested by Regina for aiding Snow White's escape, having redirected an arrow when an archer was about to kill her.

Still in a twisted version of the past, Snow is caught in a net by Prince Charming, where she dispenses his nickname, but they are soon subdued by Prince Charles (Hook's alias), who tells them that Princess Leia (Emma's alias) has Charming's ring. Snow hides in a carriage with the two princes as they go to rescue Emma from Regina's dungeon, during which time she and Charming bond and she tells him of the dark fairy dust she wears around her neck, which she plans to use on Regina. As Red Riding Hood helps the others break into the Dark Palace, Snow heads up to the throne room in order to confront the Evil Queen. She throws the dust as Regina, but she simply uses her magic to stop it, ordering that Snow be arrested on the spot. Snow is tied to a stake by the Queen's guards and burned alive by one of Regina's fireballs, however, she uses the dust on herself, which transforms her into a ladybug, and flies away in this form. She finds Charming, Red, Marian (who's another freed prisoner), Hook and a devastated Emma elsewhere and summons the Blue Fairy to return her to her human form, much to Emma's delight, which comes as confusion to Snow. She then leaves, but Charming realizes that she still has his wedding ring, and so he follows her all the way to the Troll Bridge. Knowing that she no longer has the dust in order to defeat the trolls - as she did the first time - Emma runs after them, but Snow is able to use sand and bluff her way out of the situation, returning events to normal. Emma watches as her parents fall in love, and she is later able to use a magic wand owned by Rumplestiltskin to return herself to the future. She returns to Granny's Diner in time to join in on the celebrations, finally able to call her parents "mom" and "dad, and witnesses the announcement of her brother's name: Prince Neal.

As Neal's name is announced, Ruby appears sad and heads into the back room of the diner, unable to get into the swing of the festivities that surround her. Mary Margaret soon follows, presumably leaving the baby with David as she asks her friend what's wrong, pointing out that they just defeated the Wicked Witch and survived a time travel adventure they didn't know they were a part of, but Ruby insists that she's fine. Snow doesn't believe her and finally gets her to admit that ever since they returned to Storybrooke she hasn't felt like she fit in; at first she figured it was because of the curse, but then it was broken and the feeling didn't go away. Mary Margaret figures that it's because Ruby's the only one of her kind in this land and the latter thinks this might be the case, wanting to be able to find more people like herself. She explains that she's been helping Anton work on his burnt fields, back when they thought they were going to have to escape Zelena, and they weren't able to accomplish much but they were manage to grow one bean, which Ruby has with her now. Realizing her best friend wants to go back to the Enchanted Forest, Snow locks her into an embrace, telling her that she thinks she should do whatever makes her happy while assuring her that that doesn't mean she isn't going to miss her. The two of them tear up as Red assures in turn that she'll miss her more, before leaving.

As the celebrations continue, Emma heads outside where her time-traveling companion Hook is having a drink; she leaves her parents, having been spending some time with them, Henry and her new brother Neal to approach the pirate and drink rum with him. She goes on to ask how he ever made it back to the land without magic from the Enchanted Forest, and he admits that he sold the Jolly Roger in exchange for a magic bean. Emma is touched that he would give up his beloved ship for her, and rewards him with a kiss. Meanwhile, Gold and Belle have left the party in order to get married in the town's woods, and as they say their vows, Snow and Charming are seen sitting with their newborn baby - in this moment, they are perfectly content. Happy. But the night goes on, and when Regina shows up with Robin, the latter is reunited with his wife Marian, who Emma and Hook brought back from the past. Regina cites Emma as being just like her mother in that she doesn't think about the consequences of her actions. The savior tries to apologize but Regina just tells her that she better hope to hell that she didn't bring anything else back. At that moment, across town, a magic urn which was also brought through the time portal opens... and a certain Ice Queen forms from the contents, proceeding to destroy her former prison and walk free amidst Storybrooke.

Season 4
"They say that they grow up so fast, and I don't want to miss a second."

With Robin Hood's formerly dead wife, Marian, having returned from the past after Emma and Hook's escapade, Regina is distraught at the fact that she may not be able to remain with her true love. As an argument breaks out, Mary Margaret and David - along with baby Neal - exit the diner to check on everything, merely happy to see that no one's been incinerated yet. The argument ends with Regina storming off, but the Charmings worry about what it is she'll do. The next day, Mary Margaret, David, Emma and Henry are taking a stroll with the baby when the subject of Hook is brought up; in private, Mary Margaret wonders if Emma plans on telling Henry about she and the pirate being involved, but Emma doesn't think so because she isn't yet sure of the terms of their relationship, or if there even is one. Hook soon arrives, giving he and Emma a chance to talk, but they are interrupted when Leroy comes running and yelling about some new crisis involving ice magic. Emma and Hook follow a trail of ice, but when they reach its end, a snow monster forms and attacks them. It is eventually defeated by Regina, but it's rather evident that someone with the powers the control ice and snow is now loose in Storybrooke.

Elsa, the Ice Queen, decides that no one is leaving town until she finds her sister, Anna, and so she erects an ice wall around the perimeter of Storybrooke and unintentionally cuts off all the electricity as she does so. With David and Emma off dealing with the ice threat, Grumpy, Granny and Happy head over to Mary Margaret's place in order to goad her into getting the power back on, pointing out that they helped her take back the kingdom and she cast the new curse, so Storybrooke is her kingdom now and she has to rule it. At the local power station, Snow struggles to accomplish anything and yells at her apparent royal subjects when they complain at her, causing them to storm off and leave. When baby Neal needs feeding, Mary Margaret gets the idea that the reason the power isn't turning back on is because fuel is needed, and so she follows the fuel pipe and manages to turn it on, thus restoring electricity to the town. She and Neal then return home where Charming helps Elsa discover the fact that her missing sister is alive, although they're still unaware of her whereabouts. Meanwhile, it becomes apparent that someone with similar powers to Elsa is preventing her from being able to thaw the ice wall.

As Mayor, Mary Margaret hosts her very first fireside chat in what used to be Regina's office, deciding to multitask by bringing baby Neal with her as well. As the meeting goes on, however, all anyone seems interested in is the ice wall surrounding the town... and then Marian collapses thanks to an ice curse. Everyone is quick to blame Elsa, but Emma defends her new friend and works with Charming to prove her innocence, eventually finding out that the real culprit is, in actuality, the mysterious Snow Queen. Meanwhile, Mary Margaret is struggling to both hold her baby and assemble his stroller when Archie approaches, noticing her dilemma and realizing that the reason she's spending so much time with her newborn son is because she missed Emma's childhood completely and wants to soak up every second of his. She doesn't appreciate the impromptu therapy session, but the conscience continues in assuring her that she and her son will be much happier if she lets him go once in a while. Mary Margaret ponders this whilst Regina, who doesn't appreciate the slight tweaks made to the decor of the office, finds a way to stall Marian's affliction.

When Emma asks Hook out on a date and dresses to impress, Mary Margaret is happy to see her daughter being courted and takes a picture of her before she leaves, she and David thinking that this makes up for them never getting to take her to a ball when she was growing up. Hook arrives and the Charmings are all shocked to see that he has two hands, at which he explains that he made a deal with the Dark One to make it so (which he later goes back on, due to extenuating circumstances). Later that night, following the goodnight kiss, Emma arrives home to find her two parents waiting on the couch. Mary Margaret is excited and wants to know everything whereas David is more relaxed and would rather not hear about what the pirate's been getting up to with his daughter. Feeling swamped, Emma continuously comments that she needs to get her own place, and as she heads to bed, Mary Margaret takes note of how happy she seems which leads David to comment that it seems Hook really has changed. Emma exclaims that she can hear them. The next day, the Charmings are investigating the Snow Queen at the sheriff's station after an incident wherein she stalked Emma, coming to the conclusion that she didn't arrive along with the curse, meaning she made her own way to Storybrooke.

Mary Margaret has reservations about leaving Neal behind with Belle so that she can go on a hike with David, not wanting to be separated from her child, but he assures her that everything's going to be okay and manages to convince her to come. First, however, they make a quick stop at the sheriff's station where they soon realize that the thief, Will Scarlet, has escaped. David suggests tracking and capturing him, to his wife's confusion, but he points out that it will be like the old days: Snow White and Prince Charming on an adventure but without the Evil Queen on their backs. The two of them then head off in search of the thief, but Mary Margaret wants to go home whilst David continues to search. He goes on, but she almost immediately spots Will digging something up nearby. She approaches to find that he's searching for his travel bag, which is buried along with the map he needs to find his travel bag. Not believing anyone could be that stupid, Mary Margaret deduces that David actually set this man free so that she could feel good about capturing him. She gets Will to admit all of this in exchange for a pardon, and he walks away a free man. Back at the apartment, David returns home and his wife reveals that she "caught" the thief, going on to explain that she knows all about his plan. However, David reveals that Will really did escape and really is that stupid and lied to her to get a pardon. This stuns Mary Margaret, but David urges that maybe Will earned his pardon if it means it's helped her find that part of herself again.

Mary Margaret, along with everyone else, is summoned to the sheriff's station in order to view an old recording Emma found that shows the Snow Queen used to be her foster mother. Snow is shocked, never having witnessed her daughter's childhood, but Regina asks her old nemesis if she's missing the part where Emma is with the Snow Queen, which the blonde claims not to remember, having had her memory of the foster home erased. Belle chimes in, saying that she doesn't understand how the Snow Queen even ended up in their world, and Emma hopes that maybe Gold can tell them, pointing out that he spent more time trying to get there than anyone. She asks him how it was done, but Gold, having labored over said task, would like to know himself, and David wonders if they should be a little more concerned about why she came there, as opposed to how. He goes on to sum up that they know she's hiding in the north woods; they searched every inch of her shop, tore apart her house, but she'd cleared everything out days before. Hook points out that that must mean she's hiding something, and Henry suggests that they check her ice cream truck, having noticed she owns such an item because he's a kid. Once there, they find that the Snow Queen has been stalking Emma for quite some time and, thanks to Belle, they later discover that she hopes to cast a Shattered Sight spell to make everyone in Storybrooke turn on each other so all that will be left is she, Elsa and Emma (who resembles her sister, Helga), who will act as her idealized family.

Along with the likes of Ashley and Aurora and their respective babies, Mary Margaret and Neal attend a "Mommy and me" class over at Granny's Bed & Breakfast, after which Emma shows up in order to take Neal for babysitting. She takes note of how much stuff the baby has and Mary Margaret replies that she just wants to make sure he has everything, to her daughter's slight dismay. When the blonde takes a bottle of milk, it begins to boil in her hand due to the magic still resonating within her, causing all the princesses in sight to begin looking at her fearfully. However, Emma is forced to take a rain check on babysitting when the Snow Queen is located in the town clock tower and goes on to capture her, however, it is soon revealed that the Snow Queen wanted to be trapped, as it's all a part of her plan, and she soon uses her ice magic to seal herself in the sheriff's station with Emma, where she causes the latter's magic to go out of control. Mary Margaret, along with everyone else, rushes over just after Emma has accidentally caused the wall to explode, and her temperamental powers cause a nearby lamppost to fall on David. Mary Margaret quickly makes sure her husband's alright before yelling at her daughter. Seeing the hurt on Emma's face, she soon feels sorry and changes her tone to that of an apologetic one. She tries calling after her daughter, but it's too late; Emma drives away and cannot be found, even hours later. Mary Margaret laments yelling at her daughter over at the apartment, claiming to have failed as a parent, and regrets heavily that Emma was forced to see fear in the eyes of her own family.

After a night of everyone, including Mary Margaret, searching for Emma, Henry arrives home - having found her on his own - with a cut accidentally inflicted by his magically-enhanced mother. Elsa puts some ice on it with some of her own magic, and Emma soon calls her mother in order to tell her what she plans to get rid of her magic permanently. Regina arrives with a locator spell to help them find the missing savior, and Mary Margaret notices that she's failed to button her blouse, and so Regina quickly fixes that before going to visit her adoptive child, and ultimately healing him as she does so. Later, Mary Margaret confronts her old stepmother about the shirt mishap and deduces that she's been spending time with Robin Hood, which Regina admits to, feeling heavily guilty about engaging herself in an affair with a married man. Before the conversation can go much further, Regina learns that Emma plans to rid herself of magic and, worse, the Charmings plan to let her, and so she lectures them as to why that's bad, leading them to realize that they've been rationalizing the situation, and it doesn't take anyone long to notice that both the locator spell and Elsa are missing. Henry, David, Regina and Snow begin tracking Emma through the town, which allows the latter two to continue their earlier conversation about Robin. Mary Margaret assures the Evil Queen that an unhappy ending isn't written in stone for her, and refuses to believe that the author of Henry's storybook has any control over their fates. She tries convincing her to have hope, which Regina scoffs at, and the search party later finds Emma and Elsa at an abandoned mansion. Emma has embraced her powers and decided not to go through with the removal, but a strange ribbon appears on her wrist, and Elsa's. Elsewhere in Storybrooke, the Snow Queen casts her spell of Shattered Sight.

Mary Margaret and the others head up to the clock tower to see that the spell of Shattered Sight has been cast, and will be ready to turn everyone in Storybrooke against one another by sundown; Emma believes the answer to be simple, suggesting that they all leave Storybrooke, but the ice wall prevents them from doing so, rendering the savior's idea moot. However, from within the ice, Elsa is able to find her sister's necklace which, with a locator spell, could be used to find Anna. She and Emma head to Belle, and she detects that it could be used to counteract the spell if Anna herself, who's been under the spell, cannot be located. The search proves unsuccessful and could go on for days, but the fairies could still use the necklace to counteract the spell, and destroy it in the process, thus destroying all hope of locating Anna along with it. Mary Margaret surprises everyone when she sides with Regina on the fact that they have to do what's in the best interest of the town, as opposed to holding onto the Ice Queen's blind faith that her sister can be found. They head to the fairies with the pouch containing the necklace... only they don't have it; Elsa tricked them and is using it to track Anna, and is eventually able to make a wish on it which causes Anna and her fiancé Kristoff to appear. After a reunion, they return to the fairies, but they're all mysteriously missing, and so the spell appears inevitable. Mary Margaret and David lock themselves up in the sheriff's station cells, giving Neal to Emma to keep him safe. They believe that their love is strong enough to withstand the spell, but the rain of glass soon falls, the spell becomes complete, and Snow stares at her husband in utter contempt.

With the spell of Shattered Sight complete, Mary Margaret and her husband begin arguing uncontrollably, with her berating him for things such as his poor parenting skills and him berating her for things such as her one-night stand with Dr. Whale. Anna, who's been left to look after Neal, tries reminding Snow White and Prince Charming that they're supposed to love each other, but David points out that she hit him across the face when they first met, which should have been a sign, while she argues that he trapped her in a net. Mary Margaret goes on to tell Anna that she isn't as warm and fuzzy as one might think, for she killed the Evil Queen's mother and said she was sorry, but she didn't mean it. It's not long before Regina herself, dressed in the kind of royal attire she would normally be seen sporting back in the Enchanted Forest, arrives in the sheriff's station and sends Anna and Kristoff elsewhere with her magic, wanting to face Snow and ultimately kill her baby in revenge for what happened to Daniel. She opens the cell with her magic and plans to fight the princess in the same way, however, Mary Margaret goads Regina into fighting physically, at which she provides the two of them with swords and they begin brawling with one another. Their fight lasts a long while and escalates to extremely aggressive levels, that is, until the Snow Queen sacrifices herself to undo the spell and everyone's personalities are put right. Snow, Charming and Regina simply begin to laugh, before heading outside with Neal to discover that it's snowing and reunite with Emma. The Charmings apologize for all they said to one another, chalking it up to a mere spell and kissing to show that they hold no hard feelings.

Following Ingrid's death, Elsa is finally able to use her powers to remove the ice wall surrounding the town; however, some of the Snow Queen's magic remains, and her desire to protect Storybrooke against intruders has made it so that anyone who leaves cannot return. Things look bleak for Elsa, Anna and Kristoff, who need to make it back home to Arendelle in order to dethrone the evil Prince Hans, but it isn't long until Hook reveals that he visited Mr. Gold and found a portal for the three of them to go to, over in the mansion where Emma's magic was almost removed. Mary Margaret and the others head over there and quickly find a door standing alone in a room. Elsa bids her goodbyes before stepping through it, back to her kingdom, and Kristoff follows. Anna is the last to go through but, before she does, she wishes to know who Mr. Gold is, and they explain to her that his real name is Rumplestiltskin. This shocks her, for she knows who he is, and this leads everyone to become aware that the Dark One has been lying to them for some time because he swore not to know of the Arendelle princess. Anna goes home whilst Emma and Mary Margaret rush over to the clock tower, where Gold is performing a ritual involving the sorcerer's hat and Hook's heart, with which he's been controlling the pirate for a while. They try to stop him, but he simply freezes them with his magic, continuing with his spell which should make it so that he can leave town and retain his magic whilst cleaving himself entirely of the dagger and its control... but the spell fails, thanks to Belle, who's found the real dagger and uses it to command him to stop, unfreeze Mary Margaret and Emma and give Hook his heart back. Seeing the man he truly is, she proceeds to force him over the town line so that he may never return.

Six weeks have past since Rumplestiltskin's memorable departure from Storybrooke and Regina has once again taken up the position of mayor, allowing Mary Margaret to return to her teaching career at the local elementary school. All seems well, but it isn't long until fresh trouble is brewed in the form of Chernabog, an evil demon who's accidentally released from the Sorcerer's hat during the ritual performed to free the fairies. Although the fairies are indeed free, Chernabog rampages through the skies, and Emma and Regina manage to stun him temporarily with a combined blast of their magic. Mary Margaret aids the frightened townspeople while it's figured out just how to defeat the hell-beast, and when such a conclusion is reached, Emma phones her mother in order to divulge the information. Although she's happy that an end will soon be put to Chernabog, Mary Margaret appears rather uneasy, as is picked up on by David. He wonders why she doesn't look happy, and she reveals that the people aiding Emma and Regina are Cruella De Vil and Ursula, who are professing to want to turn over a new leaf as they wait at the town line to be let in. When Chernabog is taken care of, Emma is approached by her parents who warn her not to let the two villains into town, but Emma disagrees, deciding that everyone deserves a second chance and to grant them passage anyway by handing over the Sorcerer's scroll. Unbeknownst to anyone, Cruella and Ursula then help Rumple back into Storybrooke, with plans to resurrect Maleficent, however, they soon meet up with Snow and Charming who order them to keep what happened between them all those years ago a secret... or else Snow will personally rip out their hearts.

Mary Margaret has a bad dream about Maleficent returning and hurting her family and becomes even more cautious about the secret she and David are hiding from everyone. They grow convinced that Cruella and Ursula are up to no good and believe them to have stolen something from Gold's shop, which David manages to find when he pulls them over in his sheriff's car - a totem of Maleficent's, which they think means the two villainesses plan on resurrecting her. The Charmings lie to Emma about going on a hike as they decide to head to the under-library caves to retrieve Maleficent's ashes and make sure that she can't be returned; but, as it turns out, this was all part of Cruella and Ursula's plan, and they knock out the two heroes in order to cut open their hands and steal drops of their blood, which is then poured onto the ashes collected by the unseen Mr. Gold: Maleficent rises as a result. She decides not to kill the Charmings for what they did to her, instead wanting them to stew in their own guilt and suffering, and the two of them realize that this is all their fault, wanting to set things right by telling the truth to Emma. However, upon hearing the philosophy Emma has recently adopted from her parents about seeing the best in people, they decide that they cannot go through with it, and so they employ Regina's help instead, asking her to go undercover and stop the Queens of Darkness from destroying this town and its happy endings. Regina wonders what makes them so sure that the Queens would be targeting them, at which Mary Margaret finally reveals what it is that she and Charming have been carrying around with them all these years: because of them, Maleficent lost her child.

Regina agrees to go undercover with the Queens of Darkness in order to find out what it is that they're planning now that Maleficent's been resurrected, and Emma is far less than happy to learn about this from her parents, and even less so when they reveal that Regina was meant to check in an hour ago. It isn't until the following morning that Regina is found, after even Mary Margaret has doubts about her old stepmother's safety, having defended the fact that she can take care of herself. She is with a charred sheriff's car - the handy work of Maleficent and what she considers a good time - and the Charmings are eager to find out what she's learned; however, she's still in the stages of establishing trust and as of yet knows nothing about the Queens' plots. She warns the two of them to meet with her more covertly next time, for it's dangerous for them to be seen together, and the next time they meet is in the library along with Emma and Hook. Regina reveals to them that the Queens of Darkness are on their own quest for the Author in order to shift the balance of who gets happy endings and who doesn't. Emma in particular worried about this undercover job, which ultimately culminates in Regina learning that Rumplestiltskin is back, with his dagger in tow, and he turns young Pinocchio back into the man that is August W. Booth in order to find out what he knows about the book.

Mary Margaret, David, Hook and Emma are searching for Pinocchio and Regina when the latter sends them a magical smoke signal which inhabits Mary Margaret, allowing the Mayor to talk through her and tell the others about August's return, as well as the fact that Rumplestiltskin is back in town. Belle is told also and they ask her for the dagger; however, Rumple has already tricked her into handing it over to him by disguising himself as Hook, leading the pirate to comment that they should have stuck it in his heart instead of merely banishing him. As the Charmings search for the Dark One's cabin, Emma expresses similar sentiments, much to her parents' alarm, but she assures them that she's just worried, knowing that Gold maybe wouldn't hurt a child, but August isn't one anymore. While Hook is off helping Ursula, Cruella is left alone with the former puppet, taunting him as he remains tied to a chair. Emma and her father barge in and Cruella acts smugly... until Mary Margaret whacks her round the head with a frying pan and knocks her out, having sneaked through the back door. August is freed, but Ursula soon shows up and begins strangling Snow with her tentacle to stop Emma from using magic against her; that is, until Hook shows up as well with Ursula's father in tow, and he proceeds to restore Ursula's happy ending in the form of her singing voice. Cruella has disappeared, and Ursula leaves town with her father, revealing to Hook before she does so that Rumple plans on filling Emma's heart with darkness in order to eradicate her savior properties. Meanwhile, August recuperates back at the apartment where he reveals that the Author is trapped inside the book.

Hook tells Emma and her parents about Gold's plan to fill her heart with darkness, which leads the Charmings to worry about the security of the goodness they instilled within their daughter many years ago. They leave, and Maleficent casts a spell over the town which puts everyone to sleep, except those who have already been under a sleeping curse. As such, Mary Margaret, David and Henry remain awake, and the latter runs to the Sorcerer's mansion in order to protect the page that the Author is trapped inside, for the villains are after it. David suggests destroying the page, believing that that will solve all of their problems, and he takes it from Henry upon arriving in the mansion. However, just as he is about to throw it in the fire, Mary Margaret stops him. She reminds her husband that she gave Henry that book to give him hope, and she can't take that away from him; nor can she rob Regina of her happy ending after all she's recently done for them. She recalls the time when Regina showed her the black spot in her heart, after Cora's death, and theorizes that it began to darken long before... she decides that it's time to tell Emma the truth about what they did, because they're heroes, which means they do what's right as opposed to what's easy. When Emma wakes up, she is told everything, and she rejects her parents for lying to her. Mary Margaret tries pleading, but Emma cares not, going on to take the page and the key Henry found to the door over to August, and he explains how the Author isn't a person, but a profession, and the one that's trapped is simply the last; the reason for his imprisonment is that he began to alter stories instead of just record them, and Mary Margaret and David are hesitant about setting him free. Emma ignores them, still angry, and the Author is let loose. As it turns out, he's the peddler that Snow and Charming met many years before, and he proceeds to cause a distraction and run away.

Following the Author's escape, Mary Margaret follows him through the woods along with Emma and David, later calling in Hook and Henry to help, and uses her tracking skills in order to find him. During the chase, Emma's parents reveal to her that they met they Author back in the Enchanted Forest and he led them into the path they took to stealing Maleficent's child. Their daughter berates her parents about this nonetheless, seeing it as entirely their choice, and David tries telling her that it's a mere one incident from their past. She demands that they not downplay it, but Mary Margaret believes that what's important is that they've changed and become the best parents they can be for her; when they did what they did they weren't in full understanding of what would happen and they acted out of fear, which is a result of them being merely human and therefore liable to make mistakes. Emma doesn't care, disgusted by the fact that the only reason she's the savior is because they forsook an innocent child, and they continue trying to find the Author. However, Gold gets there first, and he convinces the Author to come with him and help with his plans.

Emma remains livid at her parents for what they did back in the Enchanted Forest to Maleficent's child, and they again try arguing their case; however, she is hearing none of it, unable to fathom of something so immoral and consequently leading them to point out that such refusal to accept this must mean that what they did worked - that she is good and pure-of-heart, just like what they hoped to ensure. Her mood doesn't improve when it's revealed that Zelena is alive, having been posing as Marian this whole time, nor when Cruella kidnaps Henry and tries blackmailing his two mothers into killing the Author. The Charmings say that they found the flask they gave to the Author in the nunnery, which could work as part of a locator spell, and Emma tells them to work on it, deciding to take Hook and Regina with her to actually find Henry because she needs to be with people she trusts and right now she just doesn't trust her parents. They end up heading to Gold's mansion, where the Author, Isaac, is hiding out, and he reveals to them that Cruella De Vil, thanks to him, is unable to take a human life - she is defenseless, and Rumple has set everything up so that Emma will end up killing the Queen of Darkness, and thus her heart shall blacken. The savior's parents rush to stop this, but they're too late: Cruella has been hurled off of a cliff and to her death by Emma, who stares on indignantly.

Cruella is buried and, after witnessing the event, Emma heads to the diner where Mary Margaret is sitting with David, Regina, Hook and Henry. The state of the savior's soul is worried about after what happened, but she assures them all that what she's feeling right now doesn't acquaint to darkness; it's regret, and she looks to her parents rather implicitly as she comments that she's sure they've all done things that they regret. Maleficent then approaches the group and reveals that she's done with Gold, for he's proven how little he cares for anyone other than himself, and so now she wants to hinder his plans by having Emma travel out into the land without magic and finding her daughter - Lily. Emma is shocked because she knows this girl, because they're tied together by fate, and she and Regina decide to venture out together so that the latter can save Robin Hood from Zelena in the process. Before they leave, Mary Margaret and David try saying goodbye, but Emma just looks briefly and coldly towards them as she tells them to look after Henry, and they're clearly hurt. They later decide to approach Maleficent and apologize to her for what they did to her daughter, but she points out that it isn't her who needs to be apologized to, it's Lily; and, if Maleficent doesn't forgive them, she doubts that her daughter will be able to do so either. ("Lily")

Emma returns to Storybrooke to reunite Maleficent with her daughter, Lily, but before she does so she greets both Henry and Hook with a hug; when Mary Margaret attempts to embrace the savior also, she rejects her, proceeding to introduce Lily to her mother. Mary Margaret is saddened by this, but David consoles her, and the two of them are later at the apartment when Maleficent knocks on their door. She explains that Lily is only interested in revenge as opposed to a proper relationship, and she needs their help. They acquaint the situation to their own with Emma when she first came to Storybrooke, and end up driving to the town line along with the dark sorceress to stop Lily from leaving. However, Lily has already turned into a dragon, and she soars above them, heading to a nearby field. The three of them follow and Maleficent proudly approaches her daughter, only to have Mary Margaret run at the creature and be knocked out by her tail, hitting her head hard on a rock. Her wound is treated by David and then healed by Emma's magic as she arrives on the scene. She decides to forgive her mother for omitting the truth from her, because she understands that she's human and is allowed to make mistakes, and cutting her out of her life hasn't done anything except make both of them miserable. Additionally, no matter what Snow has done it doesn't change the fact that she's Emma's mom. The two of them finally embrace, putting the past behind them.

With the Author now in possession the enchanted ink he needs to rewrite everyone's story, Mary Margaret and the others head to the Sorcerer's mansion to see if any of his books are being filled out. August soon turns up and tells them of the Apprentice, who Hook knows is trapped in the hat, and the Blue Fairy frees him. He says that Isaac must be trapped inside the page, and the Charmings take Henry home so that he can retrieve it. However, it's too late: a new story is written, and the entirety of Storybrooke's residents are trapped inside. Snow White is now the Evil Queen, and Charming is her heartless huntsman. When her seven malevolent dwarfs bring Isaac to her as a prisoner, she wants him beheaded, but then he reveals that he knows who she truly loves - Prince James. He died because of the bandit Regina, and since his death she's been using his twin brother as a puppet, despite knowing he'll never measure up. Snow is disheartened to be reminded of this and lets Isaac live, with him telling her that if she wants her happy ending then she needs to kill both Regina and a boy new to this land who wishes to stop him (Henry). Later, Regina tries robbing Snow's tax carriage, only to find the Queen herself hiding inside. The bandit is quickly disarmed, and Snow holds out on ripping her heart out by asking her about the boy, whom Regina refuses to address. Following a brief conversation, Snow uses her magic to make a fireball, ready to burn her nemesis where she stands... but then Robin Hood's arrow hits the carriage door beside her, and thanks to him Regina is able to escape.

Snow murders one of the dwarfs in order to motivate her royal council, before hearing from her faithful Black Knight Lily that the prisoner she had locked up in her impenetrable tower has escaped, thanks to Henry - the boy she's after - and a pirate named Hook. Snow and Charming confront the three of them at the docks, and the former is able to recognize the prisoner she locked away as Emma, who claims to be her daughter. After feigning to remember who she is, Snow orders her huntsman to kill the "savior" and her comrades, leading to a sword fight between he and Hook. Hook seems to be gaining the upper-hand for a while, but Charming is soon able to stab him from behind, killing him. Snow White tries throwing a fireball at the other two, but they manage to get away in time, reuniting with Regina. Together, they manage to put everything back on track; Henry becomes the new Author and he writes everyone back into the real world. As Hook is revealed to be alive and well in this realm, Isaac tries leaving Storybrooke in a car, but Mary Margaret and David soon catch up to and confront him. He reveals his hatred for all heroes, which is why he had them kidnap Maleficent's child, and Mary Margaret finds this pitiable before she and her husband arrest him. Celebrations are had, but then Belle crashes the party and warns everyone that Rumple is dying, and they're all in danger because of it. The hat is used to extract the Dark One from his heart, but it's soon able to escape and attempts taking over Regina. Not wanting this to happen, Emma uses the dagger to tether the darkness to her own soul. She employs her parents to eventually save her, as heroes, before ascending into the air and disappearing completely. As she becomes the new Dark One, her name becomes engraved on the dagger.

Season 5
"Emma kept us united, and that is exactly how we are going to remain. Come hell or high water, we are going to put our nonsense aside and find my daughter."

It is deduced that Emma is no longer in this world when Hook tries using the Dark One's dagger to summon her and fails. Mary Margaret and the others head back to Gold's shop to see if the dying Sorcerer's Apprentice has any way to help, and, with his last breath, he passes over his wand. Since it needs to be charged with dark magic equal to the light magic already inside it, Regina tries wielding it to summon a portal; however, thanks to her redemption, she's now too good to be able to harness such evil power. Hook points out that they need someone wicked, meaning Zelena, but a trail of circumstances leads to her escaping with her magic intact, and she holds Robin Hood at ransom so that she can get the wand for herself. She uses it to summon a magical cyclone to take her back to Oz, only for Regina to manipulate her and get the anti-magic cuff back on her wrist, then able to direct the portal as she sees fit. Over in Granny's Diner, Mary Margaret is happy to see Emma's baby blanket, a personal item of Emma's that Regina needs if she's going to be able to lock onto her location with the wand. Before the cyclone can carry them away, Grumpy, Happy and Doc barge into the diner, wanting to go with Snow White so as to not be left out of yet another adventure. Snow is grateful for their help, clutching her baby as the cyclone finally arrives and carries the entirety of Granny's Diner, Granny included, to the Enchanted Forest. When they arrive, Emma is about to crush the heart of the warrior princess Merida because it's the only way she can find Merlin and have him remove the darkness from her. Mary Margaret, now in possession of the dagger, wants to use it to stop her, but Hook says that it has to be Emma's choice whether or not she succumbs. Ultimately, she returns Merida's heart and her mother gives her the dagger, which Emma then gives to Regina for safekeeping. As they head back to Granny's in the woods, King Arthur and his knights arrive to welcome them all into Camelot, having been told by a prophecy that they'd be arriving.

Before the Third Curse
"We save each other. That is what our family does."

Mary Margaret and the others are welcomed into Camelot, where it is revealed by King Arthur that a royal ball has been prepared in their honor. They wonder when the quest to find Merlin will begin, but they soon find out that it's not a matter of finding him - it's a matter of getting him out of the magic tree he's trapped in. Regina pretends to be the savior prophesied to free him so that Emma doesn't have to use her dark magic, but she fears that she cannot keep her cover if, at the royal ball, she's unable to dance. Mary Margaret is surprised to hear that her stepmother doesn't know how, for they attended dozens of balls together, and Regina reminds her that King Leopold was so busy dancing with his precious daughter that he never much bothered with his wife. David offers to teach the Queen how, but first, Mary Margaret points out that a change in clothes is in order, and settles Regina on wearing an elegant new ballgown. She soon gets the hang of it, and right before the ball, Mary Margaret places a flower garland on Emma's head and tells her about her own first ball, happy now to be sharing that experience with her daughter. Emma is happy too, and everyone proceeds to have a great time together. However, the necklace earlier given to Regina by Sir Percival was being used to spy on her, and he learns prior to the ball that she's in fact the Evil Queen. While David is helping Henry approach his first crush, Percival is dancing with Regina and, having a personal vendetta against her, tries to kill her. Robin steps in but is stabbed, and David is forced to kill Percival in self-defense. Regina is unable to heal Robin due to the magic sword used to injure him and so Emma uses her dark magic to keep him alive, starting her on a dangerous path.

Up in Merlin's tower, Mary Margaret is working with Emma, Regina and Belle to find a way to get the Sorcerer out of the tree he's trapped in. Emma suggests that she use her magic briefly to just free him, but the others refuse to let her, not seeing it as worth the risk to let her darken herself any further. Mary Margaret points out that it would be easier to know how to fix the problem if they had some way of communicating with Merlin, at which Regina calls her a genius, remembering a magical item known as the Crimson Crown which would allow for such an interaction to take place - it's a toadstool which grows in a bog thought to be mythical, but David and Arthur offer to find it together. Unfortunately, they return empty-handed; however, due to the valor shown by David during the quest, he is officially knighted into the Knights of the Round Table and is told to fill the Siege Perilous, which is a seat reserved only for he with the purest of hearts. Mary Margaret, and the rest of David's family, is extremely proud of him, and when baby Neal starts to cry, she decides to remove him from the room - where someone mysterious is skulking about. As it turns out, it's her old friend Lancelot, whom she thought to be dead. He explains that it's a long story which he has no time to tell, because first he must warn her that there's a villain in Camelot greater than even the Dark One: Arthur. Snow then grows suspicious of the King who, as it turns out, recovered the Crimson Crown after all and lied about it.

When Charming learns that Excalibur is incomplete and can be made whole again by the Dark One's dagger, he wants to use the dagger to help Arthur; however, Mary Margaret approaches her husband and tells him of Lancelot's warning, leading to an argument between the two over whether or not the King can be trusted. Ultimately, they put their differences aside and decide to do what's best for their daughter: Charming goes to Arthur, pretending to have forgotten the dagger, while Snow takes a fake dagger to Lancelot, who's hiding out at Granny's Diner in the woods. He takes her to the Vault of the Dark One so that they can hide it, knowing how to open the seal, and the two of them head down a secret staircase and into a segment of forest that Snow recognizes - it's the same as the one featured in her vision where Emma ripped her heart out, and she now realizes that she must have been foreseeing the Dark One. She and Lancelot go to hide the dagger when Arthur approaches, having followed them, and he threatens Lancelot if Mary Margaret doesn't hand over the dagger. She obliges, but, when he tries to summon Emma, he fails due to the dagger being fake, at which David reveals that he was tricking the King to make sure whether or not his intentions were truly dubious. Since Snow was proven right, Arthur is taken captive... until his knights come to rescue him and a spellbound Guinevere uses magic sand to make the Charmings submissive. While Lancelot is locked away, Snow and Charming are suddenly under the belief that Arthur can be trusted, and advise Regina to give him the real dagger after all.

Regina and the Charmings go out into the woods where the former has re-hidden the real Dark One's dagger, but she has reservations about giving the only thing that can control Emma to Arthur, and asks if they're sure it's the right thing to do. They say that it is, to little effect, and when they grow aggressive in trying to convince her, they are suddenly frozen by Emma's dark magic. She explains to Regina that Arthur put her parents under a spell, having seen him do so through a magical dreamcatcher she created, and wants to help them after seeing through her plan to free Merlin from the tree. Since he was trapped using his own tear of heartbreak, another tear of heartbreak might help to save him; Emma rips out the heart of Henry's crush Violet and makes her break his heart, thus allowing her to get the necessary ingredient from her own son. When Merlin is freed, Mary Margaret and David are taken to Granny's Diner where the Sorcerer relieves them of the spell. They are surprised by Merlin, having expected someone "older", and he is then asked to remove the darkness from Emma. However, he says that he won't be able to do so unless Emma's heart is ready to let go of it, and he asks her if it is. She is hesitant to reply.

When pressed, Merlin says that he will be able to remove the darkness from Emma using a reformed Excalibur. He will need a certain magical flame in order to repair it, but even that would be useless unless he gets the sword itself, and so he tasks Mary Margaret and the others with stealing it from Arthur while he and Emma quest for the aforementioned flame. It is discussed how to best go about breaking into Arthur's castle, and Zelena makes her feelings known, pointing out that any of their suggestions would either end in their death, imprisonment or just general failure. She reveals that while she was skulking around the castle, pretending to be Regina's mute handmaiden, she was actually plotting an escape; she offers to show them a secret way into the castle that she discovered in exchange for her anti-magic cuff being removed, and Mary Margaret and the others allow her to lead them there. They refuse to remove the cuff until they return victorious, and Regina asks her stepdaughter to keep an eye on the Wicked Witch; she obliges, sarcastically telling Zelena that she has lots of pregnancy tips, and when the latter starts to cry under Mary Margaret's watch about Regina threatening to take her child, the fair princess takes sympathy on her and ends up falling victim to her attack. Snow is knocked out and tied up by the witch, who walks her into Arthur's throne room after the others have intruded it. She reveals that she's allied herself with Arthur, who's removed her cuff, and uses her magic to make the broken Excalibur able to control Merlin. The Sorcerer is summoned and Arthur uses his new power over him to force him to get rid of Mary Margaret and the others with his magic. ("Nimue")

The heroes find themselves all bound to trees, waiting for Emma to pay the ransom for their release which consists of the Dark One's dagger and the Promethean spark so that it can be reunited with Excalibur. However, she decides to trick their captors by handing Zelena a fake spark which causes her to be tied to a tree as well, at which Arthur orders Merlin to kill Mary Margaret in penance for Emma's betrayal. The Sorcerer uses his magic to summon a branch which wraps itself around Mary Margaret's neck, getting tighter and tighter and strangling the life out of her. Emma begs Merlin to fight Arthur's control, for if he, the most powerful magician who ever lived, can't fight the darkness... then no one can. Merlin resists as much as he's able and finally the branch relinquishes Mary Margaret's throat, allowing Hook enough time to wriggle free of his binds and hit Arthur across the face, receiving a cut from Excalibur in the process but managing to retrieve it too. At the diner, Emma is contemplative by the outside well and Regina approaches, trying to use the dagger to force her to admit why she's afraid to let go of the darkness. Emma's parents see this, as does Hook, and the latter rips the dagger from Regina's hands, causing Emma to run away. She admits that she's reluctant to let go because she's scared of the future that she's going to have with Hook, but she does want it. Eventually she's able to light the Promethean flame and begins to reunite Excalibur; however, Hook's neck wound from the sword which Emma initially healed suddenly reopens, because a cut from Excalibur is never truly gone. He is dying, and so Emma halts the sword's reparation and uses it to transfer Merlin's powers into Hook, saving him but turning her fully dark in the process. Hook also becomes a Dark One.

Mary Margaret and the others head to the Vault of the Dark One, where Merlin confirms that Hook has indeed been accepted as a new Dark One. Snow tries tracking him through the forest but his footprints disappear, due to him having teleported away at some point. When the others move on, David expresses frustration over the fact that Emma was about to get rid of the darkness, at which his wife points out that Hook would have died if she had gone through with it, which wouldn't be the right thing to do, and she goes on to mention that the two of them share one heart because they were willing to take a similar risk. She adds that they save each other - that's what their family does - and so implores him to have some faith in their daughter; he assures that he does, but just hopes that her faith in Hook is justified. Emma and Hook later reunite with the others back at Granny's Diner, where they claim to want to get rid of the darkness. However, Hook has plans of his own and interrupts Merlin while he's in the middle of recording a warning for the others. He ends up ripping the Sorcerer's heart out and enacting a new Dark Curse with it to take everyone in Camelot back to Storybrooke where he can kill Mr. Gold. Emma catches on though, and uses her dreamcatchers to make Hook forget he was ever a Dark One. She teleports her friends and family into the diner as well, making them unconscious, and takes their memories of the last six weeks too, adding this memory-wipe feature to the curse as a whole. It then spreads over Camelot and Emma decides to isolate herself from the others while she figures out how to save Hook and herself from the darkness.

Season 5
"''If we win, Emma loses..."

After spending a total of six weeks away in Camelot, Mary Margaret and the others who were sent to said realm in Granny's Diner are abruptly returned to Storybrooke. Sleepy and Sneezy, the latter of which has been working as the town's sheriff, even having gone as far as to start sporting Emma's signature red leather jacket, overhear the diner's crash landing and so go to check it out. They're shocked to discover everyone has returned, but Mary Margaret and the others have zero memory of anything that has happened since entering into Camelot for the first time. The two dwarfs reveal they've all been gone a total of six weeks, and Emma's parents wonder where she is. She soon makes herself known, appearing to be responsible for their return, as well as everyone's loss of memories. She now looks how a Dark One would be expected to look, and Mary Margaret asks what happened to her. Emma, who proceeds to turn Sneezy to stone for wearing her jacket, wonders if it's not obvious, recalling that they all came to remove the darkness from her... and they failed. Now they have to pay. When asked why, Emma simply states that it's because she is the Dark One, before disappearing.

The dwarfs decides to abandon town now that Emma is the Dark One, but first they decide to send Dopey over the line as a test. Mary Margaret, David and Regina show up in the sheriff's car to stop them, but they're too late; Dopey crosses the line and is turned into a tree. It is then discovered that King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table - as well as various Camelot citizens - are also in Storybrooke, and Regina becomes weary of what else awaits them in town since Emma warned her that there's a problem coming to Storybrooke that only a savior can solve. As it turns out, this problem is a Fury, and it kidnaps Robin Hood from the new town campsite. Regina tries chasing it but is hurt in the ensuing struggle, and Mary Margaret keeps trying to convince her to stop so that she can get herself checked out. Regina takes this to mean that Mary Margaret doesn't believe she can be the savior, but Mary Margaret proves her wrong when the Fury's purpose is discovered - it is summoned when the price for magic isn't paid, and when said price is a life. As such, to defeat it, Regina has to sacrifice her life in exchange for Robin's... but when it latches onto her with its magic, Mary Margaret takes her hand, unable to let her die alone. David joins them too, and then Leroy and Arthur, and eventually the demon is defeated. It is agreed that if anyone is going to save this town, it's going to be Regina, which is further proved when she turns Sneezy back from stone. At Granny's, Mary Margaret is unable to celebrate on the grounds that if they win in their current fight against evil, then Emma loses.

Mary Margaret and David are at the sheriff's station when Regina discovers in a book that came over from Camelot a note with a question mark on it - and it's in her handwriting, meaning that during the missing six weeks she must have found the page on which the note was situated very important; the page is for a magical toadstool known as the Crimson Crown. Before inquiries can be made as to its relevance, the three of them are interrupted by Leroy and the five other remaining dwarfs, who complain that Happy's pickaxe was just stolen by Emma. Since dwarfs are very much Snow White's apartment, Regina takes the book and leaves as they demand that the Charmings do something about their daughter, leaving soon after; it isn't long before David flips out under the grounds that he feels useless and wishes that Emma would talk to them. Mary Margaret wishes the same thing and does her best to comfort her husband's insecurities, reminding him that, no matter what, he is her hero, which he knows. After helping Arthur discover a chest full of valuable items, David discovers the Crimson Crown amidst them - with it having been dropped at the new town campsite - and brings it back to Mary Margaret and Regina, who have relocated to the latter's vault. They realize that it can be used to communicate with Merlin and, if they're successful in doing this, maybe he can tell them a way to eradicate Emma of the darkness.

It is discovered that Grif, the man David arrested for stealing a chest full of valuable magical objects from Arthur, is missing from his cell, and although it's because Arthur made him kill himself with Agrabahn Viper poison, which makes the drinker disappear, he says that the squire must have lied about having a magic bean and gone home. Guinevere laments that they could all be home right now if Grif weren't so selfish, and blames his desperation on the hopelessness caused from being away from home. Mary Margaret says that she's right: people need hope, and as the Camelot citizens' hosts and leaders of Storybrooke, it's their job to provide it. They decide to do so by hosting a block party, at the request of Henry, who David figures wants to be able to invite his crush Violet as his date. Later, at the party, Mary Margaret and David, as well as Arthur and Guinevere, learn from Hook - who broke into Emma's house along with Regina, Belle and Robin - that Emma is keeping Excalibur in her basement, and that it's the same blade as the Dark One's dagger. Arthur explains that, when complete, Excalibur is capable of snuffing out all dark magic... but in the wrong hands, it can also snuff out all the light. They deduce that that's Emma's ultimate plan.

Regina reveals that Emma was successful in freeing Merlin in Camelot, to the surprise of Mary Margaret and the others. The question is raised of why he didn't remove the darkness from her, and Regina proposes that they find out by communicating with him, having figured out a spell that will allow them to do so using the Crimson Crown. Belle is upset that everyone seems less concerned with rescuing the captive Mr. Gold and storms out, proceeding to be chased by Merida and her arrows in the Dark Swan's attempt to make her predecessor brave. Meanwhile, a cauldron is prepared down in Regina's vault, and all that's needed to reach the Sorcerer is for one of his "chosen" to drop the Crimson Crown into it; they summon Arthur, who suggests that he do it alone since no one else has ever been around when he received Merlin's prophecies in the past. Not wanting to take any risks, Mary Margaret and the others give him his privacy... only for him to throw the magical toadstool onto the fire beneath the cauldron, clearly not wanting the heroes to contact Merlin. This is deduced when the Crimson Crown is found merely charred - for magical toadstools don't burn - and Regina realizes that there's one other person in town who was chosen by Merlin: the Author. As such, they have Henry drop the toadstool into the cauldron and a message from Merlin appears, suggesting that Emma did something awful to him during the missing six weeks; they are told that their best hope lies with Nimue.

David, backed by Hook and Robin, approaches Arthur about his betrayal which leads to a chase through the woods where Hook's life is saved by Emma, who wields the completed Excalibur. She tells Hook that her plan and what happened in Camelot is all to do with him, which he reports back to the others; they, meanwhile, are merely wondering why Emma has yet to snuff out all light magic, and Regina figures that it's because she's missing some sort of crucial ingredient that they need to stop her from getting. Across town, Zelena's pregnancy is suddenly sped up by dark magic and she goes into labor, which worries Mary Margaret and Belle when they learn through research that Emma's missing ingredient is the cry of a newborn baby. The heroes rally to protect the Wicked Witch but, unfortunately, after the baby is born, Emma teleports her out of the hospital; the baby, however, is left where she is. Regina and the Charmings head to Emma's house to get to the bottom of things, unaware of the fact that she plans on filling Zelena with the darkness and killing her to get rid of it forever, for she actually wants to snuff out all dark magic and not the other way around. Mary Margaret and David forbid Regina from hurting their daughter, but she points out that the reason Emma gave her the dagger back in Camelot is because she knew she would do what needed to be done and destroy her if she got out of control. Emma confronts them though and freezes them all while a captive Hook escapes with Zelena, learning via his dreamcatcher full of memories that he too is a Dark One.

Zelena places her cuff on Emma's wrist before she and Hook escape, and Mary Margaret and the others head inside, learning that the only reason Emma was acting the way she was is because she thought isolating herself was the best course of action if she was going to do what needed to be done in order to destroy the darkness. With Hook now out and dark, they need a way to stop him, and Mary Margaret suggests that Regina unlock Emma's dreamcatchers and return their memories. However, they've all been stolen by "Captain Dark One", and so the heroes retire to Regina's house to figure things out. Gold, who's been challenged to a duel by Hook, suggests going through the Dark One chronicles; Emma, meanwhile, wants the cuff taken off her wrist so that she can help, but her family refuses to allow it, even Henry. Instead, the Charmings follow Gold's advice and do research in the library, hoping to find out what Hook's plan is. Soon enough, Emma implores Henry to help her find the missing dreamcatchers and, when the two of them discover them up in the clock tower, he's finally able to trust her enough to remove the cuff and allow her to retrieve them. Back in Regina's office, the heroes' memories of the missing six weeks spent in Camelot are returned, and Emma realizes what Hook plans on doing: he opens a portal to Hell and brings every single past Dark One to Storybrooke.

Emma decides that she has to put a stop to Hook... permanently. However, as she and the others split up to search for the now villainous pirate, each of them is marked by one of the resurrected Dark Ones, and Gold, marked himself, explains that they are to be dragged to the Underworld so that the Dark Ones may return properly to the land of the living. Instead of trying to avoid her and her family's fate, Mary Margaret decides that she doesn't want to spend her final moments with her nose in a book doing research. She goes to have dinner at Granny's Diner with her family one last time, sans Emma who managed to escape getting marked, and later discovers a letter left behind by her daughter which claims that she plans on absorbing all of the darkness and then killing herself with Excalibur in order to get rid of it for good. Just as Snow and the others are about to go and stop her, Nimue the first Dark One teleports them all to the town pond, where the Charon waits to carry them over to the Hell. Emma shares a tearful goodbye with her family, having been unable to go through with her plan, but Hook's last minute change of heart means that he instead absorbs all the darkness and Emma is forced to stab him using Excalibur so that it's forever gone, killing him and sending his soul to the Underworld in the process. However, as it turns out, Gold made it so that the darkness in fact went back into him, and now he's as powerful as every Dark One combined. Wanting Killian's sacrifice to be worth something, Emma and the others opt to go to the Underworld to save him, with the no-longer-dark Swan using her parents' central mantra - that she will always find him.

Mary Margaret arrives in the Underworld along with the others, shocked to discover that it looks just like a demented version of Storybrooke. They decide to split up in order to search for Hook, and Snow hits up Granny's Diner where she's recognized by the Blind Witch, who hasn't seen the pirate anywhere. It's then that her husband barges in and kisses her passionately, telling her that he now understands what his brother sees in her. This causes Mary Margaret to realize that it's not her husband at all, but rather his twin brother James, and he warns her that he's the sheriff around these parts and that David better watch his back. When David himself does actually enter, he's disturbed by the presence of his brother, and when Emma and Gold follow, the latter concludes that wandering about like they are is going to get them nowhere. He thusly heads to his shop to retrieve the Ale of Sinead which, when poured over Hook's grave, will cause a vision of him to appear and then he can tell them where to find him. When they do this though, Hook appears as a bloody and beaten version of himself, unable to hear them and quickly disappearing, leading them to the conclusion that he's in Hell. Emma tells the others to catch the boat out of the Underworld to safety while she stays behind to continue the search, but her parents refuse, and later come up with the idea that they should be saving all the dearly departed souls after they learn that Prince Henry was able to ascend Mount Olympus upon the completion of his unfinished business. The younger Henry dubs this Operation Firebird, signifying that there's a lot more to be done down in the depths of the Underworld.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the character.