History Recap / OnceUponATimeS7E22LeavingStorybrooke

*** Kitsis and Horowitz said they would have actually shown Lily finding her father, but they couldn't obtain the rights to the Zorro character.

* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Regina gets to hear this speech one last time, from the dream version of her Robin Hood, as he reassures her that despite what Wish Realm Henry thinks, she is good, she proves that darkness can come back to the light, and that despite having the help of people like himself and Emma, she still did the hard work on her own. In a sense, Rumple also gives this speech to his wish counterpart, except he's doing it to galvanize ''himself'' for the sacrifice he's about to make.

** Finally, after not a peep since the end of Season 4, we not only get to see Maleficent again (in dragon form) and hear of her and Lily's life together, but we find out who her unknown father was: ''Zorro'', of all people, who is apparently a dragon too. (The implication is that he was in one of the other realms, perhaps the Land of Untold Stories.)

* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Regina gets to hear this speech one last time, from the dream version of her Robin Hood, as he reassures her that despite what Wish Realm Henry thinks, she is good, she proves that darkness can come back to the light, and that despite the help of people like himself and Emma, she still did the hard work on her own. In a sense, Rumple also gives this speech to his wish counterpart, except he's doing it to galvanize ''himself'' for the sacrifice he's about to make.

** Just when it seems the Black Knights are going to kill Henry in the dungeon, another set of knights appears behind them and one of them shoots an arrow, saving his life (and freeing Regina from her cell in the bargain). When the helmets are removed, they turn out to be Snow White and Charming. A nearly-identical scenario occurred at the end of Season 1, with Graham/the Huntsman -- and to complete the parallel, it was Charming he saved.

** The series begins with Snow White declaring that Regina is no longer the Queen and Regina casting the Dark Curse. It ends with her being declared the ''Good'' Queen and casting the ''Light'' Curse.

Wish Rumple’s evil plan is revealed and Regina realizes the only hope to stop him is by turning Wish Henry from his path for vengeance. Meanwhile, Tilly and Margot try to get help in Storybrooke. With his hope of ever being reunited with Belle fading, Weaver struggles to find a way to defeat his evil alter ego; and when Rogers’s life is threatened, he is faced with the ultimate sacrifice.

** In a ContinuityNod to the ending of Season Six, Good Queen Regina tells Emma that this is not the ending of their stories ("because I hate endings") since she knows there will be many more adventures for them all. And Emma responds with, "So it's a happy beginning then?" (Regina qualifies this to "I like to think of it as a second chance.")

* CentralTheme: What Kitsis and Horowitz always said was the reason they created ''Once Upon a Time'' in the first place is restated by Regina at the ending, both in her final lesson learned from Rumple and in her RousingSpeech to all her subjects--that no matter what happens, no matter the hardships and adventures and loss, darkness can become light and everyone can find happiness...if they just believe in and never let go of what fairy tales stand for: hope. And to further emphasize this, [[MeaningfulName that's the name Emma and Hook gave their baby]].

** Just when it seems the Black Knights are going to kill Henry in the dungeon, another set of knights appears behind them and one of them shoots an arrow, saving his life (and freeing Regina from her cell in the bargain). When the helmets are removed, they turn out to be Snow White and Charming. A nearly-identical scenario occurred at the end of Season One, with Graham/the Huntsman -- and to complete the parallel, it was Charming he saved.

** When Rumple joins Belle on the other side, it's by the town wishing well where they wed at the end of Season Three; she's wearing the yellow dress from the Disney animated film, while he's wearing a mix of his leather Dark One outfit and his more open outfit, but looking as he did when he died.

** One of the tracking shots of the joined realms follows Tinker Bell as she swoops up toward the heights of a castle, [[ShoutOut just as in the Disney logo]]; this had also happened in the title card for Season Three's "Quite a Common Fairy", except with the show's title.

** The {{Montage}} of the best moments of the show's entire run ends with the shot of the curse mist flowing over Henry's bed and swallowing the storybook in the mid-season finale of Season Three.
** Mary Margaret's first line in the pilot was "As we build our birdhouses, remember: you’re making a home. Not a cage." With Regina uniting all the realms in Storybrooke, that is what's finally been done with the enchanted town which once imprisoned them.

** After Regina is visited by Robin Hood in her dreams, she awakens holding a fletching from his arrow, just like when the one that Roland gave Zelena at the end of Season Five, and which she lost at the start of Season Six, [[Recap/OnceUponATimeS6E1TheSavior later appeared and drifted onto the bench after she and Snow were talking about Robin]].
** The spell to allow the now-magicless Rumple to take his alter ego's heart would seem to be the same one Regina and Cora used to allow Hook to take a heart with his hook back in Season Two.
** By facing down his wish counterpart, and then destroying him when he gives his heart to save Rogers's life, Rumple finally fulfills his original destiny as revealed in Season Six.

** Once, back in Season Two's flashbacks, Regina had declared that after getting rid of Snow, the people would see her kindness and she would be a beloved queen for them. Now it has finally happened (by their choice rather than hers), thanks to her willingness to sacrifice herself and then bringing all of them together again.

* CuttingTheKnot: So the day is saved, everyone is freed, Rogers's heart is healed, Wish Realm Rumple is defeated, and Rumple gets to pass on and be with Belle. But... Regina, Henry, Ella, Lucy, Zelena, Rogers, Alice, Snow, Charming, and Robin are all trapped in the Wish Realm (having used the only magic beans they had on them to get there), the rest of the Alternate Enchanted Forest's people are still stuck in Hyperion Heights, and there's still the matter of the time differential with Storybrooke and the many split realms. All of this is resolved by the casting of yet another curse... except this time, by reuniting rather than separating and being cast out of love rather than hate and revenge, it's more of a blessing.
* DeusExMachina:

*** The ability for the Dark Curse to be ''reversed'' (as opposed to being undone) has never once been stated as even possible in the show, considering it was created by combining multiple fairy spells together for the express purpose of separating mothers from their children, and so would seem to only have an evil intent. However, there ''were'' plenty of hints and foreshadowing based on both the nature of the curse itself and statements made about it throughout the show. [[note]]The fact it creates "a hole in your heart that can never be filled" implies only another spell could fill it; the fact the curse was created to be customizable, and that as Regina revealed in the mid-season finale of Season Three, the caster could choose to give the victims good and happy lives and memories instead of bad ones suggests that alternate or contrasting ways of casting it could exist; the constant emphasis upon light and dark as equal opposites, and the implication that rather than sacrificing the heart of the thing you love most, the one (or ones) who love you most could willingly give up their hearts (or part of them), as occurred when Charming gave up his heart for Snow to cast the curse in Season Three and Regina then split Snow's so they both could live.[[/note]] And if such a reversal were to exist, it makes perfect sense that it would involve the opposite emotions, intentions, and results as the Dark Curse. So it's a perfect way to resolve both the dilemma the characters were in and some of the long-standing logistical and temporal problems between the realms that the fans have often struggled with.

* DiedHappilyEverAfter: Rumple's sacrifice, which he intended merely to save Rogers's life (allowing him and his daughter to be together) and end the life of Wish Realm Rumple, turns into this when he and Belle are happily reunited in the afterlife.

* OperationBlank: When Regina comes up with her plan to cast a Light Curse to bring everyone and every realm back together again in Storybrooke, Henry calls it "Operation: [[ContinuityNod We are Both]]". Then, when Henry and Zelena are bringing Regina to the coronation, Zelena keeps her sister from prying (or Henry from giving it away too soon) by calling it "Operation: Shut Your Trap."

* StormingTheCastle: In an inversion from the end of Season One, where Snow and her allies invaded George's castle to rescue Charming (and he later had to escape from Regina's), Robin, Wish Realm Hook, and their allies attack the guards at Wish Realm Henry's castle as a distraction so Henry can rescue Regina from the dungeon.

** Finally, after not a peep since the end of Season Four, we not only get to see Maleficent again (in dragon form) and hear of her and Lily's life together, but we find out who her unknown father was: ''Zorro'', of all people, who is apparently a dragon too. (The implication is that he was in one of the other realms, perhaps the Land of Untold Stories.)

* ItHasBeenAnHonor: While trying futilely to break free of the snow globe, Weaver and Rogers have a conversation like this; Weaver first praises Hook's determination and refusal to give up, then admits that the reason he never killed Hook in the past when he could is that, between how NotSoDifferent they were and the many ties holding them together, he was the closest thing he had to a friend. Later, when Rumple sacrifices his heart to save Rogers, the pirate in turn expresses his sincere gratitude for his fallen friend.

** In a CallBack to the ending of Season Six, Good Queen Regina tells Emma that this is not the ending of their stories ("because I hate endings") since she knows there will be many more adventures for them all. And Emma responds with, "So it's a happy beginning then?" (Regina qualifies this to "I like to think of it as a second chance.")
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Played with, since the ceremony is briefly interrupted by Emma and original Hook's late arrival, and because Snow also reveals it was an ''elected'' choice...but Regina does get a gorgeous new crown as she is made ruler of all the united realms.

** It also ends with a ceremony in the castle chapel, just like it began, and Emma's line when she bursts in ("Sorry I'm late!") [[CallBack is the same as Regina's first line]] when she interrupted the Charmings' wedding in the pilot.
* CallBack:

** Just when it seems the Black Knights are going to kill Henry in the dungeon, another set of knights appears behind them and one of them shoots an arrow, saving his life (and freeing Regina from her cell in the bargain). When the helmets are removed, they turn out to be Snow White and Charming. A nearly-identical scenario occurred at the end of Season One, with Graham/the Huntsman--and to complete the parallel, it was Charming he saved.
** Once again a dreamcatcher is used to view a sad and painful memory--only [[Recap/OnceUponATimeS5E5Dreamcatcher instead of Daniel's death or Emma taking Violet's heart]], it's Rumple watching his marriage to Belle and crying in his belief that he will never see her again.

** One of the tracking shots of the joined realms follows Tinker Bell as she swoops up toward the heights of a castle, [[ShoutOut just as in the Disney logo]]; this had also happened in the title card for Season Three's "Quite A Common Fairy", except with the show's title.

* CantLiveWithoutYou: Like Regina and the Evil Queen, Wish Realm Rumple's existence depends on Rumple; thus, it isn't just his powers at stake if Rumple were to give up the dagger, it's his life if Rumple's ends.
* CentralTheme: What Kitsis and Horowitz always said was the reason they created ''Once Upon a Time'' in the first place is restated by Regina at the ending, both in her final lesson learned from Rumple and in her RousingSpeech to all her subjects--that no matter what happens, no matter the hardships and adventures and loss, darkness can become light and everyone can find happiness...if they just believe in and never let go of what fairy tales stand for: hope. And to further emphasize this, [[MeaningfulName that's the name Emma and Hook gave their baby]].
* ChekhovsGun: Remember Maui's fish hook, that Wish Realm Hook never got to use on either Wish Realm Rumple's prison or Alice's tower, and which could break a person free from any prison? Alice is able to wish it into the snow globe so that everyone can escape.
* ChekhovsSkill: Once again, Regina's swordfighting skill comes up when she has to duel Wish Realm Henry for her life and everyone else's.
* ContinuityNod:

** When Emma and Original Hook show up at the coronation, it's with their newborn baby we learned was on the way in "A Pirate's Life."

* CuttingTheKnot: So the day is saved, everyone is freed, Rogers's heart is healed, Wish Realm Rumple is defeated, and Rumple gets to pass on and be with Belle. But...Regina, Henry, Ella, Lucy, Zelena, Rogers, Alice, Snow, Charming, and Robin are all trapped in the Wish Realm (having used the only magic beans they had on them to get there), the rest of the Alternate Enchanted Forest's people are still stuck in Hyperion Heights, and there's still the matter of the time differential with Storybrooke and the many split realms. All of this is resolved by the casting of yet another curse...except this time, by reuniting rather than separating and being cast out of love rather than hate and revenge, it's more of a blessing.

** The only straight example would be the appearance of Maui's fishhook just in time for those in the snow globe to break their way free, for while the hook and its powers were established some time ago, it never got used onscreen (and this was attempted some time before Drizella cast her curse) and it hasn't been seen since. And considering it's them getting free which enables everything above to occur (particularly Rumple's last gambit), this would seem to be the writers' way of getting characters out of a corner they'd been boxed into. Except...while the Author's pen took away Alice's Guardian powers, nothing was said about her regular wish-based magic she'd received as Gothel's daughter. So as soon as Zelena and her magic bean enabled them to get to the Wish Realm and the globe...

* FateWorseThanDeath: What Wish Realm Rumple has planned for all the heroes--by using the Evil Queen's blood and the darkness in Wish Realm Henry's vengeful heart, he will bring to life the storybooks he created, sucking each hero through a portal to [[TailorMadePrison a bleak]] [[DarkWorld and desolate realm]]...[[SmallSecludedWorld where they will be completely alone]], [[GoMadFromTheIsolation separated from everyone and everything they love]], [[AndIMustScream forever]]. Zelena's understatement of "Well, this is bloody disturbing," doesn't even cut it.

* {{Montage}}: A whole slew of them appear at the end--first, as Regina speaks of everyone's pasts and the future that lies ahead, there are montages of friendship and family, [[TrueLovesKiss True Love's Kisses]] and many romantic couples, deaths and losses, and some of the other most memorable moments throughout the show. Then at the very end the viewer is treated to one last montage of the united realms and of Storybrooke itself, including such well-loved places and items as Granny's Diner, the yellow VW, the mechanic's shop, the pawnshop, the ClockTower, David and Kathryn's windmill, and Emma and Hook's house, ending with the "Leaving Storybrooke" sign.
* NoBodyLeftBehind: Wish Realm Rumple dissolves into sand when he dies.

* PropheciesAreAlwaysRight: Aside from the Seer's prophecy about Henry being Rumple's undoing (because both versions of him have led to this whole confrontation), the prophecy which Fiona uncovered involving her son finally comes true as well--for not only is Wish Realm Rumple, as Snow says, the worst and most evil version of him they've ever faced, by having Wish Realm Henry use the Author's pen to strip Rumple of his powers, he is now the one with the power of all the Dark Ones and thus "the greatest evil ever known." So by facing him and dying in battle, Rumple has fulfilled his destiny as a Savior, and it's this as well as his HeroicSacrifice for Wish Realm Hook and Alice that lets him reunite with Belle.
* RunningGag: Once again, the Blue Fairy suffers a terrible fate--it's even being sucked into a portal again. Thankfully she is freed when Wish Realm Henry stops himself from killing Regina and Rumple kills both himself and his other half to save Wish Realm Hook.

* TakingYouWithMe: Part of the reason Rumple sacrifices himself--he knows his Wish Realm counterpart will die with him, saving everyone else's lives.
* TheBusCameBack: Lots of characters from the series' earlier seasons return for this final episode, including the Charmings, Grumpy and some of the dwarves, Granny, Archie, The Blue Fairy, Belle and Emma.

** A number of plot points or situations from the past are left unresolved, but can be presumed to have been taken care of via the Light Curse--aside from the simple fact all the realms coming together means people who were previously separated now no longer are (like Ruby in Oz with Dorothy, away from both her grandmother and Snow), it can be presumed that Whale finally got to reunite with his brother (and hopefully put him to rest), that Will Scarlet and Anastasia are together again, Chad is there with Zelena, and so forth.
** It's not made clear if the new curse fixed the timeline and continuity problems or not--i.e. did it bring the people from Hyperion Heights to the Storybrooke they were analogous to, or the present-day one?--and if so, what this means about the various duplicates: are there three Henrys (past, present, and Wish), are there four Reginas (past, present, Wish, and Evil Queen)? Presumably most of these wrinkles were ironed out, with past and present united and evil characters like the Wish Realm Evil Queen left out, but the final scenes don't quite make it all clear.
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Regina gets to hear this speech one last time, from the dream version of her Robin Hood, as he reassures her that despite what Wish Realm Henry thinks, she is good, she proves that darkness can come back to the light, and that despite the help of people like himself and Emma, she still did the hard work on her own. In a sense, Rumple also gives this speech to his wish counterpart, except he's doing it to galvanize ''himself'' for the sacrifice he's about to make.

* TheBusCameBack: Lots of characters from the series' earlier seasons return for this final episode, including the Charmings, Grumpy and some of the dwarves, Granny, Archie, The Blue Fairy, Belle and Emma. This last one is a big surprise, as Jennifer Morrison had previously said she'd only do one episode of the season, however, considering this was the show's finale, she made an exception.

** For the last time, "We will always find each other" returns...only this time it's Snow and Charming telling all of their friends, loved ones, and allies that they believe this is true of ''everyone'', not only themselves, and it is how they will win.

** Again, Rumple sacrifices his life to save everyone, only this time it's by giving up his heart to save Wish Realm Hook, and to destroy Wish Realm Rumple rather than his father.

** After Regina is visited by Robin Hood in her dreams, she awakens holding a fletching from his arrow, just like when the one that Roland gave Zelena at the end of Season Five, and which she lost at the start of Season Six, [[Recap/OnceUponATimeS6E1TheSavior later appeared in Regina's hand while she and Snow were talking about Robin]].

** At the coronation ceremony, Charming is dressed as he was for his wedding, while Regina's dress has a lot in common with her wedding gown for Leopold.

*** Rumple's plan to defeat his alter ego similarly seems to come out of nowhere; but even aside from the fact we've seen examples before of two versions of the same character be inextricably connected (Jekyll and Hyde; Regina and the Evil Queen), we just learned in the previous episode that Rumple giving up his dagger to the Guardian would also cost Wish Realm Rumple his powers. So it stands to reason the wish versions of the characters would actually depend on their real counterparts for their existences. We also knew magic users could take their own hearts (Cora, Rumple), and of course we've seen Rumple sacrifice himself once before as well to save everyone.

** Just when it seems the Black Knights are going to kill Henry in the dungeon, another set of knights appears behind them and attacks them, saving his life (and freeing Regina from her cell in the bargain). When the helmets are removed, they turn out to be Snow White and Charming. A nearly-identical scenario occurred at the end of Season One, with Graham/the Huntsman--and to complete the parallel, it was Charming he saved.

* ParentalMarriageVeto: Just before the assault on Prince Henry's castle which is meant to distract his men so our Henry can rescue Regina from the dungeon, Robin appeals to Wish Realm Hook to make sure this won't happen, and that she has his blessing to marry Alice. Of course he consents, then swears he'll still be there to walk his daughter down the aisle.

* ParentalMarriageVeto: Just before the assault on Henry's castle which is meant to distract his men so they can't interfere in the confrontation with Regina, Robin appeals to Wish Realm Hook to make sure this won't happen, and that she has his blessing to marry Alice. Of course he consents, then swears he'll still be there to walk his daughter down the aisle.

* StormingTheCastle: In an inversion from the end of Season One, where Snow and her allies invaded George's castle to rescue Charming (and he later had to escape from Regina's), Robin, Wish Realm Hook, and their allies invade Wish Realm Henry's castle as a distraction and delaying tactic so Regina and Wish Realm Henry can face each other undisturbed.

* BackForTheFinale: Emma, real world Hook, Belle, Snow White and Prince Charming, the Blue Fairy, and Zelena return one last time. Robin Hood appears in a touching DreamSequence with Regina. Granny, Archie, and the Dwarves get TheCameo at the start of the episode, while many others from throughout the show appear in the audience at the end.

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: Rumple is finally and completely and most definitely on the side of "good". [[spoiler:This results in him ''dying'' and being reunited with his wife, at last.]]