Leaving Storybrooke

"I thought my story came to an end a long time ago, and then new people came into my life... People who gave me a second chance. I can't wait to see what's store for me next. Well, for everyone. I refuse to believe there won't be more adventures, more love, more family. And yes, there will be more loss, because that's just a part of life. And in the end, we can get past it all... with hope."

- Regina Mills

"Leaving Storybrooke" is the twenty-second and final episode of Season Seven of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, and directed by Ralph Hemecker. It is the one hundred and fifty-fifth episode of the series overall, and premiered on May 18, 2018.

This episode is the second part of the season seven finale and the series finale.

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

Starring

 * Lana Parrilla as Evil Queen*/Regina Mills*/Roni
 * Colin O'Donoghue as Hook/Rogers
 * Andrew J. West as Henry Mills
 * Dania Ramirez as Jacinda Vidrio
 * Alison Fernandez as Lucy
 * Mekia Cox as Sabine
 * Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin*/Mr. Gold*/Weaver/ Rumplestiltskin (Wish Realm)

Special Guest Starring

 * Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White*/Mary Margaret Blanchard
 * Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
 * Josh Dallas as Prince Charming*/David Nolan
 * Emilie de Ravin as Belle*/Belle French
 * Jared S. Gilmore as Young Henry*/Sir Henry (Wish Realm)
 * Rebecca Mader as Zelena/Kelly West

Guest Starring

 * Tony Amendola as Geppetto*/Marco
 * David Anders (Press release only)
 * Lee Arenberg as Grumpy*/Leroy
 * Beverley Elliott as Granny
 * Christopher Gauthier as Smee
 * Sean Maguire as Robin Hood
 * Rose Reynolds as Tilly
 * Tiera Skovbye as Margot
 * Raphael Sbarge as Archie Hopper
 * Keegan Connor Tracy as Blue Fairy*/Mother Superior/Blue Fairy (Wish Realm)

Co-Starring

 * David Avalon as Doc
 * Jack Davies as Pinocchio
 * Faustino di Bauda as Sleepy*/Walter
 * Gabe Khouth as Sneezy*/Mr. Clark
 * Abigayle Laura Mutch as 5-Year-Old Margot

Uncredited

 * Cinder as Pongo
 * Unknown baby as Hope
 * Unknown as Prince Neal
 * Eric Keenleyside as Moe French*
 * Georgina Haig as Elsa*
 * Merrin Dungey as Ursula*
 * Kristin Bauer van Straten as Maleficent*
 * Victoria Smurfit as Cruella De Vil*
 * Mig Macario as Bashful*
 * Michael Coleman as Happy*
 * Jeffrey Kaiser as Dopey*
 * Sarah Bolger as Aurora*
 * Julian Morris as Prince Phillip*
 * Olivia Steele Falconer as Violet Morgan*
 * Jessy Schram as Cinderella*
 * Tim Phillipps as Prince Thomas*
 * Deniz Akdeniz as Aladdin*
 * Karen David as Jasmine*
 * Unknown baby as Emma Swan*
 * Unknown baby as Young Henry*
 * Dave Mathews as Doctor*
 * Meghan Ory as Ruby*
 * Unknown baby as Prince Neal*
 * Jakob Davies as Pinocchio*
 * Unknown baby as Gideon*
 * Michael P. Northey as Friar Tuck*
 * Jason Burkart as Little John*
 * Raphael Alejandro as Roland*
 * Amy Manson as Merida*
 * Jamie Dornan as Sheriff Graham*
 * Barbara Hershey as Cora*
 * Noah Bean as Daniel Colter*
 * Bernard Curry as Liam Jones*
 * Robbie Kay as Peter Pan*
 * Michael Raymond-James as Neal Cassidy*

Trivia

 * -|Production Notes=

Title

 * The title card features the "Leaving Storybrooke" sign.
 * It is also the third and last Season Seven title card to not feature the Seattle skyline. The two other are from "The Guardian" and "Homecoming".
 * The title of this episode was revealed by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on March 14, 2018.
 * This episode is named after the road sign with the same message at the Storybrooke town line.

Production Notes

 * This episode contains the most number of guest starring members in the whole series.
 * Sleepy and Dr. Whale's names are misspelled "Sleep" and "Dr. Wale", respectively, in the press release.
 * An establishing shot of the Wish Realm version of the Dark Castle is stock footage from the background plate used for the view of the Dream World version of the original Dark Castle in the Season Six premiere "The Savior", and from an establishing shot of the same building in the Season Six episode "Changelings".
 * Jakob Davies, who portrayed Pinocchio for most of the show, being replaced by his younger brother Jack Davies by the time of "The Song in Your Heart", accompanied Jack to the set on the last day of filming for the series finale.
 * Originally, Emma and Hook's baby was not going to appear on the show.
 * The scene with Henry riding down Storybrooke Main Street was originally accompanied by footage of Tilly, Margot and Rogers in front of Granny's Diner, and Archie and Pongo walking down the street. However, the footage was deleted in post-production.
 * Footage of Henry riding through a forest was also filmed, but was deleted from the episode.
 * The shot of a garden pinwheel of Tinker Bell on a house lawn in Storybrooke is stock footage from the "Pilot" episode.
 * At a fan convention in 2018, Rebecca Mader proposed the series finale would involve everyone from all the realms ending up all together in Storybrooke, despite not knowing at the time that this is exactly what would happen in the episode script.


 * -|Episode Connections=

Event Chronology

 * The Wish Realm events take place after "Homecoming" and (due to the time travel revealed in "Is This Henry Mills?") several years before "Breadcrumbs".
 * The Storybrooke scenes take place after "Homecoming" and (due to the time travel) before "Hyperion Heights".
 * The United Realms events take place several years later, several months after "A Pirate's Life" (where Emma was pregnant with baby Hope, who is an an infant in this episode).
 * The Mount Olympus events take place after "Last Rites".

Episode Connections

 * The Wish Realm version of Rumplestiltskin kidnapped Lucy and Jacinda in "Homecoming", with Roni, Henry, Weaver, and Rogers attempting to rescue them in the same episode.
 * Tilly and Margot arrived in Storybrooke in "Homecoming".
 * The Wish Realm version of Henry removed the power of the Guardians in Homecoming.
 * Regina Mills killed the Wish Realm versions of Prince Charming and Snow White in "Wish You Were Here".
 * Zelena lost her Magic in "Where Bluebirds Fly".
 * Zelena regained her magic in "Secret Garden".
 * While Roni is giving a speech to the kingdom, clips from "Pilot", "Snow Falls", "The Price of Gold", "That Still Small Voice", "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter", "Dreamy", "The Stable Boy". "The Stranger", "A Land Without Magic", "Broken", "Queen of Hearts", "The Outsider", "The Miller's Daughter", "The Heart of the Truest Believer", "Good Form", "Going Home", "New York City Serenade", "Quiet Minds", "Snow Drifts", "There's No Place Like Home", "A Tale of Two Sisters", "Breaking Glass", "Darkness on the Edge of Town", "Poor Unfortunate Soul", "Sympathy for the De Vil", "Operation Mongoose Part 1", "Dreamcatcher", "The Bear and the Bow", "Souls of the Departed", "Last Rites", "A Wondrous Place" and "The Final Battle Part 2" are seen.
 * -|Cultural References=

Disney

 * Tiana from The Princess and the Frog appears.
 * A garden pinwheel of Tinker Bell appears on a house lawn in Storybrooke.

Fairytales and Folklore

 * This episode features Rumplestiltskin from the Rumplestiltskin fairytale, Captain Hook, Smee, and Tinker Bell from the Peter Pan story, Robin Hood from the ballad, Pinocchio and the Blue Fairy from the The Adventures of Pinocchio, the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz story, Maleficent from the Sleeping Beauty fairytale and Pongo from The Hundred and One Dalmatians story.
 * Zorro from the story of the same name is mentioned and revealed to be Lily's father.
 * According to Edward Kitsis, they couldn't get the rights to the character, which is the reason why he doesn't appear in the episode.

''Lost

 * In the beginning of the episode, the time on the clock tower in Storybrooke is 8:15, a reference to Oceanic Flight 815. The same time is on the clock at the end of the episode.


 * -|Set Notes=

Props Notes

 * An excerpt from the Grimm fairy tale "The Pink" can be seen next to an illustration of Snow White in her storybook.
 * When Regina is crowned the leader of the United Realms, Wish Henry is wearing Storybrooke's deputy sheriff's badge.

Costume Notes

 * Mary Margaret is wearing a Ted Baker Embellished Collar Sweater (exact style no longer available).
 * The dress Kelly is wearing during Roni's coronation is the same dress worn by her Enchanted Forest counterpart in the Season Three episode "Kansas".
 * The dress Mary Margaret is wearing during Roni's coronation is the same dress worn by the Wish Realm counterpart of her original persona in the Season Six episode "Wish You Were Here".


 * -|Goofs=

Goofs

 * In the scene where Leroy, Doc, and Walter arrive in front of Granny's Diner to receive their packed lunches from Granny, Archie is nowhere to be seen. After Leroy accepts the lunch bags and turns around as the Rollin' Bayou comes down the street, the next shot shows Archie is suddenly there with his dog Pongo.


 * -|Other Notes=

Filming Locations

 * The scene in the snow globe cabin was filmed on a television set at The Bridge Studios.
 * Burnaby's Central Park doubles as the Wish Realm for the scene with Rogers, Margot and the Black Knights.
 * A deleted scene with Henry riding a horse through the forest was filmed by Central Park's upper pond.
 * The scene where Roni is crowned the Queen of the United Realms was filmed on a green-screen set at The Bridge Studios. Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas couldn't be there when the others filmed and instead filmed their part later with a body double for Emma, and the family was reunited digitally in post-production.