Emma Swan

"I'm not used to someone putting me first."

- Emma to Mary Margaret

Emma Swan is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the first episode of the first season. She is portrayed by starring cast member Jennifer Morrison and does not have a counterpart.

Before the Curse
Emma Swan was born to Snow White and Prince Charming during a time of much turmoil in the Enchanted Forest. Some time prior, the Evil Queen threatened to destroy the happiness of all inhabitants of the fairytale world.

Rumplestiltskin prophesied that if Emma was saved, she would come back for them on her twenty-eighth birthday.

Emma is born on the day that the Evil Queen casts a dreadful dark curse over all the land. The original plan was to send Snow White into a magical wardrobe that would save someone from the curse, but Emma was born early. Prince Charming and Snow White both agreed that Emma would be the one to go into the wardrobe.

Prince Charming just manages to lock Emma in the wardrobe before some of the Evil Queen's guards stab him. He stays conscious long enough to see that, when they wrench the wardrobe's door open, Emma was gone. Then he falls unconscious as the Dark Curse envelops them all. Meanwhile, the newborn Emma arrives in a wood in "the land without magic". Luckily, a seven-year-old boy (later revealed to be Pinocchio, who went into the wardrobe before her), takes her to a nearby diner, claiming to have found her along the highway. They are placed in a foster home together. Later, Pinocchio runs away, leaving her behind.

During the Curse
Emma is stuck in the foster care system, bouncing from family to family. She becomes independent at sixteen.

Two years later, she is living in Portland, Oregon and has become a thief. While stealing a car a man pops up from the backseat. Emma is startled at first but they begin talking and he tells her that his name is Neal Cassidy. The two begin dating. One day while robbing a convenience store a customer catches them stealing. Emma wearing a pregnant belly to steal items, pretends to go into labor. Neal steals a swan keychain for her. The duo drives away and goes to a hotel. Neal tells Emma that he wants to start a life somewhere. He tells her that anywhere she points to on a map is where the will move. She closes her eyes and her finger lands on Tallahassee.

Later, Neal shows her a wanted poster with his face on it. He tells her that he is wanted for stealing watches. To escape, Neal tells Emma that he must cross the border to Canada alone. Emma insists that she goes with him.

At the train station, she steals a blue bag and runs to the car. Neal opens it and it is full of watches. He puts one on her wrist and goes to find someone to buy the watches. Emma sits alone, waiting for Neal. The police come and arrest Emma for possession of stolen goods. They tell her that he had tipped them off.

Emma gets sent to a minimum security prison in Phoenix for eleven months. A security guard opens her cell to give her mail sent from Phuket, Thailand. One of the items is a swan keychain Neal stole for her. Emma sits in her cell looking at a positive pregnancy test. She has a baby boy and gives him up in a closed adoption, wishing him a chance at a better life.

Emma works as a bail bondsperson. She pursues a fugitive named Ryan on her birthday. After she catches him, Ryan insults her, and she decks him. Once she turns him in to the authorities, she heads back to her flat and brings out a cupcake to celebrate her twenty-eighth birthday. She lights the candle, closes her eyes, and silently wishes not to be alone on her birthday.

Just as she wishes that, someone knocks on the door. She opens it to a little kid. He introduces himself as Henry, the child that she gave up for adoption ten years ago. Emma panics and retreats into the bathroom. When she returns, she threatens to call the police, and Henry counters that he will tell them that she kidnapped him. She tells him about her superpower and he pleads with her to come with him to Storybrooke, Maine. Emma gives in and agrees to drive him back to Storybrooke.

While they're driving, she notices him reading a book and questions him about it. He tells her about the Dark Curse and how all the fairytale characters were trapped on earth and how every single story in that book was true. He even mentions that she was in that book, but Emma is still skeptical. Henry dares her to see if he was lying and she makes up a flimsy excuse.

They reach Storybrooke and Emma asks for Henry's address. When he refuses to give it to her, she stops and gets out of the car. While they are talking, Archie Hopper spots Henry and comes up to them. Emma asks him for Henry's address and Archie tells her, asks Henry not to lie, and walks away.

Henry insists that Archie is Jiminy Cricket, and that no one in this town remembers who they really were in the Enchanted Forest, and also adds that they could not leave Storybrooke or bad things would happen. Emma takes him to Mayor Regina Mills' house. Regina comes out and hugs him, but Henry quickly pulls away and runs back inside. Regina thanks Emma for bringing her son home and invites her inside for a glass of apple cider.

She explains that she did not know who Henry's parents were and that the records of the parents were sealed. Emma assures Regina that she has nothing to worry about, and that the father does not even know that Henry exists. The mayor explains that she is strict with Henry but she wants him to excel in life. When Emma comments on Henry's claims about fairy tales, Regina says that she has no idea what she is talking about.

Regina invites Emma to leave. Emma goes out to her car but turns back, to see Henry watching her from his bedroom window. As Emma drives out of town, she realizes that Henry left his book on the car seat. She looks up and sees a wolf on the road ahead of her. She loses control of the car and hits the town marker, knocking herself unconscious.

She wakes up in a jail cell, and in the next cell to her is the town drunk, Leroy. Emma meets Sheriff Graham. Graham explains that she destroyed the Storybrooke sign, and she tells him that there was a wolf in the middle of the road. Graham scoffs, because there are no wolves in Storybrooke, and says that she was probably drunk on the mayor's cider.

Regina visits to report that Henry has run away again. Emma offers to help. After some snooping she questions Mary Margaret Blanchard because Henry has used her credit card to make a payment on a birth-mother tracking site. When they are alone, Mary Margaret suggests that Emma check Henry's Castle.

The tip is good and Emma brings Henry home, but she and Regina get into an argument. Emma angrily heads to Granny's Bed and Breakfast, where she finds Ruby and Granny arguing. She requests a room and Mr. Gold, who was collecting the rent from Granny, wishes her an enjoyable stay. Once Granny hands Emma her room key, the clocktower begins to move forward in time. The next morning, Regina knocks on the door and gives Emma a basket of honey crisp apples and explains that they were from a tree she had nurtured since she was a little girl. She suggests that Emma enjoy them on her way back to Boston.

Emma asserts that Regina telling her to leave is just encouraging her to stay, particularly to make sure her biological son is okay. Regina insists that she has things under control and Emma asks what she means. Regina expands that she has Henry in therapy and warns Emma not to underestimate her power.

Emma goes to Granny's Diner. She is about to eat the apple when Ruby, who waitresses there, gives her a hot chocolate and tells her that she has an admirer. Emma mistakenly looks at Graham. Henry stands up to announce that he was responsible, then invites her to walk him to school.

On their way, Henry grabs the apple and throws it over his shoulder before Emma can bite into it. They talk about investigating the Dark Curse that had settled over Storybrooke. Henry suggests they adopt the codename "Operation Cobra" to keep the Evil Queen off their trail. Henry shows her pictures of her newborn self and talks about her parents, Prince Charming and Snow White.

Once they get to school, Mary Margaret spots them and comes over. Henry runs to join the other kids, and Mary Margaret brings up his fairytale theory. Emma is shocked to learn that Henry thinks that Mary Margaret is "Snow White." When Mary Margaret asks her who Henry thinks she is, Emma lies and says that she is not in the book.

Emma visits Henry's therapist, Archie Hopper, and they talk about the book. Before she leaves, he gives her some files about Henry, saying "he talks about you a lot." Once Emma is gone, Archie phones Regina to report.

Emma reads the file in her room. Graham walks in to check her room for the "stolen files". He seizes them and arrests her. Emma claims that Regina set her up, but does not resist. They go to the police station; Graham takes "mug shots" as they talk about Regina.

Mary Margaret and Henry bail Emma out. She returns to the inn, where she is evicted by Granny because of their "no-felony policy." Emma heads to Regina's house to confront her. Instead, they go to Regina's office and talk about Henry; Emma indirectly calls him crazy. Unfortunately, Henry overhears and runs upstairs. Emma realizes that the mayor set it all up and calls her soulless before leaving.

After a pep talk from Mary Margaret, Emma reads the storybook pages with her in them and then burns them. She talks to Henry, he forgives her, and they continue on with Operation Cobra. That night, Mary Margaret walks past her car and sees how Emma was out of a place to stay, and invites her to stay at her place. Emma accepts the offer.

The next day, she helps Henry convince Mary Margaret to read to a comatose John Doe, who Henry claims is Prince Charming. When John Doe wakes up from his coma and escapes from the hospital, she helps Henry, Sheriff Graham and Mary Margaret look for him.

Once they locate and return John Doe to the hospital, Regina comes with a blonde woman, Kathryn Nolan, who is John Doe's - actually named David Nolan - wife. Emma is suspicious about the nature of Mary Margaret and David's growing acquaintance, but lets it slide. Emma walks with Henry to school the following day when Sheriff Graham comes up in his car, sirens blazing. When she asks him why he had the sirens on, he replies that it was hard to grab her attention. He says he was impressed by her performance in the John Doe case and offers her the position of deputy. She says she will think about it and goes to Granny's Diner.

There, she spills hot chocolate all over her shirt and Ruby tells her that there's a laundry machine in the back. Emma goes to change her shirt and finds Ashley Boyd, a nineteen year-old pregnant maid, doing laundry. As Emma is changing, Ashley starts talking about her contractions and says that the doctors believe the baby could come any day.

She starts talking about how no one thinks that she could take care of the baby properly, and Emma gets fed up. She asks Ashley how old she is, then proceeds to give her a harsh pep talk, which inspires Ashley. That night, Ashley breaks into Mr. Gold's shop to steal a piece of paper and pepper-sprays him when he catches her.

Emma is at Mary Margaret's house when Mr. Gold arrives, asking for her help to track down Ashley. Emma, with the help of Henry, goes all around town asking for Ashley's whereabouts, when she figures out that Ruby lent the girl her car so she could go to Boston. Henry reminds Emma that the curse keeps people from leaving Storybrooke, and the two go after Ashley.

They find Ruby's car in a ditch and Ashley sitting away from it, almost ready to give birth. Emma drags her to her car and goes straight to the hospital. Henry realizes that Emma could leave Storybrooke, which further cements the fact that she was the savior. The doctor comes in and announces that Ashley delivered a healthy baby girl. Mr. Gold comes to collect the baby, but Emma steps in and agrees to owe him a favor if he will tear the contract up. Mr. Gold leaves, and Sean Herman, the baby's father, and Ashley reunite.

She drives Henry home just before Regina arrives back and sees him missing. She decides to call Sheriff Graham and ask if the deputy's job is still available to her. Emma is putting on her deputy badge when there is a large earthquake in Storybrooke. She and Graham discover that an old mine fell in.

A few nights later, she is talking to Mary Margaret when Henry runs in, tearful. He tells them about Archie Hopper calling him crazy, and Emma goes to Archie's office to tell him off. While in the midst of an argument, they learn that Henry has run away to the sinkhole because he was convinced that it had something to do with the Curse.

When they get there, Archie goes straight for the sinkhole. Emma follows through, but the sinkhole caves in before she can get in there, and Archie and Henry are trapped inside. She and Regina team up in order to save the two, and it is Emma who later saves them when Pongo discovers a grate leading down to the miner's elevator. After David Nolan is released from the hospital, she attends his welcome home party and tries to convince Henry that the reason he got lost the night they found him by the Toll Bridge was because he was an amnesiac. Henry does not believe her, though, and they leave after the party is over. Later, she is patrolling because Sheriff Graham had asked her to, and as she drives by Mayor Regina's house she sees someone climb out the window.

When she tackles the person, she discovers that it was the sheriff himself. Disgusted with his affair with Regina - and how Henry had been in the house, too - Emma leaves, making Graham ashamed. The next night, Graham chases after her when she leaves Granny's Diner to avoid him and kisses her. He sees a flash of a wolf, Snow White and vault with antlers above it.

Soon, Graham begins acting strangely. He tells Emma that they need to look for his heart and as Emma tries to convince him that his dreams are just dreams, they both see the wolf with one red eye and one black eye - the same wolf that had kept her from leaving Storybrooke.

They chase after the wolf, and it leads them to the same vault with the antlers above it. They search the tomb and are caught by Regina. Graham cuts his ties with her and Regina blames Emma for it, even going so far as to hit her. Emma retaliates, but when she is dragged away by Graham, gives up and walks away.

Back at the station, Graham is cleaning her cuts and scratches and kisses her again. When he pulls away, he smiles and thanks her, saying that he remembers everything. Before she can ask him what he means, he suddenly collapses and dies from a fatal heart attack. Two weeks later, Mr. Gold convinces Emma to become sheriff, as she was the deputy. Before she can put the badge on, Regina stops her and says that she has another candidate in mind: Sidney Glass, the author of many articles in the Storybrooke Daily Mirror that slandered her. Emma quickly challenges this and, with Mr. Gold's help, wins the election for sheriff. She quickly gets her first job as sheriff afterwards. Two orphans, Ava and Nicholas Zimmer, shoplifted from Mr. Clark's store and Regina wants them to be sent to the foster system in Boston. Emma fights this and manages to find their father, Michael Tillman. However, Tillman wants nothing to do with them.

As she is leaving Storybrooke, the Curse prevents the orphans from leaving by forcing Emma's car to break down. She calls Tillman and, when he sees the two children, agrees to take them back in, as their mother has died. That night, she is talking with Henry when a mysterious man drives by on his motorcycle.

He asks her where he can find a place to stay, and she directs him to Granny's Bed and Breakfast. After he is gone, she turns to Henry and attempts to clarify the belief that strangers did not come to Storybrooke. Henry confirms this with a "They don't." The next day, Regina asks Emma to check the man out, which she does. She confronts him in Granny's Diner and asks him what he carries around in the wooden box strapped to the back of his motorcycle. The man promises to tell her if she will let him buy her a drink sometime. When she consents, he opens the box to reveal a typewriter. As he gets up to leave, she questions him about that drink, to which he smiles and replies, "Sometime." Regina gets into an argument with Emma at the diner. Once the mayor is gone, Sidney Glass slides into the booth across from her to talk to her. It is revealed that after he lost the election, Regina fired him from the Daily Mirror, and he wanted revenge. Emma is reluctant to help him out, so he gives her a card with his number and leaves.

However, when Regina tears down Henry's castle for safety concerns, Emma becomes angry and calls Sidney. Together they discover the keys to every house in town, Regina's embezzlement of fifty thousand dollars from the treasury, and that she was building herself a house in the woods on the land that she bought from Mr. Gold.

When they attempt to expose her at the town meeting, Regina reveals that her "house" was actually a modern playground for Henry and for all the children of Storybrooke. Humiliated and ashamed, Emma leaves, but Regina catches up and warns her to stay away from Henry, or else she will get a restraining order. Emma and Sidney go to the diner, where they have a drink and vow to become allies against Regina's cruelty. On Valentine's Day, Mary Margaret, Ruby and Ashley Boyd all invite her to attend their girls' night out party, but she declines, as she has her job to do. She discovers that Mr. Gold has been robbed by Moe French. Emma recovers all but one of the stolen items, something which makes Mr. Gold very angry.

He kidnaps Moe French and takes him to an abandoned cabin in the woods. Emma finds him beating the man half to death, and arrests him as he tries to leave. Regina comes with Henry while Mr. Gold is still in jail, and bribes Emma to leave the two alone for thirty minutes. Emma and Henry go to get some ice cream. As Mary Margaret begins her affair with David Nolan, Emma warns her not to get involved with a married man. Unfortunately, Mary Margaret does not listen to her, and continues on with him. However, once the town gets wind of it, Mary Margaret realizes that her relationship with David is destructive and breaks up with him. Emma keeps Mary Margaret company that night, as she does not want to be alone. Mary Margaret asks for volunteers for the Miner's Day festival, Emma tells her to let her know if she can help with anything and goes to the site of Kathryn Nolan's disappearance. Sidney comes in an attempt to get his job in the Daily Mirror back and offers to get Kathryn's phone records for her. The records reveal an eight-minute long conversation with David Nolan.

Later that night, Regina comes to the station looking for news on her friend Kathryn. Emma refuses to reveal any information about the case, and Regina threatens to replace her if she was covering for someone. Emma goes to the Miner's Day festival and asks David to come with her, much to the shock of everyone. She stays up all night interviewing David, but he insists that he does not know anything about his wife's disappearance. Emma grudgingly lets him leave the station and advises him to get a lawyer. As she is walking home, she meets up with Mary Margaret, and begins a conversation with her about David.

They turn the corner to see Ruby and Dr. Whale talking at the bus stop. He is insisting on helping her and Ruby is asserting herself to his advances. Emma interrupts and forces Dr. Whale to leave. They learn that after an argument with her grandmother, Ruby quit her employment at the diner. Mary Margaret invites Ruby to become a roommate until she can find her footing in Storybrooke again.

Ruby is searching for jobs with Henry Mills and answers a call from Miss Ginger. Emma walks in and sees her do this. Later, when Ruby says that she cannot do anything around Storybrooke, Emma hires her as her assistant. Just then, Mary Margaret comes in and tells her that David was in the forest acting strangely.

She and Ruby go to the forest, where Ruby quickly finds David, on the ground, delirious and bleeding. Emma takes him to the hospital, where it is revealed that he had experienced a blackout, similar to what he had experienced just after he had woken up from his coma and gone to the Toll Bridge.

Just then, Regina barges in and demands that Emma arrest David. Emma resists and, when David is discharged, calls Ruby. She asks her to go to the Toll Bridge to look for something that they can use in the investigation before David goes into one of his trances and finds whatever he is looking for.

Ruby complies and finds a box with a human heart in it. Ruby is disgusted at the grisly contents, but Emma reassures her and tells her that she is wonderful at this kind of job. Ruby decides this job is not cut out for her, and returns to Granny's Diner. She gets her old job back, and finds her own happy ending: reuniting with her grandmother.

Meanwhile, Emma runs scans on the box for fingerprints. She goes to the animal shelter, where a distraught David is being reassured by Mary Margaret. She reveals that she found out who the fingerprints on the box belong to. David insists that she arrests him. Instead, she announces that the fingerprints were Mary Margaret's, to the couple's shock. Emma arrests Mary Margaret and takes her to the station, where they have a conversation as Mary Margaret's mug shots are being taken. Mary Margaret insists that she was framed, and Emma tells her that she believes her. She takes Mary Margaret to an interrogation room, where Regina is waiting. Mary Margaret is outraged, but Emma calms her by saying she was only there to make sure that Emma remained unbiased.

After Regina goads Mary Margaret, Emma takes her out of the room and confronts her, to which Regina retains her innocence, and they return to the questioning. Mary Margaret inadvertently reveals that the box that Kathryn Nolan's heart was found in was her jewelry box. More and more evidence that Mary Margaret committed the murder piles up, but Emma remains a staunch ally.

As she returns her to her cell, Emma advises Mary Margaret to find a lawyer. As soon as she says that, Mr. Gold comes in and offers to represent her. Emma tells Mr. Gold to leave, but Mary Margaret tells Emma off and asks her to give the two some privacy. Emma complies, and Mary Margaret hires Mr. Gold as her lawyer.

Emma, meanwhile, goes to their apartment, where Henry is waiting. Henry insists that Regina is framing Mary Margaret because the Evil Queen hates Snow White. Emma is doubtful, but Henry presents a set of keys that he stole from Regina's office as proof.

He claims that they are all keys to every house in Storybrooke. After two unsuccessful attempts to open the door, Henry gives her one key and tells her to use it. The key successfully unlocks the door, to Emma's astonishment. When they search the apartment, she discovers a knife hidden in Mary Margaret's heating vent.

When she confronts Mary Margaret over this, she continues to claim innocence. Emma believes that she is being framed, and asks Mary Margaret for faith in her and to allow her to keep looking for ways to get her out of being convicted and sent to a Boston prison. Mary Margaret agrees, but she finds a key hidden under her pillow and escapes. She is later kidnapped by Jefferson while running away. That night, she is talking with Mr. Gold when she is intercepted by Henry. Henry praises her for her escape plan, but Emma has no idea what he is talking about. She enters the station and finds Mary Margaret missing from her cell. Mr. Gold urges her to find her before eight o'clock, which is the time of the arraignment, and also the time that Regina will arrive at the station and discover her gone. Emma goes out in search of Mary Margaret and stumbles upon Jefferson. He feigns being hurt, and she offers to drive him to his house. When they arrive, Jefferson drugs Emma and binds her. When she wakes up, she breaks the teacup and uses its' shards to get herself free.

She sneaks past Jefferson, who is sharpening a pair of scissors, and discovers Mary Margaret in a separate room. She frees Mary Margaret and they attempt to escape, but are caught by Jefferson. He brandishes a loaded gun at the two and orders Emma to tie Mary Margaret back up. Once Mary Margaret is bound again, he takes Emma to a separate room filled with hats and hat-making materials. He tells her to make a hat so that he could go back to the Enchanted Forest.

Emma comes to the conclusion that he was in on Henry's Operation Cobra theory, and that Jefferson believes himself to be the Mad Hatter. Jefferson questions what a story is, and tells her again to start making a hat and no one is leaving until she gets the hat to "work".

Emma attempts to do this, but she only makes a simple bowler hat and gives up before it is finished. Jefferson takes her to the telescope, which is pointed at a young girl's house, and reveals the girl eating dinner with her parents. He calls her Grace, his daughter. However, the Dark Curse separated them, and now Grace - called Paige in Storybrooke - does not know who her true father is.

Emma feigns belief in what Jefferson is saying, even going as far as to declare that she thinks Mary Margaret is her mother. When his back is turned, she hits him on the back of the head with the telescope. She rushes to Mary Margaret's room and frees her, but Jefferson tackles her before they can leave. A brief struggle ensues. Jefferson corners Emma at gunpoint, but Mary Margaret hits him with a croquet mallet and kicks him out the window. As they peer out the window to see where Jefferson landed, there is no sign of him anywhere. All that remains is the hat.

They leave the house. Emma offers Mary Margaret the option of taking her car and leaving for Boston, or going back to the jail. She confesses her fears about being lonely if Mary Margaret leaves because she considers her to be part of her newfound family. Mary Margaret decides to go back to the jail. Emma visits Henry at school during a lunch break when Paige walks by. She greets Henry, and Emma asks him who she is. Henry simply says that she's a schoolmate, and Emma notices the storybook that fueled his theories about Operation Cobra. She asks to read it, and he happily lends it to her. She turns to the section about the Mad Hatter and proceeds to read it, and she is surprised everything Jefferson told her appears to be true in the book as well.

Emma continues her efforts in trying to help Mary Margaret move forward with the charges. She speaks to Mr. Gold about Mary Margaret possibly talking with the District Attorney, Albert Spencer. Mr. Gold believes her personality could help the charges get dropped. Sidney Glass walks in bearing flowers saying he is unable to find anything in the case showing Regina was involved. Emma and Regina watch the interview between the D.A. and Mary Margaret from outside the room. However, it all goes awry when Mary Margaret has an agitated outburst over her innocence being called into question more than just a few times.

Later, Emma is seen reading from Henry's storybook. August gives her some advice on taking a second look at the things she already did in the investigation to see if she could find out new information. They go past the Toll Bridge where Ruby found the jewelry box with the human heart in it. While examining the hole where Ruby dug it up, she finds a shard from a shovel. Emma has a hunch about whose shovel it is, and enlists the help of Henry in her search. Without Regina's knowledge, while she is busy in the shower, Henry signals to Emma and August that the coast is clear. They grab the spare key Henry has left for them in front of the house, and hurry to enter the garage where various tools are stored. After having a look around, Emma finds the shovel with the chipped off piece that has a perfect fit with the broken shard found in the hole.

Having found the link Regina has both to the crime scene and as a suspect in the case, Emma comes to the front door the next day with a search warrant to look in the shed. To her surprise, the shovel she saw which had a missing piece is now fully intact. Thinking she has been betrayed, she confronts August about his double crossing and helping Regina cover up her tracks with a new shovel, but he claims his innocence profusely; something Emma has a hard time believing.

Emma is helpless to do anything when the police come to fetch Mary Margaret. Every solution she has tried to take has had no merits; from Mr. Gold's assistance to the incriminating shovel that should have made Regina the one accused of murder, not Mary Margaret. Unable to simmer her frustration, Emma hurls the vase of flowers in her office across the room. It smashes, and between the broken glass and wet flowers, she finds an audio spying device. Now she finally realizes the one secretly helping Regina was not August, but Sidney.

She is quick in finding August and apologizing for doubting his loyalty. As Emma proceeds to show him what she found in the vase, they hear a frantic scream behind Granny's Diner. They rush toward the noise, and find a shaken up Ruby who utters, "She's in the alley". August stays with Ruby while Emma goes to investigate nearby. From the short distance, there is someone lying on the ground, but the person is facing away from her so she cannot see who it is. Emma eventually gets close enough, and is speechless in her discovery it is Kathryn, battered but alive. Kathryn is taken to the hospital and monitored under the care of Dr. Whale. Emma goes to take a statement from her soon afterwards. She learns from Kathryn that someone kidnapped and placed her in a dark basement where food and water were readily available but there was never anyone around. Kathryn recalls being later drugged, and waking up in a field near town. From there she crawled all the way to the alley where Ruby saw her.

Emma approaches Sidney in Granny's Diner, and forces him to show his true colors when she presents him with the audio spy device he implanted in the flower vase. She is furious he would pretend to be on her side and though he does not deny Regina is dangerous, he also admits to being in love with her. The game is up, and Emma leaves him an ultimatum—either help her find the evidence Regina is behind Mary Margaret's false murder charge, or he can go down with Regina when she finds the incriminating proof.

With Kathryn alive and recovering, and no real evidence linking Mary Margaret to the case, she is able to go home. Emma throws her a "Welcome Home Mary Margaret" party where nearly the whole town shows up for the celebration. She sends Henry off to home early since Regina does not know he is at the party, but expresses reluctance in letting her son go. David is seen almost coming in, but Emma stops him and makes an excuse for Mary Margaret since she is not ready to talk to him yet.

Regina is waiting for her when Emma enters the Sheriff's office, and says she is going to get her confession. But, while it appears Regina has a confession, it is not her who is going to do the confessing. She brings out Sidney, which begins to explain his actions behind kidnapping Kathryn with the hopes he could have his old job as editor back. Emma realizes Sidney told Regina about the ultimatum she gave him in the diner, and that is why Regina is making him take the fall. She does not believe one word Sidney says, and asks to have a word with Regina in the hallway.

Once they are alone, Emma cannot hold back from containing her disgust at Regina's scheming and twisted ways. Regina plays the perfect poker face and reveals nothing in her involvement in kidnapping Kathryn, but Emma has had it with the mayor. She vows to make her pay, especially since Regina once took away someone she loved, and now she will do the same by fighting for custody of her son, Henry. August Booth confronts Emma with the truth - that she is Snow White and Prince Charming's child and must save everyone. He tells her he is Pinocchio and that he was the seven year old that supposedly found her on the roadside. She does not believe him. He shows her his leg, which has turned to wood, but she sees only flesh. She is unable to truly see because she does not believe the truth.

Emma does not want responsibility for others, which she claims the role of Sheriff gives her. She decides to leave Storybrooke, taking Henry with her. Henry begs her not to make him leave, telling her she must save everyone from the curse. She acquiesces. After conferring with Archie, she determines she has no case in a custody battle against Regina. She goes to Regina and tell her she is leaving Storybrooke, but wants visitation with Henry. Regina gives her an apple turnover, made with the bespelled magic apple Snow White ate from, as a travel snack.

Henry comes over and Emma tells him that she is leaving Storybrooke, but that she will visit him. She tells him she cannot let other people be hurt in her battle with Regina. Henry is hugging Emma when he notices the turnover and deduces that it came from Regina and is a weapon. Henry tells her that she may not believe in the curse, or in him, but he believes in her. He takes a bite of the turnover and loses consciousness. Emma takes Henry to the Hospital and refuses to leave his side. While checking his bag, she grabs the book, and remembers her brief time in the Enchanted Forest. She attacks Regina, realizing that it is her fault Henry is sick. Regina admits everything, and together they set off to Mr.Gold's. He gives Emma her father's sword, and Regina guides her to Maleficent's prison.

Abandoning the sword early on, she uses her gun on the dragon to no avail. Eventually, Emma slays Maleficent with the sword, and retrieves the true love potion which remained after Maleficent's body exploded. As she is traveling up the elevator, it stops suddenly and Emma calls for help. Mr. Gold answers, claiming Regina has "run off". She tosses him the egg, and he runs away with it. She climbs up to see Regina tied up, and she quickly unties her. They prepare to go after Mr. Gold, but receive a call from the hospital. They hurry over, and learn that Henry is dead. Emma starts to cry, and kisses Henry's forehead, saying, "I love you, Henry". There is a flash of light, and he awakens, saying, "I love you, too." Emma has broken the curse using True Love's kiss. Then Emma realizes that something is happening in Storybrooke. They stand together as purple smoke engulfs them.

After the Curse
Shortly after the purple smoke clears, Emma appears before Mary and David after the Dark Curse has been broken. Mary and David are overjoyed to see their daughter and savior, and the three of them embrace. Emma pulls back after the tender moment and states that the group (including Widow Lucas, Ruby, Mother Superior, and the Seven Dwarves) has to find Mr. Gold and ask him what he did to Storybrooke. As they walk towards the pawn shop, Mary and David attempt to get Emma to tell them about her life and that they have been waiting for this moment their whole lives. Emma rounds on them and says she has wondered about her family her whole life too, but never in her wildest dreams did she think her parents would be Prince Charming and Snow White. She asks them to give her time to adjust.

At that moment, Archie Hopper runs up and tells the group that an angry mob led by Dr. Whale is leading an attack on Regina's house determined to kill her. Henry states that Regina is still his mom, and Emma and the group rush to Regina's house just as Dr. Whale is getting ready to strangle her with his bare hands. Emma stops him, and proceeds to tell the townspeople she is still the Sheriff and Mary decides that Regina will be placed in prison.

After Regina is placed in a jail cell and Henry is given to Ruby to look after, Emma, David, and Mary go to confront Mr. Gold at his pawn shop. They find him there pouring tea and Emma angrily confronts him for his misdeeds and backstabbing ways. Mr. Gold responds by saying by his calculations, Emma owes him a thank you for reuniting her with her parents, breaking the Dark Curse, and saving Henry's life, Emma says he is twisting her words. Just then, the power flickers, a quake rumbles through Storybrooke, and a howl is heard. Emma and her parents run out of the Pawn Shop as Gold tells them that thing is going to take care of Regina, and that Emma still owes him a favor.

In the jail, Regina is about to have her soul sucked out by a Wraith that Mr. Gold had sent when Emma and her family burst in. After rescuing Regina, David wants to let her die, but Emma states she made a promise to Henry to save Regina, and she intends to keep it. Joining forces with Regina, the four of them make their way to Storybrooke Town Hall. In Regina's office, they find Jefferson's hat. Luring the Wraith to the main hall, Regina attempts to make the hat work and open the Vortex, but after several intents seems unable to. As time runs out Emma grabs Regina's arm and somehow this activates Regina's magical abilities. The vortex forms and as the Wraith is about to reach Regina she pushes her out of the way, the Wraith falls into the vortex but a whip of blue light that appears to be the Wraith's arm reaches out and pulls Emma in, Mary Margaret jumps after her and the vortex closes behind them.

Mary Margaret and Emma land themselves in a part of the Enchanted Forest that was untouched by the dark curse; Aurora's Palace. Mulan and Aurora are startled by a noise coming from the rubble left by the Wraith's emergence, they find both visitors unconscious. Shortly after, they arrive at the survivors' safe haven. Mary Margaret attacks Aurora in an escape attempt; but she and Emma are unable to get away. Emma and an unconscious Mary Margaret are put into "the pit" where they are greeted by Cora, the Evil Queen's mother. While waiting for Mary Margaret to regain consciousness, Emma questions Cora about their location. She also learns that Cora is Regina's mother, which initially causes her some concern, but not as much as Mary Margaret. Emma tries to convince her to hear Cora out, considering that they are captured and in a hole. She also reminds Mary Margaret that they need to get back to Storybrooke and loved ones, like David Nolan and Henry Mills. When Cora asks Emma about Henry, Emma's explanation is cut short by Mary Margaret, insisting that neither of them speak to Cora. Emma and Mary Margaret are released and encounter Sir Lancelot, who is leader of the remaining survivors of the curse. Although Lancelot insists that there are no more portals, Emma learns from Mary Margaret of the possibility of one remaining. They are supplied with weapons by Mulan, who urges them caution and to watch what she does. Emma jokes that she would be fine, as she "killed a dragon last week." Emma travels with Mulan and Mary Margaret through what remains of the Enchanted Forest. When Aurora attempts to kill Mary Margaret, Emma shoots off her gun. The noise of the shot attracts an ogre who chases after Emma and nearly kills her. She is saved by Mary Margaret, who shoots an arrow into the ogre's eye. Emma asks how Mary Margaret knew she could shoot. Mary Margaret replies that she did not know. "Next time listen to me," she says.

Emma discovers the castle of Snow White and Prince Charming, where she was born, still exists. She and Mary Margaret enter into the nursery where the Magic Wardrobe made from the enchanted tree still stands. Lancelot arrives to check on them. He is revealed to be Cora in disguise, who says she killed the real Lancelot a long time ago. She attempts to escape through the wardrobe, but Emma sets it on fire to prevent Cora from reaching Henry. Mulan and Aurora arrive and Cora flees. Emma finally expresses her anger over being abandoned by her parents, but realizes how much Mary Margaret gave up for her sake. Tearfully, Emma admits that she is not used to having someone putting her first, and Mary Margaret tells her to get used to it. Mother and daughter embrace and depart the nursery. Returning to the safe haven, the four women find that the camp has been attacked and no one appears to be left alive. Aurora discovers Hook beneath a pile of bodies, and Hook attempts to deceive the four of them by stating he survived Cora's attack on the camp by hiding under some dead bodies. Emma is not buying his story and pulls a knife on Hook's throat, stating that she wants the truth and she can tell when a person is lying. She then ties Hook to a tree and whistles for the ogres, and begins to walk away. Hook then reveals his true identity and states that he was working with Cora, but will now join forces with Emma and her team. He leads them to a giant beanstalk stretching up into the sky, stating that there is a Enchanted Compass at the top, but first they must deal with the giant. Captain Hook tells the others that this beanstalk and giant are the last of their kind. He reveals to the four women that he possesses a counterspell from Cora that was originally intended to allow him and Cora to climb the beanstalk. Now that he has chosen to align himself with Emma and company, he can take one of them up the beanstalk with him to get the magic compass. After much "discussion", Emma overrules all of the other women to climb up the beanstalk, stating that she must do this for Henry. After Mary Margaret cuts Captain Hook free from his bonds, he slaps a black cuff on Emma that glows gold briefly, and allows her to climb the beanstalk. Before she begins to climb, Emma takes Mulan aside, and asks her that if she and Captain Hook are not back in ten hours, will she cut down the beanstalk with her sword. Mulan agrees, and then gives Emma Ground Poppy Dust in order to put the Giant to sleep. Emma and Captain Hook then begin their climb.

While climbing the stalk, Captain Hook asks Emma about her past, to which she refuses to reply. Captain Hook then tells her that she has a son, to which Emma replies that it is common knowledge. But he surprises her by saying that she herself was an orphan, and that she does not want to leave Henry in the same situation. When she asks how he could possibly know that, he states that while in Neverland, he spent time in the company of a group of orphans known as the Lost Boys, so he can easily recognize another orphan. He then asks if Emma has ever been in love, and she replies never.

After finishing their climbing, Emma and Hook arrive in the realm of the Giant. Emma asks why the place is so run down, and Hook asks her what she knows of giants. She tells him what she knows of the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. After hearing her brief synopsis, Hook states that while it is a good tale, it is not quite how it happened. He reveals that there was a man named Jack who led an invasion of the giants realm, killing everyone but one giant. When Hook offers a plan to wait for the giant to fall asleep, she (again) overrules him, saying that she has to get back to Storybrooke as soon as possible and makes up new plan: use the ground poppy to knock him out. Hook uses the human bone to knock at a metal object, and The-not-so-happy-Giant then comes storming out and sees him. He then leads the Giant around towards Emma by taunting him. The Giant follows him and then Emma throws the potion in the Giant's face, knocking him unconscious. At first Emma believes Hook to be crushed, but Hook shows up and congratulates her on knocking the Giant out cold before proceeding inside.

While they are looking for the Enchanted Compass, Captain Hook gets a little "distracted" because of The Giant's treasure, and Emma grabs his arm, which he mistakes as a flirtatious action. However, she explains she does not want to get them trapped in the Giant's cage. When they continue searching, the poppy's effect wears off, awakening The Giant. He knocks up a pile of brick over Captain Hook and grabs Emma, slowly squeezing her to death. She tries to explain that she has someone to go back home to, but he becomes angrier and tells Emma that humans had killed all of his family. Just as Emma is about to black out, she bites his hand, which causes him to loosen his grab. Emma cuts the rope of his cage and traps The Giant in his own trap. When she tries to ask him where the Enchanted Compass is, he replies that she will kill him anyway. Emma replies that she is not that kind of person, then discovers a dysfunctional magic bean The Giant has hanging around his neck. He tells her that the giant race created the magic beans. Emma is surprised because she was told earlier that the giants invaded the Enchanted Forest. The Giant replies that the story is only told from the winner's side. When Emma turns around after The Giant eventually gave her the Enchanted Compass, he breaks free from the cage. However, much to Emma's shock, he does not kill her but instead opens a hole to let her escape, saying that he owns her a favor because she did not kill him. Emma disagrees and says that he actually owns her two favors because she did not kill him when he was knocked out by the poppy. It is later revealed that Emma asked The Giant to keep Captain Hook captive (due to the fact that she does not trust him) long enough to let the women get a head start. Emma is stunned when Aurora wakes up from one of her nightmares and tells her and Mary Margaret that she encountered Henry within the nightmare. Mary Margaret listens as Aurora relates her encounter with Henry. While Emma is confused as to Henry and Aurora could possibly share the same dream, Mary Margaret speaks up and informs the group that she has been to the land that Aurora mentioned before. Aurora angrily asks her why she did not tell her this before, and Mary Margaret states that she did not want to worry Aurora anymore then she needed to. The group decides together that Aurora will go back to sleep and the other three stand guard over her while Aurora goes back to sleep. Suddenly the camp is attacked by Cora's zombies, and Emma and Mary Margaret stand and defend while Mulan and Aurora run off into the woods. After defeating the zombies around them, the two take off after Mulan and Aurora, only to find that Mulan is alone and that Aurora has been kidnapped. Despairing of a way to contact Henry again, Mary Margaret suggests that Mulan use some more Ground Poppy Dust to place her back under sleep so she can get the information they need from Henry, as she has been to the place they need to go to before. Mulan states that she knows of one place in the Enchanted Forest where poppies still grow, and that if they set out they can make some more dust before sundown.

While traveling, Emma is upset because she blames herself for Henry falling victim to the Sleeping Curse. She reasons that as his mother, she was supposed to trust him even when no one else did. Mary Margaret says that they can play the blaming game all day, but it will not get them home. Emma agrees, but quietly says to herself "The one that's responsible is Regina," implying that she blames Regina for their current situation.

On their way through the woods, a raven lands on Mary Margaret's shoulder and delivers a message from Cora, stating that she will trade the magical compass for Aurora's life as long as the compass is received by sundown. A distraught Mulan attempts to physically wrest away the compass from Emma, stating that they must save Aurora, but Mary Margaret and Emma are able to negotiate with Mulan that if they are unable to contact Henry before sundown, they will take the compass to Cora and retrieve Aurora. Mulan then leads them to the location of a single poppy, and proceeds to use her dagger to make the dust needed. Mary Margaret settles against a tree while Emma holds her hand. Mulan then blows the dust into Mary Margaret's face, putting her to sleep.

When Mary Margaret wakes up and scrambles to find some leftover poppy dust, stating that David is all alone in the dream world and she has to get back to him. Emma tries to comfort her, stating that they will be able to save and awaken David. Mary Margaret rounds on her, asking her how she is so sure of this. Emma states that she believes in the love that Mary Margaret and David have for each other. Mary Margaret smilingly acknowledges this, but the two then discover that Mulan has run off with the compass. The two of them go after Mulan, and an angry Mary Margaret nearly hits Mulan with an arrow, stating the next one will be between her shoulder blades. Mary Margaret tackles Mulan when she refuses to give her the compass, and nearly kills her before Aurora jumps in, revealing she has escaped from Cora's jail cell by way of Captain Hook. The four head off towards the palace ruins, unaware that Cora knows of their location. As the group arrives at Rumplestiltskin's cell in the ruins of the palace, Mulan uses her torch to search the cell for any sign of the squid ink. After Aurora finds Rumplestiltskin's note, Mulan finds a small glass vial that is empty, although it may have contained ink at one point. They are then entrapped in the cell by Cora and Hook, and Cora reveals that she has Aurora's heart in her possession. After Cora and Hook leave, Mulan apologizes to Aurora for allowing Cora to get her heart. Soon after, Mary Margaret uses the squid ink in the note that was written by Rumplestiltskin to open the cell and allows the group to escape. At Aurora's insistence that she cannot be trusted due to Cora holding her heart, Mulan reluctantly ties her to the remnants of the jail cell.

At Lake Nostos, Mary Margaret shoots an arrow to knock the Enchanted Compass out of Cora's hand to the ground. A battle ensues as Mary Margaret tries to catch Cora with her arrows and Mulan parries her magic with her blade. Cora vanishes in a puff of smoke after nearly getting hit, and the satchel carrying Aurora's heart is knocked off her person. It nearly vanishes into the portal, but Hook grabs it. He tosses it to her who gives it to Mulan. After Mulan leaves and Hook is knocked out by Emma, Cora reappears in front of her and Mary Margaret. She uses her magic to fling Emma aside, stating that she will be giving her daughter the one thing she wanted, which was Mary Margaret's heart. As she reaches forward, Emma jumps in and shoves Mary Margaret aside, causing Cora to reach into her chest instead. Cora cackles and tells Emma she is a foolish girl, then tries to remove Emma's heart. Cora instead finds to her shock that Emma's heart cannot be ripped out, and then a light similar to the one emitted by True Love's Kiss shoots out of Emma, knocking Cora unconscious and allowing Emma and Mary Margaret to go through the portal to Storybrooke.

They make it through and return to Gold's shop where Mary Margaret awakens David by true love's kiss. Emma speaks to Gold about his writing her name within the cell he'd been imprisoned in, stating that he had been pulling the strings from the beginning. Gold, however, states that he did not create her, he only made use of who and what she was: the product of True Love. When Emma reveals that Cora could not remove her heart, Gold states that it was because of magic that is within her, not because of his involvement. 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 Emma and Mary Margaret at Granny's. Emma has invited Regina, which displeases some of the other guests. At the party, Regina asks that she be allowed to spend more time with Henry, but Emma does not think it is a good idea, and she tells Regina that Dr. Hopper has shared with her that Regina is trying to change in order to get closer to Henry.

The next morning, Emma is about to leave to walk Henry to the bus from Granny's when Pongo runs across the street from Archie's office. Ruby can sense something is wrong, and she and Emma go to Archie's office to investigate. In his office, they find Archie's body lying dead on the ground.

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, Mary Margaret and David suggest they trap her 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 does attempt 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 five minutes, he was hers for five minutes, too, but that things have changed now. They will all figure out the entire situation together because they are family. At Archie's funeral, Henry is heartbroken and is comforted by Emma. After a chat with Marco, they decided Henry should take care of Pongo, to his delight, but Mary Margaret points out that maybe she and David should consider finding their own place, to Emma's shock. After Mary Margaret and David go on their house hunt, Emma notices Henry drawing blueprints for what to do if they decide to move out. Emma notices he has converted Mary Margaret's room into an armory for protection from Regina. Emma states they will not need it; she will not let her hurt him. Henry  states that she hurt Archie, and is afraid of what might happen if she tries to take him back. Then Pongo begins to act unusually in front of the door. Emma opens it, revealing a very much alive Archie. Archie explains that Cora abducted him. Henry states they should probably tell Regina, though Emma worries that either way they will pay the price. 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 are 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. Greg tells Emma he was texting while driving and did not see a thing. Emma exits and tells the others that. 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, nor does it 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. The day after, Mr. Gold knocks at their door once again wanting to know if Emma is ready to go with him to find his son. Seeing Henry is also going, Mr. Gold comments Emma is the only one that is coming with him because it is part of the deal. Emma fires back, reminding him that Cora is still lurking around and she thinks it is best for Henry to go with her. She hugs Mary Margaret and leaves with Mr. Gold and Henry. On the way to the airport in the car, Emma asks Mr. Gold if the shawl is going to work for him, and he tells her that if it doesn't work then we are going to have some problems, but believes it will work. At the airport, Emma helps Mr. Gold go through the metal detector, and calms him down after he refuses security's request to take off his shawl. Once they wait for the plane to take off, Emma reassures Mr. Gold that it is going to be okay and they will find his son. They arrive in Manhattan, and all three step out of a cab in front of an apartment complex. Emma is unsure if this is the right place, but Gold affirms it is. She figures out that his son is not expecting him to be there. They enter the building lobby and look at the apartment room numbers and call buttons. Emma is able to spot a room number--407--which has no resident name on it as a person who likely doesn't want to be found. She suspects that person is who they are looking. She pushes the buzzer, and announces herself as a UPS package deliverer. The call intercom switches off abruptly, and they hear a sudden noise from upstairs. Rushing out, they see a hooded man jumping down from the fire escape and taking off. Mr. Gold pleas with Emma to chase after him since he can't run due to his disabled leg, and also because he wants her to get his son to talk to him. During the chase, Emma catches up with the escapee after taking an alleyway shortcut. Unexpectedly, she slams into him at the same juncture and both fall to the ground in pain. She looks up to see the hooded man is her old boyfriend, Neal. In shock, she questions if he and Mr. Gold were using her this entire time because of who she is and where she is from. Neal is confused about who Mr. Gold is until she yells out Rumplestiltskin's name; prompting him to change his tune. While he is furious his father is here, Emma says that she is the only one that should be angry because of Mr. Gold and Neal having set her up. Neal suggests that they should go to the bar to talk. Initially, Emma refuses, but goes with him after compliance. At the bar, Emma asks if Neal knew who she was when they met and Neal told her he didn't or not he wouldn't have come near her. Neal explains that he came here to get away from magic. Even so, Emma has still suspicious; and asks if he used her to get away with the watches he stole, but Neal insists that not the reason he left her. He speaks about having come across an "old friend" of hers--August--who stopped him from selling the watches and going back to Emma. Neal recounts August showing him a box with a typewriter inside, and the words typed on the paper: I know you are Baelfire. Emma feels betrayed Neal let her go to jail over what August told him. Neal tries to calm her down; saying he was leading her back home. Again, Emma questions if their meeting is a coincidence, but Neal believes it is fate that brought them together. She doesn't believe him and it doesn't matter now; stating she is over it. However, Neal prompts her on why she is wearing the swan key chain he gave her all those years ago. She coldly remarks it is a reminder never to trust anyone again, and snaps the necklace off to return to him. She leaves the bar, and calls Mary Margaret for advice. She is confused over whether to tell Henry the truth about his father, or continue keeping it a secret. Emma goes back to Mr. Gold and Henry to report his son got away, which is a lie. Mr. Gold refuses to leave the apartment complex and begins punching the call buttons for various residents. Miraculously, one of the residents buzz to open the apartment's front gate. He hobbles up to room 407, and though Emma does not want him breaking into someone's room, he pick locks the door open. Inside, they look around. Emma is surprised to see Neal kept the dream catcher from their years together. Mr. Gold notices, and immediately suspects she knows something that he doesn't. The tension is visible in the air, and Emma sends Henry out of the room. Mr. Gold makes threats and becomes violent when Emma refuses to talk. Neal bursts into the room in time to stop Mr. Gold from physically harming Emma. Just as Mr. Gold realizes his son and Emma know each other, Henry comes back into the room asking if Neal is Baelfire. Neal, confused and unsure, asks Emma who the boy is, to which she says he is her son. She walks Henry out of the room, but Neal demands to know how old he is. Henry shouts that he is eleven, which is the exact number of years ago Emma and Neal were together. Shocked, Neal wants to know if Henry is his son. Emma has no choice but to confirm it. The news upsets Henry, and he climbs out the window to the fire escape. Outside, Henry asks Emma why she didn't tell him the truth and Emma explains she never thought she would see him again and wanted to hide her past. Henry, in his disappointment, tells Emma is just like Regina who also lied to him all the time. She apologizes, and Henry asks to meet his father. Afterwards, Emma warns Neal not to hurt Henry like he did to her. Mr. Gold tries to get Emma to convince Neal to go back to Storybrooke with them, meanwhile Neal and Henry go into a New York-style pizza parlor. Emma tells him that she payed up in her part of the deal, and that it's now up to Mr. Gold to decide what's best for his son. Mr. Gold compares Emma to Regina, and tells her that if Neal doesn't come to Storybrooke, Henry will hop on a bus back to New York to see his father. Soon Henry and Neal emerge from the pizza parlor, and Henry asks Emma about getting the camera from Neal's apartment so that they can take pictures at the museum they plan to visit later that day. When asks if he likes the pizza he insults Emma by saying that it's good because it doesn't lie. Later that day, on the way back to Neal's apartment, Emma brings up the matter of him coming back to Storybrooke with them. She also tries to get him to go by saying that based on his apartment he doesn't have much going on here. Neal tells her that it's a complicated matter, and that there is something she needs to know, but Henry asks if they can take the subway before he can tell her. Neal says that they can, and the group approaches Neal's apartment. While Henry and Neal go upstairs to get the camera, Mr. Gold asks Emma if she talked to Neal about coming to Storybrooke. Emma tells him what Neal told her about it being complicated, but Mr. Gold does not accept. Emma begins to respond, but Hook rushes into the lobby in a flash, and stabs Mr. Gold with his hook. Hook is knocked unconscious by Emma, and Neal runs down when he hears the commotion. He instantly recognizes Hook, and sees his father's injuries. They bring Mr. Gold up to Neal's apartment and mention locking Hook in the storage room. Mr. Gold pushes Henry away when he asks him if he is alright. Based on Hook's map Emma finds out that Hook got to New York on his Jolly Roger, and they need to use it to get back to Storybrooke as soon as possible. Surprise is etched across Emma's face when Neal offers to captain the ship, telling Emma he knows how. Emma later asks Neal how he knows Hook, and he tells her that "this world wasn't my first stop", and if it was he would be a over a hundred years old. Through a text from Mary Margaret, she learns that Cora and Regina are after Mr. Gold's dagger, which she tells Mr. Gold. After discovering that Mary Margaret and David are trying to find it first, she asks Mr. Gold where it is hidden. He refuses to tell her, but eventually reveals it is in the Storybrooke Clock Tower. While getting a car to bring Mr. Gold to the ship, Emma asks Neal why he is helping his dad. Neal tells her that there is a big difference between not talking to his dad and watching him die. She thinks that the car that Neal finds is to be hotwired, but it is just a car that he borrowed from a friend. Finally Neal prepares to tell Emma about what has been going on since their last encounter, and a woman runs up. Her name is Tamara, and Neal tells Emma that he is engaged to her.

Trivia

 * "Emma" means "all-embracing, universal, whole, complete"; and the show writers have stated that "Swan" is a reference to the story of The Ugly Duckling and the Dharma Swan Station from Lost.
 * Loves her hot chocolate with cinnamon, a trait that she shares with her mother and son.
 * Emma claims to have an extra-special ability which is being able to tell when someone is lying to her. The show writers have stated this is not a magical ability, which is why it has been failing her in her interactions with Sidney Glass about Regina and Henry or Greg Mendell about what he saw when his car crashed; her personal involvement in a situation hampers her ability to detect lies.
 * She used to wear glasses when she was younger.
 * Emma has been seen at times donning a necklace with a small swan engraving on it. It is a pyrrha swannecklace which she fashioned out of a key chain that was given to her by her former lover Neal Cassidy.
 * Possesses a star charm keyring.
 * Has a flower tattoo on the inside of her left wrist.
 * In the original script for the first episode, the character's name was Anna.
 * The inn room key Granny hands Emma has an ornament with an engraving of a swan.

Appearances
Emma Swan Emma Swan Emma Swan Emma Swan Emma Swan Emma Swan Emma Swan