Page 23

"Page 23. The page that magically appeared to me with what I thought could be an ending to my story with Robin, a happy ending. Instead, it was just a cruel twist of fate, showing me an ending that could never be."

- Regina to Emma, Snow, Henry and Zelena

"Page 23" is the fourteenth episode of Season Six of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by David H. Goodman & Brigitte Hales, and directed by Kate Woods. It is the one hundredth and twenty-fifth episode of the series overall, and premiered on March 26, 2017.

Synopsis
Believing there isn’t room in Storybrooke for both her and Regina, the Evil Queen sets out to eliminate her other half using Robin to bait the trap. Hook, determined to make things work with Emma, turns to his old friend Capt. Nemo for advice, but Gideon torpedoes his plan before he’s able to set things right. In a flashback to the Enchanted Forest, the Evil Queen learns a surprising lesson about the true source of her misery.

Starring

 * Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret Blanchard
 * Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
 * Lana Parrilla as Evil Queen/Regina Mills/Evil Queen (Serum)
 * Josh Dallas (Credit only)
 * Emilie de Ravin (Credit only)
 * Colin O'Donoghue as Hook
 * Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills
 * Rebecca Mader as Zelena
 * Robert Carlyle (Credit only)

Guest Starring

 * Sean Maguire as Robin of Locksley (Wish Realm)
 * Giles Matthey as Gideon
 * Rose McIver as Tinker Bell
 * Tony Perez as Valet
 * Faran Tahir as Captain Nemo

Co-Starring

 * Edward Foy as Lead Knight
 * Hesham Hammoud as Crewman

Uncredited

 * David Cubitt as Robert*

Trivia

 * -|Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * The title card features the Dark Palace.
 * The title of this episode was revealed by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on November 30, 2016.
 * The title of this episode is a reference to the alternate Page XXIII of Henry's book, which represents another version of Regina and Robin's first meeting. It was created by Isaac Heller, and first appears in the Season Four episode "Smash the Mirror".
 * This episode marks the return of the actor Edward Foy as the Lead Knight after one-hundred and eight episodes, a gap longer than that of any other cast member.
 * This is Lana Parrilla's favorite episode on the show.
 * Writer Brigitte Hales described this episode as "emotional" and said that it "took a lot out of [her] -- in the best possible way".
 * The establishing shot of Regina's house is stock footage from the filming of the first scene where Emma takes Henry home in the Season One premiere. The identical position of the curtains in the windows and the lighting behind them, the shadows on the walls and the open window on the second floor, are a dead giveaway.
 * Mary Margaret's line "It's so cold out here", from the dock scene with Hook, was written by Brigitte Hales after she spoke to an assistant director about how cold night shooting always is. The falling snow during the scene was a happy coincidence.
 * According to Brigitte Hales, she had to write the "break-up" scene between Emma and Hook the day after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and "spent all day crying and writing".
 * Hesham Hammoud, who plays the Crewman, also plays Ghazi in the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode "Who's Alice".
 * In the episode script, Hook says to Captain Nemo, "I hope you're right. Thank you, old friend", and he and Nemo hug as Nemo answers, "Goodbye." This exchange is not in the final episode.


 * -|Episode Connections=

Event Chronology

 * The Enchanted Forest flashbacks occur after "Heart of Darkness" (where the Lead Knight, who is killed by the Evil Queen in this episode, is still alive).
 * They also seem to take place during the time of the War (between "Lost Girl" and "The Cricket Game") as Regina wants to kill Snow White rather than put her under a sleeping curse.


 * The Storybrooke events take place after "Ill-Boding Patterns" and before "A Wondrous Place".

Episode Connections

 * The Lead Knight, who is killed by the Evil Queen, is the same Black Knight that got his armor stolen by Snow White in "Heart of Darkness".
 * Regina talks about how the mysterious page 23 magically appeared to her, an event that took place in "Smash the Mirror".
 * The Evil Queen says to Tinker Bell, "Shouldn't you be living in a tulip somewhere?", and wonders what happened to her. Tinker Bell's former home, and what happened to her, is shown in "Quite a Common Fairy".
 * Tinker Bell talks about how she showed the Evil Queen the future with Pixie Dust, an event that took place in "Quite a Common Fairy".
 * When Hook is using the dreamcatcher, he's watching a scene from "Murder Most Foul".
 * Emma and Hook's engagement, which Emma breaks off in this episode, is renewed in "Awake".
 * Hook says that he once destroyed his own family, referring to how he killed his own father and left his young brother an orphan, an event that took place in "Swan Song".
 * Regina conjures a black sword to duel the Evil Queen, just like she did when she dueled Mary Margaret in "Shattered Sight".
 * Regina makes the branches of the wallpaper come to life and trap the Evil Queen, just like she did with David in "Broken".
 * The Wish Realm tavern where the Evil Queen meets Robin of Locksley at the end of the episode is the same tavern where Regina found him in "Wish You Were Here". Fittingly enough, this tavern is the Wish Realm version of the Enchanted Forest tavern where Queen Regina and Tinker Bell found the real Robin Hood in "Quite a Common Fairy".
 * What happened to the Evil Queen and Robin in the Wish Realm after the episode ends is revealed in "The Final Battle Part 1".
 * Hook is transported out of the Land Without Magic in the next episode, "A Wondrous Place", and comes back in "Awake".


 * -|Cultural References=

Lost

 * 23 is one of the numbers on ABC's Lost.

Fairytales and Folklore

 * This episode features the Evil Queen from the "Snow White" fairytale, Captain Nemo from the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Robin Hood from the ballad, Captain Hook and Tinker Bell from the Peter Pan story, and the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel.
 * Cupid and his arrows from Roman mythology are mentioned.

Cultural References

 * Among the numerous fairy tale illustrations pinned to the wall in Henry's room is the famous painting The Lady of Shalott (1888), by the English Pre-Raphaelite painter John William Waterhouse. It depicts Elaine of Astolat in a scene from Alfred Tennyson's poem of the same name from 1832.


 * -|Set Notes=

Costume Notes

 * Emma is wearing a Veronica Beard 'Alma' Lace Blouse.
 * Mary Margaret is wearing a 3.1 Phillip Lim Plaid Wool Bomber Jacket (no longer available).
 * Regina is wearing a Rag & Bone 'Archer' Blazer (no longer available).
 * The blazer was also worn by the character Steffy Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful, Hope Williams on Days of Our Lives and Phyllis Summers on The Young and the Restless, with the latter also wearing a red color of the blazer as well.
 * A red version was worn by the character Vanessa Baxter on the Last Man Standing episode "Where There's Smoke, There's Ire".
 * A grey version was worn by the character Spencer Hastings on the Pretty Little Liars episode "Hit and Run, Run, Run".
 * -|Other Notes=

Filming Locations

 * Lana Parrilla filmed parts of the episode in Vancouver's Stanley Park.