Board Thread:Rant and Rave/@comment-34657163-20180311191124/@comment-25926288-20180402193213

Leroiblanc wrote: Part of this would also be the lack of a real protagonist, imo. In season one, it completely followed Emma (and Henry) while delving into everyone else's story, in a well-balanced way (it's hard to put into words). In season seven, Henry was the protagonist but he kind of wasn't? The early arc bounces back and forth between mainly Jacinda and Rogers, plus Roni's trio of "expose Belfry!"... Without a character really following all of this like Emma. What I think would be needed for a stron protagonist would to spend the pillar capital on Henry (or on whomever the main was).

See Emma. The pillars were Snow, Regina, Rumple, and Emma. So, Emma was a pillar and was growing with the support of those other three. That’s why she was very strong in Season 1.

Henry doesn’t feel to be a pillar but does get solid growth from interactions with Nook and Regina.