Board Thread:Spoilers!/@comment-5899967-20170510102813/@comment-5679696-20170512222053

After the three actors whose characters can be considered the main heroes of the story decide they no longer want to partake in the show, there's an obvious 5 phase plan to proceed with:
 * 1) Tell the actor who puts the most love and dedication into making and promoting the show that they should also leave because why not?
 * 2) Also demote the actors whose characters I have no idea what to do with.
 * 3) Keep 3 cast members I can make a lot of promotion with because they're fan favorites.
 * 4) Cast 2 new random characters no one will care about.
 * 5) Go to sleep knowing I have no idea what story to tell next, sure that I'll make something up as we go.

Now being serious, this is what I'd do if I had to plan season seven:


 * After the Final Battle, the Black Fairy is defeated but manages to take Henry to the Dark Realm as her last evil act.
 * Storybrooke has been destroyed in the final battle. The residents were able to decide whether to go back to their home realms or to live out their lives in the modern day land without magic.
 * TIME JUMP. A couple of years have passed and no matter how hard they tried, they haven't been able to locate Henry.
 * Snow, Charming and baby Neal are living happily ever after in the Enchanted Forest.
 * Emma and Hook are living happily ever after in New York. Their apartment has a permanent magic door that leads straight into the Royal Castle.
 * Zelena and Regina are raising Robin in another New York apartment, probably with a hot boyfriend. Maybe Dr. Whale, who now works at a renowned New York hospital. She does like making him fly across the room if you know what I'm saying ;)
 * Mr. Gold has mysteriously disappeared, and no one knows where he is. He has not died in the final battle, but he is somehow no longer the Dark One. Maybe Belle gave him True Love's kiss and it did vanish the Darkness once and for all, but she didn't do it to get back together with him. She truly loves him and wants the best for him, but she does not want to be in a relationship with him.
 * Belle (and Gideon, if he's still alive after the finale) go on off-screen adventures wherever they want to go. Maybe there could be a couple of episodes in which she comes in handy, when Hook could call her and we could see her in the middle of a jungle (I just pictured her looking like Jane from Tarzan), in a northern European city, or elsewhere.
 * One day Rumple comes back. He explains that, having realized that with Belle and Gideon looking for adventures without him the only family he's got left is Henry, he has spent all these years trying to find him. Every day he'd pierce his finger and try to locate him using the Magic Globe they'd once used to find him in Neverland. That day, years later, the Globe had pinpointed Henry's location somewhere in the United States or Canada. Maybe Phoenix, where he was born, for symbolism's sake.
 * He has come to enlist Regina and Emma on a mission to find him, as he fears that if he goes on his own he'll end up ruining everything once more.
 * Regina accepts right away. Zelena wants to come too, but Regina tells her she has to care for Robin. Emma, due to being pregnant, can't go after Henry, so Hook goes for her while she goes to spend the months before her pregnancy at her parent's castle.

That is how I'd give the show a new direction revolving around Rumple, Regina, and Hook, with Andrew J. West playing grown up Henry, who might not want to be found.
 * Episodic guest stars could include Storybrooke residents who have wandered into the Land Without Magic and have been living in different cities the trio pass by in their quest. Maybe Granny has opened a bigger restaurant. Archie might have a psychiatry office somewhere.


 * I would probably rule out the flashbacks (except for minor scenes like most shows do.)
 * I would not resort to any kind of memory loss. The use of magic would be limited to magical objects since most of the episodes would take place in the Land Without Magic, although there could be occasional trips to magical realms in which Regina would relish in being able to use magic.
 * A trip to Oz would be fun to see Ruby if possible. They could finally have rumple and Regina referencing the cowardly lion and a good witch. Regina could try to clean Zelena's name while Hook and Rumple look for whatever macguffin they need from Oz.