Kathryn Nolan


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 * This article focuses on Kathryn Nolan's Storybrooke persona. For her Enchanted Forest counterpart, see Abigail.
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"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 character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the third episode of the first season. She is portrayed by guest star Anastasia Griffith and is the Storybrooke counterpart of Abigail.

History
For events occurring before the casting of the Dark Curse, see Abigail.

During the Curse
Kathryn Nolan shows up at the hospital to see her husband, David Nolan, who has been staying there under the name "John Doe". Recently, he woke up and wandered out into the forest, but is brought back by Mary Margaret, Sheriff Graham and Emma Swan. She tells Emma and Mary Margaret that they had gotten into a fight and he had left; she assumed he left Storybrooke after all that time and now knows why he never contacted her. Emma becomes suspicious, but Kathryn brushes her off and reunites with her husband. David is discharged from the hospital and goes home with Kathryn. She throws him a welcome-home party filled with people he does not recognize. After having a talk with Emma, David leaves to go to Mary Margaret's house while Kathryn hides out in the kitchen. Regina asks if she is alright, and Kathryn confesses her insecurities about their marriage. Regina encourages her to go after David and after a brief pep talk, Kathryn thanks her and the two become friends.

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 will make their marriage work, and pushes all thoughts about Mary Margaret behind him. Kathryn never finds out about him pursuing the schoolteacher. Kathryn applies to a law school in Boston and is accepted. She tells David, who decides it was wonderful news, and takes a walk. He talks to Mary Margaret and decides to tell his wife about their 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 tells Regina about David's plans to leave her. Regina casually mentions Mary Margaret's name and shows her pictures that Sidney Glass took of the two together. Kathryn is furious and lashes out on Regina; saying that she was never her friend, or she would have told her, and leaves.

She marches toward the schoolhouse where Mary Margaret teaches, and confronts her in the middle of the hallway. She runs into Jim, the gym teacher, in the process. Unable to hold back her anger, Kathryn slaps Mary Margaret. Mary Margaret apologizes, but learns David never told Kathryn about the affair. After another rant, Kathryn storms out; leaving a shaken Mary Margaret behind her.

After she has time to cool down, Kathryn comes to terms with the affair. She writes a letter for her ex-husband and Mary Margaret; wanting them to stay together because she sees what they have is real love. Kathryn visits Regina and apologizes for her earlier behavior. She says she still plans to move to Boston, except she is going alone. Then, she tells Regina about the letter she left for David, dropping several too-close-to-home hints about the Dark Curse's effects.

Once she is 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 Jim. The car is later discovered with Kathryn nowhere in sight. 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. To add further to the mystery, David consults Dr. Archie Hopper about his blackouts, and under hypnosis tries to recall his last conversation with Kathryn. He remembers her telling him to be with Mary Margaret if it would make him happy. However, he has flashbacks memories of Snow White trying to kill someone, and mistakes her for Mary Margaret, in which he yells at her, "Don't kill her!" He confuses the memory as himself telling Mary Margaret not to kill Kathryn when it was actually a memory of Snow White trying to kill the Evil Queen. Emma runs DNA tests on the heart, which are a match for Kathryn; proving her death, and the fingerprints on the box are Mary Margaret's. Kathryn is found in the alley behind Granny's diner by Ruby, who screams upon seeing her. Emma and August Booth run back to investigate and find Kathryn laying on the ground wearing the now filthy clothing she was last seen in. A closer inspection by Emma shows Kathryn is disoriented, but very much alive. She is taken to the hospital to rest up, and questioned by Emma. Kathryn reports that she remembers the car crash, and after that, she was kept in a room where there was always food and water, but no one was ever around. Kathryn recalls waking up in a field outside of town and crawling all the way to the alley where Ruby saw her.

Sidney Glass confesses, at Regina's command, to kidnapping and holding Kathryn hostage as a means to get his old job at the Storybrooke Daily Mirror back. He is sent to reside at the hospital's mental asylum.

Trivia

 * Kathryn means "pure" in Greek; Nolan means "famous".
 * She lives at Number 44.
 * Her name might be derived from the Grimm fairytale "Frederick and Catherine".
 * Creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz have stated that since the events of season one, Kathryn and Jim have reunited and are living together in Kathryn's house.