Kathryn Nolan

''"I've always had this irrational fear of leaving Storybrooke, like something was holding me back... is that crazy?"

- Kathryn to Regina ''

Kathryn Nolan is a minor character in Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the third episode of the first season. She is played by guest star Anastasia Griffith and is the Storybrooke counterpart of Princess Abigail. Kathryn is the estranged wife of David Nolan, with whom she had a fight with in the early years of Storybrooke, which resulted in him leaving and being found in a coma by Regina Mills.

She comes across as a sweet, kind young woman who genuinely cares about David's well being, even going as far as showing him pictures of their near non-existent life together.

Season One
Kathryn is first introduced when John Doe, later revealed to be David Nolan, wakes up and is brought back to Storybrooke hospital by Mary Margaret, Sheriff Graham and Emma Swan. Regina Mills brought her in, as Regina was David's emergency contact, under the pretext of finding her by rewatching previous hospital tapes.

She tells David that they had gotten into a fight and he had left; she had assumed that he left Storybrooke after all that time and now knew why he never contacted her. Emma becomes suspicious, but Kathryn brushes her off and reunites with her husband.

After David is discharged from the hospital, she throws him a welcome-home party filled with people he doesn't recognize. After having a talk with Emma, David leaves to go to Mary Margaret's house while Kathryn hides out in the kitchen. Regina confronts her, and she confesses her insecurities about their marriage. Regina encourages her to go after David and after a brief pep talk, Kathryn thanks her and declares Regina to be her friend.

A few weeks later, the mayor directs David to Mr. Gold 's shop, where he suddenly remembers everything about their marriage. He promises her that he'll make their marriage work, and pushes all thoughts about Mary Margaret behind him. Kathryn never knew about him pursuing the schoolteacher.

A few weeks later, after Sheriff Graham's death, Kathryn applies to a law school in Boston and is accepted. She tells David, who decides that it was wonderful news, and takes a walk. He talks to Mary Margaret (with whom he had been having an affair a few days prior) and decides to tell his wife about the affair.

When he speaks with her, he opts out of mentioning Mary Margaret and instead says that he can no longer be with her. Kathryn becomes tearful and goes to Regina to let her know that David left her. Regina casually mentions Mary Margaret's name and shows her pictures that Sidney took of the two together. Kathryn becomes furious and lashes out on Regina, saying that she was never her friend, and leaves.

She is then shown to be storming toward the schoolhouse where Mary Margaret teaches. She confronts Mary Margaret in the middle of the hallway, running into the gym teacher in the process, and reveals to her that David never told her about the affair. After another stormy rant, Kathryn leaves, leaving a shaken Mary Margaret behind her.

After she comes to terms with the affair, she writes a letter for her ex-husband and Mary Margaret and goes to Regina's office. She apologizes for her behavior and tells the mayor about her plans to move to Boston alone are still going to happen. Then she tells Regina about the letter she left for David, dropping several too-close-to-home hints about the Dark Curse's effects. Then she leaves for Boston.

Once she's gone, Regina enters the Nolan house using the skeleton keys she kept in her desk. She grabs the letter, brings it back to the office, and burns it. Kathryn is shown driving away from Storybrooke in the middle of the night.

She disappears the moment the letter is burnt completely, and her empty car is found by the gym teacher. The car is later discovered in the episode Red-Handed. Mary Margaret goes to search for Kathryn in the woods, and finds David in a trance-like state, wandering aimlessly. She reports this to Emma.

Emma convinces Ruby to go down to the Toll Bridge to search for clues. Ruby does, albeit unwillingly, and discovers a box with a human heart inside by the side of the creek. Emma runs some tests on it and discovers that the fingerprints on it belong to Mary Margaret.

Trivia

 * ​Kathryn means "pure" in Greek; Nolan means "famous."
 * She lives at Number 44.
 * The box in which a human heart was found (presumably Kathryn's) is very similiar to the boxes used by Regina/Evil Queen to hold human hearts.

Apperances

 * Snow Falls
 * That Still Small Voice
 * The Shepherd
 * What Happened to Frederick
 * Red-Handed - mentioned only

Kathryn Nolan