Heartless

"I've dreamt of this moment for so long, Snow White. I'd wake up still feeling the grit of your crushed heart clinging to my palms. But that ending isn't poetic enough, is it? I want to give you... my pain... the pain of being alone."

- The Evil Queen to Snow White

"Heartless" is the seventh episode of Season Six of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Jane Espenson, and directed by Ralph Hemecker. It will be the one hundred and eighteenth episode of the series overall, and will premiere on November 6, 2016.

Synopsis
In a flashback to the Enchanted Forest, Bandit Snow dodges a bounty hunter known as the Woodcutter while shepherd David goes on a fateful journey to sell his family’s farm. In Storybrooke, the Evil Queen threatens to destroy the town and everyone in it unless Snow and David surrender their hearts. As Emma, Hook and Henry prepare to defend Storybrooke, Snow, David and Regina search for a magical sapling created by the first spark of true love. Regina uses Gold's and the Evil Queen's burgeoning romance against them, and Zelena offers Belle some friendly advice.

Starring

 * Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard
 * Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
 * Lana Parrilla as Regina Mills/Evil Queen (Serum)
 * Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David Nolan
 * Emilie de Ravin as Belle French
 * Colin O'Donoghue as Hook
 * Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills
 * Rebecca Mader as Zelena
 * Robert Carlyle as Mr. Gold

Guest Starring

 * Lee Arenberg as Grumpy* (Press release only)
 * Keegan Connor Tracy as Blue Fairy/Mother Superior
 * Paul Johansson as the Woodcutter/Gabriel
 * Gabrielle Rose as Ruth

Co-Starring

 * Paul Jarrett as Nobleman

Uncredited

 * Unknown baby as Robin
 * Unknown dog as Wilby
 * David Avalon as Doc*
 * Michael Coleman as Happy*
 * Faustino di Bauda as Sleepy*
 * Mark Gibbon as Head Troll*
 * Jeffrey Kaiser as Dopey*
 * Gabe Khouth as Sneezy*
 * Sinqua Walls as Lancelot* (Voice)
 * Mig Macario as Bashful*
 * Tom Pickett as Bishop*

Trivia

 * -|Production Notes=

Title

 * The title card features Wilby.
 * The title of this episode was revealed by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on September 6, 2016.

Production Notes

 * In the opening scene, Evil Queen's shadow can be briefly seen against Mary Margaret's curtains, as the Queen prepares to teleport Mary Margaret.


 * -|Episode Connections=

Event Chronology

 * The Enchanted Forest flashbacks take place after "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter", "Red-Handed", "Child of the Moon" and "White Out", and before "The Evil Queen" and "The Shepherd".
 * The Storybrooke events take place after "Dark Waters" and before "I'll Be Your Mirror".

Episode Connections

 * The Evil Queen's plan to gain Mary Margaret's heart began in "Dark Waters".
 * Mary Margaret and David began sharing halves of the same heart during "Snow Drifts".
 * The Evil Queen's alliance with Mr. Gold formed in "Dark Waters".
 * The flute music playing at the tent camp in the Enchanted Forest is the same tune that was playing in the tavern Anton visits in "Tiny", the tavern where Hook and his crew celebrate in "The Jolly Roger", the tavern where Emma meets past Hook in "Snow Drifts", the tavern where young Cora is working in "Bleeding Through", and Robin Hood's tavern in "Heart of Gold".
 * Snow White tells the Blue Fairy that "home is where your family is". Her counterpart, Mary Margaret, says the same thing to David in "Tiny".
 * The effects of Acheron water were first seen in "Devil's Due".
 * Emma's visions began in "The Savior".
 * Mary Margaret first voiced her desire for things to "go back to normal" during "The Other Shoe".
 * Snow White's mother died in "The Queen Is Dead".
 * Snow White's plan of having enough money to leave the kingdom and escape the Evil Queen was explored in "Snow Falls".
 * Zelena turns green as a result of her jealousy towards the Evil Queen's relationship with Mr. Gold. This also happened in "It's Not Easy Being Green".
 * Mary Margaret notes that the sapling's location is near to where she saved David during the Curse, an event seen in "Snow Falls".
 * Adder's fork, a potion ingredient that Hook finds in Regina's vault, previously appeared in "The Apprentice", where Henry was looking through Regina's potion ingredients.
 * Hook says that Emma's parents are in love today because she brought them together, referring to events in "Snow Drifts" and "There's No Place Like Home".
 * When Mary Margaret and David touch the sapling of true love, they both experience flashbacks from "Pilot", "Snow Falls", "A Land Without Magic", "Lady of the Lake", "The New Neverland", "Snow Drifts" and "There's No Place Like Home".
 * The ultrasound scan that Mr. Gold is looking at was left by Belle at the pawnshop in "Dark Waters".
 * David wakes up Mary Margaret with true love's kiss as he did in "Pilot" and "A Land Without Magic".
 * David and Mary Margaret are awakened from the Sleeping Curse in "Awake".


 * -|Cultural References=

Disney

 * Prince Charming's dog Wilby is a reference to Wilby Daniels, the main character of The Shaggy Dog.

Fairytales and Folklore

 * This episode features Snow White, Prince Charming and the Evil Queen from the Snow White fairytale, the Blue Fairy from the The Adventures of Pinocchio story, Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story, the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz story, and the Woodcutter from the Little Red Riding Hood fairytale.

Lost

 * There are close-ups of Hook's eyes as he studies the potion bottle. This is a common theme on Lost.
 * The Evil Queen asks Snow if she remembers her 15th birthday. The number "15" is a recurring Lost number.

Popular Culture

 * When the Evil Queen says "Rage, rage against the dying of the light", she is quoting the poem "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas.


 * -|Set Notes=

Props Notes

 * Excerpts from the Grimm fairy tales "The Golden Bird", "King Thrushbeard", "The Queen Bee" and "The Water of Life" can be seen in Henry's storybook.

Costume Notes

 * Zelena is wearing a Duchess Blazer by SMYTHE.
 * Emma is wearing a Joie 'Katrine' Top (no longer available) and a Alice + Olivia Shawl Jacket. Emma wears the same outfit in the next episode, "I'll Be Your Mirror".
 * Mary Margaret is wearing a Rebecca Taylor Embellished Top (no longer available). She wears it again in "I'll Be Your Mirror".
 * The blouse was also worn by the character Cece Parekh on the New Girl episode "Es Good".
 * Belle is wearing a Kooples Mixed Print Silk Dress.


 * -|Other Notes=

Filming Locations

 * The Enchanted Forest tent camp scene was filmed near the North Langley Community Church in Langley, British Columbia.
 * Some of the scenes with Josh Dallas and Ginnifer Goodwin were filmed in Lynn Canyon Park in the District of North Vancouver.
 * Burnaby's Central Park doubles as the Storybrooke Graveyard for this episode.