Maybe the curse initially blocked all outsiders entrance to Storybrooke, so Owen would not have been able to see the town at the end of the episode even if he had walked down the road. If that is true, it might explain why Regina waited 18 years after she lost Owen to adopt a child. Since there was no magic in Storybrooke except for the items she brought with her, perhaps she spent 18 years figuring out a way to use some of those items to enable outsiders to enter so she could bring in a child (Henry). Or perhaps August showed up 18 years later and did something that enabled Henry and others to eventually enter the town. I wonder if there’s an “OFF switch” so outsiders are blocked sometimes and not other times?
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