Reply To: Emma + Baelfire = Swanfire

You know, this overall story of Neal and Emma really goes back all the way to the pilot. Remember the opening title scene shots:

“Once Upon a Time, there was an enchanted forest filled with all the classic character we know. Or think we know. One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stollen. Our world. This is how it happened….”

At first glance, that suggests the story is really about Snow White and Prince Charming. Yet, they were cursed not to remember their old lives, so they never really knew what they were missing. By contrast, Emma, Baelfire and Pinocchio are all children who grew up in this world without parents. The only one of those characters who has gotten his “redo” with his father is Pinocchio. That leaves Emma and Neal, two lost children, who’re still searching for the same thing in our world: a home.

Charming suggested in S2 that Emma return to the Enchanted Forest with him and Snow, because this world had been nothing but cruel to her. And yet, as we’ve seen in the episode “Going Home” Regina gave Emma and Henry happy memories in our world. And the setting for that happy narrative just happens to be New York, which was most recently Neal’s home. The song “Charley’s Girl” was playing when Emma woke up at 8:15, linking her to when we first saw Nealfire in “Broken.” We caught a glimpse of Emma’s idea of a happy life: cooking a meal for her son, going about a normal, happy routine. The only missing ingredient is Neal. The only reason Emma, Neal and Henry aren’t together today is because of two horrible curses. This idea of “going home” I believe is at the heart of Neal, Emma and Henry’s journey to find one another. They’ve all been alone and now it’s time for them to find hope that they could indeed find a happy ending in our world; that is the heart of this modern-day, real-life fairytale I believe that’s unfolding before our eyes. Emma doesn’t have to return to a mythical land that she never really called home; rather, Emma could be happy in our word, because she really grew up her, just like Neal did, if only she could learn to incorporate some of the important lessons Snow and Charming have together taught her: happy endings always start with hope.