David Nolan


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 * This article focuses on David Nolan's Storybrooke persona. For his Enchanted Forest counterpart, see Prince Charming.
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"You are both. The town is both. We are both."

- David to the townspeople

David Nolan, previously known as John Doe, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the first episode of the first season. He is portrayed by starring cast member Josh Dallas, and is the Storybrooke counterpart of Prince Charming.

History
For events occurring before the casting of the Dark Curse, see Prince Charming.

During the Curse
After the casting of the curse, David ends up in a comatose state in Storybrooke's hospital. Mayor Regina Mills never anticipated he might awaken, but the story of his life is that he is married to a woman named Kathryn Nolan. They had numerous issues in their marriage, and after one fight, David leaves. Regina finds him on the side of the road, and brings him to the hospital where no one is able to identity him, or find any of his relatives. Regina becomes his emergency contact, and he stays in the coma and is known as John Doe. The day the curse takes effect, Regina goes to see school teacher Mary Margaret. She brings Mary Margaret to the hospital, and shows her to John Doe's room. Mary Margaret is asked by Regina if she recognizes him, to which she says she does not. Regina explains his current state to her. With an hopeful enthusiasm, Mary Margaret ponders if someone who loves him could find him someday. Regina smiles at the irony of her words, and while she agrees it would be good for him, it's unlikely it could happen. A few days after Emma Swan arrived in Storybrooke, Henry Mills convinces her to ask Mary Margaret Blanchard to read Henry's storybook, full of stories from the Enchanted Forest, to the hospital's John Doe. As Henry think he is Prince Charming, Mary Margaret agrees, expecting nothing to happen and hoping that Henry will realize that fairytales are only stories. She visits David's hospital room that night and she begins to read. Halfway through the story, David, while still unconscious, grabs Mary Margaret's hand.

Mary Margaret runs for Dr. Whale, but he claims nothing happened and she must have been imagining it. The next night, David awakens from his coma and leaves the hospital. Mary Margaret, Emma Swan and Sheriff Graham form a search party to look for him, only to find him at the edge of the Toll Bridge where he is unconscious and bleeding.

Mary Margaret panicks and performs CPR on him while Graham calls an ambulance. Henry, who had tagged along with the search party, becomes upset at the prospect that he could die and Emma shields him from watching. However, Mary Margaret's CPR efforts are effective and he spits out water. When she asks him what his name is, he replies that he does not know.

Back at the hospital, Regina comes with a blonde woman who is revealed to be Kathryn Nolan, David's estranged wife. Emma becomes suspicious because Kathryn had never thought that her husband had stayed in Storybrooke - she had assumed that he'd gone to Boston. He reunites with his wife, but he later admits to Mary Margaret that nothing seems right to him except her. The next few days, he is playing hangman with Mary Margaret and has many conversations with her; however, Kathryn frequently interrupts them with her desperate attempts to help David regain his memory of his life before the coma. David and Mary Margaret grow closer. After he is discharged from the hospital, David is met with a welcome home party filled with people he does not recognize. However, he quickly becomes uncomfortable and goes to Mary Margaret's house instead. He tries to tell her that he was choosing her over Kathryn, and chases after her for the next few days.

Finally, he corners her at the schoolhouse and invites her to the Toll Bridge, because he was leaving Kathryn for her. Mary Margaret agrees to meet him. On his way there, he encounters Regina, who purposefully gives him the wrong directions. David winds up at Mr. Gold's shop, and Mr. Gold gives him the correct directions. As he turns to go, he sees an old windmill that had belonged to the Nolans prior to his disappearance, and he suddenly remembers everything from his life prior to the coma.

He rushes off to the Toll Bridge and tells Mary Margaret that he remembers everything and that he is going to honor his marriage. Mary Margaret becomes upset and tells him off for leading her on. Then she walks away in tears, leaving a dejected David behind. That night, he goes back to Kathryn and says that he is willing to work on their marriage. Kathryn becomes ecstatic and hugs him. After Sheriff Graham's death, he is seen stapling promotional posters of Sidney Glass around town. He runs across Mary Margaret, who is promoting Emma Swan for Sheriff, and has a quick chat with her. However, once she notices that he was advertising Sidney, she walks away with an excuse to get more posters. A few days later, he walks into Granny's Diner and proceeds to have a quick chat with Mary Margaret. After the conversation is over, he grabs the coffees and walks away back to Kathryn.

When Mary Margaret discovers a dove trapped in a cage, she brings it to the animal shelter. The veterinarian says that the bird will be all right, but it must join its flock or risk becoming a lone dove. Mary Margaret is about to leave to release the bird, but David stops her and warns her about the coming storm. Mary Margaret goes anyway.

As she is going to free the bird, she slips on the ground and barely manages to keep herself from falling down to a ravine. At the last possible moment, David grabs her and hauls her up. The storm then begins, and they rush to an abandoned cabin in the woods.

There, the two confess their harbored feelings for each other. When they are about to kiss, Mary Margaret pulls away and tells David that Kathryn believed she was pregnant. However, David has no idea what she's talking about. The two reluctantly agree not to see each other again. They part ways after Mary Margaret releases the dove.

David goes home and tells Kathryn that he was willing to work on their marriage. But the next day, he arrives at 7:45 A.M. to get her coffee, and sees Mary Margaret. He immediately walks away and Mary Margaret chases after him. The two confess that they could not get away from each other, and kiss. Regina is shown watching in her car from across the street. A few days later, he prepares a picnic for the two of them by the Toll Bridge. He texts her, and Mary Margaret rushes off. They proceed to have a romantic picnic in the woods. On Valentine's Day, he is at Mr. Clark's store buying Mary Margaret and Kathryn two different Valentine's Day cards. Mr. Gold spots this and starts a conversation about love. David feigns ignorance and claims that the two cards were for the same woman. Mr. Gold pays for his items and leaves.

David walks to the bar where Mary Margaret was having her girl's night out with Ruby and Ashley Boyd. He catches her just as she is leaving, and accidentally gives her Kathryn's Valentine's Day card. Mary Margaret tells him he should go home and leaves. A few nights later, he is having dinner with Kathryn, when she announces that she applied to, and was accepted at a law school in Boston. David tells her how wonderful the news was, and goes to Mary Margaret for advice. She says that they should tell Kathryn the truth, and David agrees. He goes to tell Kathryn, but instead says that he could not be with her anymore. He does not mention Mary Margaret.

Kathryn goes to Regina, and discovers that he was cheating on her with Mary Margaret from the mayor. She goes to the elementary school and confronts her in public. Mary Margaret leaves the school and is shunned by a large part of the town. She finds David frantically washing the word tramp off of her car and tells him that their relationship was destructive, not helpful. She breaks up with him and walks away, leaving him devastated. During the Miner's Day festival, he is watching Mary Margaret converse with the other townspeople. Emma walks up to him and asks him to accompany her to the station. When they reach the station, he is questioned about his wife's disappearance, but he insists that he does not know anything. Emma reluctantly lets him go, but gives him the warning about getting a lawyer.

He then proceeds to experience a blackout - or, doing things he is not aware of. David goes to the woods, searching for something, and Mary Margaret finds him. She tells Emma and Ruby, who search the woods and discover him unconscious, with a cut on his forehead. He does not remember the events that happened between when Emma lets him go at the station, and when the two women find him in the woods.

The pair takes him to Dr. Whale, who pronounces that he had experienced something similar to what happened when he had woken up from his coma. David realizes that he could've killed Kathryn and would not have remembered it. Regina barges in and demands that he be arrested, but Emma stands up to Regina and resumes searching for Kathryn. She instructs Ruby to search the area by the Toll Bridge, where she proceeds to find a box with a human heart inside.

David is confessing his fears that he had killed his wife to Mary Margaret at the animal shelter when Emma walks in. She reveals that they found the box with the human heart, and David believes that he did it. He orders Emma to arrest him, and Emma says that the fingerprints on the box were not David's - they were Mary Margaret's. Later, after Mary Margaret is arrested, David goes to Regina Mills to plead for mercy for Mary Margaret. He insists that Mary Margaret was not capable of such evil and that the DNA evidence must have been a mistake. Regina refuses, however, and David goes to Archie Hopper for advice on his blackouts.

Archie tries hypnosis to find out what David has been doing in his blackouts, where David begins to see flashes of his life as Prince Charming. He sees Snow White on her mission to kill the Evil Queen, and tells her not to kill her. Suddenly, David wakes up and tells Archie everything he saw - except he mistook Snow White for Mary Margaret.

He goes to Mary Margaret's cell and asks her if she really did kill Kathryn. Mary Margaret is shocked at his lack of faith and orders him to leave. Once she is acquitted when Kathryn appears at Granny's Diner very much alive, David attempts to apologize to her. However, Mary Margaret is still too hurt. Finally, David decides that it is time to leave Storybrooke and comes to Mary Margaret about his decision. He says he will stay if she will give him a reason to. She says she cannot, and they part ways. Just as David is leaving town, he suddenly remembers his real identity as Prince Charming. He remembers all of his life with Snow White, and returns to Storybrooke to find her.

They are reunited in the street, where they realize that the curse must have been broken. Snow White exclaims that he found her. Prince Charming asks if she ever doubted he would. He was last seen embracing Snow White being engulfed in a purple cloud of magic.

After the Curse
Upon remembering his true identity as Prince Charming, David is happily reunited with several of his friends from the Enchanted Forest, including Red Riding Hood, Granny, and the Seven Dwarves. He is most excited to remember Snow White and his daughter Emma Swan as well as meeting his grandson, Henry Mills. While David and Mary Margaret Blanchard are overjoyed to see Emma and realize she saved them all by breaking the curse, they are a little stunned when Emma states she needs time and space to adjust to the new situation. Although Emma is relieved at the reunion with her parents, she never thought in a million years that she was truly the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. While Mary wishes to sit and talk about things, Emma prefers to set it aside for now in favor of the current crisis facing Storybrooke.

David is among the townspeople who go to protect Regina Mills when Dr. Whale leads a mob to her house in Storybrooke seeking vengeance for what she did to them. David watches Mary Margaret then makes a speech to the mob after they calm down, stating that they must not stoop to Regina's level, and that killing her would not solve anything. She suggests to imprison Regina in the Storybrooke jail for the time being, which they do.

David, Emma, and Mary Margaret then visit Mr. Gold in his pawn shop. They accost and accuse him of double crossing Emma. Mr. Gold responds that a thank you might be more appropriate as Regina was defeated, the curse was broken, and Emma was reunited with her parents. As they are talking, the wind howls outside and the power flickers. David leaves with Mary Margaret and Emma to go to the Storybrooke jail as Mr. Gold said he released something to take care of Regina once and for all.

At the Storybrooke jail, David and his family arrive to find a Wraith, a creature Mr. Gold had released by the power of the gold medallion, sucking out Regina's soul. Rather than letting her die, Mary Margaret gets a flammable substance and a lighter to drive the Wraith off with fire. David is all for letting Regina die at the hands of the Wraith, but Emma insists she will save Regina, due to the promise she made with Henry.

They take Regina to her office and Regina retrieves Jefferson's hat. The plan is to capture the Wraith within the hat's vortex and place it in a place of oblivion where it cannot hunt and harm again. However, when the Wraith arrives, Regina is unable to activate the hat. Mary Margaret fights off the Wraith with a lit broom until Emma's touch seemingly releases Regina's magic and the vortex opens. The Wraith is pulled in, but a blue whip of light snakes out of the vortex and seizes Emma by the ankle, pulling her in. Stating that she will not lose her daughter again, Mary Margaret jumps into the vortex after Emma. David makes a desperate attempt to follow, but fails just as the vortex closes. Regina then tries to kill David but Henry and Ruby come in, resulting in David being seen. Henry tells Regina that she is an evil queen and that he is going to live with David. Back home, David reassures Henry that Emma and Mary Margaret are still alive and that he will always find them. The next day, David goes to Regina's house to confront her about the vortex. Despite her threatening him, he only replies that he knew she has trouble with her magic. He then comments on Regina's parenting skill. However, she says that he is no better himself. When she says that when she gets magic she will have Henry back, he tells her that when she forces someone to stay, she does not really have them. When David returns home, he is surrounded by the confused townspeople and discovers terrible news from Leroy: Anyone crossing the town line will lose all of their Enchanted Forest memory. He tells them that he has a plan to fix everything and is going to meet them at the town hall in two hours. When Ruby asks what the plan is, he only replies that they have two hours to come up with one. After Henry suggests finding the Mad Hatter in order to find Emma and Mary Margaret, David runs to Mr. Gold's shop and the two make a deal: a person-finding potion in exchange for both of them staying out of each other's way. When David finally finds Jefferson, he refuses to help and runs away. David unsuccessfully tries to chase after him. Ruby tells him that the town meeting was a disaster: David did not show up, Regina stormed into the town hall, forced Henry to go with her by magic and the town's people are attempting to leave the town. Luckily, David and Ruby can reach them before they can cross the town line. He tells the Storybrooke residents that sometimes it is easier to forget every bad memory, but they cannot do that because they are both their Storybrooke-selves and Enchanted Forest-selves. Eventually, he manages to convince them to stay. David then walks into Regina's house with a sword and demands Henry. However, to his surprise, she gently sways the sword away and gives up Henry without fighting, after explaining that she wants to redeem herself. He tells her that he will take good care of Henry and demands the truth about the Enchanted Forest's existence. She informs him that the Enchanted Forest still exists, but that she has no idea how to get there. At Granny's Diner, David later says some encouraging words to Henry, who is upset and confused about his mother's whereabouts. While David and Henry are walking down the street, discussing a plan on how to get back Emma and Mary Margaret, Henry brings on a new operation dubbed "Operation Scorpion," but David cuts him off saying it is not safe for Henry to help. He makes him promise not to, and leaves Henry to go to school. David later appears just in time to save Henry when he sneaks into Regina's vault and almost gets bitten by the Agrabahn Vipers in the process. David explains that after Henry stood Regina up, she guessed (correctly) that Henry planned to sneak into her vault of magical objects looking for something to bring Emma and Snow White back and sent him to the rescue, reasoning that Henry would never go with her. David says he understands, but Henry has to go to school and he has to make sure that nobody else discovers the vault. Later that day, he and Henry are seen practicing sword fighting on the sidewalk, unaware that Albert Spencer is looking angrily at them. A few days later, David is seen with the dwarves, trying to mine fairy dust from the town's old mine. He is later approached by Mr. Gold whose desperation over Belle's disappearance drove him to see David. It is revealed that David is now the temporary sheriff of Storybrooke because of his daughter's disappearance. Although David is not willing to help Mr. Gold at first, Mr. Gold manages to persuade him because Belle is the love he once told Prince Charming about back in the Enchanted Forest. After having been turned down by most of the townspeople, David and Mr. Gold run into Ruby. She also refuses to help at first, but finally reveals that she has regained her sense of smell and tracks Belle to her father's flower shop. After threatening Moe French, Mr. Gold deduces that he is sending Belle across the town line and David takes one look at Moe's dirt-covered hands and figures out that he is using the mines to dodge the guards there. They find her handcuffed to a mine cart. Mr. Gold uses magic to stop the cart and bring it back. Fortunately, Belle still has her memory and is grateful to be alive, but she is still angry at both Mr. Gold and Moe. She tells them both to stay out of her life forever. David is approached by Dr. Whale, and throws a punch in his face about sleeping with his wife. Dr. Whale says he was innocent in that because he slept with Mary Margaret when nobody had their Enchanted Forest memories back yet. He asks about the rumors that David is finding a way back to the Enchanted Forest, he admits it to be true.

Later, David gives Henry a day off from school and brings his grandson to the stables with the intention of teaching him how to, as he puts it, be "a proper knight". While showing Henry the horse that he would ride on, David explains to him that he would not be riding immediately; Henry would have to "horse-sit" it until the horse decides Henry is ready to ride. The horse seems to like David a bit more than its new young master.

When David hears about Dr. Whale's accident, he immediately rushes to the hospital and assumes it was Regina's doing. When she explains the situation about Dr. Whale resurrecting her dead fiancé, Daniel, he asks her where he might be. She tells him that Daniel most likely will appear in the same counterpart in Storybrooke of the place where she last saw him in the Enchanted Forest—the horse stables. They rush over to the stables as Henry is currently there taking care of the horse David put him in charge of, and he is in danger. Daniel walks in on Henry, and begins choking him to death. David manages to get Daniel to let go, and locks him in one of the horse's stables. Daniel is uncontrollable and dangerous, and David wants to kill him, but Regina convinces him to let her talk to him. Later, Daniel begs Regina to use magic to let him go and move on because he too is in pain and cannot live this way, which she finally does and breaks down in tears. David appears in Henry's bedroom late at night as Henry wakes up screaming from a nightmare. He listens as Henry tells him about the nightmare, and then comforts him by lighting a candle. David is brought to the mines with the dwarves and Mother Superior to be shown the diamonds that can be used to make fairy dust that Leroy found in order to bring back Mary Margaret and Emma. He is later seen in Granny's Diner celebrating with everybody. He sees Henry sitting by himself and walks over to him, only to discover him drinking coffee. Realizing this is because of the nightmares he has been having, he reassures him everything is fine and suggests he drink cocoa instead. While he is sitting down, Albert Spencer confronts him. He believes that David is not the right person to lead the town, as he is not a prince, but a shepherd. Spencer vows that he will make the town people see who he is really is. David leaves him, telling him the town knows who their leader is.

The next morning, David and Granny are looking for Ruby after she broke out of her cage during the first wolfs time in Storybrooke since the curse broke. They find her sleeping in the woods, where they all discover that she has no recollection of the night before. When they get back to town, Granny finds Billy's mangled corpse next to his car. Ruby begins to scream in horror coming to the conclusion she was the one who killed Billy. David calms her down, and tells her that he knows who she truly is and does not believe that she is capable of killing someone. When Ruby asks why he trusts her, he answers that he did not trust Mary Margaret when she was innocent.

Albert Spencer wants to arrest Ruby for the murder of Billy. Despite that David does not agree with him, Spencer forms an angry mob of townspeople, and it's decided Ruby would be safer locked up. The mob hunt for Ruby, but by the time they get to the Sheriff's Station, she is already gone. David, Granny and Belle want to hide her in the library, but Ruby says she should pay for her crimes. Ruby shape shifts into a wolf when the moon rises.

David and Granny find a car with a bloody hatchet and Ruby's stolen red cloak. The car belongs to Albert Spencer, and David realizes this was Spencer's plot to get back at him. They stop Ruby just as she is about to attack Spencer while at the same time Spencer is preparing to shoot her down. David helps her regain control of her wolf self, and lays the cloak over her so she can change back into a human. They find Spencer gone, and by the time they find him, he has burned Jefferson's hat over a fire. Enraged, David violently punches Spencer down and draws his sidearm preparing to kill him, but after some convincing from Ruby he stands down. Later, at home, David contemplated that it would be near impossible to bring Emma and Mary Margaret back without the hat, but Ruby assured him he would find a way because she knows what kind of man he is. David is startled as Henry wakes up from his dream. Henry tells him that he had another nightmare and that Aurora told them that Emma and Mary Margaret are alive. He then turns to Regina Mills and tells her they need help to stop Cora. Later, Mr. Gold, Regina, and David sit around Henry as they prepare him to return to this fiery netherworld. Some time passes and Henry wakes up, he has a burn on his hand and tells them that Aurora was sucked away. The group knows that they cannot risk Henry, but must stop Cora. David asks to be put under a sleeping curse in hopes of finding Mary Margaret. Regina and Mr. Gold say it is too dangerous, but David says that she will kiss him and he will wake up. After Regina is finished making the curse, Mr. Gold puts a needle into the liquid for David to prick his finger on. David then seems nervous about how he will find Mary Margaret, but Mr. Gold says he must go if he wants to save his family.

While under the curse, David is trapped in a mirror room. He notices the heat coming from the floor and uses his torch to break through into the fiery room. David lands where he notices the fiery flames, calls for Snow White, and soon the couple reunite. Mary Margaret is worried that David is under the sleeping curse. They lean in for true love's kiss, but pass through each other. David realizes that the kiss did not work because they are in a dream, and it is not real. He tells Mary Margaret about the squid ink in Rumplestiltskin's cell. Mary Margaret begins crying as she fades out of the dream, but David assures her that they will be reunited. She wakes up, and David is left in his fiery nightmare. David is seen asleep in Mr.Golds shop while Mr.Gold and Regina are talking. Henry also begins to reading to David from his book. When Mary Margaret comes back, she gives him True Loves Kiss which wakes him up. He sees Emma and notes that they have a lot of catching up to do. While David and Mary Margaret are having some "intimate" moments, Henry and Emma walk in. The couple convince Henry they are just lying down and leave Emma very uncomfortable. David makes a joke that it is impressive how they can still provide her with traumatic childhood memories this late in her life.

A welcome home dinner is thrown for Mary Margaret and her daughter at Granny's. Emma has invited Regina, which displeases some of the other guests, including David.

Due to Ruby seeing Regina confront Archie about sharing information from their sessions with Emma, Regina is accused of murdering the town psychologist. Regina is arrested and brought to the police station. David and Mary Margaret want to kill Regina, but Emma decides to let her go as there is no evidence and she believes Regina actually is changing for the better.

Emma, David and Mary Margaret go to see Mr. Gold, who gives Emma the dream catcher which allows her to see into Archie's dog's memories. The dream catcher depicts an image of Regina strangling Archie, but Emma drops the dream catcher in frustration before it can be revealed that the "Regina" is actually Cora in disguise. Now Emma has the proof she needs that Regina is guilty.

Because she has magic now and will be very difficult to contain, David and Mary Margaret suggest they trap Regina once more with fairy dust. The group goes to Regina's home where Emma tells her that they know she is guilty, that she will never change, and that she will never see Henry again. Mother Superior attempts to freeze Regina with the fairy dust, but Regina catches it in midair and tosses it aside harmlessly. A truly broken Regina then disappears in a cloud of purple smoke.

When Emma struggles with telling Henry about what happened to Archie, she receives reassurance from David. He tells her that much like she was a parent to Henry for 5 minutes he was hers for 5 minutes too but that things have changed now. They would all figure out the entire situation together because they are family. Unbeknownst to him and the rest of town, Archie is still alive, just being held captive by Cora and Hook. At Archie's funeral, David attempts to cheer up a very despondent Henry, who has begun to call Archie's office just to hear him on the voicemail. Minutes later, Emma enters with Pongo. After a chat with Marco, she decided Henry should keep him. Everyone agrees Pongo would be great for Henry, though things may get a bit cramped. Mary Margaret suggest that perhaps she and David should move out, to David and Emma's shock.

When he and Mary Margaret are looking at houses, he turns down every house; saying the yards are too small. Mary Margaret realizes that this is not about the houses--he wants to go back to the Enchanted Forest. Although he eventually agrees with her about why they should not go back, it is clear he is still thinking about his home world. After a car crashes through the town border, Emma shows up in her sheriff car along with Mary Margaret and David inside. They rush to the scene, and find an amnesiac Belle who accidentally crossed the town line, Hook got run over by the car, and a stranger is passed out inside his car. Mary Margaret tries to calm Belle down while David and Emma restrain Mr. Gold from beating Hook to death. Eventually the paramedics arrive, and the stranger is taken the hospital to tend to his injuries. Hook and Belle are also taken in to be treated. Mr. Gold shows up asking for Belle, but David refuses to let him go further because he was close to killing Hook. Leroy helps to hold Mr. Gold back until Dr. Whale comes to stop the commotion. Leroy, along with David, Mary Margaret, Emma and Ruby, attempt to break into the stranger's phone to learn more about him. Mary Margaret comments there must be a thousand different code combinations to try on the phone. David asks Leroy for help, but he replies humorously that pickaxing and phone hacking are two different things. Emma comes back from checking out paperwork the stranger had in his car, which shows his name is Greg Mendell. She hacks into the phone and from what they see on it, the man appears to be a normal person from the outside world. Dr. Whale comes back with bad news--the man is bleeding into his chest cavity. Emma tells him to fix the injury, but Dr. Whale is unsure if he can. When he consults with Mr. Gold in the hopes he can use his magic to fix the stranger's wounds, Mr. Gold refuses. He says the driver saw him use magic, so they better hope he dies of his wounds instead of trying to save him. David, Mary Margaret, Emma, Ruby and Leroy go into a separate room to debate about the pros and cons of helping someone from outside of town. Leroy does not think it is a good idea with the possibility the stranger could draw unwanted attention of the town's secrets to the world; particularly since outsiders seem to be so inquisitive about magical beings and the way they study them to death. Ultimately, the decision is made to save the stranger's life no matter what. Dr. Whale leaves the room to prep for the surgery, and Mary Margaret remarks how drunk he appears to be. They realize someone must be looking for him. The phone rings a second time with contact labeled as "Her". Again, the call goes unanswered because the group fears it might be traced to Storybrooke. The phone stops ringing, and they wait for the surgery to be over with. A male nurse comes into the lobby looking for Dr. Whale, who he cannot seem to find even after he pages him. Dr. Whale's pager goes off from his lab coat pocket, which is found disposed in a nearby laundry basket. Ruby gets the scent of booze on it, and takes off to find Dr. Whale. Mary Margaret ponders if Dr. Whale does not come back, perhaps they can get Doc to perform the surgery, which Leroy heartily disagrees with. Ruby returns with a sober Dr. Whale who is ready to perform the necessary operations on Greg. He comes out after the surgery is done to announce to the group the man will live. Dr. Whale also shares the news Greg is ready to talk. At first, Mary Margaret and David want to go in with Emma, but she insists it would look strange if as sheriff she brought her parents in with her as well. Mary Margaret understands, and says they will be waiting for her outside. Emma comes out of Greg's hospital room bearing the reliving news to them that he did not see any magic. On that note, Mary Margaret, David and Emma return to the apartment for the night. Henry comes down the stairs to ask about what had happened. While they each have a late night snack of a bowl of cereal, Henry chats animatedly about the subject after they are finished telling him. He is surprised Dr. Whale is Victor Frankenstein because the Frankenstein story is neither a fairy tale, and the story does not exist in his fairy tale book. Suddenly, there is a knock at the door. The door is opened to reveal Mr. Gold, who comes to ask Emma to fulfill the favor she owes him. Mr. Gold wants Emma to leave with him by noon to New York City to find his son, Baelfire. Just before he leaves, Mr. Gold also warns if any harm comes to Belle while he is gone, he will kill them all. In the morning, Emma packs her bags along with Henry, who is going with her because she feels it is unsafe for him in Storybrooke with Cora on the loose. After they leave with Mr. Gold, Mary Margaret and David begin their search for Cora when Regina shows up on at their door. Again, she denies killing Archie, to which they apologize for suspecting her since Archie turned up alive. They also tell her Emma left town with Henry. Regina is upset Henry was taken out of town without anyone asking her, but is told Emma does not need her permission, which she half heartedly agrees with.

Hook is released and taken from the hospital by Mary Margaret, David and Leroy. They question his motives in Cora's plans in Storybrooke, but he does not know anything about them. Instead, he leads them to the invisible passage onto his pirate ship and shows them a caged shrunken giant Cora kidnapped from the Enchanted Forest. The three become extremely suspicious of Hook, but once again he denies knowing anything of Cora's next move. Hook gives them information about the giant while Mary Margaret opens the cage door to make sure he is alright. The giant, stating his name is Anton, asks if the witch--presumably Cora--is gone. He is furious upon seeing he is human sized, and lashes out further when he sees David, who he seems to recognize as someone. Mary Margaret stops his rampage on both David and Leroy after shooting an arrow at him. Anton leaves the ship, but promises David will pay for what he has done.

Mary Margaret and David take time at Granny's Diner to talk about what just occurred. She asks him if he knows the giant, but David is unsure. Soon, he realizes the giant mistook him for someone else. They are interrupted by a now bigger sized Anton, who, unbeknownst to them, was given a magic mushroom by Regina to eat so he could return to regular size. He takes out his anger on the humans of the town, and throws a car that misses Mary Margaret and David. David orders the town residents to take cover at the town hall, and find Leroy for him. Then, he tries to speak to Anton by telling him the one who harmed him in the Enchanted Forest was not him, but his twin brother, James. Leroy pitches in to convince Anton to stop by mentioning how Emma was given the enchanted compass by him. This catches Anton's attention, and he asks to speak to Emma. Mary Margaret, aghast, unfortunately has to say that Emma is out of town right now. With nothing else holding Anton back, he proceeds to chase the threesome down.

As Anton is going after them throughout town, Leroy asks about David's twin. There is much confusion over whether his name is also James, or is it Charming. Mary Margaret mentions Charming is a nickname she gave him. David tells Leroy his real name was also David in the Enchanted Forest. Soon, they realize that if they run any further they will reach the town line. David proposes a deal with the giant--he will allow Anton to kill him to spare the lives of the other residents of town. Anton agrees and as he tries to stomp David, the three of them are blown back by the debris as Anton's pounds hits the ground. The effects of the mushroom begin to wear off, and there remains a large hole where Anton's foot smashed the ground. When they approach the hole, they see a human-sized Anton holding on to an underground pipe to keep from falling through to the bottom.

Granny ties a rope to the back of David's car so that David can go underground to rescue Anton. The dwarves stabilize the rope as David scales down the concrete edges of the hole. Anton is reluctant to accept David's help, but with words of encouragement from David of choosing life over death, he grabs his hand and both are pulled to safety.

The Storybrooke citizens regroup at Granny's Diner with Anton. Anton mentions that he will probably live in the woods but Leroy assures him that Storybrooke is home to all kinds of creatures and he will fit in. Mary Margaret says that they have made this land their home, since there is no way to get back to their old land. At this, Anton shows them a stem of a beanstalk that could likely grow magic beans.

They take Anton to a place where he can inspect the soil content of the town. Anton thinks the soil might be viable for growing magic beans, but is hesitant because he knows Cora brought him to Storybrooke for this purpose. Mary Margaret reassures him that they will not let her get to them. The seven dwarves accept Anton as a friend, and he receives his own named pickax "Tiny".

With another problem solved, David brings coffee to Mary Margaret and they begin talking about his twin. David wonders if he would have turned out the same if he had been the one to be raised by King George. Mary Margaret knows him and says he would not have. They discuss going back to the Enchanted Forest now that they have a way to grow the beans. Mary Margaret does not want to leave Emma in one world while she is in another. David assures her that Emma and Henry have each other and will always be safe. Later, Emma calls Mary Margaret, revealing that Mr. Gold's son is also Henry's father. She and David later try to figure out Henry's confusing family tree, and David quips that its a good thing they did not have Thanksgiving in the Enchanted Forest, otherwise it would have been one messed up holiday. David is making breakfast pancakes on the morning of Mary Margaret's birthday when she stops him and asks what he is doing. He tries to brush it off as being hungry, but Mary Margaret rebuffs his excuse and explains that she does not want a celebration on her birthday. Suddenly, she notices a neatly wrapped present on the table. She thinks the present is from him, but he denies it, and says someone else in Storybrooke also must know it is her birthday. Reluctantly, Mary Margaret begins unwrapping the box, and is astonished to find the tiara she once received from her mother, Eva, on her birthday. David wonders where it came from because he thought it was lost because of the curse. There is a card in the box as well, and Mary Margaret opens it to see it's a handwritten note from one of her mother's castle servants, Johanna. David cannot believe Johanna is also in Storybrooke, and they had not seen her in so long. Mary Margaret decides to go looking for Johanna, and heads out after giving David a quick kiss. David enters into the sheriff department, and as he turns his head; noticing Hook come up behind him; he is knocked out with a metal pipe. He collapses and remains unconscious on the ground on his stomach while Hook opens a drawer with a key to find his hook. He slips off his fake hand, and replaces it with the hook.

Mary Margaret rushes back to tell David what she overheard Regina and Cora discussing in the forest, and calls for him as she walks into the hall of the sheriff department. Her cries turn frantic after she sees him passed out on the floor. She nudges him awake, and notices the welt on his forehead. Groggily, David mentions Hook attacking him, and says he likely came to find his hook. Mary Margaret changes the subject by notifying him of more urgent news--Regina lied to them about not knowing Cora is in town, and that she is helping her mother find Mr. Gold's dagger. They discuss the possibility Regina and Cora either want the dagger to control Mr. Gold, or to make Cora the Dark One instead. David moves to phone Mr. Gold, but Mary Margaret already tried and he is not picking up. She has a plan to put some doubt in Regina's mind about Cora's intentions. David calls Mary Margaret on his cell phone, and they talk about the dagger's status with Cora, as well as what Emma has informed them about Mr. Gold's injury. Meanwhile, Cora and Regina are listening in on this conversation through Regina's phone tap.

When Mr. Gold returns to Storybrooke, David helps carry him to his car, meeting Henry's father, Neal, in the process. He asks Mr. Gold about Cora and his dagger. After he says this, Mary Margaret expresses her eagerness to kill Cora. David tries to remind Mary Margaret that she would never go as far as killing someone in the past. Mary Margaret claims that killing Cora is justice for what happened to her mother, but David does not accept this, telling her that she would not be able to live with herself if she went through with the deed, and her heart is the purest of anyone he has ever known. They then bring Mr. Gold back to his shop.

When he is in the shop with Mary Margaret he senses something is wrong. After he asks if something is wrong, she replies that nothing is wrong, except Cora desperately trying to hurt them. This comes to a screeching halt when the shop shakes, signaling the arrival of Regina and Cora. He yells over to Emma and Neal saying that they have arrived. All four stand with distinct weapons ready to battle it out. The barrier Emma created with magical chalk is no match for Cora and Regina, they break it down without a hitch, entering the shop. David is the first to attack Regina, but is chucked out of the shop, where he lies unconscious on the ground. When he wakes up, he calls Emma. Both realize that Mary Margaret is not with either of them, but she also tells them that they are protected from Cora because of the magic shield. He is later seen running with Mary Margaret, who tries to stop Regina from inserting her mother's heart, because she cursed it with the candle. They run in a few seconds to late, Regina is holding her dead mother's body; blaming Mary Margaret for her death. In the apartment, Henry watches on as David brings back to the kitchen sink Mary Margaret's untouched breakfast. Henry does not understand what is wrong with her, but Emma just says Mary Margaret is a bit sick. At those words, David and Emma exchange a look, and Henry notices. Disappointed, he can tell they are lying to him. Emma insists no one is lying, but Henry knows she is lying; just like she lied about his father. Emma realizes Henry does have the right to know, despite David's objections, and explains to him the circumstances in which Mary Margaret was partially responsible for Cora's death. Henry is puzzled, and does not want to believe Mary Margaret could do something like that. The conversation is halted by a knock on the door.

David answers the door, and the visitor is Mr. Gold. He has come to warn them about Regina's plans in getting revenge on Mary Margaret, but David is insistent he also owes them in helping to stop Regina since his life was saved by Mary Margaret. They investigate Regina's vault, and find one of Cora's spells missing called "the curse of the empty-hearted". The curse, when cast on someone, has the ability to make the caster think the person loves him or her. From upstairs, Henry has been eavesdropping, and comes down the stairs asking if Regina is going to use the spell on him. David tries to get him to go back upstairs and let the rest of them handle the situation, but Henry pushes David out of the way and goes to Emma. Meaningfully, he states Emma promised she would be honest with him, so he wants to know why Regina is using this curse. Answering his question, Mr. Gold says matter-of-factually that this is the only way Regina can get everything she wants--and what she wants is Henry. Furthermore, Regina not only wants love from Henry, but also vengeance from Mary Margaret. The twist is, in order to enact the curse, Regina needs the heart of the person she hates the most, which is obviously Mary Margaret. Mr. Gold says warning them fulfills his debt to Mary Margaret, but David disagrees, and Emma reminds him Henry is his grandson. He coldly remarks "wars have costs", and that this is a blood feud that goes back several generations, and the only way to end this is to spill more blood; preferably Regina's. Henry is horrified at the idea, and exclaims ending a feud by killing someone is a dark tactic that turns away from the heroes they used to be. No one knows what to say in response. Upset, Henry dashes out of the apartment while Emma follows behind.

David regroups with Emma and Neal after learning Henry is missing from the diner, and search through the mines to see some of the dynamite missing. They realize Henry took some and wants to blow up something. They arrive at the wishing well to see Regina speaking to Henry. After the trio refuse to budge out of Regina's way in getting to Mary Margaret, David, Emma and Neal ready their stance to defend themselves against Regina, who conjures a fireball. Henry runs in between to force the fighting to cease, and yells that he needs someone to help him get rid of magic. Regina states there is no way to do it, and Emma replies the problem is Regina, not magic. Henry believes the problem is everyone; as magic is corrupting good people such as both Mary Margaret and Regina and makes them do bad things, though Emma insists it makes bad people do bad things, too. He pleas for Regina to help him destroy magic, but she cannot do that, however, she burns the spell page. Henry thanks her, and leaves with David, Emma and Neal. David is making yet another breakfast tray for Mary Margaret, who is still staying in bed since the aftermath of Cora's death. Emma interjects, in exasperation, at David's attempts in continuing to coddle Mary Margaret. His defense is she is having a hard time, and the least they can do is make her feel comfortable, but Emma firmly believes enough days have passed and Mary Margaret needs to move past it. Henry comes down the stairs, and he and Emma head out for the morning. David closes the door behind them, and unexpectedly hears Mary Margaret give a morning greeting. He sees her packing a few things into a bag to spend some time in the woods. He offers to come with her, but she insists she must do this alone.

A little later in the day, he and Henry join Emma, Mary Margaret and Marco on their way from the woods back to the sheriff department to look for August, who made a phone call to Emma from there. They nearly reach the front entrance in time to see August stumble out the door, and collapse onto the ground. David looks on with Mary Margaret and Henry as Emma and Marco attempt to help August. Before he dies, August tries to tell Emma something, but is unable to get the words out. Mary Margaret doesn't want it to end this way for August; still having the firm belief he is supposed to get a second chance.

Then, Henry realizes August can have a second chance because for the first time in a long time, he may have proven his actions to be selfless, brave and true. Mother Superior rushes over to the scene, and agrees if August's actions today have been selfless, brave and true, then she can restore him. She tests it out with her wand, and August reverts from wood back into a 7-year-old Pinocchio.

Afterwards, back in the apartment, Mary Margaret confesses to David she previously went to see Regina, and what conspired between them. David is furious because Regina could have killed her, and Mary Margaret says that's the reason she went in the first place. She could not deal with what she had done to Cora, and now her heart is starting to blacken as a result of it. David asks why she did not tell him, and she sadly states because if she did, what is happening now would be real and she wanted to believe it wasn't. Mary Margaret doesn't think there is a way to stop her heart from blackening, or to seek redemption. David sets August as an example that redemption is possible, though she notes it cost August everything to find his way back. David knows Mary Margaret is neither like August or Regina, and they will definitely find another way to help her because he believes in the goodness in her heart.

Trivia

 * David means "beloved" in Hebrew, and Nolan means "famous" in Irish. It is also of English origin, where it means "little champion" or "chariot-fighter".

Appearances
David Nolan David Nolan David Nolan David Nolan David Nolan