Once Upon a Time (season 4)

As Emma's powers become uncontrollable, she ends up seeking help from Gold, who agrees to help her but has other plans in store for Emma. Regina finds a locator potion from her vault, which she gives to Mary and David, but then soon afterwards, they drop their plan to stop Emma, believing that it might be better if Emma took this chance to become "normal." Seeing this turn of events, Elsa steals the locator potion and strikes out on her own to locate Emma. When the Snow Queen threatens Gold not to hurt Emma, he uses magical dust made from the remnants of the urn to trap the Snow Queen within her palace to prevent her from intervening temporarily. In Arendelle's past, Ingrid tries to convince Elsa that Anna was planning to strip her of her magic, and Elsa apparently buys Ingrid's story. However, Elsa's act turns out to be a ruse, and Elsa and Anna plan to recover the urn and use it on Ingrid. Elsa and Anna sneak past the palace guards to locate the urn inside of the closed East Wing of the castle, and Anna apologizes for withholding the truth, and tells Elsa about the real reason why their parents left for the Enchanted Forest. Elsa is able to make peace with the truth, and she sends Anna back into the prison to set up their trap for Ingrid.

The Snow Queen fails to stop Emma from heading to Mr. Gold, as Emma ignores her warnings, no longer trusting her. Regina helps David and Mary realize that Emma's powers made her special, and that she would be better if she kept them, so they team up to find Emma. Robin Hood tells Regina that he wants to help find out who wrote the fairytale book, and discovers a missing page that could provide a clue. Hook reaches the mansion, but Gold binds him to the fence surrounding the property. Then, Gold tries to convince Emma to step through the door where his magical hat is set up, even while Emma's friends and family close in on her location. While Gold taunts Hook, Elsa breaks in through the back door and convinces Emma to accept herself for who she really is, which allows Emma's powers to return to normal. Gold is frustrated at this turn of events, but he takes Hook's heart, which he needs to sever himself from his dagger's influence, and turns Hook into his "puppet" in the process. Then, the Snow Queen places ribbons on Elsa and Emma, so that she can harness their power. Emma and Elsa notice the ribbons too late, and realize that they cannot remove them, even while the ribbons siphon away their powers. Then, the Snow Queen smiles with delight while using her new-found powers to cast the Spell of Shattered Sight over Storybrooke, which shatters her mirror in the process. In Arendelle's past, Ingrid comes up with a plan to turn Elsa against Anna, after she discovers the sisters' plot to place Ingrid back in the urn, but Ingrid's plan backfires after a cursed Anna places Elsa in the urn, resulting in Ingrid freezing Anna, Kristoff, and all of Arendelle, in anger. This in turn brings Rumplestiltskin to Arendelle to take Anna's necklace and the urn in exchange for the Sorcerer's hat. However, Ingrid turns over the box to the Apprentice instead, in exchange for finding the third sister and being reunited with Elsa, leading her to 1982 Boston, prior to baby Emma's arrival.

Anna informs Emma and Elsa that killing Ingrid is the only way to break the Spell of Shattered Sight, and they set out to do so while Anna babysits Snow's baby. Unfortunately, Ingrid is protecting herself from any harm that may be done by Emma and Elsa, with the ribbons they received, but Emma figures out that hatred strong enough to counter Ingrid's love is what they need to rid themselves of the ribbons. They go to Regina, who is under the Spell of Shattered Sight, and Emma succeeds in provoking Regina, which causes her to shoot a fireball in hatred at them, which dissolves the ribbons. In the past of the Real World, Emma is fostered by Ingrid in 1999, and the two grow very close until Ingrid tries to get Emma to utilize her magic by dragging her in front of oncoming car and telling her to stop it. Emma runs away, and Ingrid moves to Storybrooke, led by the Apprentice's scroll, where she knows Emma will eventually come. In November 2011, Emma arrives in Storybrooke, and Ingrid takes Emma's memories of Ingrid after an argument leads to Emma threatening to call Sheriff Graham. In the present, Anna finds the letter from her and Elsa's mother that says she made a terrible mistake with Ingrid and she loves her. Ingrid feels remorse over the curse and kills herself to get rid of it. Meanwhile, Mr. Gold blackmails Hook into getting him, Belle, and Henry out of Storybrooke before the curse takes over, but Hook is unsuccessful in acquiring Henry, and once the curse is broken, Gold makes his final preparations to leave with Belle to New York.

Gold learns that due to Ingrid's lingering magic, those who leave Storybrooke will never be able to return, so he has Hook help him unveil a portal in the Sorcerer's mansion. Regina is able to save Marian, but Ingrid's Freezing Curse is not fully broken, so Regina tells Robin Hood that he needs to go with his wife into the real world to save her, because there will be no magic outside of Storybrooke to power the Freezing Curse. He leaves and is heartbroken at knowing he can't ever see Regina again. In the past of the Enchanted Forest, Belle is kidnapped for a gauntlet that can reveal anyone's greatest weakness, which Rumpelstiltskin acquired in Camelot. He goes to pay the ransom, and sees that Belle was taken by Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella de Vil. He gives up the gauntlet and leaves with Belle, only to get it back later. Ursula offers Rumplestiltskin to join them, so that the villains can finally get their happy endings, but Rumplestiltskin declines, saying that he will always win. In the present, Belle finds the gauntlet while packing for New York, and sees that Rumplestiltskin loves power more than her, so she uses the gauntlet to find the real dagger, which leads her to the clock tower of Storybrooke. Then, she uses the real Dagger of Kris to stop Rumplestiltskin from killing Hook, and she forces him to release Emma and Mary Margaret before using the dagger to get Rumplestiltskin to take them to the town line. There, Belle confronts him, saying that he has never changed and that power was his "true love", and she uses the dagger to force him across the town line. Henry finds a secret library with full of blank storybooks in the Sorcerer's mansion, and tells Regina that it is possibly the Author's home. Six weeks later, in New York City, a powerless Rumpelstiltskin visits Ursula at her aquarium job as a fish feeder, and asks if she would like to work with him to obtain their happy endings. She agrees, and he goes to offer the same deal to Maleficent and Cruella. Gold also implies that he knows who the author is, having apparently lied to Regina back in Storybrooke about not having any knowledge of his existence.

In Storybrooke, Emma is unaware that Mary Margaret, David, and Hook are keeping secrets from her as Cruella, Ursula, and Gold uses a scheme to bring Maleficent back to life. For Mary Margaret and David, the return of Maleficent could affect their bonding with Emma, while Hook's past with Ursula could affect his relationship with Emma. Regina attempts to find out if Pinocchio (when he was August Booth) knew about the author, but a riff prompts Marco to keep him away from Regina; She later apologizes to Marco, who then gives her a bag that may contain the answers to who the author is. And while appearing without being detected by the residents, Gold is stunned to see Belle and Will embrace a kiss. Back in the Enchanted Forest during the first curse, Snow White & Prince Charming are asked by the Queens to find the Tree of Wisdom so they can get the answers on how to stop Evil Queen's curse. Maleficent later reveals to Snow White that she will also be a mother as well and asks for help in stopping the curse to protect both children. But she refuses and turns Maleficent down, a secret that Mary Margaret tells Regina about in Storybrooke and as to why they can't tell Emma: she was born with a potential of Darkness and her parents are responsible for the "death" of Maleficent's baby.

As Gold and the Queens of Darkness seek out the Author, Maleficent uses a sleeping spell on Storybrooke so they can find the page containing the Author and uses it as a deal with Gold to find her daughter, while at the same time Mary Margaret and David must find a way to stop them in order to keep Emma from finding out about her fate unaware that Hook has already informed Emma of Gold's plans for her. Unfortunately, it turns out that Henry has the page, which leads him to a key that is found in the Sorcerer's mansion, but ends up giving the page to Regina, whose deception is found out by Gold and is put to sleep by Maleficent, while Henry hands over the keys to David and Mary Margaret, who then finally come clean to Emma, who is devastated to learn the truth. August later reveals to Emma and Hook that there are more than one Author inside the book, and after Emma opens the door, the "Author" who manipulated the stories and was the last writer of the book, the Peddler, is set free, while Gold tells Maleficent that her daughter is alive; the girl being Lily, who befriended Emma in the outside world. Back in the Enchanted Forest, Snow White and Prince Charming encounter the Peddler, who then leads them to the Apprentice in a effort to rid any potential darkness from their unborn child. The task becomes one of regret for everyone involved when the Sorcerer and the Apprentice send Maleficent's unborn daughter, Cruella and Ursula, into our world.

Upon learning that her former childhood friend Lily is also Maleficent's daughter, Emma embarks on a trip to find her and Regina joins her in her mission to warn Robin Hood about Zelena. When Emma finally meets up with the now-adult Lily, the tensions between the two heats up as it turns out that Lily has been plotting to seek revenge on Mary Margaret and David, leading to a showoff between Emma and Lily prompting Regina to intervene before it causes Emma to go dark. The two make up just in time to race off to New York to warn Robin Hood, but it is too late as he discovers that Zelena has not only killed Marian, but is now pregnant with Robin Hood's child. Meanwhile back in Storybrooke, Gold enlists Will to steal Belle's heart back. After completing the task, Gold reveals that the darker his heart has become, he will eventually die, then gives his blessing to Will to take care of Belle. Back in 1999 Minnesota, Emma once again runs into Lily, whose presence could threaten Emma's new life with her foster family. When it's discovered that Lily is a thief and money is discovered stolen, Emma is thrown out of the home, and once again meets up with Lily, who wants to remain friends but Emma turns her down. Lily's fate would later be revealed by the Apprentice, who shows up to explain to Lily of her destiny, as the Sorcerer reveals back in the Enchanted Forest that their fates will be intertwined.

Lily is finally reunited with Maleficent in Storybrooke, but Lily still has vengeance on her mind against Mary Margaret and David, even though Maleficent has decided to forgive them. At the same time Isaac informs Gold that he needs Emma's darkness for the ink to write the stories, which leads to Regina to secure his services in exchange for finding the blood, even as Gold passes out due to his dying heart. As Regina plots to do away with Zelena, she finds the means to do so in Lily, and she cuts her skin to obtain Lily's blood, in order to generate ink from the darkness transferred from Emma. Lily's anger over this action causes her to transform into a dragon, which leads to a confrontation with Mary Margaret, and Maleficent intervening to convince her that she wants to make up for lost time. The action works as Lily reverts back to human form, and she agrees to stay in Storybrooke for one week with Maleficent, while Emma finally forgives Mary Margaret and David. At the asylum, Regina tells Zelena that she will be written out of existence by Isaac, but Zelena tells Regina that she is just like their mother Cora; Regina decides to spare Zelena's life for now, but Isaac disappears and returns to Gold, who orders Isaac to write a new story that will alter the destiny of everyone involved, in which the villains will win. Back in the Enchanted Forest, before the first curse, Cora returns to help Regina seek love, but her interference and influence to ensure that Regina will have an heir to the kingdom results in Regina taking a potion that will leave her infertile.

Isaac finally completed the "Heroes & Villains" book, and successfully changes the universe by sending everyone back to an alternative version of The Enchanted Forest. Only Henry is left behind, who tracks down Isaac in the Land without Magic, as he discovers that Isaac has become a best-selling author. When Isaac refuses to undo everything (and since he no longer is the Author, having violated the Author's Code), Henry uses a key that sends him and Isaac into the alternate Enchanted Forest. There, in order to undo Isaac's work, Henry has to convince a "Snow White" version of Regina to stop Robin Hood from marrying Zelena, while trying to rescue Emma, who is held captive in the tower by an "Evil Queen" version of Snow White. Henry and Hook help Emma escape the tower and must race against time to make sure that Robin doesn't marry Zelena. However, Isaac blackmails Rumplestiltskin into stopping Emma, but Regina would sacrifice herself after Rumplestiltskin killed her. Emma shows Isaac what he had done in this world but since Isaac cannot undo what happened, it's Henry who can change everything as Isaac has lost the ability to write, and Henry has become the new Author. Henry uses the ink to undo everything that Isaac did, and the timeline is restored with everybody returning back to Storybrooke. The Apprentice offers Henry a chance to become the Author, but he turns it down, snapping the pen. The Apprentice also frees an unconscious Gold from the darkness in his heart, which had nearly killed his heart, by sending it into the Sorcerer's Hat. This purifies Gold's heart and severs his link to the Dagger of Kris in the process. However, the darkness is too powerful for the hat to contain, and it escapes, attacking the Apprentice. Emma is able to drive out the darkness with her light magic, but the Apprentice has been fatally wounded, and warns them that only Merlin, the Sorcerer, could prevent the darkness from destroying all of the realms. The darkness eventually reappears and attacks Regina, but Emma sacrifices herself and volunteers to tether her soul to the darkness to prevent it from destroying everything and everyone, leaving only the Dagger behind, now featuring a new inscription, "Emma Swan."