Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-31427137-20170331142300/@comment-25375217-20170331160722

Hm... I guess I never really thought about it. I just took the plot at face value, which is that she was able to stay because she left the boundaries of Storybrooke - but if that's the case, surely Hook, Neal, Snow, Charming, and Regina could have stuck around, too?

We do know that the curse was supposed to take her back - Regina said that everyone would be taken except Henry unless Emma etc. So the real question is, why was she allowed to leave, and why weren't any of the others? How hard would it have been for everyone who was interested in staying in the Land Without Magic (which would probably be Emma and anyone who is emotionally attached to Emma and/or Henry, hence the above list) to all move to New York or Boston together while anyone who wanted to return (Belle would probably still want to find out a way to revive Rumple, and then I'm sure there were some guest characters who missed the EF more than they liked Emma) just sticks around in Storybrooke and are taken by the curse.

I guess the best in-universe excuse is her role as the Savior. The best out-of-universe excuse? Plot. Emma needed to not be in the EF so that she couldn't stop Zelena, and everyone else needed to be in the EF so that they could miss Emma and Henry.