David Nolan

"You are both. The town is both. We are both."

- David to the townspeople

David Nolan, formerly known as John Doe, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the first episode of the first season. He is portrayed by starring cast member Josh Dallas, and is the Storybrooke counterpart of Prince Charming.

History
After the casting of the curse, David ends up in a comatose state in Storybrooke's hospital. Mayor Regina Mills never anticipated he might awaken, but the story of his life is that he is married to a woman named Kathryn Nolan. They had numerous issues in their marriage, and after one fight, David leaves. Regina finds him on the side of the road, and brings him to the hospital where no one is able to identity him, or find any of his relatives. Regina becomes his emergency contact, and he stays in the coma and is known as John Doe.
 * -|During the Curse=

The day the curse takes effect, Regina goes to see school teacher Mary Margaret. She brings Mary Margaret to the hospital, and shows her to John Doe's room. Mary Margaret does not recognize him, but hopes someone who loves him could find him someday. From this day onward, Mary Margaret visits his hospital room frequently.

A few days after Emma arrived in Storybrooke, Henry convinces her to ask Mary Margaret to read Henry's storybook, full of stories from the Enchanted Forest, to the hospital's coma patient John Doe. Because he think John Doe is Prince Charming, Mary Margaret agrees, expecting nothing to happen and hoping Henry will realize fairytales are only stories. She visits David's hospital room that night and begins to read to him. Halfway through the story, David, while still unconscious, grabs Mary Margaret's hand. During the night, David awakens and wanders out to the forest in search of someone; collapsing unconscious at the stream near the Toll Bridge. Resuscitated by Mary Margaret, he is brought back to the hospital to recuperate. Suddenly, his wife, Kathryn, shows up to reunite with him.

While making a physical recovery, David spends time playing hangman with Mary Margaret, who is a hospital volunteer, when Kathryn shows up with old photos to help remind him of their life together. Guiltily, he pretends to recall memories to spare Kathryn's feelings. He catches Mary Margaret as she is leaving the hospital and persuades her to accompany him on his doctor ordered exercise. They take a walk where David admits being around Kathryn doesn't feel right and the only person he can connect with is Mary Margaret. As they share a close moment, Kathryn approaches to give David some of his favorite muffins. Though David is looking forward to seeing Mary Margaret again tomorrow, little does he know that she is resigning from volunteer duty.

After being discharged from the hospital, David returns home to a welcome home party filled with people he does not recognize. Uncomfortable, he disappears from the party and seeks out Mary Margaret. David tries to express in words he wants to be with her over Kathryn. He makes the split decision to leave his wife and directly tells Mary Margaret of his intentions while asking her to meet him at the Toll Bridge in the evening. On the walk there, he is given the wrong directions by Regina and ends up at Mr. Gold's pawnshop to get the correct path to the Toll Bridge. Upon turning to leave, he sees an old windmill that is his and looking at it helps to bring back memories prior to the coma. By the time he arrives at the Toll Bridge, he admits to Mary Margaret that he remembered his old life and wants to work on his marriage. Dejected, he stays behind as she departs in tears. After returning to Kathryn, he promises to make the effort on their marriage, to her glee.

After Sheriff Graham's death, he is helping to staple promotional posters of sheriff election candidate Sidney around town. He runs across Mary Margaret, who is promoting Emma for sheriff. Casually, she asks if he has found a job yet, and David mentions he is now working at the animal shelter. However, once Mary Margaret notices he is advertising for Sidney, she walks away with an excuse to get more posters.

Though he has made a commitment to Kathryn, David still can't stop thinking about Mary Margaret. He goes into the diner at seven-fifteen each morning to pick up coffee for himself and Kathryn, but purposely enters when Mary Margaret is also present inside. They exchange greetings and nothing more until one day Mary Margaret brings an injured dove to the animal shelter. On the advice of the veterinarian, Dr. Thatcher, the bird will heal, but must rejoin its flock or risk being alone forever. David tries to dissuade her against releasing the bird with an upcoming storm approaching, but she ignores his advice. He follows Mary Margaret and saves her from falling down a ravine. They huddle from the rain inside an abandoned cabin where sparks fly as the two confess their feelings for each other. David leans in to kiss her, but Mary Margaret pulls back to berate him for cheating on his pregnant wife. David is shocked at the news, which he was not aware of, though it brings attention to the fact he's still married. After the storm, she releases the dove back to its flock as they contently look on. David grasps her hand, but they agree not to see each other again. At home, David talks to Kathryn about the difficulties they've been having so far and learns she is not pregnant after all. Despite that, he'll continue to work through their relationship by going to therapy with her. The next morning, David goes to the diner at seven-forty-five, but sees Mary Margaret inside, to which he bolts and she chases him down. They realize both of them have been coming to the diner at seven-fifteen to see each other. Unable to hold back their feelings, David and Mary Margaret passionately kiss.

He and Mary Margaret begin seeing each other in secret. After preparing a picnic for the two of them by the Toll Bridge, he texts her and Mary Margaret rushes off to meet him there so they can have romantic outing in the woods.

On Valentine's Day, he buys two different Valentine's Day cards; one for Kathryn and the other for Mary Margaret. Mr. Gold spots this and starts a conversation about love. David feigns ignorance and claims the two cards are for the same woman. Afterwards, he heads to the bar where Mary Margaret is spending a girls' night out with Ruby and Ashley. David catches Mary Margaret watching Ashley and Sean ride off together, and hands her the Valentine's Day card. Unfortunately, he gives her the card meant for Kathryn and only after she opens to read the inside of it does David realize his mistake. Mary Margaret tells him to go home to Kathryn, and even though David knows she is right, he is unwilling to part with his feelings for her.

A few nights later, while he is having dinner with Kathryn, she announces to having applied and been accepted at a law school in Boston. David shows enthusiasm at her acceptance, but thinks Boston is too faraway. Kathryn suggests perhaps they need a fresh start to have a future together rather than trying to regain what they had in the past. Conflicted, he goes to Mary Margaret for advice. She thinks they should tell Kathryn the truth, and David agrees. When he returns home, David tries to gently let Kathryn know that he cannot go with her to Boston. Even when he has an opening to be honest, David doesn't want to hurt her and instead says they are simply not compatible together, but it should not stop Kathryn from pursuing her dream. Somehow, Kathryn discovers his affair with Mary Margaret and word soon spreads throughout the whole town. In the end, Mary Margaret feels betrayed that he lied and now that everyone knows, it shows what they have is destructive, and breaks up with him.

During the Miner's Day festival, David finds out from Emma that Kathryn is missing. He keeps his distance from Mary Margaret and watches as her reputation slowly rebuilds itself. That night, Emma approaches to take him to the sheriff department for questioning about Kathryn's disappearance.

David is interviewed all night, but sticks to the story that he knows nothing. Emma allows David to go home, but advises him to get a lawyer. From the time he leaves the sheriff department, his memory becomes blank and ends up wandering the woods in a foggy haze. He is found by Emma and Ruby in a delirious state with a cut to his forehead. At the hospital, Dr. Whale gives the diagnosis as something similar in experience to when he first awoke from the coma and left his room. This is alarming to David, who begins to hypothesize that he could've killed Kathryn and not even know it, when Regina barges in demanding his arrest, though Emma fights against it. David leaves for the animal shelter and confesses to Mary Margaret his fears about what he did to Kathryn. Emma arrives to inform them a box with Kathryn's heart was found. Before she announces the results of the fingerprints on the box, David assumes he did it, but they are a match for Mary Margaret.

Later, after Mary Margaret's arrest, David goes to Regina to plead for mercy. He believes Mary Margaret is not capable of such evil and the evidence must be a mistake. However, Regina refuses, and David goes to Archie for advice on his blackouts. Archie tries hypnosis to find out what he has been doing in his blackouts. While in the hypnosis state, David begins to see flashes of his life as Prince Charming. He sees Snow White on a mission to kill the Evil Queen, and pleads for her to not do it. David mistakes the memories for Mary Margaret's attempt in harming Kathryn and begins to doubt her innocence. He goes to ask Mary Margaret for the truth, but she is shocked at his lack and faith and orders him to leave.

The day after, he approaches Emma to clear up the misinterpretation from his last visit to Mary Margaret. David believes the situation made him confused, though he doesn't actually believe she is guilty. He asks to see Mary Margaret, but Emma brisks that she doesn't want visitors. He takes the hint; recognizing that Mary Margaret doesn't want to see him. Emma is sympathetic, as she can guess his heart is in the right place, but the last person Mary Margaret needs to hear from is him.

Kathryn mysteriously turns up alive and unharmed, so Mary Margaret is free of the murder charges and allowed to go home. During an apartment party in honor of Mary Margaret's return, David attempts to enter and apologize to Mary Margaret, but Emma shoos him away at her request.

Finally, David decides that it is time to leave Storybrooke and comes to Mary Margaret about his decision. He says he will stay if she will give him a reason to, which Mary Margaret cannot, and they part ways. Just as David is driving out of town, the Dark Curse is broken by Emma, and he recalls his memories as Prince Charming. Returning to Storybrooke, he sets out to find Mary Margaret and reunites with her as she, too, recalls her memories as Snow White. Overhead, they witness a purple smoke quickly approaching and brace themselves as it engulfs them.

Upon remembering his true identity as Prince Charming, David is happily reunited with several of his friends, including Granny, Ruby, Mother Superior and the seven dwarves. He is most excited to finally be together with his daughter Emma as well as recognizing Henry as his grandson. They begin heading to Mr. Gold's pawnshop to figure out what the purple smoke was. While David and Mary Margaret are overjoyed to see Emma and realize she saved them all by breaking the curse, they are a little stunned when she asks for time and space to adjust to the situation. Suddenly, Archie rushes up to inform them that Dr. Whale is leading an angry mob to Regina's house. Prompted by Henry's concern for Regina, they make it in time to stop Dr. Whale. They decide to place Regina in a jail cell for protection and then confront Mr. Gold for his misdeeds. Instead, they learn Mr. Gold released a Wraith upon town to destroy Regina. They temporarily stop the creature, but Regina has a more permanent solution by using a hat to send it away. After the vortex opens, the Wraith is sucked in, but Emma is as well. In horror, David watches Mary Margaret jump in after Emma and as he moves to follow, the vortex closes. David angrily demands answers from Regina, but she doesn't know where the vortex has taken them. He is strangled by Regina's magic until Henry and Ruby walk in. Since Henry blames his mother for the loss of Emma and Mary Margaret, David takes custody of him for the time being.
 * -|After Broken Curse=

The next day, David goes to Regina's house to confront her about the vortex. Despite her threats, he is satisfied to know she has trouble with magic as well as her parental skills. In the aftermath of losing Emma and Mary Margaret and the Wraith attack, he is swarmed by confused townspeople. David learns from Mother Superior that they can't use the hat without the presence of fairy dust. Shortly after, Leroy blurts out that anyone who leaves town will lose all their Enchanted Forest memories. With too much going on at once, David asks the townspeople to regroup at town hall in two hours time to hear his plan; despite that he actually has no idea what to do. In front of a mirror, David is trying to come up with a speech to raise the townspeople's spirits, but finds his words are full of lack luster. Instead, he turns his attention to a solution in bringing Emma and Mary Margaret back. After Henry suggests finding the Mad Hatter, David runs to Mr. Gold's shop and the two make a deal—a person-finding potion in exchange for both of them staying out of each other's way. When David finally finds the Mad Hatter, who is Jefferson, he refuses to help, but tells him the Enchanted Forest still exists. Still stuck on the idea of getting his family back, he is snapped back to reality by Ruby of their current problems in town, such as Regina stealing Henry and the townspeople frightened to the point they are trying to leave town. Just in time, he and Ruby stop the traffic of cars driving out of Storybrooke. He wins them over by reminding the townspeople that it is easier to forget every memory, but together, they can accept their Storybrooke and Enchanted Forest selves. His heartfelt speech compels them to return home. Next, David goes to get Henry back from Regina, who surprisingly, doesn't try to put up a fight. Regina affirms what Jefferson told David, but there isn't a known route to reach the Enchanted Forest. At the diner, David offers consolation to Henry about Emma and Mary Margaret's whereabouts.

Henry brings up a new game plan dubbed "Operation Scorpion" to save Emma and Mary Margaret, but David feels it's not safe for him to help. After sending him off to school, David is tipped off by Regina that Henry is sneaking into her vault. He arrives in time to close a box containing vipers and save Henry. Though Henry wants to help find his family, David believes it's best he not get involved. To make up for it, David teaches Henry how to sword fight with wooden weapons.

A few days later, David has assumed the role of temporary sheriff since Emma's absence. He pitches in with the dwarves to mine for fairy dust when he is approached by Mr. Gold over Belle's disappearance. David decides to help once he sees Mr. Gold's genuine love for her. They receive assistance from Ruby, who has regained her wolfish sense of smell, and tracks Belle to her father's flower shop. After some threats, Mr. Gold deduces he is sending Belle across the town line as David realizes Moe's dirt-covered hands are evidence of being in the mines. They find her handcuffed to a speeding mine cart, so Mr. Gold uses magic to pull Belle back to safety.

Upon seeing Dr. Whale on the street, he punches him for sleeping with Mary Margaret, though the doctor claims it was at a time no one had their Enchanted Forest memories back yet. David confirms to Dr. Whale that the rumors about finding a way to the Enchanted Forest are true. Later, he gives Henry a day off from school and they go to the stables so his grandson can learn how to be "a proper knight". David wants Henry to "horse-sit" first until the animal decides he is ready to ride. When Daniel hears about Dr. Whale's accident, he rushes to the hospital with the assumption Regina is to blame. Rather than that, she explains Dr. Whale resurrected her dead fiancé Daniel and he may be in the horse tables. Realizing Henry is in danger, they hurry to stop Daniel from strangling the boy. David manages to lock Daniel in one of the horse stables and wants to put him down, but allows Regina to talk to her fiancé. Regina finally lets Daniel go by turning him into dust.

One night, Henry awakens screaming from a horrible nightmare. As he describes the dream, David comforts him at his bedside.

David and Mother Superior are brought to the mines when the dwarves stumble upon diamonds, which can be used to make fairy dust. In celebration, they head over to the diner to have a late night drinking bash. At a table booth, David sees Henry drinking coffee and reassures him to be there if something happens in the dreams. After he urges Henry to grab some cocoa instead, Albert sits down in the booth with him. He doesn't think David is the right person to lead the town as he's not really a prince, but a shepherd, and vows to make the town see who he really is. David is certain the town knows who their leader is and leaves for the diner backroom to stumble upon Granny and Ruby emptying the freezer. It's nearly the first curse-free wolfs time for Ruby and they need a place for her to spend the night when she transforms. In the morning, he and Granny find Ruby in the woods, with no recollection of the night before, after she is missing from the freezer. When they get back into town, they find Billy's mangled corpse. Ruby begins to scream in horror, believing she has once again killed an innocent person, but David trusts her and doesn't think she did it. One reason for his belief in her innocence is David's regrets over not trusting Mary Margaret when she was accused of murder. Trouble brews when Albert and an angry townspeople want Ruby arrested for Billy's murder, so David locks her up for safety reasons. Fearing they are going to break in and kill Ruby, David, Belle and Granny hide her in the library. Then, he and Granny search and find Albert's car with a bloody hatchet and Ruby's stolen red cloak. He realizes this is Albert's plot at getting back at him. David hurries to stop a wolf Ruby from attacking Albert as he aims to gun her down. Helping her to regain control, he lays the cloak over her so she changes back into human. Too late, they see Albert has disappeared and come across him burning the hat. Enraged, David gives Albert a beat-down and prepares to kill him, but is convinced by Ruby to stand down. Later, at home, David contemplates it will be near impossible to bring Emma and Mary Margaret back without the hat, but Ruby assures him he can find a way because she knows what kind of man he is.

David is startled as Henry wakes up from his dream, stating that he met someone named Aurora, who says Emma and Mary Margaret are alive, and they need to stop Cora. Mr. Gold has Henry deliver a message to Aurora and let her know squid ink is the most effective way to defeat Cora. David, Mr. Gold and Regina send him to the Netherworld, but when he returns, communication with Aurora was severed and she did not receive the message. Henry suffers physical pains as a side effect of repeatedly returning to the Netherworld, so David volunteers to be put under a Sleeping Curse to find Mary Margaret. Though it is dangerous, he is positive that she will eventually wake him with true love's kiss. After Regina is finished making the curse, Mr. Gold puts a needle into the liquid for David to prick his finger on. While under the curse, David is trapped in a room full of mirrors until using a torch to break the floor and falls into a chamber surrounded by flames. Once there, he reunites with Mary Margaret and he tells her about the squid ink located in Rumplestiltskin's cell. Then, they lean in for true love's kiss, but their bodies cannot touch in a dream. Mary Margaret's conscious begins waking up from the Netherworld as David is left alone to feud off the fire.

David remains asleep in the pawnshop as Henry begins reading to him. Mary Margaret makes it back to Storybrooke and gives him true love's kiss. He awakens, happy to see his wife and Emma, and the three of them as Ruby and the dwarves catch up for lost time by having dinner at Granny's.

Since being reunited, David and Mary Margaret spend some "intimate" moments in the apartment when Emma and Henry walk in on. While Henry is convinced they are just lying down, Emma walks away uncomfortably. David jokes to Mary Margaret that it is impressive they can still provide their daughter with traumatic childhood memories this late in her life. Later that night, a celebration is thrown at Granny's in honor of Emma and Mary Margaret's return. To several of the other guests' displeasure, including David, Emma invited Regina to the party. The very next day, Archie is found dead in his office. Based on the prior confrontation Ruby saw Regina have with Archie, it's plausible she killed him. When Regina is brought in for questioning, David has no doubts that she murdered Archie. However, Emma is in convinced and instead thinks Mr. Gold has something to do with the situation. They go to his pawnshop where Emma uses a dream catcher to see into the memories of Archie's dog Pongo; witnessing an image of Regina choking Archie to death. Since Regina is more difficult to contain due to her magic, David and Mary Margaret suggest they trap her with fairy dust. With Emma, they confronts Regina on her doorstep about what she did. Mother Superior, on cue, attempts to freeze Regina, but she catches the dust in midair and tosses it aside. Angrily, Emma confirms that Regina will never change from who she is. To this, Regina disappears in a cloud of smoke. With reassurance from David, Emma breaks the bad news about Regina to Henry.

At Archie's funeral, David attempts to cheer up a despondent Henry, who has begun to call the man's office just to hear his voice on the answering machine. In the apartment, Emma enters to give Pongo over to Henry in an effort to cheer him up. Her parents agrees Pongo would be great for Henry, though things may get a bit cramped. However, he is shocked when Mary Margaret suggests the two of them move out and let Emma and Henry have the apartment. David is not very enthusiastic about the idea and when shown several houses from Mary Margaret, he turns down every one. His real desire is to go back to the Enchanted Forest, even though their home world is not the same as in the past with Cora in power and the ogres taking over, he insists they fight to regain what is theirs. However, she disagrees, as fighting is so tiresome and just wants a fresh start in Storybrooke. He and Mary Margaret later learn from Emma that Archie is alive, and was kidnapped by Cora, who apparently found a way to Storybrooke.

After a car crashes into Storybrooke, David and Mary Margaret accompany Emma on the drive to the scene. They observe an amnesiac and frightened Belle who crossed the town line, a run-over Hook with multiple cracked ribs and a passed out stranger in the crashed car. David and Emma work to restrain Mr. Gold from beating Hook to death for what he did to Belle. All three casualties are taken to the hospital as patients. David, Emma, Mary Margaret, Leroy and Ruby try to break into the stranger's phone to learn who he is. After reviewing some paperwork left in the man's car, Emma sees that his name is Greg Mendell. From hacking into the phone, he looks to be a normal person. Dr. Whale comes back from checking up on Greg and says the man is bleeding into his chest cavity. Unsure of his own skill, Dr. Whale consults Mr. Gold for help, but he refuses and only warns that they should hope Greg dies so an outsider can't spread their town's magic secret to the whole world. They go into a separate room to debate about the pros and cons of helping someone from outside of town. 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. Suddenly, Greg's phone starts ringing. No one dares to answer in fear the phone might be traced to Storybrooke. As they are waiting for the surgery to finish, a male nurse cannot find Dr. Whale, whose pager is the pocket of his disposed lab coat. Ruby runs off to track Dr. Whale by scent and brings him back to perform the operation on Greg. The surgery is a success and Emma goes in to gather information from Greg about what happened. He confesses to texting while driving. With a breath of relief, Emma and her parents return to the apartment. Henry wishes to know the day's events and after being filled in, he realizes the Frankenstein story is not a fairytale nor does it exist as in the storybook. Abruptly, Mr. Gold pays them a visit to ask Emma to fulfill the favor she owes him by helping 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.

In the morning, Emma brings Henry, who she wishes to protect from Cora, along for departure out of town with Mr. Gold. Afterwards, David and Mary Margaret receive Regina at the door. Again, she denies killing Archie, to which they apologize for suspecting her since he turned up alive. They also mention that Emma left town with Henry, which upsets Regina. After Hook is released from the hospital, David, Mary Margaret and Leroy question his alliance with Cora. He leads them onto his ship to show them a caged shrunken giant who Cora brought from the Enchanted Forest. They free the giant, Anton, who reacts in fury when he sees David. He proceeds to lash out at them, which Mary Margaret quickly stops by shooting an arrow at him. Anton leaves the ship, but promises David will pay for what he has done. At the diner, David is still confused about what the giant said until realizing he was mistaken for his brother, James. Soon, he, Mary Margaret and Leroy have to defend the town against a much larger Anton, who begins taking out his anger on humans. David directs all the residents to take cover at town hall while he attempts to clear up the misunderstanding with Anton. Leroy helps win over Anton by mentioning Emma was given the compass by him. Anton wishes to speak to Emma, but she is not in town, so he continues with the rampage by chasing the three down. Finally, David proposes to give up his own life to Anton so he spares the townspeople. As Anton moves to stomp on him, the three are blown back by the debris as the impact of the pound hits the ground. Anton, now back to human size, falls into giant-made hole clinging on for dear life. The townspeople work to help David scale down into the hole with a rope and pull Anton to safety. They introduce Anton to the diner in an effort to make him feel at home. As they talk, Mary Margaret mentions Storybrooke is their home now since there is no way of getting back to their old land. To this, Anton shows them a stem of a beanstalk that can grow magic beans. They let Anton inspect some soil content, which is suitable for planting the stem, as the seven dwarves arrive to help him. David and Mary Margaret leave them to it and briefly discuss the what-ifs had he been raised by King George rather than his twin, and then the topic turns to returning to the Enchanted Forest. While Mary Margaret doesn't want to leave Emma behind, David is sure that their daughter will be fine with Henry.

From Manhattan, Emma phones Mary Margaret with the revelation that Mr. Gold's son is also her ex-boyfriend and Henry's biological father. David is stunned at the news, which now connects not only Regina, but also Mr. Gold to their family tree. He quips that it's a good thing they did not have Thanksgiving in the Enchanted Forest, or otherwise it would have been one messed up holiday. Mary Margaret toys with the idea that this familial connection will be the key to bringing everyone together.

On Mary Margaret's birthday, David makes breakfast pancakes for her, even though he pretends to be making them out of hunger, she can obviously tell what is going on. As an unspoken conflict, Mary Margaret hates celebrating her birthday because her mother's passing occurred on the same date. On the table, she notices a nearly wrapped present, which he denies is from him. She opens the box to find the tiara she once received from her mother, Eva, on her coming-of-age birthday, and a card note from an old friend, Johanna. David cannot believe she, too, is also in Storybrooke. After a quick kiss, Mary Margaret heads out to look for her. David begins another day at the sheriff department only to be ambushed and knocked out by Hook, who then steals the drawer keys to grab his hook back. He finally comes to when Mary Margaret wakes him up. He mentions how Hook attacked him, but Mary Margaret has more urgent news about Regina being in cahoots with Cora and they are actively searching for Mr. Gold's dagger. They conclude the mother-daughter pair want it to either control Mr. Gold or make Cora the Dark One. He moves to phone Mr. Gold, but Mary Margaret already tried and he is not picking up. Instead, she plans on having a chat with Regina to pull her back to their side. The talk goes badly, so David and Mary Margaret try to procure the dagger's location from Mr. Gold by asking Emma to convince him. In the meantime, they unsuccessfully attempt to break into the pawnshop with Mother Superior's powers when David learns from Emma that the dagger is in the clock tower and nab it in time. However, Cora and Regina threaten to crush Johanna's heart unless they get the dagger. After Mary Margaret gives it up to them, Johanna is cruelly killed by Cora. The couple honor Johanna by burying her in the cemetery. To David's alarm, his wife wants revenge by murdering Cora.

As their daughter is returning from New York, David talks to Mary Margaret on the phone about the dagger's status with Cora and information from Emma about Mr. Gold's injury at Hook's hands. At the docks, David helps carry Mr. Gold to his car while meeting Henry's father, Neal, in the process. Mary Margaret secretly expresses an eagerness to do away with Cora, though David reminds her that she wasn't and isn't a murderer. He is troubled by Mary Margaret's explanation that killing Cora would be retribution for her own mother's death. David gently reasons that she wouldn't be able to going through the deed and live with the guilt since he knows her heart is the purest. After they return to the pawnshop, he leaves Mr. Gold to instruct Emma on how to enact a barrier spell. Once done, they all begin making preparations for battle. He senses something is on Mary Margaret's mind, but she remains quiet. Out of nowhere, the building begins shaking, signaling Cora and Regina's arrival, and the foursome assemble for a fight. David is the first to attack Regina, but is thrown out of the shop and knocked unconscious for the remainder of the onslaught. When he wakes, he calls Emma to ask about Mary Margaret, but neither have seen her. David searches by the vault, finding her huddling in despair after casting a death spell on Cora's heart in exchange for Mr. Gold's revival and tricking Regina to put it back into its rightful owner, so they make haste back to the pawnshop. They are, however, too late, as Regina holds a lifeless Cora in her arms.

In their shared apartment, David stays silent as Emma hides the truth from Henry about why Mary Margaret is refusing to eat by saying she's sick. Henry can tell both of them are lying, so Emma explains to him the circumstances that caused Mary Margaret to be partially responsible for Cora's death. Mr. Gold comes to warn them about Regina's plans of revenge on Mary Margaret. He begins leaving, except David reminds Mr. Gold the debt he owes Mary Margaret for saving his life. After some amateur sleuthing in Regina's vault, Mr. Gold informs them of a spell called "the curse of the empty-hearted", that when cast on someone, has the ability to make the caster think the person loves him or her. From upstairs, Henry has been eavesdropping and pushes his way into the conversation. Furthermore, Mr. Gold details the spell is the only way Regina can get Henry and the love she craves, but also vengeance from Mary Margaret. The twist is, in order to enact the curse, Regina needs the heart of the person she hates the most, which is obviously Mary Margaret. Mr. Gold believes warning them already fulfills his debt, but David disagrees. Coldly, Mr. Gold asserts that wars have costs and considering this is a blood feud that goes back several generations, and the only way to end it is to spill more of it by possibly killing Regina. Henry dislikes using such a dark tactic as it is not heroic at all, but no one has a response, leaving him to run out of the apartment as Emma follows. David stays behind, but is later called to regroup with Emma and Neal after Henry has gone missing. Upon seeing some dynamite is missing, they realize Henry wants to blow up something. They arrive at the wishing well to see Regina speaking to Henry. The trio refuse to budge out of Regina's way, so she conjures a fireball. Henry runs in between to force the fighting to cease, and desperately wants to get rid of magic. He pleas for Regina to help him destroy magic, which is not possible, but she burns the spell to placate him. Henry thanks her, and leaves with David, Emma and Neal.

David makes another breakfast tray for Mary Margaret, who is still staying in bed since the aftermath of Cora's death. Emma is exasperated at his attempts at coddling Mary Margaret. Even though he reasons Mary Margaret is having a hard time, Emma believes it's time to move on. As he closes the door behind Emma and Henry, Mary Margaret is finally out of bed and packing for a trip to the woods. He offers to come along, but she insists she must be alone. At the news of August's reappearance, David and Henry join Emma, Marco and Mary Margaret on the way to the sheriff department to look for him. They reach the building in time to see August stumbling out and collapsing as Emma and Marco attempt to help. August uses his last bit of strength to warn Emma about someone, but only manages the word "her" before he passes away. Henry stresses that if August's actions today have been selfless, brave and true, he can be saved. Mother Superior agrees and uses her wand, with success, to revert August into a seven-year-old Pinocchio. Emma makes an attempt to help Pinocchio recall what August was going to tell her earlier, but he can't remember. After a long day, they go home. When he is alone with his wife, David is furious at Mary Margaret's admittance that she went to Regina's house asking to be killed. She has fears about her heart continuing to blacken, though he sets August as an example that redemption is possible. David knows Mary Margaret is neither like August or Regina, and there has to be a way to help because he believes in the goodness in her heart.

As the bean fields prosper, Mother Superior shields the area from outsiders with a barrier. David and Mary Margaret bring Emma to the fields as a surprise. Emma detects this means both her parents want to go back to the Enchanted Forest. Mary Margaret reasons that dealing with the consequences of Cora's death has been tiring on her heart and by going back to their land, perhaps her heart can be healed too. They believe if Emma comes with them, she can also have her happy ending that never happened. During the afternoon, David and Leroy head to the diner to order ten bowls of chili for themselves and everyone else working on the bean fields. Granny is curious about what they are doing at the fields, which Leroy quickly says is landscaping. Mr. Gold pops in to speak with David alone about a private matter. After urging Leroy to go back without him, David hears Mr. Gold out on his dilemma of winning back Belle's heart since she is now living under her false memories as Lacey. He goes with Mr. Gold to the town bar, The Rabbit Hole, where Lacey is drinking. With David's encouragement, Mr. Gold asks her out. After sundown, David carpools Anton, Bashful, Doc, Happy, Leroy and Walter to drop them off at the diner. Then, he and Mary Margaret head home.

By the dock, David discusses with Mary Margaret what will be Regina's fate once they leave for the Enchanted Forest. Mary Margaret is more reluctant to let Henry be without his mother, but David considers how many times Regina has failed to change and suggests they give her an ultimatum to either say in Storybrooke or live out the rest of her days in the dark dungeon. On a sunny day, David, Leroy and Mary Margaret drive out to check up on the bean fields. After entering the barrier, they are in disbelief by the sight of the destroyed beans.

Armed with the suspicion Regina foiled their aim to return to the Enchanted Forest with the use of the beans, David, Emma, Henry and Mary Margaret hasten to the mayoral office. Upon entry, Regina and the stolen beans are nowhere in sight. It doesn't make sense for Regina to leave Storybrooke without Henry, and even more so when Emma discovers someone used an override code to break into the office earlier on. Emma can't shake her suspicion of Tamara and goes to question Neal, despite Mary Margaret's assessment that the only one capable enough of overpowering Regina is Mr. Gold. David agrees with his wife's thinking and they go to Mr. Gold's pawnshop. They ask him for a way to locate Regina and he helps them in order to repay Mary Margaret for saving his life. Mr. Gold collects one of Mary Margaret's tears and combines it with Regina's. He instructs her to put the liquid in her eye to breach a temporary bodily connection with Regina. The two return to the apartment where Mary Margaret drops the liquid in. David is horrified as he watches her begin experiencing physical shock and pain. After the ordeal is over, she can only recall a strange smell of sardines, which David reports back to Emma. Instinctively, Emma quickly discerns the only place in Storybrooke with that kind of smell is the cannery. They rejoin with Emma and Neal inside the building and form a plan to secure the rooms. David and Mary Margaret race ahead to catch Greg in the act of electrocuting Regina. As he escapes, David moves to follow, decides against it seeing as Regina needs their immediate help. After bringing her back to the apartment to rest, Mother Superior heals Regina back to full health. David learns Regina's previous plans to use a trigger to erase Storybrooke and everyone in it. While he and Mary Margaret are very upset at the news, Regina justifies her action as they wanted to leave her behind and take Henry away, but now the trigger is in Tamara's hands. In a state of shock, Emma returns to her parents to tell them Neal is dead.

The trio head to go the park to pick up Henry. Grimly, the couple give Mr. Gold condolences for Neal's death while Emma goes to tell Henry. David explains the complexity of the situation since the portal had been opened after Neal was injured, therefore making his death very probable. They hastily fill him in on Greg and Tamara's intentions to set off a trigger and obliterate every person who wasn't born in the land without magic. When they ask for his help, Mr. Gold refuses and instead wants to forfeit his life to atone for Neal's death. Following their return to the apartment with Henry, a quake rips through town. Hook comes in to realign himself with them, earning a punch from David for their last encounter in the sheriff department, though he proves to be useful with knowledge of Greg and Tamara's current whereabouts. A plan assembles for Regina to slow down the trigger while David and Hook steal back the remaining beans from Greg and Tamara, and then use them to open portals to the Enchanted Forest. At a warehouse, they confront Greg. From behind, David is grazed by one of Tamara's bullets. He takes off after her, but the pair get away after Greg pushes him to the ground. By the time Hook catches up, both of them are gone. David is upset at their failure until Hook shows him the bean he was able to grab. This does little to cool David's anger at letting the duo escape and he stalks off after snatching the bean box from Hook. Regrouping with the rest of the townspeople at the diner, they are ready to leave, except Henry is unwilling to part without Regina. At Mary Margaret's suggestion they send the trigger through a portal, Emma dislikes such a risky idea, but Archie persuades her it's the right thing to do and manages to rally everyone else in agreement. Emma's main fear is that Henry will grow up alone like she did. She finally agrees they must save Regina, too, after a bit of Mary Margaret's persuasion. David tosses the bean box to Emma, though Hook catches it and after some convincing, gives it back. They go back to the mines to use the bean to contain the trigger, but it's discovered too late that Hook tricked them. On a spur of the moment idea, Emma combines powers with Regina to successfully deactivate the trigger. After the danger is over, Henry is discovered to be kidnapped by Greg and Tamara, but they are not fast enough to stop the duo from taking him into a portal. Upon discovering Hook's ship is still in port, the pirate offers to assist them in finding Henry. Aboard the Jolly Roger, Mr. Gold conjures the magic globe to unveil Henry's current location in Neverland. They set sail as soon as a portal opens from the last magic bean.

As they sail towards the island of Neverland, David and Mary Margaret approach Emma to comfort her over losing Henry and Neal. Bitterly, Emma blames her parents for their "good always wins" ideology. She rejects the wisdom Mary Margaret wants to share with her and regrets breaking the curse instead of just taking Henry out of town. Emma snaps at them for their unwavering optimism when literally everything has been going wrong since the curse broke. David sees the one good thing that happened was finding Emma as Mary Margaret promises they will rescue Henry. Suddenly, Mr. Gold interrupts to announce his intent of getting him back on his own. He proceeds to list off reasons why Emma will fail in this mission; not believing in her parents, in magic, or even herself. With a spin of his cane, Mr. Gold disappears from the ship. Despite the turn of events, it is smooth sailing until a horde of mermaids begins pounding against the ship. David works to hit the creatures with ammunition while Emma and Mary Margaret catch one on a fishing line. Regina scares off most of them with fire power and then teleports the fishing line onto the deck. As they discuss what to do with the sea creature, the mermaid sounds a conch shell and threatens them all with death if they don't free her. Thunder begins brewing in the sky; giving the impression that the mermaid called the storms to arms. David threatens to creature with physical harm, which Regina eggs him on to do, but he pulls back after seeing Mary Margaret's shocked look. Regina decides to freeze the mermaid, which only speeds up the storm. David and Hook begin a fistfight as Mary Margaret and Regina trade physical blows. He is so caught up in his animosity towards Hook until seeing Emma deliberately jump into the sea and get knocked out by a fallen rigging rope pulley. Thinking quickly, David ties ties a rope around his waist and jumps in to save Emma while the other three work together to pull the both of them up, causing the storm to halt. Later, they reach the shoreline of Neverland. Before they go any further, Emma gives everyone a pep talk. She admits the best thing is to not believe in magic, but in each other. Emma doesn't expect friendship, but cooperation is necessary to save Henry as well as the handiness of each person's skill. Impressed by her leadership skills, David follows Emma into the jungle.

While treading through the jungle upwards to a cliff ridge, David uses his sword to clear a path as they progress. Sighting a bush of thorns, he prepares to cut them away, but Hook informs the group the dangers of the poisonous Dreamshade oozing out from the spikes. Though Hook advises they go left, David ignores him and goes right. Up ahead, the ridge allows them to get a view of the island, but too much has changed since Hook was last in Neverland and he can't tell the difference between anything. They can't comb the jungle, either, because it's not safe to travel through. They take a rest for the night, though everyone is awakened with news of Emma's encounter with Pan in the jungle and the map he gave her to find Henry. The catch is Emma must "stop denying who she really is" and only then will the map unlock for her. Regina would rather try using magic on the map, a move David highly disagrees with, as does everyone else. Emma makes the effort to unveil the map by stating facts about herself, with encouragement from her parents, but nothing works. Tired of playing games, Regina snatches the map and casts a locator spell on it, which leads them straight to Pan, who then sends the Lost Boys to engage them in combat. David is grazed by one of the Lost Boys' Dreamshade-coated arrows, but after the battle, reassures Mary Margaret that he is fine. Seeing as Emma is still frustrated over the map, David attempts to go after her, but Mary Margaret goes to talk to their daughter instead. Shortly after, Emma manages to unveil the map. With a strategy planned to travel towards Pan's camp, the group breaks apart to assemble for leaving. However, David sneaks away from camp to examine his festering Dreamshade wound.

Heading north by following the map, the plan is a failure once when they notice Pan's camp location keeps changing, making their journey fruitless. Hook considers a fairy named Tinker Bell who Pan trusts and can likely get them into the camp with pixie dust. As David continues to keep his injury secret, his strength is depleting. He is not able to hide it from a watchful Hook, who estimates his lifespan is left at days or weeks at most, and pushes him to tell Mary Margaret. David decides not to; hoping the problem can be easily fixed by Tinker Bell's pixie dust. Regina stays behind to rest while everyone else goes to Tinker Bell's empty tree house, which strangely has a ladder, even though fairies have wings for flying. David finds a white cloth, which is Regina's and they rush off to rescue her. They corner Tinker Bell outside a cavern, but an unharmed Regina attests to the fairy's innocence. Regina tells them Tinker Bell lost all her fairy powers a long time ago and can't help infiltrate Pan's camp. Tinker Bell acknowledges that people not believing in her anymore, so she stopped being a fairy. Even though she can help them, Tinker Bell wants to know what's in it for herself. Emma and Mary Margaret offer her safe passage to Storybrooke as a new home, to which Tinker Bell agrees and goes back to camp with them.

At the camp base, David listens to Emma go over the strategy for entering Pan's headquarters from the back after Tinker Bell talks her way in through the front. Briefly, Tinker Bell warns them about Dreamshade, which they already know about, but the topic makes David uncomfortable as he catches Hook's knowing look. Before they put the plan into action, Tinker Bell wants to know their escape route off the island, which no one has a clear answer. She stresses that no one ever leaves the island without Pan's permission. To prove a point about how dangerous Pan can be, that came from the people who brought Henry to Neverland, proving Greg and Tamara were killed by him. Tinker Bell weighs the risk as not worthy unless they have a way to leave Neverland and she makes off for her tree house. Emma sees reason in Tinker Bell's words, and recalls what Neal once taught her that it is "unwise to break into a place without knowing the way out." The group talk about how Hook left Neverland, which was through a special one time deal with Pan. The only person Hook can think of who managed to escape on his own is Neal. They set off for a cave Neal once inhabited as a boy, where David pulls up a vine with Hook to gain access to the entrance, even though he is getting weaker. Hook prompts him on when exactly is he going to tell his family about the wound. David sees the situation as hopeless, to which Hook remarks that the one thing he’s learned from “hero” types is hope never dies and there is indeed a cure, but it's too far away to reach. He orders Hook to not divulge their conversation; lest it sidetracks the mission to get Henry back. From searching the confines of the cave, David, Mary Margaret and Regina mull over a coconut half with holes, which Emma realizes is a perfect match for her candle holder half. After the light is snuffed out, the two halves combine to make a star constellation map with an escape route. However, despite that Hook taught Neal how to navigate using the stars, he also coached him that all map makers never reveal their secrets. Emma gathers that the one person able to read it is dead and she stalks outside as her parents follow to console her over losing the man she loved. Instead of being sad, Emma brims with anger over losing him years ago since she spent years thinking Neal didn't love her only to find out the exact opposite, upset that there's not even a chance of letting him know all the hurt and pain he's caused her, and exits to be alone. David gives Mary Margaret solace over not knowing how to comfort their daughter. She believes if he died, there wouldn't be chance of moving on, but David hypothesizes if something bad did happen, he would want her to be happy without him. She thanks him for the sweet words and they hug, though David hides a troubled expression.

Returning to the cave, everyone searches for something that might be useful. From Emma's observation of Neal's tally marks on the wall, she recognizes he stopped counting the days due to losing hope of ever leaving, which is the same thing Pan wants for Henry. In the hopes of sending Henry a message, Mary Margaret comes up with an idea and files out to show them. David confronts Hook over his growing interest in Emma and attests she is never going to like him since he's just a pirate. Back at camp, David collects vine while everyone begins weaving a large net out to capture a Lost Boy. He hauls Hook out to the jungle with him, but the pirate doesn't budge until Emma presses him, and then bows while saying "as the lady insists", further annoying David. Once alone, he threatens Hook to stay away from his daughter. Though his death is coming soon, David swears that if he does die, it'll be by helping his family. He rejects Hook's proposal to look for the cure as it'll lead them away from their main mission and calls him out for selfish behavior. Hook protests, but David can tell the only reason he's on the island is for Emma. When Hook retaliates with a snide comment, David takes a swing at him only to pass out. Upon his awakening, David spots a military insignia in the dirt. Hook recognizes it as his brother's badge and how he lost it during a duel with Pan on Dead Man's Peak. When David gains knowledge about a satchel on the peak containing a sextant for reading the star map, they make plans to retrieve it. They inform the others as David says goodbye to both Emma, who he asks to let Henry know his grandpa loves him, and Mary Margaret, who he talks to about the unforeseen possibilities in Neverland, though she is sure he will be fine. On the way to the peak, David learns Hook lost his brother and the two reminisce how each of their siblings remind them of each other. Hook ascends first, but David is tired of waiting for the rope line and climbs up. David overhears Pan's deal with Hook to kill him once they reach the top. At the peak cliff, David turns the tables on Hook and demands the sextant. Instead, Hook reveals he planted the insignia and lied about the satchel just so he could save his life. Still believing he is on Pan's side, David starts a fight, but is knocked out. Reaching consciousness, David is offered magic water, which will heal his wound, but he can never leave the island. Seeing it as a small price to pay, he drinks it and is healed. They return to camp where David engages Mary Margaret in affectionate kisses; much to everyone's embarrassment. Wishing to thank Hook, David stretches the truth by announcing the pirate saved him from a Dreamshade arrow after being ambushed on the way to the peak. They each take a sip of Hook's rum, except Regina, until it passes into Emma's hands. Then, he and Mary Margaret go off to be alone.

David and Mary Margaret anxiously watch Regina school Emma on how to focus her magic to light a fire on some wood. The two women get into a dispute ending with Emma unintentionally channeling her anger and creating a flame on the wood pile. He whispers to Mary Margaret that it's a bad idea to allow Emma to use magic. Nonetheless, Mary Margaret thinks it's necessary that their daughter learns how to use magic and has faith she'll use it wisely. They are approached by Hook, who brings to light Neal is alive, shocking them. Hook details how Pan kidnapped Neal from their campsite to be put in a cave. David is curious why Pan chose to let them know about this, but Hook has no answers. Mary Margaret catches sight of a snapped branch near the brush as well as footprints resembling a struggle. She plans to tell Emma, but both David and Hook convince her not to. Mary Margaret hates lying to Emma, though David states that sometimes secrets can protect the ones they love. They agree to prep a good cover story in order to search for Neal themselves, which quickly falls apart when David and Hook give different excuses after Emma asks them where they are going. Neither are able to come up with a response to her suspicions, so Mary Margaret blurts out to Emma that Neal is alive. Though Emma is not completely won over by the possibility, Regina cannot stand that everyone is falling for Pan's trickery and leaves the group. They follow the footprints to a cavern known as the Echo Cave, where Hook briefs them on only way to rescue someone inside is for each of them to reveal one of their deepest, guarded secrets. Once inside, they are at a dead end while a caged Neal lies on a separate strip of land in the distance. Hook exposes his secret first, admitting to the kiss he shared with Emma and his feelings for her, much to David's dislike. Mary Margaret goes next to confirm how unhappy she's been about missing out on Emma's years growing up and her desire to have another child. In tears, David says he would love to give her another child as she'll make a great mother, alas, the price for curing his wound prevents him from ever leaving the island. A bridge forms for Emma to cross over to Neal and after disclosing her own secret to him, he is freed. When they reach the outside, they decide to regroup with Tinker Bell first and then continue the mission. As they go back to camp, David tries to talk to Mary Margaret about what he said earlier, but she snaps at him.

Neal familiarizes the group on a tactic for flying off the island using Pan's shadow. Since the Shadow is mostly solitary, they can capture it without going near Pan. Emma steps up on "shadow duty" with Neal as Hook enlists himself as well. They all agree to meet back at Tinker Bell's tree house once the Shadow is nabbed. David is still ignored by Mary Margaret, especially as they journey to Tinker Bell, though he reasons that keeping his secret from her was only fair not to sidetrack everyone. For a moment, Mary Margaret listens, but then disregards what he said and moves on. Near to their destination, David gives an attempt to break the tension by subtly hinting they could build a permanent home in the jungle, but she doesn't respond. Frustrated, he shouts at her about how much longer she is going to give him the silent treatment and at least say something. She stomps back to angrily berate him about lying to her the whole time. David reasons, that at first, he wanted to find a cure on his own so she wouldn't worry. Still, Mary Margaret can't excuse him from leaving her in the dark after finding a cure and expresses anger over her right to know what the cost for it is. David sputters for an answer until blurting out that he was scared knowing she would be unwilling to leave the island without him, and did not want to force the cure's price on her. Yet, Mary Margaret attests that's exactly what she would do in order to be with him. He apologizes for disappointing her and they reconcile with a hug. They wait for Tinker Bell outside her home. When she shows up, they inform her about nabbing Pan's shadow as a way off the island. She doesn't believe them until Emma, Hook and Neal straggle out of the wilderness with proof and then leads them to the next part of the plan.

While moving ahead to Pan's camp, a rustle from the jungle causes the entire group to assemble for battle, but it turns out to be only Regina and Mr. Gold. Regina tells them about the power of Pandora's Box while Neal's distrust in his father causes him to blurt out Mr. Gold's objective to kill Henry and prevent a seer's prophecy from coming true. David and the others subsequently take a stance against Mr. Gold by drawing their weapons. Things cool down only when Neal forces him to hand over the box. After Tinker Bell gains access into the perimeter of the encampment, Regina uses a spell to put all the Lost Boys to sleep, however, neither Henry or Pan are found. Instead, Neal frees a young prisoner, Wendy, and brings her back to camp to inquire about Henry. Forced to act on Pan's wishes, Wendy lies to them, but with some encouragement, she yields and tells the truth. Mary Margaret gains insight on Pan's real reason for needing Henry's heart, which is to save himself from dying and then become immortal. As a trade, Pan lives, but Henry will die. Before Emma leaves for Skull Rock to stop Pan, she presses David and Mary Margaret to go back to Dead Man's Peak and retrieve more of the spring water as a necessity for the journey home. While the water can keep David alive for a span of time, Mr. Gold will create an elixir in Storybrooke to cure him for good. As David and Mary Margaret double back to the peak, they feel a powerful rush of magic flow throughout Neverland, caused by Henry sacrificing his heart to Pan.

David and Mary Margaret return to the Lost Boy camp and learn from Emma that Henry gave up his heart to Pan and Mr. Gold is trapped inside Pandora's Box. Regina casts a preservation spell on Henry to last one hour until they can track down Pan. Emma manages to get some of the Lost Boys to open up about Pan's current location at his "thinking tree" in Pixie Woods after promising to bring them off the island. While Emma, Mary Margaret and Regina go to find Pan, David and the rest of their party plan to regroup aboard the Jolly Roger. The three women come back in time to place the heart back in Henry as he gasps to life. David and Mary Margaret watch Neal free Mr. Gold from the box and have a warm reunion as their past differences and mistakes are reconciled. With Regina's power, the Shadow becomes the ship sail and flies them homeward.

Following a safe journey out of Neverland to Storybrooke, peace resumes as Mr. Gold seals the box away in the pawnshop. While spending some relaxing time at the diner, David and Mary Margaret overhear Neal inviting Emma to lunch tomorrow. Though Mary Margaret urges her to go, Emma's mind is still on Henry only. The next morning, he and Mary Margaret dine on lasagna when Mr. Gold drops by with an elixir to cure the Dreamshade wound. After being healed, David suggests they start trying to have another child, but Mary Margaret's mood dampers when she observes that Neal is sitting alone at another booth, meaning Emma didn't show up. David goes to have a talk with Emma at the docks over her reluctance to give Neal a chance. Instead, Emma's thoughts are preoccupied by Henry not acting like himself and is upset her son spent the night at Regina's house. David rationalizes that Regina is Henry's mother, too, before Emma was involved. Emma is constantly worried something bad will happen, though he reasons she has to see the good which makes life worth living. She's still unsure whether having lunch with Neal is a good idea, but he helps Emma find out by giving her a ride to Granny's. Another problem arises in town when Mother Superior is killed by the Shadow as everyone begins to suspect Pan is behind it, so David goes with Emma and Mary Margaret to procure the box from Mr. Gold. Next, they go to the town line where Emma crosses over as Pan is released from the box on the same side. Pan claims to be Henry, as the two switched bodies, and proves it by telling Emma something only the boy himself would know. They regroup with Hook, Neal and Tinker Bell at the vault where Regina took "Henry" for protection, though the door is locked. As Mr. Gold works to unlock the vault, David and Mary Margaret open Emma up to moving on with life and not worrying about things so much, but their daughter is finding it difficult to be a savior and have a day off from trouble. Inside the vault, Regina is found unconscious while one critical item is missing and now in Pan's hands--the Dark Curse.

Mr. Gold shares with everyone of the only viable way to stop Pan's curse is for Regina, as the original caster of the Dark Curse, to undo it by destroying the scroll, though there will be a steep price for this. They plan to switch Henry back to his own body so he will be in possession of the scroll and bring it to Regina. Mr. Gold can perform the spell, but needs a strong outlet in order for it to work. Tinker Bell has knowledge of a powerful Black Fairy wand that Mother Superior kept. David, Hook, Neal and Tinker Bell ask the convent nuns for the item just as the Shadow attacks. Hook tries to distract the Shadow, and is knocked off his feet and dragged to safety by David. Tinker Bell uses pixie dust to light a flame on the coconut half and flies into the air to trap the Shadow; disposing the being for good by burning it in a fire. With the Shadow gone, Mother Superior returns alive and hands the Black Fairy's wand to them. The three men arrive at pawnshop with the wand. Once Henry's spirit returns to his own body, everyone except Mr. Gold runs off to find the boy. With Granny's tracking skills, they reunite with him. Regina passes out after taking the scroll and awakens with knowledge of the price for stopping the curse. They are accosted by Pan as he steals back the scroll and freezes them in place. The showdown ends when Mr. Gold summons the dagger and stabs Pan as well as himself with it; killing both of them. After this, Regina admits the price is all former Enchanted Forest inhabitants will be sent back to their old world while Storybrooke will disappear out of existence. To keep Henry from being alone, Emma will leave town with him and Regina rewrites new memories for both of them so they forget everything. Before this, David says goodbye to his daughter and grandson. As the two cross out of Storybrooke, Regina stops the curse from taking over as everyone inside the town is sent back to the Enchanted Forest.


 * -|During New Curse=

A new curse is cast by someone powerful; returning Prince Charming and the rest of the Enchanted Forest inhabitants to the town of Storybrooke. However, as a result of the curse, everyone's last recollection is the final day in Storybrooke when Regina stopped Pan's curse, but no one can recall anything further than that. David's only clue that a year has indeed passed is Mary Margaret, who is heavily pregnant, despite that the two cannot remember what happened. The couple resume living together in the apartment. Mysteriously, residents begin disappearing from town, such as one of the dwarves. One fateful day, Emma returns, memory restored, to reunite with her parents.

David and Mary Margaret recount to Emma the last memories they have of the day Pan's curse was stopped and how everyone was presumably sent back to the Enchanted Forest, but they only remember waking up in Storybrooke like it was another regular day. Hook confirms that they did indeed return to their old homeland and spent a brief time with Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip. As Hook recalls, before he split from their group, everyone else was headed to the Queen's old palace. The pirate also mentions that his quest to bring their daughter back to Storybrooke was prompted by a messenger bird, attached with a note requesting for Emma as well as a vial of memory potion, which he had assumed was from Mary Margaret. Once Happy and Leroy report two more dwarves missing, Emma decides to conduct an investigation. In the morning, David and his wife meet Henry for the "first" time. Soon, he receives word that another resident has gone missing, and goes with Emma to the town line where Robin Hood and the Merry Men describe how Little John was kidnapped by a winged beast. David, Hook and the Merry Men search for Little John; eventually finding the unconscious man with a sustained bite wound. After whisking him to the hospital, Little John rapidly transforms into flying monkey and takes off. Reporting back to the apartment, David, Emma, Hook, Mary Margaret and Regina conclude that the Wicked Witch of the West cast the new curse.

David, Emma and Hook search the mayoral office for any evidence the Wicked Witch left behind while Regina keeps Henry company. Discovering a holly berry on the room, he pinpoints the plant's location in the northwestern region past the Toll Bridge. Abruptly, David receives an call from Mary Margaret asking him to meet their new midwife, Zelena, at the apartment, and hesitates until Emma insists that he go. Once there, Zelena brews tea for them. While waiting, David expresses skepticism to Mary Margaret about the midwife. Without anyone's notice, Zelena spikes David's tea with night root. When given a chance to voice fears about expecting another child, he chooses not to and feigns calm. Afterwards, he leaves to scour the area of the growing holly berries only to see someone stalking him. Quickly, David phones Emma and leaves a message notifying her that he is closing in on the Wicked Witch. In a fight, he is knocked out by the assailant, who is unmasked as himself. While being choked to death, David admits that he is afraid of being a bad father and uses the hilt of his sword to stab the latter. Both his attacker as well as the sword's hilt vanish and he later recounts this to Emma, Hook, and Regina. Altogether, they go to a farmhouse and investigate a cellar, which was locked, but is now mysteriously open. Inside, the cell's occupant is gone, but a spinning wheel with strands of spun gold litter the floor; evident proof that Mr. Gold is alive.

In a morning meeting at the closed diner, David and his allies discuss searching for Mr. Gold while Regina opts to search the farmhouse alone for evidence. David insists Mary Margaret return home and rest, despite that she has good tracking skills. He, Emma, and Hook inform Belle about Mr. Gold's alive status. The trio becomes a pair as Hook decides to stay behind and help Belle. Not much later, David and Emma arrive to the hospital after receiving news that Neal, who has been missing up to now, collapsed at the pawnshop. On close examination, Neal's palm is revealed to have a burnt symbol, which Belle begins researching. In the woods, David and Emma quickly stumble upon a frantic Mr. Gold after hearing him scream. They question him about the Wicked Witch's identity, but he is unable to tell them. Distracted by a sudden flying monkey attack, David fends the creature off while Emma chases after Mr. Gold. In this time frame, Belle discovers the symbol originates from a key to the vault of the Dark One, which Neal used to resurrect Mr. Gold, but in turn, cost his own life. Though Neal should be dead, he is not due to Mr. Gold absorbing him into his body. Emma magically separates the two; ending with Neal's inevitable death. David rejoins her after she learns from Mr. Gold that the Wicked Witch's true identity is Zelena. The father-daughter duo rush home, breaking open the bathroom where Zelena is supposedly hiding, but she is already gone. Afterwards, David and Mary Margaret enter the pawnshop to deliver the grim news about Neal to Belle and Hook.

David attends Neal's funeral to pay his respects. Afterwards, at the diner, Zelena makes a surprise appearance to threaten those who get in her way will be killed by the Dark One. On guard, David shields his wife from the witch, who cattily remarks that she isn't there for their baby. Instead, she publicly reveals herself as Regina's half-sister and forces her sibling into a showdown on Main Street after sundown. In preparation, lest Zelena is planning something wicked, David, Belle and Tinker Bell seal off the streets. Belle has high hopes of swaying Mr. Gold to their side despite that Zelena is controlling him with the dagger. Along with Emma and Tinker Bell, he stands guard outside the farmhouse cellar where Mr. Gold is imprisoned while Belle goes in and rushes out after nearly falling into Zelena's trap. An enslaved Mr. Gold delivers a message from Zelena; warning them that she will finish off Regina and they'll pay with their lives if they interfere again. During the evening, on Main Street, Zelena approaches while trailed by a helpless Mr. Gold. David witnesses Regina being thrown into the clock tower by Zelena, who later flees on her broomstick. He, Emma and Mary Margaret rush to check on Regina where they learn Zelena attempted to take her heart, but failed since it's hidden elsewhere.

When Emma accepts magic lessons with Regina, David and Mary Margaret offer to watch over Henry while she is gone. Instead, their daughter implies Henry thinks they are boring and lets Hook spend time with her son. As David and his wife walk along the beach, they come across Ariel after she washed ashore. She explains her long journey in searching for a missing Eric who hasn't been seen since the new curse was cast. They take her to the diner to ask Hook, since he retained his memories from the lost year in the Enchanted Forest, but the pirate knows nothing. David and Mary Margaret volunteer Hook to go with Ariel to the pawnshop, look for a belonging of Eric's and track him down using a locator spell. The couple take Henry for the afternoon and attempt to prove to him that they are "cool" by letting the boy drive David's truck. It ends badly with the vehicle hitting a mailbox, but nonetheless the trio regroup with Emma, Hook and Regina at the apartment in high spirits. Hook tells them that Ariel has reunited with Eric on Hangman's Island in the Enchanted Forest, which they see first-hand when Emma projects an mirror image of the happy lovers in the same location. Later, David, Emma, Henry, Mary Margaret and Regina have an evening meal together at the diner.

Gathered in Regina's house, David reports for a group seance to open a portal to the land of the dead by using the now defunct candle to talk to Cora about Zelena's origins. He, Emma, Hook, Mary Margaret and Regina link hands as the portal opens, but Cora refuses to appear. Shortly after the failed experiment, all leave except Mary Margaret, who stays to help Regina clean up. Once Belle figures out what spell Zelena is intending to cast, David and the others return to Regina's house just after Mary Margaret was briefly possessed by Cora's spirit. Mary Margaret reveals Cora, already pregnant with another man's child, was once engaged to Leopold, but Eva deliberately wrecked it. In turn, this caused Cora to unwillingly abandon Zelena after birth. As for the ingredients of Zelena's spell, as Belle explains, they are for a time spell to alter the past; namely to kill Eva and keep Cora from abandoning her first-born child.

Trivia

 * The name "David" is of Hebrew origin derived from the word "dwd" that means "beloved".
 * The surname "Nolan" is of Irish origin derived from the word "nuall" that means "noble, famous".
 * His cell number is 555-0105.
 * During Season Two, David dons a custom leather jacket designed by Vancouver's Oceandrive Leather.

Appearances

 * David's name appears on the list Tamara has in "The Evil Queen".