Emma Swan

'''"You wanna change things? You're gonna have to go out there and change them yourself because there are no fairy godmothers in this world."

- Emma to Ashley Boyd '''

Emma Swan is the main character and protagonist of Once Upon a Time. She makes her debut in the first episode of the first season. She is portrayed by starring cast member Jennifer Morrison and does not have any counterpart.

Emma is the biological mother of Henry Mills and the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming.

Season One
Emma Swan was born to Snow White and Prince Charming during a time of much turmoil in Fairytale Land. Some time prior, the Evil Queen threatened to destroy the happiness of all inhabitants of the fairytale world. Rumpelstiltskin 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 she was born early. Prince Charming and Snow 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, Emma as a newborn arrived in the woods 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. Later, however, Pinocchio runs away from the foster home he and Emma are placed in, leaving her behind. Emma gets stuck in the foster care system, bouncing from family to family. She eventually gets out of the system at sixteen and, two years later, wound up pregnant with a baby boy. She gave birth to him in prison and gave him up in a closed adoption, because she wanted him to have a chance at a better life.

Emma becomes a bail-bonds-person and goes after a man 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 for her flat and brings out a cupcake to celebrate her twenty-eighth birthday. She lights the candle, closes her eyes, and silently wishes that she wouldn't be alone on her birthday.

Just as she wishes that, someone knocks on the door. She opens it to see a little kid who 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'll 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're 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 Happily Ever After, and also adds that they couldn't 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 didn't 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 doesn't even know that Henry exists. The mayor explains that she's 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's talking about.

She invites Emma to leave and the bail bondsman goes out to her car. As she turns back, she sees Henry in his bedroom window, watching her. 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. The car goes out of control and hits the town marker, knocking Emma unconscious.

She wakes up in a jail cell, where she officially 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.

Just then, Regina comes and says that Henry has run away again. Emma offers to help and, after some snooping, go to Mary Margaret Blanchard because Henry had stolen her credit card to make a payment to a birth-mother tracking site. When the two are alone, Mary Margaret suggests to Emma to check Henry's castle.

After she brings Henry home, she and Regina get into an argument. Emma becomes angry and heads to Granny's Bed and Breakfast, where she meets Ruby and Granny arguing. She requests a room and Mr. Gold, who was collecting the rent from Granny, comes up and wishes her an enjoyable stay. The clock starts ticking once Granny hands the room key to Emma. ("Pilot")

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 also thinks that Emma will enjoy them on her way back to Boston.

Emma points out that Regina telling her to leave is just encouraging her to stay, and that she wants to stay and make sure her biological son is okay. When Regina says that she has things under control, Emma asks what she means and Regina says that she has the boy in therapy and warns Emma not to underestimate her power.

Emma goes to Granny's Diner and is about to eat the apple when Ruby, who works there, gives her a hot chocolate and tells her that she has an admirer. Emma turns around to see Graham, but he didn't give her the hot chocolate. Henry stands up and announces that he was the one who ordered her the hot chocolate, then invites her to walk him to school.

On their way to school, she is about to eat the apple again, but Henry grabs it and throws it over his shoulder. They talk about the Dark Curse that had settled over Storybrooke and Henry suggests the codename "Operation Cobra" because it would keep the Evil Queen off their trail. Henry then 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 begins talking about his fairytale theory. Emma asks her who he thinks she is, and she replies, "Snow White," leaving Emma in shock. When she asks her who Henry thinks she is, the blonde lies and says that she isn't in the book.

She then goes to find 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 tell her about it.

As Emma is reading the file, Graham walks in her room and asks to check her room for the "stolen files" and arrests her once he finds them. Emma claims that Regina set her up, but doesn't resist the arrest. They go to the police station, where Graham takes a few "mug shots" and they talk about Regina.

Mary Margaret and Henry come to bail her out, and she goes back to the inn, where she is evicted by Granny because of their "no-felony policy." Emma heads to Regina's house in order to confront her. Instead, they go to Regina's office and talk about Henry, where she indirectly calls him crazy.

Unfortunately, Henry overhears and runs upstairs. She 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 afterward. 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 she was out of a place to stay, and invites her to become roommates with her. 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, but lets it slide.

The next day, she is walking Henry to school 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'll 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 and Ashley reunite.

The next day, she 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 doesn't 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 and kisses her. He gets a flash of a wolf, Mary Margaret and a 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 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.

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 didn't 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'll 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."

The next day, 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, that Regina stole 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 with her and warns her to stay away from Henry, or else she would 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.

When Mary Margaret begins her affair with David Nolan, Emma warns her not to get involved with a married man. Unfortunately, Mary Margaret doesn't 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 didn't want to be alone.

When 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 doesn't 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 defending herself quietly. Emma interrupts and forces Dr. Whale to leave. Mary Margaret then 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 can't 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'd 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's looking for.

Ruby complies and finds a box with a human heart in it. Ruby is disgusted, but Emma reassures her and tells her that she was wonderful at this kind of job. As a result, the girl returns to Granny's Diner and gets her job back, as well as finding her 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 then 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're 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's 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's 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. Select suspicions of Regina select suspicions of Regina select suspicions of Regina 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 Emma to make a hat so that he could go back to the Fairytale Land.

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 to start making a hat. He tells her that she and Mary Margaret weren't leaving until she got her 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 to be Grace, his daughter. However, the Dark Curse separated them, and now Grace - called Paige in Storybrooke - didn't know who her true father was.

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. When Jefferson corners Emma at gunpoint, Mary Margaret hits him with a croquet mallet and kickboxes 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 bug and leaving for Boston, or going back to the jail. She confesses her fears about being lonely if Mary Margaret leaves because she considers Mary Margaret 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. Select her role as savior select her role as savior 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's tried to take has had no merits; from Mr. Gold's assistance to the incriminating shovel that should've 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 can only utter, "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 can't 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 implanated in the flowe 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 doesn't 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 doesn't 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.

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's leaving Storybrooke, but that she will visit him. She tells him she can't 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 consciusness.

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 Fairytale Land. She attacks Regina, realizing that it's 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.

Using a gun, and eventually the sword, Emma slays Maleficent, and retrives the True Love hidden inside of her. As she is traveling up the elevator, it stops 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 recive a call from the Hosptial. 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, They stand together as the Purple Smoke engulfs them.

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.
 * She has appeared in every episode thus far.
 * Loves her hot chocolate with cinnamon, a trait that she shares with her mother and son.
 * She is the only one that can leave Storybrooke besides Henry, who left briefly in the Pilot to find her and had no choice but to come back to Regina Mills.
 * 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; her personal involvement in the situation hampers her ability to detect lies.
 * It is hinted that she had a relationship with a married man, who may possibly be Henry's father. In the episode, That Still Small Voice, she warns Mary Margaret, who had been spending time with David Nolan, to not get involved with a married man.
 * Emma has shared likenesses in experiences with her mother Snow:
 * Interestingly, they both gave their child up at birth. This to give them "their best chance."
 * Both had run-ins with the Huntsman. Snow in Fairytale Land, after he spared her life, and Emma in Storybrooke with Sheriff Graham, who had feelings for her until his death.
 * Also they both met Grumpy/Leroy in a similar situation of being thrown in jail. The first words Grumpy said to Snow in Fairytale Land was, "What are you looking at, sister?" in King George's dungeon, the same line he used on Emma the first time he saw her in Storybrooke's jail holding cell. Plus, Leroy/Grumpy were both whistling the same tune.
 * Though she may not approve of Mr. Gold 's methods for getting his deals done, she does approve of the results as she is willing to hire him to clear Mary Margaret's name in the Kathryn Nolan murder case. (Heart of Darkness)
 * Emma has been seen at times donning a necklace with a small swan engraving on it. It is a Pyrrha Swan Necklace.
 * Possesses a star charm keyring.
 * Has a flower tattoo on the inside of her left wrist.
 * Because of her unwillingness to believe in the Dark Curse, she is "blind" to things from Fairytale Land, such as the physical appearance of August Booth's leg turning back into wood. Presumably, this also made her overlook the scar on Jefferson's neck from his temporary beheading.
 * In the pilot script, her character's original name was Anna.
 * During the first episode, the inn room key Granny hands Emma has a ornament with an engraving of a swan.

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